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

Unique reference number SC450994 Inspector Rosemary Dancer Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Registered person Direct Care Limited Registered person address Direct Care Ltd PO Box 52 Peterborough PE8 9AZ

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Responsible individual Rebecca Ouellani Registered manager Joanna Claire Payne Date of last inspection 21/08/2014 2 of 11 Inspection date 11/11/2014

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Previous inspection sustained effectiveness Enforcement action since last inspection none

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Overall effectiveness inadequate

Outcomes for children and young people adequate Quality of care adequate Keeping children and young people safe inadequate Leadership and management inadequate

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Overall effectiveness

The home is judged as inadequate overall because young people living in this home are not adequately protected from harm. The safeguarding procedures are not always being implemented and not all significant events are notified to relevant people to ensure young people's safety. Bullying incidents are not always recognised or robustly addressed to ensure young people are protected from the harm bullying causes. Staff recruitment processes do not ensure that staff working with young people are suitable to do so. Not all risks to young people are subject to an up to date and robust risk assessment to ensure risks are minimised. The approach to behaviour management is inconsistent and does not fully support young people to behave in an acceptable way. Young people are not adequately supported to decrease their incidents of being absent or missing from the home and as a result are at serious risk during these absences. There is a failure to fully engage young

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Overall effectiveness

people to take part in stimulating activities that divert them from negative behaviour and enhance their lives; the arrangements for monitoring the home are ineffective and have failed to identify the serious shortfalls identified during this inspection. There are some shortfalls in staff training that means not all staff are competent and confident in some areas of their role. Not all physical interventions are recorded and not all information about young people is maintained in a way that makes it easy to access information. 3 of 11 Young people have made some progress as a result of living in this home. All young people are engaged in education. For some this is a significant achievement as they had not been in education for some time prior to coming to live in the home.

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Overall effectiveness

Some young people have experienced a good level of stability of their placement when previously they have had many placement breakdowns.

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Overall effectiveness

Some young people have re-established contact with their families and are developing positive relationships with them. Young people have developed good relationships with some staff who they trust. 4 of 11

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/08/2014 Interim sustained effectiveness 20/01/2014 Full adequate 03/04/2013 Interim good progress 27/11/2012 Full adequate

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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) ensure that all parts of the children’s home used by children are kept clean and reasonable decorated and maintained (Regulation 31 (2) (e)) 04/12/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) prepare and implement written a policy which is intended to safeguard children accommodated in the children’s home from abuse or neglect; and sets out the procedure to be followed in the event of any allegation of abuse or neglect (Regulation 16 (a) and (b)) * 04/12/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) prepare and implement as required a written policy for the prevention of bullying in the children’s home, which shall in particular set out the procedure for dealing with an allegation of bullying 04/12/2014 5 of 11 (Regulation 16 4 (a)) *

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure the registered person shall not employ a person to work at the children’s home unless that person is fit to work at a children’s home; a person is not fit to work at a children’s home unless full and satisfactory information is available in relation to him in respect of each of the matters specified in Schedule 2 (Regulation 26 3 (d)) * 04/12/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure if any of the events listed in column 1 of the table in Schedule 5 takes place, the registered person shall without delay notify the persons indicated in respect of the event in column 2 of the table (Regulation 30 1) * 04/12/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

17B (2001) ensure that within 24 hours of the use of any measure of control, restraint or discipline in a children’s home, a written record is made in a volume kept for the purpose (Regulation 17B(3)) 04/12/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure any activities in which children participate are so far as reasonably practical free from avoidable risks (Regulation 23 (b)) 04/12/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure staff receive appropriate training, supervision and appraisal (Regulation 27(4)(a)) 04/12/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure visits by the independent person under regulation 33 include checks of all relevant matters to ensure that children are effectively safeguarded and the conduct of the home promotes the wellbeing of children (Regulation 33 8 a (i) and (ii) 04/12/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure the system for monitoring the matters set out in Schedule 6 is effective in improving the quality of care provided in the children’s home. (Regulation 34 (1)(a)(b)) 04/12/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice

