Children's Home run by Forte Care Ltd in Birmingham

Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2618553 1 Registered provider: Forte Care Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private company. It offers 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. The child did not wish to speak with the inspectors.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been without a registered manager since 19 May 2025. Since this date, a new manager applied to register but withdrew their application in December 2025. A further new manager was appointed in December 2025. They have not yet applied to register.

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Information about this children’s home

Date of last inspection: 23 September 2025

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Information about this children’s home

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At this inspection, the inspectors evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2618553 2 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’. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2618553 3

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Findings from the inspection

We identified serious and widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of the child at this assurance inspection. In addition, serious concerns were identified in relation to the leadership and management of the home.

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Findings from the inspection

Leaders’ monitoring and review systems are ineffective and do not challenge or improve staff practice. Staff supervision and support is sporadic, and when it does occur, the sessions lack quality and depth. Leaders and managers miss opportunities to address practice concerns and do not provide staff with meaningful reflective space to learn and improve.

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Findings from the inspection

Managers do not take effective action when concerns are raised by the child or staff. Investigations are not consistently completed. Furthermore, on occasions, managers have not acted on the advice provided to them by the local authority designated officer (LADO). When managers do investigate, they do not ensure that identified learning is shared with the wider staff team or addressed with the individual staff involved. As a result, unsafe practice has gone unchallenged, and the child has not consistently received safe or consistent care.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff do not consistently assess or respond to risks effectively. On several occasions, staff actions have contributed to incidents involving the child and staff have not followed the child’s safety plans. On another occasion, staff left restricted areas of the home unattended, resulting in an incident that left the child vulnerable and at risk of harm.

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Findings from the inspection

Managers do not have meaningful conversations with the child after concerns are raised. The child is not reassured that their views have been taken seriously or that staff can be relied on to keep them safe. This has led to the child experiencing continued uncertainty and reduced trust in the care provided.

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Findings from the inspection

Since the last inspection, leaders and managers have not ensured that staff receive the training or support needed to meet the child’s complex needs. These shortfalls were previously identified, but effective action has not been taken. As a result, the child continues to experience care that is inconsistent, unsafe and not tailored to their needs.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff responses to significant self-harm incidents are poor. Staff do not record medical advice, complete required body maps or speak to the child to understand the child’s thoughts and feelings. In one incident, a staff member, identified as a trigger for the child’s anxieties, completed the manager’s review of the event. This lack of independent oversight fails to reassure the child and undermines effective monitoring of staff practice.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff and leaders do not consistently support the child’s health needs effectively. Staff do not explore the child’s reasons for refusing medication, limiting managers’ ability to identify patterns, risks or learning. Furthermore, managers do not take Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2618553 4 effective action in response to shortfalls in staff practice. For example, they identified that one staff member had not followed medication protocols and that a child had inappropriately self-administered medication. Although managers advised that an investigation would be completed, it remained unfinished at the time of inspection, and the staff member continued to administer medication on three further occasions. These shortfalls have the potential to leave the child vulnerable.

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Findings from the inspection

Despite some of the shortfalls, staff spoke positively about the new management team and recent training they have received. They felt that support for themselves and the child had become more consistent. They were able to talk confidently about the child’s needs, risks and areas for development. However, these improvements are recent and have not yet resulted in sustained changes to practice.

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Findings from the inspection

There is a new staff team in place, whose members are beginning to build positive relationships with the child. However, these relationships are very new and untested. Although some small improvements have been seen, these are not yet embedded or sustained.

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Findings from the inspection

At the last inspection, concerns were raised about staff’s ability to maintain a good home environment and the impact this had on the child. These issues have now been addressed, and staff are now supporting the child in an environment that meets the child’s needs.

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Findings from the inspection

The new manager and responsible individual were reflective and accepted the shortfalls identified within the inspection. However, they are committed to making improvements to ensure that the child’s needs are met. Recent improvements made are very new and have not yet had any measurable impact.

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Findings from the inspection

Repeated breaches of regulation undermine confidence in the leadership and management of the home. As a result of this inspection, Ofsted does not have assurance that leaders have the capacity to drive and sustain change. Consequently, a compliance notice has been issued under Regulation 13. Also, a requirement under Regulation 12 has been restated, and an additional requirement under Regulation 23 has been raised. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2618553 5

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/09/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 15/10/2024 Full Outstanding 20/09/2023 Full Outstanding 18/10/2022 Full Good Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2618553 6

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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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(e)(f)(g)(ii)(h)) 1 March 2026 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2618553 7 In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that monitoring and review systems used are effective in identifying shortfalls in the care that the child receives. This specifically relates to the manager’s lack of oversight, challenge and follow-up action when staff’s behaviour and actions do not meet the expected standards.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that staff, working in the home, have the skills, experience and knowledge to provide safe and consistent care to the child. Leaders and managers must ensure that the child’s views, wishes and feelings are used to make consistent improvements to the care the child receives. In addition, leaders and managers must ensure that they promote and model professional boundaries to maintain the emotional wellbeing of the child.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that incidents are properly reported and investigated, and that professional curiosity is used to identify shortfalls in care. Where learning is identified from incidents, this must be shared with staff to support improvement and minimise the risk of the same thing happening again.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that staff have completed the mandatory and specialist training needed to meet the child’s individual needs.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the last inspection and is restated.

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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; 1 March 2026 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2618553 8 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; and

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that staff understand their roles and responsibilities in keeping children safe and the actions they need to take to reduce children’s vulnerabilities. This specifically relates to incidents in which staff did not follow the child’s plans effectively and left the child at risk of harm.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure the child is supported to understand the risks to themselves and others and take necessary action to ensure the child is kept safe.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that investigations are completed in a timely way to ensure that the child is supported safely. This includes taking appropriate action when the local authority designated officer (LADO) has recommended that investigations should take place following allegations raised against staff.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the last inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child; and 1 March 2026 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2618553 9 a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that staff are trained appropriately to administer medication, and they do this in line with the organisation’s policies and protocols.

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2618553 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 213 Station Road, Stechford, Birmingham B33 8BB

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Victoria Chinchen

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Inspectors

Hayley Booth, Social Care Inspector Sophie Hills, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2618553 11 regulates 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.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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