Children's Home run by Keys Direct Care Limited in Lincolnshire

Unique reference number SC419429 Inspection date 27/07/2011 Inspector Caroline Oldham Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 18/10/2010 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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About this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards.

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About this inspection

The report details the main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made against the Inspections of children’s homes – framework for inspection (March 2011) and the evaluation schedule for children's homes.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding : a service that significantly exceeds minimum requirements Good : a service that exceeds minimum requirements Satisfactory : a service that only meets minimum requirements Inadequate : a service that does not meet minimum requirements

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Brief description of the service

This is a modern, spacious four bed roomed detached rurally located residential property. The children's home can accommodate up to three young people between the age of 10 and 17 years of either gender but the provider intends, wherever possible, to maintain it a single gender home. It offers medium to long term placements for children and young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be good .

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Overall effectiveness

This was an unannounced full inspection that has assessed all the outcome areas as meeting the needs of young people to a good standard. The home provides packages of care carefully designed to meet the individual needs of each young person. Staff draw up personalised care plans, which are regularly reviewed and updated. They are well supported by a psychologist who regularly attends meetings to offer advice and guidance for staff in their work with the young people. A comprehensive documentation system is in place, ensuring that records are cross checked and that important issues are discussed with young people in key working sessions. As a result young people make good progress.

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Overall effectiveness

The young people speak highly about the quality of care in the home. Young people say that they like the staff and miss them when they are not on duty for a few days. Young people have some say in their choice of key worker and have influence on menu choices and how they spend their free time. However, young people's meetings are not being held regularly to enable group discussion about the running of the home.

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Overall effectiveness

Staff are well supported by the manager who has a clear ethos for the home. The manager generally has a good oversight of the activities of the home although some areas of monitoring lack attention to detail. Social workers say that staff are highly professional and that they also establish a good relationship of trust with the child. Staff and young people have fun, participate in banter and jokes but staff also set clear boundaries about behaviour and expectations. Generally young people enjoy a healthy lifestyle but it is not clear whether young people are encouraged to participate in regular exercise and to eat a broad range of healthy food.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people said that they feel happy and secure in the home. They are kept safe through good risk assessments both for themselves and for the home. Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding issues and when young people express any concerns they are vigilant to follow these through appropriately.

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Statutory Requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person/s meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) supply a copy of each of the registered provider's written reports of monitoring visits to the home carried out under Regulation 33 to the registered manager. (Children Homes Regulations 2001 33 (5) (b)) 30/08/2011

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 ensure that children's views, wishes and feelings are acted upon in the day-to- day running of the home (NMS 1.1)  demonstrate that children are encouraged to participate in a range of positive activities that contribute to their physical health (NMS 6.3)  ensure that there are clear and effective procedures for monitoring and controlling the activities of the home, in particular staff training (NMS 21.1)  ensure that documentation demonstrates that the home promotes and supports positive behaviour, in particular through its application of the rewards scheme. (NMS 3.2)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for children and young people are good .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people often come to this home with low self-esteem and difficult patterns of behaviour. Staff work closely with social workers and others involved in the care of the young person to put in place individual placement plans. These plans are linked to the key work sessions to help young people make progress towards building up emotional resilience and self-esteem. Staff spend time with young people talking about their backgrounds and dealing with the many issues that arise. As young people build up trust with staff, they open up and share more vulnerable aspects of their past. This enables staff to helps young people deal with these issues and move forward. Staff are well supported by the company psychologist who attends staff meetings, providing ongoing guidance to assist in the development plan for each young person. Consequently young people are making good progress and their self- esteem is rising.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Staff consider all aspects of the young people's health. When a young person is admitted, they are registered with the local health professionals and all health needs are actively pursued. Young people have consequently taken up health appointments that they have resisted for a long time. This is a significant achievement as it enables the young person to access additional services if necessary and to deal with issues that affect their health and well-being. Young people are therefore becoming more aware of health issues and their health needs in this area are being well met. Some young people enjoy some degree of activity but records do not demonstrate if this is consistently promoted. Consequently young people are not always encouraged to develop healthy choices or establish a consistently active life.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are encouraged to attend education, and with staff support, are attending their educational provisions on a regular basis. Young people are making progress in their education and they have high aspirations. Staff are very supportive about ensuring that young people rise to their potential. Despite setbacks and difficulties, for example, when young people have not got a suitable school placement, the manager is passionate about securing appropriate provisions for young people to ensure that they achieve well at school. Young people sometimes express an interest in an area of study and staff are quick to follow up on this. For example, interests in the history of Anne Frank and Martin Luther King. This enthusiasm and the subsequent displays put up be the young people show that they are developing a love of learning.

