Children's home run by Connected Care Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2832679 1 Registered provider: Connected Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in June 2025 and is owned by a private company. It provides care for one child who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, one child was living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2025 and is working towards achieving the required qualification in leadership and management.

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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: 2832679 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since moving in, the child has made good progress. The child told the inspector they are happy living at the home and rated it as ‘10 out of 10’ because ‘everyone is nice’ and they feel safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of education and encourage the child to engage. Staff have helped the child return to a school setting that supports their individual needs. They are working with the child to manage the move to a school environment at the child’s pace to ensure the best chance of success. This provides the child with reassurance and opportunities to achieve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help the child develop independence skills. The child regularly participates in choosing and cooking their own meals and keeping their personal space clean and tidy. Rewards and incentives are used to encourage the child to participate and learn life skills that will support them when they move on from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is encouraged to maintain relationships with the people who are important to them. Staff understand the importance of family time for the child and work hard to try and maintain connections. For example, staff recently facilitated birthday celebrations with members of the child’s family. This helps give the child a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child's health and well-being needs. The child is registered with local health services and is supported to attend appointments when needed. Staff recognise when the child’s mood is low and seek advice from professionals to ensure that they receive the right support. Staff work with the child to encourage healthy eating and exercise. However, there is a lack of variety in the activities planned and participated in. These are largely home based and are not fully supportive in promoting the child’s general well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, there are areas of the home environment that are child centred and include items that are important to the child. However, other areas are looking worn. This includes the bathroom and lounge. The manager understands that providing a well- maintained environment helps the child feel cared for and gives them a sense of pride in where they live.

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

The child receives support from staff who are caring and know them well. Staff understand that children can express their emotions through their actions. This support has helped the child share their feelings more easily so that staff can better respond when they are distressed. As a result, the number of incidents occurring is reducing, and the child is learning to manage their emotions. Inspection report for children’s home: 2832679 3 Staff understand the child’s individual risks and know what action to take to keep them safe. They are supported by guidance that helps them identify signs of potential escalations in behaviour and the reasons behind them. This helps staff provide the right support for the child and manage situations well when they occur.

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

Staff manage incidents effectively to help maintain the child’s safety. When the child goes missing from home, staff take swift action to try and find them. Staff work alongside other professionals to secure the child’s safe return. However, the manager’s oversight of missing-from-home incidents is brief and does not fully support potential learning opportunities for staff.

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

The use of physical intervention is appropriate and proportionate to keep the child and others safe. Due to the child’s complex needs, holds are sometimes used. When the need arises, staff use the least restrictive method as a final measure. While the child has opportunities to discuss the restraint after an incident, the manager does not always speak to the staff involved. This shortfall represents a missed opportunity for staff and managers to reflect on the use of physical intervention and learn from incidents.

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

Staff have implemented effective systems to maintain the child’s online safety. Staff regularly monitor the systems in place to ensure that they are working as intended and make changes as needed. These actions help the child to access the internet and networks in a safe manner.

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

Medicines are safely managed and administered in the home. All staff are trained in the administration of medicines, and their competencies are checked. Records are well maintained. When an incident occurred, staff learned from it, and procedures were changed to prevent a similar incident from happening again.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is ambitious and strives to provide good care to the child. They are aware of the home’s strengths and weaknesses and want the best for the child. Staff speak highly of the manager and the positive impact they have had on the child and staff since they started managing the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say they feel well supported. They receive regular supervision, during which they can discuss any learning and development needs they have. The manager is confident in addressing any issues with staff that may affect the quality of care to ensure that improvements are made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager provides staff with regular training opportunities. Staff say the training they receive has helped them better understand and meet the child’s needs. Further specialist training and support have also been secured to enhance staff’s skills. All staff are currently working towards achieving the required qualification in residential childcare and are within the relevant timescales for achieving this. This strong focus on training and development provides assurance that staff are equipped with the skills and knowledge to support the child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2832679 4 The manager works well with the wider professional network. Feedback from professionals is positive. They say communication is good and the staffing has become more stable since the manager has been in post. One professional said, ‘[Name of child] has grown since being in the home and his understanding of himself.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Inspection report for children’s home: 2832679 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

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must take action to improve areas of the home environment, such as the bathroom and lounge, which are looking worn. 18 December 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure. 18 December 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2832679 6 (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (3)(b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff involved in the use of a physical intervention are given the opportunity to discuss and reflect on its use to support learning and improvement.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are offered a wide range of activities inside and outside the home (where appropriate) and are encouraged to participate in those activities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 31, paragraph 6.5)  The registered person should ensure that records are kept detailing all individual incidents when children go missing from the home. An evaluation of missing-from- home incidents should be carried out to identify any gaps in training, skills or knowledge for staff or to record and retain evidence of what worked well. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.31)

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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: 2832679 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 2a Blackthorn House, St Pauls Square, Birmingham B3 1RL

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Inspector

Louise Naylor, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2832679 8 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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