Children's Home run by Keys Educational Services Limited in Lincolnshire

Unique reference number SC363422 Inspection date 20/11/2013 Inspector Tracy Murty Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 11/03/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This children's home run by a private organisation provides care and accommodation for up to three young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding : a service of exceptional quality that significantly exceeds minimum requirements Good : a service of high quality that exceeds minimum requirements Adequate : a service that only meets minimum requirements Inadequate : a service that does not meet minimum requirements

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be outstanding .

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Overall effectiveness

Young people achieve exceptionally well in all aspects of their lives whilst living in this home. They receive highly personalised and well planned care from a very committed and dedicated staff team. The individualised needs of young people are fully taken into account and considered, leading to significantly improved outcomes over time.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people contribute fully to all aspects of how the home is run. They have contributed to the home's development plan and contribute their wishes and feelings on all aspects of the care they receive. They feel valued and listened to and able to influence the running of the home on a daily basis. They enjoy very positive relationships with the staff and Registered Manager and are able to express their wishes and feelings with confidence. Regular and meaningful key work sessions enable young people to set targets for themselves and to see over time how these are being achieved.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people feel safe and are kept safe by the highly competent and caring staff team. From their starting points, young people have significantly reduced risk-taking behaviours and rarely go missing. Such significant improvements have been supported by the very positive and close working relationships forged by the staff team with local police and health professionals.

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Overall effectiveness

The Registered Manager has a thorough understanding and awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. A very detailed development plan is in place and reflects the commitment of the Registered Manager to ensuring continual improvement. Consultation and engagement is a key strength of this home, with high quality recording and monitoring leading to extremely positive outcomes for young people. From their starting points, young people increase significantly in confidence, emotional security and educational attendance.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for young people are outstanding .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people make significant progress in relation to their self-esteem and confidence whilst living in this home. From their starting points, they develop emotional resilience and a sense of value. One independent reviewing officer praised the staff for helping to significantly improve the emotional health and well-being of one young person. They stated that staff had engaged a young person in a very respectful manner and enabled them to feel safe and secure.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people enjoy good health and have all of their health needs met. Staff proactively support young people to identify their health needs and how to meet them over time. As a result of this, young people have started to address such areas as smoking, attending local smoking cessation clinics and significantly reducing their nicotine intake. They have also accessed local health agencies to ensure that their holistic health needs are met. Young people also receive appropriate help to support their mental health needs and develop an increased sense of emotional well-being.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have exceptionally positive engagement with educational provisions and have clear goals and aspirations for their futures. Staff work closely with educational providers to ensure that young people have the best possible chance of achieving qualifications and move on to further education or employment. One education professional praised the staff team for their total commitment to ensuring that a young person's educational needs were met. A social worker stated that the engagement and 100% attendance of another young person was a massive improvement for them and down to the commitment of the staff and support they offer.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people feel empowered to share their views and feelings with the staff team on all aspects of the care provided. Regular young people's meetings enable them to express their wishes and feelings. The Registered Manager responds to all comments and requests made by young people in a timely manner. An example of how well this works relates to young people recently asking to be able to decorate their bedrooms. This was considered by the staff team and young people were supported to purchase their choice of paints and decorate their rooms. This increases the sense of being valued and enables young people to express their personal preferences.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people engage in a wide range of social activities in the home and local community. These include membership at local gyms, taking part in fitness classes, visiting local cinemas and playing board games with staff. Young people spend free time in the local community, socialising with their friends and shopping. This increases their sense of engagement and belonging to the community they live in. Young people make the connection between healthy lifestyle choices and social activities and set personal targets to meet their health needs.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from positive and regular contact with family members and friends. The staff team fully support young people to maintain such links, by providing transport and emotional support. This increases the sense of value for young people and enables their family members to get to know the staff team and form meaningful relationships with them over time. Young people also have friends to visit them in the home, which further promotes their sense of integration and acceptance.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people learn how to prepare for their eventual move to adult life whilst living in this home. Staff support them to learn how to cook, manage their finances and do their own washing and cleaning. Young people increase in confidence as they learn new skills and take great pride in their personal achievements. This is also reflected in their engagement with education, as young people learn the value of education and of wanting to achieve well as they prepare to move on.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have significantly reduced their risk-taking behaviours since moving to live at this home. With the support of the highly dedicated staff team, they have developed alternative coping strategies and learned to change their unsafe behaviours. Young people feel supported to identify areas of concern and to develop and implement more effective responses to situations.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

