Children's Home run by Featherstone Care Services Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report for children's home: 2687555 1 Registered provider: Featherstone Care Services Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

This home is privately owned. It provides care for up to 4 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

There is a registered manager in post, who is suitably qualified and experienced.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of the inspection, one child is living at the home, and they shared their views with the inspector. Four children have left this home since the last inspection.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2687555 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/06/2025 Full Good 06/11/2024 Full Good 31/07/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2687555 3

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Summary of findings

The home provides a warm, nurturing and welcoming environment where the child feels safe, valued and secure. Comprehensive and child-focused planning ensures that the child's move into the home was carefully managed and well coordinated. As a result, the child has settled well and developed positive and meaningful relationships with all members of staff.

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Summary of findings

Safeguarding arrangements are effective. Staff demonstrate a thorough understanding of the child's individual risks and vulnerabilities and take proactive measures to promote their safety and wellbeing.

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Summary of findings

The home benefits from stable and sufficient staffing arrangements, which provide consistency of care and support for the child. The registered manager promotes a culture of continuous improvement and positive outcomes for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a good understanding of the child's needs and ensure that the care planning arrangements remain in their best interest. One social worker said that the child told them that they feel loved at this home. One parent said that they are happy with the quality of care their child receives living at this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive a positive experience when they move into the home and when they leave the home. Staff support children with preparation into adulthood in an age- appropriate way. This has resulted in children learning new life skills. As a result, children receive better life opportunities when they leave this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children move into this home, the care planning for them is well coordinated. This has resulted in children having the opportunity to visit the home prior to moving in, and they receive all the information about the home. This means that the child settled in quickly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager is a strong and effective advocate for the child, demonstrating tenacity and persistence in challenging professionals and external agencies when necessary. Through proactive and child-centred advocacy, the registered manager has successfully secured services and support for children that were previously unavailable to them. As a result, children have benefited from improved access to resources and interventions that promote their wellbeing, stability and overall progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children's emotional wellbeing and mental health needs are prioritised. Staff support children to engage with mental health services, where required, and ensure that children get the support they need with their health and wellbeing. As such, children's mental Inspection report for children's home: 2687555 4 health is improving and children have a better understanding of their mental health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide support to children with their educational needs. Staff provide an educational timetable that gives children opportunities to learn new skills. For example, one child is learning dog grooming skills. As such, the child is developing confidence and it helps them to work towards their future goals and aspirations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy positive experiences with staff and go on a wide variety of leisure activities with them. Children enjoy going to parks, the beach and local community events. As a result, this helps children to develop positive relationships with staff and supports their overall development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children with their identity. They help children to understand what makes them important and this includes keeping in contact with people who are important to them. As such, children have enjoyed better family relationships since living at this home.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected:

Safeguarding arrangements for children is effective. Staff are professionally curious and look beyond the behaviour displayed by a child. Staff look at ways to prevent such incidents from happening. As a result, the frequency of physical intervention, missing from care and significant incidents are reducing.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected:

The registered manager discusses significant incidents with the child and staff involved. The registered manager captures learning that informs staff's future practice. This has helped staff to predict very early on how to reduce or minimise potential serious incidents from happening. This demonstrates a positive safeguarding culture at this home.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected:

Staff have important conversations with children about what is causing them distress. They provide alternative strategies to help the child to overcome periods of low mood. For example, when one child is feeling low, they share notes of how they are feeling, and staff respond immediately by providing reassurance. This has resulted in the child coming to the staff for support without the need to cause harm to themselves.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected:

Medication is stored and recorded in line with regulations. However, shortfalls were identified in the administration of medication. Staff crush one medication and split another without appropriate equipment or written guidance from a healthcare professional. At the time of the inspection, the registered manager acted promptly to address this and sought advice from the child's doctor. Despite this, staff do not receive clear, documented guidance to support safe administration. While there has been no known impact on the child, these practice shortfalls do not provide reassurance that medication is being administered consistently and appropriately. Inspection report for children's home: 2687555 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers:

The registered manager is child centred and has high aspirations for the children. The manager's vision is supported by a child-focused and caring team that provides attentive support for the child. This has resulted in the good-quality care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers:

The manager maintains meticulous oversight of the quality of care, safeguarding arrangements and staff practice in the home. She demonstrates professional curiosity, routinely scrutinising practice, promoting reflective learning and identifying opportunities to enhance the support provided to children. This proactive approach fosters a positive culture of continuous improvement and helps to ensure that children receive good- quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers:

Staff receive regular, reflective supervision that promotes learning, development and professional accountability. Staff consistently say that they value the support provided through supervision, which helps them to carry out their roles effectively and maintain a strong focus on meeting the needs of children. This contributes to their ongoing professional development and helps to foster a positive, supportive and cohesive team culture in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers:

Staff receive training that is tailored to the specific needs and vulnerabilities of the child living in the home. This includes training in areas such as limerence, low mood and depression, suicide awareness and ligature risks. Staff confidently described how they have applied their learning in practice to better understand and support the child. This demonstrates that training is effective in developing staff knowledge and skills, enabling them to improve the child's experiences, promote their wellbeing and keep them safe from harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers:

External professionals were all complimentary of the registered manager and staff team. They said that the staff show a genuine interest in the child, and this is demonstrated in their understanding of the child's needs. This has resulted in the multi-agency working remaining in the best interest of the child. Inspection report for children's home: 2687555 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that medicines are administered in line with a medically approved protocol. When staff have questions or concerns about a child's medication, they should approach a medical professional. This specifically relates to medication that is crushed or cut in half. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 35, paragraph 7.15)

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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: 2687555 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Featherstone Care Services Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 68 Yardley Road, Acocks Green, Birmingham B27 6LG

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Inspector

Sam Dulay-Kainth, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2687555 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 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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