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Outcomes for children and young people

The home is beautifully maintained and young people clearly take pride in their environment. Young people emphasise that it is just like any ordinary home and this is very important to them. However, young people do not have any formal channels to express their wishes and feelings with regard to the day-to-day running of the home. Staff support young people having some involvement in the community, such as getting involved in youth activities and a very imaginative work experience programme.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from appropriate contact with family, friends and other people who are important to them. The staff make considerable efforts to make sure that contact happens, taking young people significant distances using transport provided by the home. Where appropriate they also welcome family to the home and ensure that contact visits are well managed events. Parents say that they are always made welcome and kept informed. Young people confirm that they have contact as agreed in their care plan.

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Outcomes for children and young people

There is a very good, detailed programme of independence training for preparing young people for leaving care. There is an initial assessment to establish each young person’s current knowledge and then a training programme at three levels. This covers various areas including managing finance, developing basic home keeping skills, independence and finding work. Young people are awarded certificates at the end of each level of the course completed. Staff have a strong determination to ensure that young people overcome obstacles and tackle areas they find difficult. For example, providing support when young people open a bank account. This tenacity ensures that young people make very good progress in all aspects of preparing for a more independent life.

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Quality of care

Young people clearly engage well with the staff. They speak with fond affection about their favourite members of staff and generally interact well with each other. Young people behave very well and respond to the clear expectations and positive feedback from staff. They enjoy getting rewards for positive behaviour such as a small gift from the 'prize' box. This is a box of items of small financial value, but contains items that the young people like, such as make-up and socks. However, this is not well documented and does not fully reflect the positive consequence system in place.

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Quality of care

Young people are able to influence the running of the home to meet their personal wishes. For example renegotiating bed times was achieved through staff agreement to alter shift start and finish times. This is an excellent example of the flexible care offered to meet individual needs. Key work is drawn from the placement plans and meetings are held at least weekly and may be formal or informal events. Young people have a say in who they wish to have as their key worker and sometimes the topic for discussion. Consequently young people may have two key workers; one who carries out more of an administrative role and another who has established a warm rapport. So, although the views, wishes and feelings of young people are sought with regard to their individual needs, this is less so with regard to the communal day-to-day running of the home. Young people’s meetings are not well attended and involvement in menu planning is sporadic. However, young people do

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Quality of care

feel that the house is their home and feel a strong attachment to it and the staff team.

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Quality of care

Staff are very skilled at helping young people understand why it may not be possible to act upon their wishes and to set clear limits in place. They have had to implement care plans that have placed limitations on contact with family and to carry out plans that young people have struggled to accept. Through their skilled interventions they have achieved success by taking time to explain to the young person the reasoning behind the decision and supporting them where necessary. Consequently young people are developing a mature understanding of why certain wishes cannot be met.

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Quality of care

Young people are given a clearly written guide when they are first admitted to the home. This includes the complaints procedure. Young people feel confident to make complaints and documentation shows that these are acted upon and responded to in a timely manner. Social workers say that matters are resolved to their satisfaction at a high management level. They also praise the staff team for their professionalism.

