Children's Home run by Keys Direct Care Limited in West Northamptonshire

Requires improvement

The children's home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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because:

 The Registered Manager does not effectively match the needs of some young people looking for a placement with the aims outlined in the Statement of Purpose and the skills and experience of staff.

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because:

 The Registered Manager does not consistently communicate effectively with external agencies.

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because:

 The Registered Manager does not consistently follow placing authority care plans with regards to contact arrangements and missing from care protocols.

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because:

 The Registered Manager does not notify the regulator when a young person is at risk of or subject to sexual exploitation.

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because:

 Staff do not receive the formal support they require as a new team. Training is basic and does not equip staff with the skills they require for the complex young people in their care.

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because:

 The staff team is mostly new, although experienced, and has not been given the time needed to get to know each other, the home and the organisation.

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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 (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, with particular reference to young people that may go missing from the home, the registered provider must ensure that staff:

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Requirement Due date

(vi) take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child's welfare (Regulation 12 (2)(vi)) 22/05/2015

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard, with particular reference to effective placement matching and young people who go missing, the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children's home that:

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Requirement Due date

(2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to (a) lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home's statement of purpose; (b) ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; (c) ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; (d) ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; (e) ensure that the home's workforce provides continuity of care to each child; (f) understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home (Regulation 13(1) & (2)(a-f)) 31/05/2015

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— (a) a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation (Regulation 40(4)) 31/05/2015 In order to engage with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met the registered person must ensure that staff:

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Requirement Due date

(a) seek to involve each child's placing authority effectively in the child's care, in accordance with the child's relevant plans; (b) seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child's needs. (Regulation 5(a) and (b)) 31/05/2015

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Information about this children's home

This privately owned home is registered for four young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The Statement of Purpose details the age range of children being between 10 and 18 years of age. The Statement of Purpose details the range of needs the home can accommodate as: those who display challenging behaviour; those who may have been subject to abuse, such as emotional, physical, neglect or deemed to be vulnerable or involved with sexual exploitation; and young people who demonstrate mild to moderate self-harming behaviour.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

14/01/2015 CH - Interim Improved effectiveness

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requires improvement

Young people are welcomed sensitively in to the home. Staff ensure they have a good understanding of young people being admitted and that young people feel cared for from the moment they enter the home. A young person said, ‘It’s all good, everything I do here.’

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requires improvement

Staff build strong and trusted relationships with young people, and as a result, young people feel able to talk to staff about their concerns. When they go missing, generally, they will keep in contact with staff and allow them to carry out welfare visits to ensure they are safe and well, if agreed by the placing authority. A young person said, ‘I get on well with the staff.’ Young people also generally get on well with each other.

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requires improvement

Young people have access to therapeutic input from a trained counsellor. They sometimes engage with the counsellor but often refuse. The counsellor does not currently offer any strategies for staff to help them to help young people to manage their emotions. Consequently, staff have tried their own interventions that they have heard about in basic training, with varied success. For example, the use of an elastic band helped a young person with self-harming tendencies on one occasion but not thereafter. Such techniques should only be used if recommended by a mental health professional to ensure it is the right technique for the individual person. Young people are registered with the local doctors’ surgery, dentist and opticians. Young people have attended healthcare appointments as required which have ensured they maintain a good level of physical health.

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requires improvement

Young people are not in education, training or employment. Staff have found educational placements for young people, who attended for a short time and then refused thereafter. However, staff continue to try to engage the young people, and some young people have enrolled in college courses.

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requires improvement

Young people feel listened to. Their views are sought and taken seriously. Young people have chosen the décor for their bedrooms, the weekly menu and activities they want to participate in. They have also been involved in formulating questions that can be asked of people who are interviewed by the organisation as care workers. Young people benefit from contact with their families, which staff facilitate. However, confusing contact arrangements within the home’s own care plans mean that young people have gone on overnight contact with their families when this has not been properly assessed and therefore agreed by the placing authority.

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requires improvement

Young people say they enjoy the activities offered by the home such as going to the cinema, horse riding and shopping. Young people have access to a large outdoor area where paddocks have been built with the intention of providing secure areas for animals for the enjoyment of young people. Furthermore, young people have access to a wide variety of DVDs, a games console and musical instruments. Young people enjoy a range of recreational activities which are led by their hobbies and interests.

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requires improvement

Young people are encouraged to carry out household tasks independently such as shopping, cooking and cleaning. Young people make limited progress in this area.

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requires improvement

A young person said, ‘They keep me safe.’ Most staff have a good understanding of the home’s safeguarding and child protection procedures. They also have a good understanding of whistleblowing procedures which will help to protect young people. However, some staff are not fully conversant with the home’s child protection procedures despite having completed online training. The quality of the training provided for safeguarding children does not ensure all staff are competent in their knowledge, which may compromise future child protection investigations.

