Children's home run by Keys Active 8 Care Limited in Rossendale

This monitoring visit

This home was judged to be inadequate following a full inspection on 10 May 2016. The inspection identified significant shortfalls in procedures to protect young people from harm which therefore left young people at risk. Staff at the home had been unable to address unacceptable behaviour demonstrated by young people and the approach of staff when young people were missing from home was inconsistent. As a result eleven requirements, and three compliance notices were issued. An unannounced monitoring visit took place on 1 July 2016 to monitor compliance with the three notices. The visit identified that limited progress had been made by staff to understand the reasons why young people are not engaging consistently and regularly in education. Staff have been proactive in some areas to support young people to overcome difficulties, for example, one young person has taken up a work placement twice a week despite previously spending long periods in his bedroom.

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This monitoring visit

For another young person, the manager challenged the local authority about the lack of an appropriate education placement for their young person and has paid from the home’s budget for half an hour tutor time a day. Despite these improvements, the actual time spent in education remains at 45 minutes to one hour per day. Although the company’s tutor is present at the home each day, there is no evaluation of the lessons completed, or whether the lesson actually took place, and there is no assessment of what the next steps for the young person should be. For another young person, staff have developed an incentive plan to encourage him to attend education. The reward is sports vouchers. However, as part of the incentive scheme the young person can meet his target of up to five pounds a day in vouchers without attending education. Consequently, the staff and manager at the home have failed to ensure the main focus of the incentive is attendance and

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This monitoring visit

engagement in education and a result he continues to miss out on valuable learning to improve his future life chances Routines at the home support young people who are in work to attend their place of work on time. For one young person, this is an improvement. For another young person despite them receiving two-to-one staffing, staff are unable to engage with the young person and he often leaves the home despite staff presence and is missing from home on most days. Although staff have tried to engage the young person in activities which would involve education these plans are often too simplistic and meaningless. For example, a plan was to use maths in playing a game of football. The manager explained that the aim of this activity was to count the number of balls he shot into the goals. This does not provide a young person with a lesson in maths and demonstrates the inability of staff to support learning

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This monitoring visit

or preparation for a working life. The acting manager and the deputy head of the organisation’s school have failed to develop a written education plan. The acting manager explained it ‘was on her to do list’. Because there is no plan, there is no basis to review and evaluate progress. Nor is there an opportunity to formulate new ideas that will encourage young people into education. The organisation has taken steps to ensure that staff have the experience, skills and qualification to undertake the role of residential childcare workers. They have supported staff by providing professional behaviour management training and in addition three of the organisation’s own behavioural team have worked with staff to provide strategies for staff to use to manage complex behaviours demonstrated by young people at the home. This includes the missing from care coordinator who has made suggestions for staff to follow in an attempt to prevent one young

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This monitoring visit

person from routinely going missing from home. The acting manager states that 50% of staff are working solidly towards these strategies, while the remaining 50% are having additional supervision and training to ensure that they are skilled to undertake their role. There have been two incidents in the home where staff have failed to take effective action when there has been a serious concern for a young person’s welfare. Following incidents where young people have arrived back at the house and were observed by staff to be under the influence of alcohol and other unknown substances, staff did not seek medical advice or guidance to promote the young people’s welfare. Instead staff ushered both young people to bed without a plan to observe them through the night, nor was there any element of concern noted. On 13 June 2016 a young person tried to set fire to the sofa with a cigarette. The young person has a conviction for arson and has previously set fire

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This monitoring visit

to items in the home. Despite the risk assessment in place that identified the need for a room search to be completed both randomly and specifically following an incident of fire setting in the home, on this occasion, a room search was not completed. Even though staff were aware of the risk assessment and the potential dangers for other young people and staff sleeping in the home they failed to follow the risk assessment and take the specified action detailed in it. This demonstrates a clear disregard for the welfare of young people living in the home. Staff have continually not implemented the risk assessments that are in place for young people. For example, a risk assessment is in place that details the need for a young person’s protective work clothing, specifically their steel-capped boots, to be kept in the office. This was following an incident where the office door was kicked in. This has failed to be actioned. There was also an incident at the home when a

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This monitoring visit

chair had been padlocked to the fire door. A young person was able to retrieve a hammer from his toolbox in his bedroom and proceeded to try and smash the lock. Following the last inspection, a risk assessment was to be developed to assist staff in managing any behaviour’s that could place them and others living in the home in danger, but it was only completed on the afternoon of the monitoring visit. Furthermore, the routine room searches for fire lighting materials had not been followed, nor had they been followed following a fire lighting incident in the home. This significant shortfalls by staff to follow or implement risk assessments, fails to safeguard young people and the staff working in the home. Both the operational manager and responsible individual have been attending the home regularly to support the acting manager. A new deputy manager has been appointed and a senior team leader has returned from sickness to support the new

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This monitoring visit

manager in her role. Despite this support, the home continues to have unresolved actions from their Regulation 44 independent visitor report and steps in most of the compliance notices have not yet been met. Appropriate measures have been put in place to ensure that agency staff who work in the home have been checked for identification and have relevant experience in childcare. This includes induction into the home’s procedures and risk assessments at the start of each shift, this ensures that young people are being looked after by staff who have been assessed as appropriate people with the relevant skills to work in the home. The monitoring visit identified that the compliance notice under Regulation 32 has been met. The visit also identified that the compliance notice under Regulation 8 and Regulation 12 have not been met overall. As a result of this monitoring visit Ofsted has met with the responsible individual and representatives of the

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This monitoring visit

organisation and will carry out further inspections to monitor improvements at the home.

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Information about this children's home

A private organisation operates this children's home. This service is registered for up to four young people, irrespective of gender, aged between 11 and 17 years. The home cares for young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children's home since its last Ofsted inspection. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. in 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 this guidance, please telephone 0300 123 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, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for children looked after 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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