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Quality of care

Detailed placement and care plans are in place for young people and include cultural background and personal identity. These detail the specific, individualised needs of the young person and where appropriate their religious and cultural needs and interests. Staff review the care plan monthly and update the key work plan. Key working is given a high priority and may be a formal planned session or an opportune moment. Young people have a say in whom they want as their key worker and therefore engagement is positive and fruitful. Additional sessions may be undertaken by other members of staff according to circumstances. Work covers areas from the placement plan but also additional areas of work according to need. This helps young people to understand their behaviours and to develop strategies for change.

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Quality of care

The home generally provides a healthy environment and staff are committed to ensuring that all the young people's medical needs are met. In addition, staff encourage young people to take up additional specialist support such as children and adolescent mental health services. It is a real strength of the home that they enable young people to engage with these services, sometimes, for the first time. Young people are encouraged to develop high standards of personal care and hygiene providing options for showering or bathing according to preference. Young people are encouraged to choose the weekly menu but menus do not demonstrate opportunities to try new dishes and there is limited recording of consumption of fruit and vegetables although they are available. Staff and young people talked about water play in the garden, long walks and the occasional run but there is no regular opportunity for physical activities incorporated into daily living. So young people have

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Quality of care

some of their health needs met very well, but some areas are lacking such as regular opportunities for exercise and encouragement of varied menu planning.

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Quality of care

Young people are well supported by staff who engage with the education services to ensure the appropriate educational services are provided. When there is a gap in service the company teacher comes in to the home to offer some home tuition. Further work plans are left for young people to complete and staff are advised how to support the young person in their learning. Staff also work very hard to meet the young person's educational needs and aspirations and act as excellent champions of the young person to provide appropriate educational provision. They engage well with the young people to ensure that attendance is good and goals are achieved. For example, consideration is given to establishing good bedtime routines to ensure young people have a good night's sleep. Staff also have good strategies to entice young people out of bed and establish a positive morning routine. This positive engagement means that young people are working towards re-engagement in

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Quality of care

mainstream schooling and obtaining recognised academic qualifications.

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Quality of care

The home offers a variety of activities for leisure time but this is not always taken up by the young people who often prefer to spend their free time around the home or visiting friends. Recently young people have engaged with a youth theatre group, going to the park and shopping. Inside the home cards games are popular as well as singing and dancing, watching DVDs and listening to music.

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Quality of care

The home and surrounding grounds are spacious, and very well maintained. There is an ongoing programme of improvements and redecoration. Its location enables young people to access local shops and services and a car journey will take them to a large town. Young people are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms and they are allowed to keep small pets. They take responsibility for cleaning their bedrooms and managing their laundry with some appropriate help and support from staff. Young people have keys to their rooms if they wish and their files are kept securely locked.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The service is good at keeping children and young people safe and feeling safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

There is a comprehensive and detailed complaint and representation policy and procedure. Young people are aware and confident about making a complaint and know concerns will be acted upon. They say with confidence that they feel safe in the home. All staff receive training in child protection procedures and have a good working knowledge of what to do if an allegation is made against a member of staff. Young people recognise the importance of building up trust and talking to staff about concerns that they may have. Staff ensure that there are comprehensive individual risk assessments for each young person, and they are regularly updated as situations change. If young people go missing there are good procedures in place to notify the police and search for the young people. When young people return to the home they are well supported and treated with care and sensitivity. The home works closely with the police, Local Authority Designated Officer and others to build up good

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Safeguarding children and young people

channels of communication and support. This ensures that the welfare of the young people remains paramount. Consequently young people are kept safe at the home.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people acknowledged that there are rules, but these are reasonable and that staff want good behaviour. Social workers confirm that boundaries are consistent and expectations of behaviour given in a friendly manner. Consequently young people are able to turn their lives around and make a fresh start. Expectations are clearly displayed and the staff are very open about the standards of behaviour expected. At times the behaviour of young people is challenging and sometimes young people have had to be restrained. These incidents are well documented and appropriate. There is a record kept of sanctions and rewards but this system does not fully celebrate the positive achievements of the young people when they receive prizes for good behaviour or other symbols of recognition of achievement. There is also a financial reward scheme where young people can earn financial recompense for achieving daily goals.