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requires improvement

When young people go missing, staff go out and look for them and on occasions have been able to persuade them to return home. Relationships with the local police are well developed and appropriately focused on the needs of young people. Young people say they are welcomed back into the home when they return. The length of time that young people are missing and the frequency, however, has increased. Staff do not always follow a young person’s missing protocol as agreed by the placing authority which means there have been some delays in contacting the police. The police do not feel the delays were significant; however, staff have not followed agreed protocols.

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requires improvement

Young people have demonstrated extreme risky behaviours in this home such as being subject to sexual exploitation, self-harm and suicidal attempts, and drug and alcohol misuse. Staff have provided the best care they can but this has been hampered by being a new team, getting to know each other, the home and the organisation while at the same time managing extreme risk-taking behaviours of young people. This has meant that these behaviours in one young person increased until the placement ended.

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requires improvement

Staff have a positive approach to managing conflict and poor behaviour. They spend time talking to young people, and as a result they understand them quite well in most cases. They also use incentives to help young people manage their own behaviour. Young people do not present severe challenging behaviours which result in physical interventions. Therefore, no physical interventions have occurred since the last inspection. However, staff do receive regular training which helps staff to not only learn how to restrain a young person properly but also how to de- escalate challenging situations.

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requires improvement

There are good systems in place for health and safety. This includes fire safety. Young people are helped to understand how to evacuate the building in the event of a fire by completing fire drills shortly after they arrive in the home.

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requires improvement

There are good vetting systems in place to ensure unsuitable adults do not work with young people. Visitors are asked to sign in and out of the home.

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requires improvement

The Registered Manager is relatively new in post but is a qualified and experienced manager. He was not able to be part of this inspection and so the responsible individual hosted the inspection. The staff team are also mostly new to this home but are previously experienced and most are qualified with an appropriate qualification. However, due to the complexities of the young people living in the home, staff have felt under pressure trying to get to know the organisation, systems within the home and the young people. Furthermore, a number of agency staff or staff from other homes have been used to provide enough staff to cover the shifts appropriately. This not puts extra pressure on permanent staff but also means young people are not looked after by a consistent staff team providing the young people with the stability they need. Consequently, young people have persistently put themselves at risk of serious harm and have made little progress

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requires improvement

from when they first arrived in the home.

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requires improvement

Leaders and managers have an awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of this home. The focus currently is to increase the number of staff in the team so they can provide consistent staffing for young people. However, issues identified within this inspection were not known. Staff complete basic mandatory training during their induction period with refresher training as required. Most courses are completed online and some staff have demonstrated a lack of knowledge, particularly with regards to child protection procedures. Staff say they feel very well supported by each other and the Registered Manager. However, some staff are not receiving regular formal supervision. Furthermore, staff meetings have not taken place due to the complexities of the young people and non-attendance at school. This means that the new staff team have not had the proper oversight and time for reflection that is required by staff when caring for vulnerable, complex young people.

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requires improvement

Leaders and managers have not admitted young people in line with their Statement of Purpose. For example, the home’s Statement of Purpose specifically says, ‘We also consider mild to moderate self-injurious behaviour based on the frequency of self-harm severity, triggers and current mix of young people within the home.’ This has not been fully considered when taking young people with severe self-harming behaviours such as suicidal tendencies which continued to be a feature during their placement at the home. Together with a high risk of sexual exploitation for some young people, young people have not been kept safe at this home. The Registered Manager, however, quickly identifies when the home can no longer keep a young person safe and serves notice for the placement to end. This, however, contributes to another failed placement for the young person which can have an impact on their ability to form lasting relationships, their confidence and

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requires improvement

External professionals have mixed views about the care provided for young people and the way in which staff work with them. One social worker said, ‘It’s the first time I’ve worked with this home. They have communicated well with me. They have talked to me when they have wanted to try other things. They have put the young person’s needs first. I am very pleased with them. I would use this home again.’ Another professional said that key documents were not completed at all or in a timely manner, contact arrangements were not agreed when a young person stayed with her family overnight, staff did not follow agreed protocols for young people who go missing and staff did not have the skills necessary to care for the complex needs of a specific young person. Staff do not work consistently with external professionals, which is contrary to the home’s Statement of Purpose.

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requires improvement

The Registered Manager does not notify the regulator when a young person has been at risk of or subject to sexual exploitation. This means the regulator does not have accurate information about the home between inspections and therefore cannot assess any risks associated with the home.

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requires improvement

Young people live in a well maintained, safe and clean environment which feels like a family home. They have individual bedrooms which are comfortable and provide privacy. There is a good amount of communal space including a large garden and paddocks. Any damage to the home is quickly repaired. Young people moving into the home move into nicely decorated and furnished bedrooms which they can then personalise.

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection.

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What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children's home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children's home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children's home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of looked after children is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place, however, the children's home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children's home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

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What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children's home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children's home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This 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 Children's

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Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. the guidance raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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, workbased learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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