Children's Home run by Keys Care Limited in Lincolnshire

Inspection date 10/06/2015

Previous inspection judgement Sustained effectiveness

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Good

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff demonstrate a good awareness, and support, of the needs of young people. This helps young people to increase their confidence, self-esteem and sense of identity.  Young people say that the staff listen to them and they feel able to talk to them. This helps to create positive relationships and develop emotional resilience.  Managers and staff work in close partnership with placing authorities, schools, alternative educational providers, and other professionals. This helps to provide an all-round service that can better meet the young people’s needs.  Managers and staff understand the strengths of the service and recognise areas for further development. They have clear plans for continued improvements to the service.  Improvements to the physical environment of the home help to provide the young people with a pleasant environment that they are proud of.  Managers need to improve their recording of restraints to be able to

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The children's home provision is good because:

reflect on the nature of these incidents and ensure that they are suitable.

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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

The registered person must ensure that within 24 hours of the use of restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes the effectiveness and any consequence of the use of the measure. (Regulation 35 (3) (a) (vii) 17/07/2015

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Information about this children's home

This home is operated by a private, national, organisation. The home is registered to offer care and accommodation for up to three male young people who may have emotional and or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

05/03/2015 CH - Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Good

Young people’s experiences and overall progress are good. One young person said he feels that the staff ‘respect’ him and ‘treat him well’. There are good relationships built on positive interactions between the staff and the young people. Staff know the individual needs of the young people and use these good relationships to work positively with them and monitor their progress. Regular formal and informal key work sessions take place which gives young people the space and time to make their feelings known. This helps to promote their self- esteem and allows them to build good attachments with caring adults. There is a sense of calmness as well as warmth and enjoyment in the home. This is encouraged by the staff, who are prepared to ‘go the extra mile’ with the young people.

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Good

Staff work hard to be consistent. They use detailed handovers to pass on information about any situations they have been managing to the next group of staff, so that their approach can be the same. These meetings also help them to make sure they can manage any plans the young people have made for activities.

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Good

There are good care plans and staff use these daily to successfully meet the needs of young people. There are suitable and regularly reviewed risk assessments that ensure any developments for the young people are considered. This helps the staff to understand their changing needs. Some young people have individual therapy sessions to help them to begin to overcome the impact of early life trauma. The therapist also works with the staff to study and try to understand some of the young people’s behaviours. This helps the staff to reflect on their practice and change their approach if needed.

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Good

Young people are doing well in education. Staff work hard to promote educational attainment, supporting them with study and in some cases taking them to and from school. This helps young people to achieve in line with their expected goals and promotes a friendship group outside of the home. Some young people attend college and alternative education placements. These are helping to prepare them for work. These arrangements are in line with their pathway plans as they move towards independence. Young people develop skills such as cooking and budgeting which are important in adult life. They also cook for others in the home, and enjoy the opportunity to be involved and share meals with each other.

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Good

There are a range of activities that the young people enjoy. Some attend a local youth club and this helps them to develop friendships in the community. Others enjoy the cinema and often go with staff. Music plays a significant role in the home and staff encourage the musical talents of the young people. There are drums, and electric and bass guitars. Young people showcase their skills when visitors attend the home. Sport is also encouraged and staff spend hours in local parks playing football and basketball with the young people.

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Good

Staff actively support the young people with contact, travelling long distances with them if needed and remaining in telephone contact throughout, if the contact is overnight. They keep in regular contact with families, in-between arranged contact times, to make sure that everything at home is going well. This helps the young people to see how good adult relationships can thrive even over long distances. When young people return from contact staff seek confirmation that all went well, and if it has not they offer a listening ear and try to see how contact could be changed so that it remains as positive and supportive as possible.

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Good

Young people say that they are safe. Safeguarding is a key part of induction training and all staff are aware of the process of raising concerns. There have been no safeguarding concerns raised with the designated officer in the local authority since the previous interim inspection. The staff understand the importance of safe care and look after these young people well, and as a result they have confidence to talk to their key worker if they have concerns. The Registered Manager encourages openness and clarity in discussing safeguarding issues which means that this is a subject young people and staff can freely approach.