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Safeguarding children and young people

There has been no recruitment to the home in recent months. However the organisation has good systems and processes for the recruitment and vetting of staff. A recent internal review has highlighted further improvements to the system enabling the home's manager to be more actively involved in the recruitment and selection process. This ensures that all staff are suitable to work with young people and they are kept safe from harm.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The environment is well maintained and kept safe through a system of weekly and monthly internal safety checks and risk assessments. In addition, services such as electricity, electrical appliances and fire fighting equipment are regularly checked by the appropriate professional companies. Staff carry out much of the day-to -day maintenance and redecoration and they encourage young people to get involved in caring for their environment. Consequently the home is very well maintained. Fire drills are carried out very regularly, particularly when a new young person is admitted, and drills including night time evacuations. Visitors to the home are checked for identification, they are signed in and advised about fire safety and potential hazards and risks.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the children's home are good .

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Leadership and management

This is the first inspection since registration and therefore there are no requirements or recommendations from the last inspection.

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Leadership and management

The manager has established a good ethos. Staff speak positively about their own development opportunities and their ability to actively contribute to the running of the home. There is a clear Statement of Purpose, which is regularly reviewed to reflect changes. Generally it provides an accurate reflection of what the home provides. The manager has produced an annual development plan but this does not show progress and development towards the objectives. The organisation carries out monthly monitoring visits and these have recently been reviewed to improve the quality of the information gathered. However, reports for these visits are not all available on site for the manager and staff to read and respond to. The manager also has a good system of internal audits. Appropriate and timely action is taken to notify the appropriate authorities and persons following significant events and incidents. Issues are then followed through to ensure that young people are well supported.

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Leadership and management

Young people are very clear about the purpose of their placement in the home and their future plans. Each young person has a working day-to-day file which contains detailed key worker notes, so that they can see how they are working to their objectives. Placing authorities are clear about the aims and objectives of the home and what services and facilities it provides. They have provided glowing feedback on their experience of the home with regard to the excellent inter-professional relationships. Social workers say that this is the best company that they have dealt with as no matter is too trivial for them when it concerns the young person. Consequently the changes in the young person have been phenomenal. Staff are also clear about their roles, and how to access additional support for young people. They demonstrate a good awareness of the complexity of the backgrounds of the young people and are tenacious in their aim to help them make progress.

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Leadership and management

The manager confirmed that the home is financially well resourced. Two cars are available for use by the home and there are budgets available for some further external works in the garden to be carried out.

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Leadership and management

The home is fully staffed for the current number of young people. The organisation has other homes within the area, so should the need arise, additional cover can be provided by one of these homes. Staffing levels are sufficient, but are increased where necessary, such as to provide staff for contact visits. Staff confirmed that levels are always sufficient to keep young people safe and rotas support this. Staff receive training and records show that there is an ongoing programme including induction and mandatory training. All staff are suitably qualified or working towards a qualification. Supervision records indicate that all staff receive supervision and staff say that they are able to seek advice and support when necessary. The manger confirms that she is well supported. Generally there are some good systems for amending and reviewing documentation within the home to ensure that it remains up to date. However, management monitoring of staff training and supervision does

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Leadership and management

not always identify gaps. Consequently staff do not always have the appropriate skills and training..

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Leadership and management

Care planning documents demonstrate that staff have a good awareness of meeting young people's individual needs. They are working documents that are reviewed as progress is made. The structure of the file system ensures that young people can access some documents that do not hold sensitive information, while other records are held separately. All documentation is kept in a locked filing cabinet in a locked office.

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Leadership and management

Equality and diversity practice is good .

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