My Options - Supported Accommodation

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: My Options- Supported Accommodation 1 My Options - Supported Accommodation Registered provider: My Options - Telford & Wrekin Council

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

The service registered with Ofsted in December 2023 and is operated by Telford and Wrekin local authority . It provides accommodation for up to 33 looked-after children and care leavers in 11 single-occupancy homes and 8 supported lodgings.

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provider

At the time of this inspection, the service was providing accommodation for 11 children.

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provider

The service manager registered with Ofsted in August 2025.

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Inspection dates: 14 to 16 January 2026

The inspection was announced on 12 January 2026 and started that day. The inspectors were on site from 14 to 16 January 2026.

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Outcome

Consistently strong service delivery leads to typically positive experiences and progress for children. Where improvements are needed, leaders and managers take timely and effective action. The next inspection will be within approximately three years.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers create a child-centred environment that supports their mission for children to ‘develop and thrive, not just survive’. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: My Options- Supported Accommodation 2 Children’s voices are central to their plans. Staff consult children about the support they receive. Staff supporting children know them well. Staff listen to the children and help them navigate their support journey to achieve their goals towards independence.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and staff are passionate about working with children. This approach ensures that children’s contributions are pivotal in all areas of the service.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children both in supported accommodation and supported lodgings speak positively about the support they receive from the staff and their hosts. They describe the quality of support from staff as ‘good’ and ‘excellent’. One child noted that their host listens to them, and this child has become part of the family. When asked what they like about their living situation, another child responded by saying ‘the staff’. As a result, children make good progress with their independent living skills and their personal development skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

The managers actively promote person-centred approaches to practice. This was experienced by one child who said, ‘The staff are good at giving support that is individually needed to each resident.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children have positive inclusive experiences. They are fully involved in planning their support, such as the plans to promote increasing their safety and pathway plans. This enables them to develop skills in living independently and make progress in feeling safe and secure.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Supported lodging hosts, staff and leaders know the children well. This starts from the point of referral, when children are invited to participate in discussions about their needs and to consider how the team of people working with them can meet them. This helps with building trusted relationships. Children spoken to were able to identify a trusted adult who they can raise concerns with.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders and managers advocate tirelessly to ensure that children receive the support they need. This was found in a situation where, after a delay, one child received the therapeutic support that had been identified as essential. This ensures that children receive the right support to meet their identified needs, goals and aspirations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Many children are involved in education, employment, work experience or volunteer opportunities. Where children are not actively involved, staff provide them with regular support to explore their interests and career options, develop CVs and search for work, which helps prepare them for the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children have access to various activities at home and in the community, including games, pool, darts, creative arts, attending football matches, cooking sessions, or pantomime trips. One child said that they have weights at home rather than going to the gym. One child has arranged a chess tournament and received support from Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: My Options- Supported Accommodation 3 the staff to purchase trophies for the event. These activities provide children with opportunities to interact and spend time with their peers and reduce isolation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff respect and promote children's diverse cultural needs, including faith-based practices. One child shared their experience of frequently attending a local church. The celebration of key events, such as Guru Nanak, enhances the heritage of children.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children benefit from stable, safe and enabling environments in which they can thrive. Staff are responsive to what is happening for every child. The children say they are ‘always there’. One child said that this has been the best place they have ever lived.

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How well children are helped and protected

The supported lodgings are a family-like environment for children and actively support all children to build awareness of personal safety and independence skills.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and staff work closely with other professionals to ensure that children are safe. Serious incidents are rare. When they occur, staff and hosts respond promptly to prioritise children’s safety.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff are aware of children’s known and potential risks. Leaders and managers are adept at ensuring that relevant training is available for staff and hosts to ensure that they have up-to-date knowledge and the right skills to support children’s individual situations.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff are proactive in their support of children and focus on helping them develop and maintain safe, strong and healthy relationships in their friend and family networks. In situations where networks may not be safe, staff work with children to develop an understanding of the risks and plans around staying safe. This endorses children’s feelings of belonging in their extended networks and helps them better understand the risks they may encounter and how to respond safely as new situations arise.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers stay abreast of developments, patterns and trends in safeguarding children. This ensures that staff are kept up to date with emerging developments in supported accommodation and can provide appropriate and meaningful support for children.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers adhere to the local authority safer recruitment processes, and they ensure that checks for staff are carried out. However, this does not include reference verification and ensuring that all adults living in supported lodgings have received enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: My Options- Supported Accommodation 4

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers create a learning culture where children are at the very centre of the service. Throughout the organisation, leaders and managers demonstrate passion for their work with children. The embedded practices of transparency, joint working and being creative and reflective have a profoundly positive impact for children, hosts and staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers have well-organised and efficient referral and admission processes that are inclusive of all involved in the process. In supported lodgings, the children start with several ‘getting to know you’ visits, which include visits to the proposed host’s home. In the single-occupancy service, children are accepted who are deemed to be ready for supported accommodation at the time of the referral. No emergency placements are made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers are proficient in establishing and maintaining relationships with external agencies, professionals and contractors. A police representative who had spoken at a conference about missing persons was invited by the provider to work with them on supporting children in supported accommodation. This has progressed to the police representative making regular visits to the service to meet with staff and children to discuss relevant topics.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Children’s voices feature consistently throughout the service. They contribute their views during the admission process and engage in reflective conversations to inform outcome monitoring. Children also participate in the recruitment process by meeting with applicants. Children have also represented their views to senior officials, including the chief social worker.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The leaders and managers plan ahead to develop the workforce. The induction process for staff and hosts is comprehensive. Succession planning in the service stems from supporting staff who wish to step up and take on more responsibility. This enables the service to grow its own future leaders. This ensures a positive effect on the stability and continuity afforded to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The leaders and managers have developed effective skills in ensuring that children’s rights, needs and entitlements are met, and they have the capacity to challenge inappropriate decisions about children’s next steps where appropriate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders, managers and staff demonstrate effective working together, both in the service and with external agencies, in their support for children. One child described the teamwork of staff as ‘incredible’ and said that the staff are respectful. They said, ‘I am the way I am today because of every single staff member.’ Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: My Options- Supported Accommodation 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and the ‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 1. (Regulation 17 (1) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered service manager must ensure that all adults living in supported lodgings have an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service certificate prior to panel. An enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check should be carried out in a timely manner when it is known that an adult has moved into the home. 28 February 2026

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that recruitment practice demonstrates that managers have sufficiently explored staff’s suitability and fitness to work with children by documenting reference verification. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 16)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: My Options- Supported Accommodation 6

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: My Options - Telford & Wrekin Council

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Supported accommodation provider details

Email address: supportedlodgings@telford.gov.uk

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Inspectors

Phyllis Dyer, Social Care Inspector Julie Cresswell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: My Options- Supported Accommodation 7 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.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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