Young people enjoy very positive relationships with the staff team and Registered Manager. They feel confident and able to approach staff to discuss any issues of concern they may have. Regular key work sessions further enable young people to form trusting and meaningful relationships with staff. One social worker praised the key worker relationship, stating that it had enabled one young person to really share their feelings. Key work sessions are well planned and take into account the specific needs of each young person. Young people learn over time to consider their own needs and behaviours and work positively with staff to make improvements.

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Quality of care

Young people respond extremely well to the clear and consistent boundaries set for them by the staff team. The use of positive consequences enables young people to learn the value of positive behaviour. A range of incentives is also used by the staff team to promote positive behaviours with young people. These have included financial incentives for keeping their bedrooms tidy and clearing away dishes. Such imaginative practices enable young people to learn to moderate their more concerning behaviours and to see the value of positive behaviours.

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Quality of care

Young people significantly influence the running of the home. They actively contribute to decisions about the décor of their bedrooms and communal areas of the home. They contribute to the menu planning each week and make suggestions for how the services provided could be improved. The Registered Manager actively seeks the consultation and engagement of young people and uses their contributions to influence the services offered. Their views have been incorporated into the home's development plan this year.

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Quality of care

Young people feel confident in being able to express any concerns or complaints they may have. Detailed information is provided to them on admission in the form of a children's guide. This provides clear details of how they can make a complaint and includes details of other agencies they may wish to contact. There have been no reported complaints from young people since the last inspection.

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Quality of care

Staff work very positively with parents and carers to support the work they do with young people. A social worker praised the staff team for supporting and promoting contact for one young person with their family members. This has led to improved relationships and an increased sense of confidence for parents in the quality of care provided to their children. Young people feel very well supported by staff in relation to keeping in touch with family members and significant others. One independent reviewing officer stated, 'they have engaged the young person in a very respectful manner and have helped them so much in a short period of time. This young person has not always felt respected or valued, so this is a major improvement for them.'

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Quality of care

Staff actively promote the education of young people living in this home. They proactively work with education providers to ensure that each young person has suitable educational provisions in place. Records for young people reflect the regular tracking and chasing staff undertake, to ensure that young people have provisions in place as soon as possible after coming to live in the home. One education provider praised the staff team for the high levels of communication and engagement they show, by attending meetings and providing emotional and practical support for young people. This has included transporting young people to educational placements each day and encouraging their attendance and engagement.

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Quality of care

Young people feel able to try out new social activities when living in this home. This includes membership of local gyms, with staff accompanying them and taking part in exercise classes with them to increase their self-confidence. Young people also enjoy attending the cinema, shopping and meeting with friends locally. This promotes their sense of inclusion in the local community and enables young people to make and sustain age appropriate relationships. Young people feel able to have friends visit them and have free time in the local community.

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Quality of care

Young people live in a home which is maintained and furnished to a very high standard throughout. It presents as very homely and welcoming, with young people having assisted the staff team to choose art work and colour schemes for the communal rooms. Young people personalise their own rooms to reflect their individual likes and tastes. Staff encourage young people to consider other cultures and develop a wider understanding of different religions and dietary preferences. Each week, staff work with young people to device a noticeboard with a different topic. This promotes an increased awareness of diversity and difference, which young people respond positively to. Staff work very closely and proactively with a wide range of professionals and agencies to ensure the holistic needs of young people are met at all times. One independent reviewing officer praised the staff team for their work with police and

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Quality of care

nursing staff. They reported that this had led to a significant improvement in relation to missing episodes and self-harmful behaviours for young people over time.' Young people are introduced to such agencies and know they can contact them independently for advice or support at any time.'

