Children's Home run by Keys Child Care Limited in Halton

The effectiveness of the home, and the progress and experiences of

children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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The effectiveness of the home, and the progress and experiences of

This home was judged good at the full inspection. At this interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has sustained effectiveness.

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The effectiveness of the home, and the progress and experiences of

The manager has been in post since the home opened in June 2014, and holds an national vocational qualification level 5 in leadership and management, as well as relevant childcare qualifications. He is also the registered manager of three-bed home. The deputy moved to another home within the organisation in January 2016. The organisation has been unsuccessful in securing a permanent deputy. There also remains a vacancy for one senior member of staff. While cover is provided by other managers in the company, this does not provided consistency for the young person or staff. This has resulted in a number of shortfalls in the recording practice at the home. Consequently, one requirement regarding the healthcare plans for the young person has not been fully met.

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The effectiveness of the home, and the progress and experiences of

There are a number of new staff at the home. They said that they felt well supported and were looking forward to completing a childcare qualification. They meet regularly with the registered manager to discuss their progress and any areas of concern that they may have.

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The effectiveness of the home, and the progress and experiences of

Staff are aware of the young person’s needs and are meeting these well, in practice. However, her healthcare plan does not accurately reflect all of her needs and the actions taken to support her, for example concerning the support towards the cessation of smoking, use of cannabis and potential self-harm. Although these are primarily recording issues, it does not help the young person to understand how staff are helping her to address these issues. There are shortfalls in other records, such as key-worker records and the missing from care risk assessments. They lack sufficient detail and do not tell the story of the young person’s time at the setting. For example, key-worker records are written from the perspective of the staff and not the young person. This means that her voice does not come across in the record of the discussion. These shortfalls have not been identified within the internal and external monitoring of the home. As a result, this is not yet

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The effectiveness of the home, and the progress and experiences of

Some improvements have been made in the manager’s monitoring. However, he is not effectively evaluating or scrutinising the impact of the issues raised, for example from the lack of valuable information from a placing authority at the time of placement for a former young person. If this had been secured, it would have enabled the registered manager to make a more informed judgement as to the suitability of the placement. He and the staff have reflected upon the placement and, as a result, have implemented new strategies to support their assessment and decision making in future. However, these discussions are not recorded in his reporting, which means that he is unable to demonstrate effectively the learning taken from such circumstances and how, as a result, the home is moving forward.

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The effectiveness of the home, and the progress and experiences of

The independent person reporting process identifies how many incidents have taken place at the home, but it does not provide a clear evaluation as to whether this is an increase or decrease, nor is there an evaluation of the quality of recording. Therefore, it is unclear whether, in the independent person’s opinion, young people are effectively safeguarded by the interventions and strategies used, or whether the home promotes the young person’s well-being sufficiently.

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The effectiveness of the home, and the progress and experiences of

The young person said that she is safe here. She said that she feels confident to talk to the staff and feels safe to do so. She has significantly reduced the level of incidents of being missing, and is rightly proud of this achievement. Staff have been proactive in implementing strategies to reduce this, for example by actively looking for the young person and liaising with a previous placement where the young person has a friend with whom she has previously gone missing. As a result of good information sharing, the young person understands staff concerns and what action they will take to keep her safe.

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The effectiveness of the home, and the progress and experiences of

The young person is confident to put forward her views and is consulted regularly about what improvements the home can make. For example, she requested the installation of digital television box and to have Facebook unblocked. This happened. This was agreed on the proviso of certain conditions to help to keep her safe. The young person happily signed up to these and said that she can now keep in contact with friends, but would like certain games unblocked as well. Discussions are currently taking place with the registered manager as to how this can be achieved. As a result, the young person feels valued and listened to, and is investing in the placement.

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The effectiveness of the home, and the progress and experiences of

Her social worker is complimentary of the service and said, ‘they haven’t given up on her’. This is the young person’s longest placement, and this is down to the positive relationships that she has with staff. ‘She has tested them considerably over the last few months, but now understands that they are not going to give up on her and want to help her to move forward.’ This is because of the clear, consistent boundaries and messages that they give her. Her social worker said, ‘She is much more able to reflect upon her behaviour, such as swearing at staff, and spontaneously to apologise to them.’ The young person was thrilled to choose the colour scheme for her bedroom and to help to decorate it. Consequently, she has a strong sense of ownership and belonging.

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The effectiveness of the home, and the progress and experiences of

The home advocates well on her behalf and is encouraging her to speak to an independent advocate to help her to have a ‘voice’ in the plans being made about her future, such as her desire to remain living at the home.

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The effectiveness of the home, and the progress and experiences of

The young person enjoys her construction course and employment with the Children in care Council. However, during the inspection she said that she had resigned from this position. She said that this would now give her the opportunity to spend more time on her construction course, as she looks to the future.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provider care and support to one young person with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is one of several that are owned and managed by a limited company. 

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 03/11/2015 Full Good

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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 within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the health and well-being standard the provider must ensure that:

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Requirement Due date

(2)(a) staff help each child to— (i) achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child's relevant plans.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure their healthcare plans are sufficiently detailed and provide insight into all of their medical needs. 30/11/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must produce a report about a visit (‘the independent person’s report’) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether— (a) children are effectively safeguarded; and (b) the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. (Regulation 44(4)(a)(b)) 30/11/2016

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard, the registered person must:

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Requirement Due date

(2)(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 statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

This is with particular regard to the appointment of a deputy manager. 30/11/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Ensure that the registered manager makes the best use of independent and internal monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. They should be skilled in anticipating difficulties in reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdown. In particular, this learning includes patterns and trends, and the effectiveness of the action taken to address shortfalls. (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on young people in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes fact, opinion and third-part information. Information about the young person must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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What the inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspection we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the ‘Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection’.

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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 focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

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 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 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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