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Good

Each young person benefits from effective risk assessments. They are well thought through and consider how best to effectively minimise the impact of risk factors in the home and in the community. Staff consistently use these and discuss them when working with the young people. This helps to protect young people and helps to promote safe activities. If risks are heightened or reduced the assessments change to reflect this. This approach has seen a reduction in risk-taking behaviour, such as missing from the home in recent months. The staff understand the risks and signs of sexual exploitation, such as going missing from the home or being absent from education placements. Although these issues are not apparent in this home, the staff are alert to it. Regular training keeps them up to date with these issues and staff would follow the provider’s procedure if the risk became evident. Young people rarely go missing. The home

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Good

has good protocols with other agencies, including the police, to ensure that should they go missing, action is taken to quickly locate and return the young people. These procedures are in line with the Statutory guidance on children who runaway or go missing from home or care. Each young person has a key worker and key work sessions take place to identify any issues or concerns which could lead to them going missing. Group work has also taken place to look at key areas that can lead to incidents of going missing, as well as other issues such as bullying and unacceptable behaviour.

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Good

The provider has a secure internet server lock. This helps to prevent the inappropriate use of the internet. Key work has focused on this as an issue to help the young people understand the potential risk, and to encourage them to discuss any concerns with a trusted adult.

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Good

This home has trained staff that can use physical intervention techniques if necessary. These are used infrequently and only when young people are likely to hurt themselves, or others. Staff regularly use de-escalation skills and positive behaviour management methods to deal with situations as they arise. There has been one use of a physical intervention technique which the staff had recorded, but the Registered Manager did not sign this off within the approved timescale. This resulted in a delay in his oversight to ensure that the intervention was appropriate and had a suitable outcome.

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Good

The decoration of the home is good. Each of the rooms are personalised. An improvement plan has resulted in the fitting of a new kitchen and further decoration taking place around the home. Young people have been consulted in relation to the refurbishment. This involvement helps them to feel a sense of pride in their home environment as well making it feel more homely. Regular maintenance also ensures that repairs to any damage are quickly completed.

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Good

The Registered Manager has a National Vocational Qualification at level 4 in childcare and a Registered Managers’ Award. He has been working in residential services for children since 2000; this means he has suitable qualifications and experience to hold the post.

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Good

The Registered Manager is proactive in ensuring that the quality of care is in line with the Statement of Purpose. The recent updated version is clear and a useful document for young people, parents and local authorities to inform them of the services provided. The Registered Manager is child-focused. He monitors and reviews assessments to ensure they are fit for purpose. He works directly with the staff to keep them motivated. He is eager to continually improve the quality of care and the experiences young people have while they live in this home. He is regularly in the home with the young people, which means he can hear their views on the care they receive. He encourages staff to be open to the challenge that working with young people can bring. This helps them to improve their practice, build good relationships and promote consistency of care.

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Good

There is a small, sufficient group of staff in the home, providing suitable cover for the rota. Experienced and inexperienced staff work together to build on the skill set in the team. All staff receive regular supervision and appraisal and the Registered Manager has active oversight of the practice in the home. This ensures that there is observation and monitoring of the day-to-day practice of the staff. He has a good relationship with the independent person who completes monthly monitoring and this helps to identify and correct shortfalls quickly. The regular reports are of good quality and focus on how the staff can best meet the young people’s needs. The report also focuses on the action taken to keep the standard of care as high as it can be.

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Good

There has been one complaint made since the last inspection. The responsible individual has investigated this and spoken to the young person. The outcome is that the young person is happy that the home has dealt with the complaint appropriately and that they felt listened to. The staff and the Registered Manager have reflected upon this in team meetings and the lessons learnt.

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Good

The Registered Manager understands that the strength of the home is the open and accepting approach they take to meeting the complex needs of the young people. There were no requirements or recommendations as a result of the last inspection, and the Registered Manager has continued to work with staff to ensure the home continues to improve. They work diligently, especially when young people can be challenging, to promote positive relationships. The home has a plan of work to develop the skills of newly appointed staff and to continue to work with young people to promote their educational placements when they are over 16 years of age.

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Good

Families and local authorities praise the work that the staff, particularly the Registered Manager, do in working with the young people. There is good communication between the Registered Manager and other agencies to promote the effective sharing of information. This helps to ensure that the staff work with the most up-to-date information to meet the needs of the young people.

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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

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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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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