Serenity Specialist Care Limited

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Serenity Specialist Care Limited 1 Serenity Specialist Care Limited Registered provider: Serenity Specialist Care Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

This supported accommodation service is owned and managed by a private provider. The service can accommodate up to 10 children and young people in 2 shared homes. At the time of this inspection, this service was providing supported accommodation for 3 children.

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provider

The current service manager has submitted an application to Ofsted for registration.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 23 February 2026 and started that day. The inspector was on site from 25 to 27 February 2026.

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Outcome

Inconsistent quality of service delivery adversely affects some children’s experiences, and this may limit their progress. Leaders and managers must make improvements. The next inspection will be within approximately 18 months.

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Summary of findings

Staff do not provide sufficient support for children to make progress. Consequently, some children’s placements have ended abruptly.

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Summary of findings

Staff lack the confidence to manage children’s behaviour effectively, which has led to a reliance on managers or emergency services, or children’s placements ending.

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Summary of findings

Children’s records are not always reflective of their current situation, which means that some children’s needs may be overlooked.

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Summary of findings

Staff form some positive relationships with children. Children feel listened to and happy. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Serenity Specialist Care Limited 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders and managers sometimes accept children whose needs are too high for them to meet. This has led to children not making progress and abrupt endings to their placements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children do not consistently make progress during their time in the supported accommodation, and when children do make progress, it is minimal. Managers do not sufficiently challenge local authorities when children are not making progress or engaging in any meaningful way, which limits progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff support children to maintain links with people who are important to them, when it is safe to do so.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff sometimes form positive, trusting relationships with children. The children currently placed say they have positive relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff are ambitious for children with regards to their education, training and employment. However, few children access any form of education, training or employment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders and managers know and understand children’s needs well. Children feel comfortable going to them for support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children live in a homely and well-maintained environment. However, they are unable to freely access cleaning products, and window restrictors are widely used to prevent them from fully opening windows. Leaders and managers are reviewing these elements of restrictive practice and removed some elements during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff know and understand children’s cultural needs and ensure that these are met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Staff know and understand children’s health needs. They support them to manage their own health and make referrals to external agencies when required. However, some children have not made progress with this, as staff always managed their medication for them.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers do not ensure that children’s plans are current or reflect all their known needs and risks. As a result, staff do not always have the information they need to respond appropriately to children’s vulnerabilities.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers do not consistently notify Ofsted of all significant events. This hinders regulatory oversight of how effectively the provider safeguards children. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Serenity Specialist Care Limited 3 Staff do not access training to support the specific needs of some children. They lack the skills and confidence to manage difficult situations involving children, which leads to an over-reliance on, for example, emergency services.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff are not persistent or creative with children to engage them in support. Work to help children understand how to stay safe is not effective. Direct work with children is inconsistent and limited.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers complete a location assessment for the accommodation. However, they do not always consider the location assessment when accommodating children with vulnerabilities such as child exploitation and substance misuse. This means that some children with high levels of risk live in an area that is not suitable for them.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff encourage children to talk about what they need help with when they first move in. This helps children to feel listened to and valued.

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How well children are helped and protected

The children say they are happy, have good relationships with staff and feel safe. Staff are available to support children in crisis.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers carry out robust recruitment checks before appointing staff to support children. This gives assurance that staff are safe to work with children.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff consult effectively with placing authorities when there are concerns relating to child exploitation. This helps to promote a coordinated response to protect children.

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How well children are helped and protected

When children are missing from home, there is a well-coordinated response to reduce the risk of harm. Staff notify the police and the child’s placing authority. When children return from being missing from home, staff check on their wellbeing and discuss why they went missing. This helps children to feel supported when they return home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers do not ensure that there is effective monitoring of children’s progress. Children’s files are incomplete and do not reflect children’s daily lives, and records are often poorly written and sometimes illegible.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers do not ensure that the behaviour management policy is followed effectively. There have been inconsistencies in how staff manage children’s behaviour. This sometimes leads to an over-reliance on senior managers and emergency services. In some instances, this has resulted in children being given notice to leave.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers do not ensure that children’s plans are reviewed promptly with the placing authority if children are not settling into their accommodation or not making progress. This has led to children being placed for a number of months without them spending much time in their home. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Serenity Specialist Care Limited 4 Leaders and managers do not ensure that staff receive regular or effective supervision and there are some gaps in staff training. There is a lack of oversight of staff practice, and staff lack confidence to deal directly with children’s behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers know and understand the needs of the children they support. The new service manager, who has applied to register, is enthusiastic and ambitious for the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers consider the needs of those children already living in the supported accommodation before agreeing to a new child moving in. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Serenity Specialist Care Limited 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 support standard is that children receive individual and tailored support that meets their needs.

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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

keep the child’s support under review, taking into consideration the plans for support, and relevant plans, to ensure that the child’s needs continue to be met and that the child is kept safe;

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Requirement Due date

engage and work with the accommodating authority if the registered person has concerns or if the child’s support needs to be changed, including where that change may mean that the child requires more intensive support. (Regulation 7 (1) (2)(c)(f)) 27 April 2026

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Requirement Due date

The protection standard is that children are enabled to feel safe and that their needs are met.

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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

work collaboratively with children to help them understand how to keep safe, by offering guidance and support on how to minimise any potential risk of harm. (Regulation 5 (1) (2)(f)(iii)) 27 April 2026

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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 supported accommodation undertaking that puts children first and prioritises their wellbeing and development. 27 April 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Serenity Specialist Care Limited 6 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills appropriate for the work that they are to perform;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that arrangements are in place for the supervision, training and development of staff. (Regulation 4 (1) (2)(c)(g))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a behaviour management policy setting out—

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Requirement Due date

the approach to supporting children to maintain a reasonable standard of behaviour that reduces the risk of harm to, and supports the welfare and protection of, children and other individuals;

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Requirement Due date

the expectations of children in relation to their behaviour, what will happen if those expectations are not met, and how the registered person will ensure that children know what those behaviour expectations are;

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the premises providing supported accommodation;

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Requirement Due date

how the registered person will deal with challenging behaviour, including—

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Requirement Due date

taking a proportionate approach to involving other authorities. (Regulation 22 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)) 27 April 2026

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that they notify Ofsted of any event that is serious. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 60) Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Serenity Specialist Care Limited 7

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has 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: Serenity Specialist Care Limited 8

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: Serenity Specialist Care Limited

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider address: First Floor, Dominion Court, 43 Station Road, Solihull B91 3RT

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Supported accommodation provider details

Email address: sofia@serenity-homes.co.uk

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Inspector

Amie Pearson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Serenity Specialist Care Limited 9 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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