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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 there is an environment and culture to promote models and support positive behaviour that all staff understand and implement. In particular with regard to individual behaviour management plans (NMS 3.3)  ensure sanctions and rewards for behaviour are clear, reasonable and fair and are understood by all staff and children (NMS 3.8)  ensure the care and support provided to children minimises the risk that 6 of 11 they will go missing and reduces the risk of harm should the child go missing (NMS 5.1)  ensure written records kept by the home when a child goes missing detail action taken by staff, the circumstances of the child’s return, any reasons given by the child for running away from the home, and any action taken in the light of those reasons. This information is shared with the responsible authority and where appropriate parents (NMS 5.10)  ensure children develop their emotional, intellectual, social creative and

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Recommendations

physical skills through the accessible and stimulating environment created by the home (NMS 7.1)  ensure information about the child is recorded clearly and in a way that will be helpful to the child when they access their files now or in the future. (NMS 22.5) 7 of 11

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Outcomes for children and young people adequate

Young people have progressed well in engaging in educational opportunities available to them. Some have developed aspirations for their future study and employment opportunities and are committed to achieving well in their exams to achieve these aims.

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Outcomes for children and young people adequate

Young people have a reasonable level of understanding about health risks related to matters such as smoking, drug use and sexual health. However, they do not always make choices that promote their physical, emotional and psychological health and overall well-being and this impacts negatively on them.

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Outcomes for children and young people adequate

Young people have some positive engagement in the local community but sometimes the choices they make lead to them putting themselves in risky situations.

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Outcomes for children and young people adequate

Young people have made some improvement in developing their self-esteem and confidence but the situations they put themselves in, due to their risky behaviours, limit their progress in these areas.

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Outcomes for children and young people adequate

Some young people have recently begun to re-establish contact with their family, as agreed with the placing authority. This is benefitting them because they are re- establishing family relationships and are beginning to develop an understanding of their and their family's situation.

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Quality of care adequate

Young people have developed positive relationships with some staff. At times young people interact positively with staff. At other times young people are rude and abusive towards staff. For example, staff do not always react firmly in these situations; they do not always challenge young people when they are using abusive language.

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Quality of care adequate

Young people are enabled to make some choices and decisions about their care and the running of the home. They engage in some key work sessions during which they discuss issues that are worrying them, or staff try and address issues with them such as their risky behaviour. House meetings are held on a regular basis and young people share their views and are able to air some of their differences in these meetings.

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Quality of care adequate

Behaviour management plans provide staff with some information regarding risks and strategies to reduce these to achieve the overall targets. However, there is further 8 of 11 information about individual young people, known to the manager, that has not been recorded in the plans; this information needs to be incorporated into the plans so that staff can help young people manage their behaviour more effectively.

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Quality of care adequate

Young people are registered with a doctor, dentist and opticians and their basic health needs are met well. Young people have access to other services, such as mental health services and services to help them to understand the risks they put themselves in when missing from care. However, some young people's engagement with these services is sporadic which means they do not get the full benefit from the work.

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Quality of care adequate

Young people have improved their attendance in education, for some the improvement has been significant and they want to catch up on their studies so that they can go to university. Staff liaise with education professionals and show a good interest in their studies.

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Quality of care adequate

Young people have the opportunity to take part in three paid activities a week. However, the high use of the loss of activities as a sanction impacts on the frequency of these. There was little evidence of young people being encouraged to take part in activities within the home. For example, a young person who was not in school for authorised reasons, spent over four hours in her bedroom while waiting to attend an appointment; this would have been an excellent opportunity for staff to spend quality time with her and engage her in an activity.

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Quality of care adequate

The home is located in a pleasant rural area not far from community amenities. Its design is suitable for its purpose and young people personalise their bedrooms to their own taste. However, the home does not provide young people with strong sense of being valued or encourage them to take pride in their surroundings because it is not well maintained.

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Keeping children and young people safe inadequate

Young people say they feel safe but they are not kept safe at all times. Staff have not always followed the safeguarding procedures when a young person has made an allegation. Two allegations about staff had not been referred to the local authority designated officer (LADO) although the manager has subsequently referred the issues to the LADO. This placed young people at risk of harm.

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Keeping children and young people safe inadequate

Young people put themselves at risk as they often go missing from the home. Not all risk assessments are up to date and do not include clear and effective strategies that staff can use to discourage them to go missing. This means that staff do not take a proactive approach to prevent young people from becoming missing. There are links between the home and the police and an individual protocol has been developed for each young person. These require early notification to the police when it is thought a young person may be considering going missing, staff have begun to implement this. 9 of 11 Staff do follow young people who they believe are intending on going missing but this approach has not been effective in preventing them from becoming missing; they usually manage to evade staff. On occasion a lone member of staff will follow a young person when they are trying to go missing. A staff member alone is powerless

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Keeping children and young people safe inadequate

to take action to stop a young person, getting into a car, for example, and therefore putting themselves at considerable risk.