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Safeguarding children and young people

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

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people report feeling very safe in this home and when they are out in the community. They form meaningful relationships with their key workers in the home and feel able to express their wishes and feelings over time. This leads to them developing a sense of value and in being able to positively address any concerning behaviours, leading to increased personal safety.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Behaviour management strategies reflect the specific needs of each young person and are regularly reviewed and updated. The staff team display a detailed knowledge and awareness of the needs of the young people and have clear risk assessments and plans in place to support them. The use of positive consequences has led to significant improvements in the behaviours of young people. They respond very positively to such strategies and feel fully consulted with about all aspects of the care provided to them.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Missing from care risk assessments detail the needs and potential triggers for each young person. There has been a significant reduction in the number of incidents of young people going missing from this home in a very short period. One social worker praised the staff team for the work they have done with one young person around missing issues. They stated, 'I am so impressed with what the staff have achieved for the young person. This is a phenomenal improvement for them and credit to the staff.'

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Safeguarding children and young people

The Registered Manager ensures that close and positive working relationships are maintained with the local neighbourhood police team. She invites them to visit the home when new young people move in, in order that they can introduce themselves and form links with the home. Young people therefore, feel fully aware of the support available to them. They also contribute to the formation of plans and assessments relating to them. This ensures that there is transparency and clarity for young people about their individual risk factors and how they will be safeguarded.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Whilst ensuring their safety at all times, the staff team also enables young people to take age appropriate risks. This includes increasing the amount of free time they may have in the local community and in having increased financial independence. This enables young people to prepare for their eventual move to independent living and increases their confidence and ability to manage certain situations with less staff support. Young people do not engage in risk taking behaviours and respond very positively to the support and guidance provided to them by the staff team.

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Leadership and management

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

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Leadership and management

The Registered Manager demonstrates a high level of commitment, dedication and competence. All requirements made at the last inspection have been fully met. There is a Registered Manager in post and sufficient levels of permanent staffing employed by the home to support the needs of young people. The Registered Manager has ensured that the home is suitably furnished, equipped and is decorated and maintained to a very high standard throughout.

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Leadership and management

Staff report very high levels of satisfaction in relation to the supervision, training and support they receive. One member of staff stated, 'I love my job and really enjoy coming into work every day to be with the young people. The manager is great and always there for me.' Staff receive a wide range of training opportunities, overseen by the Registered Manager. Such training ensures that staff working in this home have the necessary skills and competence to work with young people with complex needs.

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Leadership and management

Staff receive regular supervision and annual appraisals which further assist them to perform their roles with skill and competence. The Registered Manager ensures that all changes to relevant legislation and practice are shared with staff during team meetings. This reflects her commitment to ensuring that staff have the skills and knowledge to meet the needs of young people at all times.

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Leadership and management

The home has a detailed and meaningful development plan in place. Young people have been consulted about the plan during resident's meetings and their contributions have been included in it. This reflects the Registered Manager's commitment to ensuring that young people are central to all aspects of the how the home is run. Records also reflect the needs of each young person and specify how they will be met. Young people consider their plans with their key workers and can see the progress they make over time. Young people are provided with a detailed sense of their achievements since moving into the home and develop a real sense of pride.

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Leadership and management

The Registered Manager has robust systems in place for monitoring all aspects of care provided to young people. She uses this to track such areas as educational attendance of young people, setting targets for them and incentives for achieving those targets. The Registered Manager is very aware of the histories and starting points of each young person and clearly records their development in all areas. This has led to significantly improved outcomes for young people in a short period of time.

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Leadership and management

The home has a detailed and clear Statement of Purpose in place. Young people receive a children's guide on admission to the home which contains useful information, including details of how to make a complaint. Placing authorities report confidence that the home meets the aims and objectives set out in its Statement of Purpose. One social worker praised the Registered Manager for their commitment to young people, stating, 'she keeps me on my toes and chases me to make sure things get done, in an appropriate way. I cannot think of anything the staff could do better at this time.'

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Leadership and management

The recruitment and selection of staff is robust and ensures that no unsuitable persons are able to work with young people in this home. Any allegations of abuse receive prompt attention from the Registered Manager and staff team. Staff demonstrate a strong awareness of safeguarding issues and of their responsibilities in relation to allegations made by young people. Close working relationships with local police and the local authority designated officer further ensures that young people and staff receive the necessary support and responses in a timely manner.

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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 and the evaluation schedule for the inspection of children's homes.

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