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

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:

 Clear leadership and management provide a good structure and support for the staff. As a result, young people make good progress over time.  Young people enjoy strong and trusting relationships with staff. Young people like where they live and wish to stay until they are 18 years old.  Young people receive consistent care from a diverse staff team that is trained, experienced and well established.  Young people receive great opportunities and support to engage in age- appropriate hobbies and interests. This promotes positive friendships.  There is promotion of education and a strong emphasis on attending and achieving in school.  Young people flourish due to an emphasis and focus on the positive things they do. This builds their self-esteem and confidence.  There is good partnership working with social workers, police and education professionals.

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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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4) (b)) In particular, that the registered manager receives regular supervision in line with the organisation’s policy and procedure. 28/11/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Children must be consulted regularly on their views about the home's care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. ('Guide to the children's home regulations including the quality standards', page 22, paragraph 4.11.) In particular, staff must ensure that young people’s meeting minutes are recorded record in detail and give a true reflection of the topics discussed and the outcomes of decisions made.  When commissioning a placement in a children's home, the placing authority must establish how the home will support the child's educational needs. In accordance with Regulation 5, homes must have proactive relationships with appropriate schools and educational support services. ('Guide to the children's

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Recommendations

home regulations including the quality standards', page 27, paragraph 5.7.) In particular, the home must promptly gain access to educational assessments, annual reviews and the key stage levels.  The registered person should support staff to be ambitious for every child in the home to gain skills and experience that enable them to actively support each child to achieve their potential to ensure that staff understand and can meet each child's needs in line with their responsibilities. ('Guide to the children's home regulations including the quality standards', page 52, paragraph 10.5.) In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff receive on-going training relating to autistic spectrum syndrome and are able to use the home’s computer system to a suitable level to carry out all aspects of their work.

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Information about this children's home

This is a privately run children’s home providing care and accommodation to four young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 09/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 01/07/2015 Full Good 11/02/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness 11/11/2014 Full Adequate

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Good

Young people receive effective, individualised care. They have built strong, trusting relationships with the staff, who provide consistent care for them within a safe environment. Young people commented that they ‘like all the staff’, and one said: ‘I want to live here until I am 18 years old.’

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Good

Staff provide supportive care and give direction through discussion, key work sessions and consultation with young people. Young people respond positively to this and make good progress. This is evident in their positive behaviour, good school attendance and reduced risk-taking behaviour.

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Good

Young people have routine health checks and are supported to take part in regular physical activity. They benefit from the promotion of a healthy lifestyle, including having a well-balanced diet. This helps to improve young people’s long-term health and well-being.

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Good

Social and leisure activities are part of everyday life at the home. Young people plan how they wish to spend their time on their individual hobbies and interests. One young person said: ‘I like to go to the skate park to use my scooter most days; I have friends there.’ This equips young people to develop good social skills and increases their self-esteem and confidence.

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Good

Staff attach great importance to education. This has resulted in improvements in one young person’s school attendance. Staff have pursued and put in place interim learning arrangements for another young person who is not in school.

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Good

However, it has taken considerable time to retrieve academic records for a young person who is new to the home. This has presented delays and hindered them from quickly accessing the necessary education provision that best meets their educational learning needs.

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Good

Young people have benefited from the consultation about their care, daily routines and activities. This has enabled them to give their opinions and make suggestions about their care and future, which staff have responded to. However, young people’s meeting minutes have not fully reflected these positive interactions and the outcomes to their suggestions.

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Good

Young people learn basic independence skills, such as laundry and helping to clean their bedrooms. This will enable them to support themselves as young adults. Young people enjoy regular contact with those who are important to them, especially those who live some distance from the home. A parent said: ‘I speak regularly with my son by phone and have visits.’

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Good

Young people flourish because of the strong focus on their positive behaviour. They respond to frequent praise and the incentives to achieve and succeed. There have been no physical interventions since the last inspection, and sanctions for inappropriate behaviour are low in number. This demonstrates that this behaviour management strategy is having a positive impact.

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Good

Young people feel safe and secure in their home environment. Staff take suitable actions if young people go missing from care. They undertake direct work with young people to help them recognise the dangers and risks of running away from the home. As a result, young people do not go missing from the home.

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Good

Staff have a strong understanding of each young person in their care and their individual risks. They work closely with young people to help reduce these risks. This approach is working well for the young people. Risk-taking behaviour has reduced and young people are safer as a result.

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Good

The registered manager has been in post at the home since 2013. He has more than 11 years’ experience of working with young people and holds the required qualifications for the position.

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Good

The manager demonstrates a strong awareness of the service’s strengths and weaknesses. He works within the statement of purpose, and implements the home’s development plan to support continual progression. He has established and maintained a stable, experienced and diverse staff team, which has built resilient and trusting relationships with young people.

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Good

The staff team is child-focused and recognises the importance of providing consistent care to young people. A staff member said: ‘We are a close team, who look after our kids well, making sure we are consistent with the rules and boundaries. They are doing well.’

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Good

The staff team receives good support, through supervision, team meetings and daily handovers. However, the registered manager does not receive regular formal supervision. This means he has limited opportunities to reflect on his practice, the progress of young people and the operation of the home.

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Good

The majority of the staff team hold the required qualification for residential staff. In addition, they undertake mandatory and other essential training relating to their work. However, their access to training on autistic spectrum disorder is limited. This means their understanding of the autistic spectrum is under-developed. Staff efficiency is also hampered because some staff do not have the skills to use the home’s computer systems.

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Good

There is excellent partnership working between staff at the home and outside professionals. They report that staff at the home communicate with them very well, informing them of the progress of the young people and any serious incidents. The manager is proactive in working with other professionals. For example, prior to this inspection he worked with the police service and others to share intelligence about ‘missing from care’ incidents. This joint working helps to identify and reduce risks for young people.

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Good

The service has taken action to implement the one requirement made at the last inspection. The home now has a full staff team and now has a sufficient number of staff to care for young people.

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Good

Good internal and external monitoring systems support the service to make improvements. The service takes prompt action to address identified omissions and deficits. This ensures young people receive a good quality of care.

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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 children looked after 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 that 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 that 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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