Children's Home run by Resi-Action Staffordshire Ltd in Wolverhampton

Inspection report for children’s home: 2778030 1 Registered provider: Resi-Action Staffordshire Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a small private organisation and provides care for up to two children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Since the home was registered in October 2024, one child has moved in and one has moved out. At the time of the inspection, two children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since October 2024.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2778030 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and staff have meaningful engagement with children, providing regular activities tailored to their interests. Children participate in badminton and boxing clubs and routinely visit the cinema and go to bowling alleys and arcades with staff. Additionally, staff hold regular discussions with children about healthy and safe friendships, supporting them in forming positive peer networks outside the home and enriching their social experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff develop strong relationships with children, fostering trust and emotional security. Children enjoy spending time with staff, watching films and cooking together. One child said, ‘Being in the home is like being with my actual family. I have a lot of heartfelt moments and enjoy spending time with them.’ Children say they feel safe in the home and can identify a trusted adult to speak to if they have concerns.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively prepare children for their next stage in life by supporting them to develop independent living skills, including budgeting, applying for jobs and transport planning. Regular discussions about route planning have enabled children to gain confidence in travelling independently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and staff support children in making progress in education. Staff promote structured routines in the home, helping children feel prepared for their learning. They maintain regular communication with education professionals to stay informed about children’s progress. With staff support, both children have secured places on their chosen courses for September 2025. Additionally, children have access to ASDAN courses, providing them with broader educational and employment opportunities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders mostly keep children’s documents up to date. However, one child’s education review and child in care review minutes have not been updated since February 2024, despite notable changes in their circumstances. The manager had not escalated this to relevant professionals, resulting in outdated planning for some children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home requires improvement in several areas. There are scuffs and marks on some walls, doors need painting and the hallway lacks homely features. Leaders have provided secure beds, and weighted chairs in the kitchen, but no rationale has been documented for their use. The presence of this institutional-style furniture detracts from the homely atmosphere of the setting.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

External professionals express confidence in staff’s approach to safeguarding. One said, ‘The approach is consistent, and team communication is strong. This has prevented the young person from fully reverting to historical behaviours and enabled them to consider the impact of their responses on others.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2778030 3 Staff educate children about risks outside the home. One child, previously assessed as being at high risk of child sexual exploitation, received therapeutic support and education through the attachment, regulation and competency model of care. As a result, the child has formed positive relationships with staff, peers and friends outside the home, leading to a significant reduction in risky behaviours and their exploitation risk level.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Risk assessments are child centred and detailed. Leaders and staff actively encourage children to contribute to their own risk management plans, allowing them to add personalised support strategies that they believe will be effective. These strategies are shared with the team and integrated into practice, enabling staff to provide individualised care.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff provide a nurturing and proactive response to self-harm concerns. On one occasion, following an incident, staff offered emotional support, helping the child feel confident in expressing their feelings. Details were promptly shared with relevant professionals, including the external therapeutic service. As a result, a self-harm safety plan was implemented, giving staff better guidance to support the child.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Consequences are fair and effective, enabling children to reflect on their actions and learn from their behaviours. However, some records contain opinion, which creates a more judgemental tone in reports.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Allegations are mostly managed well. Leaders respond promptly, sharing relevant details with professionals and ensuring children receive regular check-ins and external support, including counselling. However, on one occasion, leaders failed to notify Ofsted or the local authority designated officer following an allegation, preventing the necessary agencies from having oversight.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Leaders do not consistently review risks in the local area. Following an incident when a staff member was injured near the home after work, the location risk assessment was not updated. There is no evidence of how leaders assessed potential risks to children and staff.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The fire risk assessment is not always followed by staff. The assessment states that smoking is prohibited on site, yet staff have continued to smoke in the garden, failing to comply with established risk management measures.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff do not consistently follow children’s plans around internet safety. On one occasion, a child who required supervision when using their games console was able to communicate with an older male online. This incident was reported to leaders by the local police and is currently under investigation. Poor staff vigilance on this occasion placed the child at risk of harm when using the internet. Inspection report for children’s home: 2778030 4

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a committed registered manager who is passionate about ensuring children achieve positive outcomes and supporting staff in their professional development. She works alongside an experienced deputy manager. Together, they focus on building a strong and effective staff team that strives for success.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External professionals speak highly of the manager. One said, ‘I think the manager is doing an amazing job and goes above and beyond to support my young person.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager takes a creative approach to staff development, providing regular quizzes relating to individual children. These quizzes allow staff to assess knowledge gaps and identify areas for development, helping them feel more confident in supporting children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders facilitate regular therapeutic team meetings, where staff learn about different theories of attachment and how to apply them effectively with each child. As a result, staff have begun implementing therapeutic approaches, strengthening their relationship- building practices with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager actively promotes internal staff development. Each staff member has a personal development plan with individualised goals, encouraging investment in their roles and supporting high-quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders provide regular and structured supervision to staff, ensuring discussions include children’s progress, staff well-being and professional development. Staff feel confident approaching managers with queries or concerns, due to their open-door approach.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The recruitment of new staff is mostly safe and effective. Leaders ensure that appropriate references and checks are completed for both permanent and agency staff. However, there were unexplained gaps in employment history in two staff files, and it was not clear how the manager ensured these staff members were suitable and safe to work in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2778030 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the environment is well maintained and homely. 18 June 2025

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe; 18 June 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2778030 6 have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff work in line with children’s plans regarding the use of electronic devices. Additionally, that staff follow the fire risk assessment in relation to smoking on site.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is suitably located so that children are effectively safeguarded and can access services to meet needs identified in their relevant plans (see regulations 12(2)(c)). Under regulation 46, the registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)  The registered person should ensure and maintain good employment practice. They should ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguard children and minimise potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children’s home: 2778030 7  The registered person should ensure that serious incidents are formally notified, for example, the police, probation service, health professionals, the local authority for the area the home is located in (if this is not the child’s placing authority) and others involved with the care or protection of the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes

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Recommendations

Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.12)  The registered person should ensure that all children’s case records (regulation 36) are kept up to date and stored securely while they remain in the home. Case records must be kept up to date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. Children’s case records must be kept for 75 years from the date of birth of the child, or if the child dies before the age of 18, for 15 years from the date of his or her death. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the social care common inspection framework. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2778030 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Resi-Action Staffordshire Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Resi-Action Staffordshire Ltd, Barn 7, Dunston Business Village, Stafford Road, Penkridge ST18 9AB

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Inspector

Chanel Bryant, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2778030 9 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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