Children's home run by Care and Support (Children) Services Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2778855 1 Registered provider: Care and Support (Children) Services Ltd

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private company. The home provides care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2024 and holds a leadership and management qualification at level 5.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there was one child living in the home. The child spent time with the inspector.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 14 January 2025

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2778855 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/01/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2778855 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child living at this home has made significant progress. Staff demonstrate a thorough understanding of the child’s needs and foster meaningful, positive relationships. Their interactions are consistently calm and sincere. Staff smile and talk fondly about the child. They recognise the child’s starting points and celebrate their progress and achievements.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is warm and welcoming and feels like a family home. The child’s bedroom is personalised and comfortably furnished, with pictures of family on display. Staff actively involve the child in the decoration and design of their home. This supports the child to feel a sense of security and belonging.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child in developing skills and strategies to manage conflict and difficult emotions. For example, staff encourage the child to explore their feelings and experiences through writing. This provides the child with a safe space for expression and enables them to manage their emotions. Clear, consistent and age-appropriate boundaries are in place, which provide the child with a sense of safety and structure.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage the child to be involved in planning and decision-making about their own care. They encourage the child to participate in their care reviews and provide the child with the opportunity to share their views at staff meetings. Staff help the child to understand complex decisions made about their life. When it may not be possible to act on the child’s wishes, the staff explain the reasons why and ensure that the child has access to a suitable independent advocate.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has made progress in education. When school attendance was not possible, staff provided consistent support, including access to a dedicated learning environment, enabling the child to continue engaging with educational activities. Staff continue to work collaboratively with the school and have supported the child to successfully transition back to full-time education. This has contributed positively to the child’s reintegration and ongoing educational development.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to manage identified health needs in an age-appropriate way. They encourage the child to make and attend their health appointments, and the child has made positive progress in accessing and attending medical care. Health professionals have commended staff for their effective support and improvements in the child’s health engagement. Where additional needs are identified, staff act as strong advocates, ensuring the child receives appropriate and targeted support from relevant services.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are committed in supporting relationships that are important to the child and have shown persistence in advocating for time with a significant family member. They work proactively with professionals and those important to the child to ensure these Inspection report for children’s home: 2778855 4 interactions are both meaningful and safe. These experiences help the child to build positive memories and maintain a strong sense of identity.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is encouraged to participate in a wide range of activities and interests of their choosing. These form a regular part of their weekly routine. Staff enjoy seeing the child thrive as they encounter new experiences, for example attending cadets, going to the gym, supporting the local authority with interviews and meeting children with similar life experiences. These opportunities support the child’s social development and build self-esteem.

p.4

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

The child says that they feel safe and that they have trusted adults they can talk to in the home. Staff demonstrate a clear understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities and take a proactive approach in keeping the child safe.

p.4

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

Individual up-to-date risk assessments address any known vulnerabilities for the child and set out the strategies and actions that staff should take to manage and reduce any risks. When the child is missing from care, staff use well-coordinated responses. There are clear plans in place to attempt to reduce the risk. As a result, incidents of the child going missing from care have reduced significantly.

p.4

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

Investigations into allegations made by the child are appropriately shared with safeguarding partners and handled in line with statutory guidance. The child is supported and protected throughout the process and is informed of the outcome. This transparent and responsive approach empowers the child and reinforces the value placed on their voice and experiences.

p.4

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

Staff maintain a safe and secure living environment for the child. Regular environmental checks are conducted to ensure compliance with safety standards. Medication is stored securely. Staff are recruited safely. Pre-employment checks are thorough and ensure that the child is cared for by suitable adults.

p.4

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

Staff provide children with clear support and expectations for their behaviour. Positive behaviour is consistently promoted; staff are skilled at helping the child calm down when they are upset or angry. The use of restraint is minimal and is only used when necessary to protect the child and the staff around them. Staff and children are provided with an opportunity to speak about the incident. However, this is not always with a person who was not involved in the incident. This could impact on the child feeling comfortable enough to raise any concerns about what happened if needed.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is led by a dedicated registered manager who demonstrates high aspirations for the child in his care. He has a clear understanding of the child’s needs and consistently models healthy parenting. Additional mentoring provided by both Inspection report for children’s home: 2778855 5 the registered manager and deputy manager supports continuous staff development. This approach also reinforces the expectation that the child should consistently receive high-quality, nurturing care.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager demonstrates a clear commitment to continuous improvement. Since the last inspection, he has taken effective steps to strengthen team stability. Research in practice has enabled him to deepen his understanding of the team’s culture and values. These initiatives are fostering a more cohesive staff team, which in turn supports greater stability and consistency for the child.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff understand and respond to the individual needs of the child. The registered manager ensures that staff access specialist training tailored to the child’s specific needs. Learning from this training is embedded into daily practice through regular team meetings and frequent supervision, enabling staff to consistently provide personalised and sensitive care. Staff report that the training supports their ongoing development, helping them to build new skills and deepen their understanding of the child’s needs and vulnerabilities.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a range of monitoring systems in place to support his oversight of the child’s quality of care. These systems have improved since the previous inspection. Oversight of staff practice is clear, and when needed, this leads to challenge, discussion and shared learning. The manager uses reports from the independent visitor and peer audits to review and improve practice.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is sufficient staffing in place to meet the child’s needs. The registered manager has taken steps to ensure that, where necessary, staff are undertaking qualifications relevant to their roles. However, the manager has not done enough to ensure that the qualification held by one member of staff is equivalent to that required by regulation. Inspection report for children’s home: 2778855 6

p.5

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records of restraint are kept and should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. In particular, the registered manager should record the effectiveness of restraints used and ensure the child and staff have the opportunity to reflect with a person not involved in the situation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should consider qualification requirements for staff as listed in Annex A. In particular, the registered manager should review staff’s existing qualifications to consider equivalency to the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare, and when gaps are identified, they should act to ensure that relevant units or qualifications are completed in a timely manner. In addition, a record of

p.6

Recommendations

information they have considered to establish ‘equivalence’ should be kept. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.6)

p.6

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: 2778855 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Care and Support (Children) Services Ltd

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 77 Francis Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B16 8SP

p.7

Inspector

Julia Tompson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2778855 8 and inspects to 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.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8