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Keeping children and young people safe inadequate

Positive behaviour is recognised and rewarded and this encourages young people to develop a level of understanding about what is acceptable. However, young people display a high level of disruptive behaviour when they cannot get their own way. This can lead to staff being assaulted and being sworn at and young people have made threats to staff that they will get them into trouble. This behaviour often goes unchallenged by staff and this does not help them to understand that this is not acceptable behaviour. Sanctions for poor behaviour do not always clearly link to the incident. For example, there is a high use of the loss of an activity as a sanction. As this is not always clearly linked to the behaviour this form of sanction has had little impact on encouraging young people to behave in a socially acceptable way.

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Keeping children and young people safe inadequate

Physical intervention is used appropriately to prevent injury to the young person or others or serious damage to property. Not all interventions have been recorded in the physical intervention book. This means that the manager has not always been able to assess the appropriateness and effectiveness of the intervention.

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Keeping children and young people safe inadequate

Incidents of bullying often go unrecognised and unchallenged. Some bullying incidents were stated to be just young people feeling left out or falling out with each other. The lack of a robust approach to bullying does not protect young people. Their emotional and psychological well-being is adversely impacted and some have begun to isolate themselves by spending as much time in their room as possible. Some risk assessments in relation to bullying were not up to date. This means that staff do not have current knowledge about how to deal with the complex dynamics between the young people currently living in the home.

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Keeping children and young people safe inadequate

Staff recruitment processes are not robust. For example, the organisation has not: carried out further enquires when there have been discrepancies in applicants' employment or address histories; followed up on concerns stated by referees; carried out risk assessments when applicants have criminal histories. This places young people at risk of harm from unsuitable people working with them.

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Leadership and management inadequate

The home has a permanent manager who is registered with Ofsted and holds the relevant qualifications to manage a children's home. She has been in post since December 2012.

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Leadership and management inadequate

The manager has taken some action to address requirements made at previous visits 10 of 11 to the home. The manager has fully addressed issues relating to the storage and administration of medication that make sure medicines are only accessible to authorised people and medicine is administered as required. Some progress has been made in addressing a requirement to update staff training in first aid and medication administration because this has been booked for staff to do on 17 November 2013. While some improvements have been achieved in relation to the external and internal monitoring arrangements under regulation 33 and 34, these remain infective. They have failed to identify some serious shortfalls in practice. As a result leaders and managers have not identified or understood the weaknesses of the home and young people have been put at risk of harm.

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Leadership and management inadequate

The home's Statement of Purpose is updated on a regular basis and provides the reader with a good view about the home's aims and objectives.

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Leadership and management inadequate

Maintenance of the home is poor, for example there was a lack of hand washing soap and hand towels in the lavatories and this presents a health and hygiene risk. The home appears generally unkempt in many areas. For example, most of the carpets are dirty and are in a poor condition and a number of cigarette butts are discarded in the grounds outside.

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Leadership and management inadequate

There are sufficient numbers of staff employed within the home. Staff demonstrate considerable patience with the young people but are not always confident in challenging them effectively. Staff receive regular supervision, the manager is available to them and reported as being approachable and supportive. There is a range of training available but this is not always delivered in a timely way to ensure staff are confident and competent in their often difficult roles. For example, training in medication administration and first aid had lapsed for some staff but has now been booked and bullying awareness training has not been delivered to all staff.

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Leadership and management inadequate

Records for young people are not well maintained. Information is stored across a range of media and this means it not easy to track events and decision making for monitoring purposes. Also records in their current form are not useful to young people who wish to read their files.

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Leadership and management inadequate

Not all notifications have been made about significant events in the home to the relevant persons. This means that a prompt multi-agency approach has not always occurred to ensure that young people are safeguarded. Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Leadership and management inadequate

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Judgement Description

Outstanding A service of exceptional quality that significantly exceeds minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Good A service of high quality that exceeds minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Adequate A service that only meets minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Inadequate A service that does not meet minimum requirements.

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Information 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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Information 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 framework of inspection for children's homes.

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