Children's Home run by Keys Nhcc Ltd in Shropshire

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:

 Staff do not promote young people’s safety and welfare. They do not follow young people’s risk management plans or child protection procedures.  Staff do not debrief young people after significant incidents of risk taking behaviour. They do not provide young people with opportunity to learn from what happened.

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because:

 Staff do not reflect on their own practice, or learn from incidents, in order to prevent future occurrences. They do not consistently ensure that they capture relevant information regarding incidents of risk taking behaviour.

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because:

 Staff do not provide enough support to young people about their risk taking behaviour, such as substance misuse. They do not try to engage young people in seeking support to reduce these behaviours. Staff do not help them use support services such as sexual health clinics.

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because:

 Leaders, managers and staff do not tenaciously ensure that young people receive the support services that they need in a timely manner. They do not escalate their concerns.

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because:

 Young people do not learn how to resolve conflict, or how to develop positive and safe peer relationships with one another.

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because:

 Communication with placing authorities is weak. Staff do not ensure that placing authorities receive all information regarding incidents of risk taking behaviour.

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because:

 Leaders and managers do not ensure that staff receive training relevant to deliver care for the complex needs of young people.

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The children's home strengths

 Young people enjoy positive relationships with staff. Staff promote an environment of openness and honesty. They spend time talking to young people about pertinent issues.

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The children's home strengths

 Young people attend education and achieve qualifications.  Staff help and support young people to maintain relationships with their families. They encourage young people to develop friendships within their local community.  Incidents of risk taking behaviour have decreased.

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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

5: In order to meet the engaging with the wider system standard, the the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

(c) if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority's or a relevant person's performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child's needs are met in accordance with the child's relevant plans. 23/11/2015

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Requirement Due date

6: In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard, the registered person must ensure

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Requirement Due date

(3) (c) that the care is delivered by a person who -

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Requirement Due date

(i) has the experience, knowledge and skills to deliver that care. 23/11/2015

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Requirement Due date

11: In order to meet the positive relationships standard the registered must ensure that that staff—

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Requirement Due date

(2) (a) (vi) help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child's age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful. 23/11/2015

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Requirement Due date

12: In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered person must ensure) that staff—

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Requirement Due date

(2) (a) (v) understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person

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Requirement Due date

(vi) take effective action whenever there is a serious concern 23/11/2015 about a child's welfare.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that records ("case records") are maintained for each child which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child. (Regulation 36(1) (a)) 23/11/2015

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Information about this children's home

This is a privately owned home and part of a large childcare provider. It is registered to care for up to three young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

30/03/2015 CH - Interim Improved effectiveness

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require improvement

Staff do not help young people to positively resolve conflict between one another within the home. Incidents of peer conflict have contributed to young people not wishing to remain in placement. Staff do not sufficiently record incidents of peer conflict and as such information regarding these incidents is lost. Staff do not ensure that young people learn from inappropriate behaviours. They do not help young people develop skills to maintain safe, healthy and positive relationships.

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require improvement

Staff do not consistently try to engage young people in seeking support to address risk taking behaviours. When young people refuse to engage with other professionals such as substance misuse workers, staff do not try to creatively engage young people by other means. This means that young people do not reach their full potential.

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require improvement

However, young people do enjoy positive relationships with staff. A young person said: ‘I like it here. I feel safe. The manager gets things sorted if there is anything I need sorting out’. They receive care from a committed staff team who take time to get to know them and their needs. Staff openly discuss pertinent issues with young people, such as substance misuse and sexual health.

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require improvement

Education is a strength of the home. Staff have regular communication with schools and colleges. They encourage young people to have aspirations and consider future career options. Young people’s attendance at school improves from their starting points.

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require improvement

Staff help young people to maintain safe relationships with their families. They support contact between young people and their families through supervising contact and also enabling contact to take place at the home. Staff work with parents to try to help them develop and maintain positive relationships with one another. This promotes young people’s emotional wellbeing.

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require improvement

Young people have friends in the community. Staff promote these friendships and help young people to be included within friendships groups. Young people take part in activities within the local community. Staff encourage them to take part in activities with friends and to use public transport, thereby helping to improve their confidence and independence skills.

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requires improvement

Staff do not consistently ensure they promote the safety and wellbeing of young people in their care. They do not always follow young people’s risk management plans or missing from care protocols. They have not always adhered to their own child protection procedures in ensuring that significant incidents of risk taking behaviour are reported. On that occasion, staff did not ensure that young people received appropriate debriefs. They, therefore, failed to ensure that they fulfilled their own safeguarding responsibilities. Recording of significant incidents is weak.

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requires improvement

Leaders and managers do not equip staff with the understanding, knowledge and skills to be able to manage the complex needs of young people. For example, staff do not receive training in safeguarding, self-injurious behaviour, missing from care or sexually harmful behaviour. This means that young people are cared for by staff who do not have the skills needed to promote their safety and wellbeing.

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requires improvement

Despite this, young people say they feel safe. Staff work with other agencies, such as the police, to help promote safety. Young people’s risk taking behaviours decrease and they make progress from their starting points. Staff say: ‘We make them happy and help them make informed choices of their own’.

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requires improvement

Young people engage in frequent key working sessions. These sessions are in line with the aims of the placement as highlighted within young people’s care plans. Staff support young people to invest in the placement and relationships with staff; young people say they feel cared for. Staff say: ‘We don’t want to be seen as just here for a job but that we care. As a team we have all got their best interests at heart. We work together to achieve what we want for the young people; which is a future’. Young people’s incidents of risk taking behaviour reduce. They rarely go missing and incidents of physical intervention are low. Staff successfully focus on using de-escalation techniques and helping young people develop strategies to manage their emotions safely. Judgement grade

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requires improvement

Management monitoring failed to pick up on a safeguarding issue which had significant impact on the emotional wellbeing of young people. Insufficient communication with placing authorities means that on occasions there is a lack of robust multi-agency responses to incidents.

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requires improvement

Young people’s case records do not contain all the necessary information needed, such as Looked After Children review minutes and education plans. The registered manager has not been proactive in following this up and thereby ensuring that essential information is on file. This lack of information means that young people’s progress is not sufficiently monitored against current plans. The registered manager does not always escalate poor responses from other providers. This means that young people have to wait for services such as therapy.

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requires improvement

Staff do not receive specific training to enable them to consistently meet the individual needs of young people. The registered manager is aware of this and has delivered training herself within a team meeting about Autism. Staff say they found this helpful.

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requires improvement

There is a registered manager in post who has worked in the home for many years. The registered manager is currently completing her NVQ level 5 in leadership and management. She knows the young people and supports young people’s progress against their care plans. Work with young people is purposeful. The registered manager say: ‘I want the young people to feel secure and comfortable in their own environment. I want them to feel as if it is their home, and I don’t want it to feel institutionalised. We are their corporate parents and we work as parents for them’.

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requires improvement

Staff say they feel supported by the registered manager. Monthly supervisions take place and the manager tries to enable staff to gain insight into young people’s behaviours. The registered manager knows the strengths of the home and areas for development. The registered manager is focused on improving practice. The home is achieving its aims and objectives as set out in its statement of purpose. Staff do deliver nurturing care to young people. They offer young people positive praise to support them to increase their self-esteem.

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requires improvement

The quality of professional relationships is positive. The registered manager encourages staff to work with other professionals such as college, schools and the local police.

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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

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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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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