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

Unique reference number SC450994 Inspection date 03/04/2013 Inspector Stephen Halliley Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 27/11/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

The home is owned by an independent provider. It is registered for three children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties (EBD).

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Good progress The children’s home has demonstrated continued improvement in quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the large majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Satisfactory progress The children’s home has maintained quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Inadequate progress The children’s home has failed to address one or more requirements and/or has not met the majority of recommendations and/or the quality of care and outcomes for children and young people have declined since the last full inspection.

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Progress

Since their previous inspection the service is judged to be making good progress .

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Progress

The first inspection of this home in November 2012 judged the service to be adequate and five recommendations were made. Since this time the home has gone through a difficult period in terms of settling young people and developing a new staff team and there has been a change of Registered Manager. However, all recommendations have been addressed, young people are making clear progress in many aspects of their lives and the home is far more settled. This has helped contribute to a judgement of good progress made at this inspection. However, a number of minor shortfalls are noted, primarily around the consistency of recording, which do not impact on young people's well-being.

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Progress

Young people are offered a wide range of stimulating activities by staff. These include the cinema, theme parks, tobogganing, attending under-18 discos and training for the ‘Race for Life’ to improve their awareness of issues affecting other people. Participation in these activities has improved since the last inspection with staff offering a greater selection of activities and actively encouraging young people to participate. This helps support young people's emotional and physical health and also encourages them to develop a wider range of social skills. Smoking by young people has reduced greatly since the last inspection and young people have been clearly supported to address this. Regular key work sessions take place which have also focused on alcohol and substance misuse, healthy eating and staying safe. This allows young people to make informed choices and to take a greater level of personal responsibility for their own health.

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Progress

Sanctions given to young people are now recorded fully though some do not make it clear that young people have been offered the opportunity to speak about them afterwards. Sufficient information is recorded to allow staff to pinpoint behaviour and triggers; a new system of monitoring, in line with updating care plans, will further support this. This will allow staff to support young people to better self-manage their behaviour through times of crisis. This will be highly beneficial to young people in social situations outside the home and when they move on to adult placements.

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Progress

The home has developed a 'Guide to keeping yourself safe on the Internet - Cyber- bullying and sexual exploitation on the internet'. This is a comprehensive document which young people work through with staff. There is then a quiz to take which helps them reflect on their own behaviour on line and whether or not they may be a cyber- bully. This helps young people develop a greater self-awareness and understanding of their own behaviour. This is followed by a 'Do you know how to keep safe?' review of the lessons learnt by young people reading this guide. When this is successfully completed, a certificate of keeping safe with technology is given, signed by staff. This approach ensures young people are aware of possible risks to themselves and how to keep themselves safe should these issues arise.

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Progress

Health and safety and ensuring young people's welfare is given a high priority in this home. The frequency of young people being absent without authority has reduced significantly and there are clear records of actions taken by staff to ensure their safe return. While conversations take place with young people upon their return to look at different ways of managing their behaviours and emotions, this is not clearly recorded. Additionally, a wide range of health and safety checks are carried out within the home. The vast majority of these are carried out regularly and fully recorded. However, there are gaps in the frequency of the emergency lighting checks. This could have a potential impact should there be an emergency at night.

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Progress

The staff team have settled into the home and this is clearly reflected in the calmer feel to the home. All staff have received good quality training to enable them to provide consistent safe care to young people. All staff receive regular supervision to support and further develop practice though there is no record held in the home of the Registered Manager’s supervision.

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Progress

Young people benefit from being in a home where their input is highly valued by the staff as a tool for developing systems and structures. This is particularly relevant in terms of the links between behaviour and sanctions which were drawn up as part of a whole-house meeting. Young people are clear that: 'The sanctions in use in the home were put together by us with staff so we know what to expect and can't really complain if we get sanctions for our behaviour.' This has helped young people understand how their behaviour impacts on others and why there are consequences to behaviour. This approach also ensures young people feel important and that they have a say in how their home is being run. Throughout the home there is a clear focus on gaining young people’s, their parents and placing authorities views to help inform practice but this is not always clearly reflected in the monitoring reports provided by the home.

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Progress

The home has developed some detailed and very focused key work packs to support targeted one-to-one work. These include 'know your rights', anger management, racism, advice on drugs, ‘running away doesn’t solve the problem’, ‘being in a good relationship’ and healthy eating. These allow for continuity of key working, review of areas already covered, and for young people to be actively involved in addressing these areas, rather than sessions being dominated and run by staff. ‘Working towards independence’ packages are also being introduced as young people are settled and can begin to develop the skills that will benefit them in future life. School attendance is much improved with young people now attending the right educational provision to meet their needs. The stability of the home, attending school and taking part in community-based activities and clubs is having a very positive impact on young people who have made large strides since coming to live in this home.

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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 where sanctions, disciplinary measures or restraints are used children are encouraged to have their views recorded in the records kept by the home (NMS 3.18)  ensure written records kept by the home when a child goes missing detail any reasons given by the child for running away from the home and any action taken in light of these reasons (NMS 5.10)  ensure a written or electronic record is kept in the home detailing the time and date and length of each supervision held for the registered person (NMS 19.5)  ensure the manager regularly monitors in line with regulations all records kept in the home to ensure compliance with the home's policies; this specifically relates to frequency of emergency lighting tests (NMS 21.2)  ensure management of the home ensures all staff's work is consistent with regulations, national minimum standards, the home's policies and procedures; specifically that consultation with young people, parents and placing authorities is

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Recommendations

clearly recorded on Regulation 34 monitoring. (NMS 21.3)

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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 progress made by the provider since the last full inspection, identifies any further strengths, any areas for improvement and makes judgements as outlined in the Inspection of children’s homes – framework for inspection.

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