Children's home run by Keys Child Care Limited in Rossendale

Inspection report children's home: 1224093 1 Registered provider: Broadwood Residential

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company owns and operates this children’s home. It is registered to offer care and accommodation for four children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

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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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 1 February 2017

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Declined in effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home requires improvement to be good because

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Key findings from this inspection

 Some of the children’s health needs are not met consistently. Inspection report children's home: 1224093 2  Staff fail to consistently implement a daily routine to encourage all of the children when they are refusing to attend their education provision.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Some of the children’s risk assessments fail to inform staff of the potential risks that the children face. The risk assessments have not been consistently updated following incidents or when additional information has been gained. In addition, staff fail to implement the risk assessments consistently.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The management team has failed to ensure that the staff are provided with clear strategies to support engagement with children. This does not enable children to build positive relationships that can support the reduction of inappropriate behaviour.

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Key findings from this inspection

 On occasion, measures of control are ineffective. Consequences do not link with the behaviour. This does not support children to recognise inappropriate behaviour.

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Key findings from this inspection

 There is a lack of positive recognition.

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Key findings from this inspection

 There is a lack of day-to-day activities to support children to broaden their horizons and to develop their interests and hobbies. This fails to provide a stimulating environment in line with the children’s needs.

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Key findings from this inspection

 On occasion, staff rotas do not clearly record the actual hours that staff have worked or the names of the staff on shift.

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Key findings from this inspection

 There are shortfalls in the submission of notifications of significant events to Ofsted; review of the location risk assessment; provision of memorabilia for children during their stays at the home; and support for children to develop their independence skills.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Although there are a number of shortfalls, these do not have a significant impact on the safeguarding of children.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The management team is aware of the shortfalls that were identified during the inspection and has a clear development plan already implemented to improve the quality of care in the home.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children speak positively about the care that they receive from staff. The children can identify staff who they can trust and talk to if they have a concern.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The management team takes appropriate action when child protection concerns are raised. Records held in the home demonstrate robust investigations and clear decision-making processes. Inspection report children's home: 1224093 3  Children have made progress in all areas of their identified needs from their starting points.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The stable staff team wants to make a difference to the lives of children.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Partnership working is effective. Managers and staff work well with professionals and families to support the children and keep them safe.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/02/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 10/05/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children's home: 1224093 4

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet 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

The education standard is that children are supported to make measurable progress towards achieving their education potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that staff help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support through the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8(2)(a)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all of the children’s daily routines encourage children to engage in education. 16/06/2017

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Requirement Due date

The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that staff help each child to develop the child’s interests and hobbies and participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child’s interests and preferences, and make a positive contribution to the home and wider community;

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to a range of activities that enable the child to pursue the child’s interests and hobbies. (Regulation 9(1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b)) 16/06/2017

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that the health and well- being needs of children are met, children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being and children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. 16/06/2017 Inspection report children's home: 1224093 5 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that staff help each child to take part in activities, and attend any appointments, for the purpose of meeting the child’s health and well-being needs. (Regulation 10(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(iii)) The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on mutual respect and trust, an understanding about acceptable behaviour and positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that staff strive to gain each child’s respect and trust, and understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour, and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children. (Regulation 11(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(viii)(ix)) 30/06/2017

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, implement children’s individual risk assessments, and have an awareness of e-safety in the home. 16/06/2017

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the management enables, inspires and leads a culture that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(e)) 30/06/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must implement a policy (‘the behaviour management policy’) which sets out how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home. (Regulation 35(1)(a)) 30/06/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 5 days of the use 30/06/2017 Inspection report children's home: 1224093 6 of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35(c)) The registered person must maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4. (Regulation 37(2)(a)) In particular, a record of the actual rosters worked. 30/06/2017

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff help each child to prepare for any moves to live independently. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.27)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff keep and encourage children to keep appropriate memorabilia of the time spent living at the home and help them to record significant life events. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that there is a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13)

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Recommendations

 The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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improvement to be good

There have been no admissions or discharges since the last inspection. Therefore, the children living at the home experience consistency within their peer group and they benefit from a stable staff team. Most of the children speak positively about the staff and identify staff with whom they feel that they have a very good relationship. The children confirm that staff respect their privacy, that they feel listened to and that staff care about them. Although there are positive relationships between the staff and the children, these relationships are not always robust enough to meet all of children’s identified needs. In one case, the child has withdrawn from the staff due to his anxieties about moving on. There has been a lack of proactive approaches to develop and strengthen the relationships and the staff’s engagement. This has had an impact on the quality of care provided to children. This shortfall was identified during the recent management

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improvement to be good

All of the children have made progress from their starting points in regard to their Inspection report children's home: 1224093 7 attendance and achievement in education. One child has made significant progress while living at the home and, until recently, he attended mainstream school and continued his education into sixth form. Other children attend the organisation’s linked school where they access bespoke education packages to meet their individual needs. Staff support the children when needed, through transporting and staying with them at their education provision. Clear handovers between care staff and school staff enable all professionals to have up-to-date information to support children. However, when children refuse to attend their education provision, there is little structure to the day. This means that children may get up late and have an unstructured daily routine. This does not encourage them to attend their education. Therefore, progress for some

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improvement to be good

children is limited to attending the parts of their education packages that they enjoy.

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improvement to be good

All of the children make progress in other significant areas of their lives. Some of the children have significantly reduced incidents of high-risk behaviours that were prevalent before their admission to this home, in areas such as going missing from their placement and physical aggression. Other children have improved their sleeping routines, self-care and social skills, and therefore have improved their self-esteem and confidence.

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improvement to be good

The staff support the children to have their views heard and the management team is a strong advocate for children. Key-work sessions and residents’ meetings not only enable children to have a formal forum through which they can have their views heard, but also allow them to be part of the day-to-day running of the home. Children inform their peers about their views on bullying and how to keep themselves safe on the internet. The staff seek the children’s views on the food that they eat and their suggestions for improving the home.

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improvement to be good

The staff support children to take part in activities outside the home. These activities include going to the cinema and going bowling and go-karting. However, general unpaid and in-house activities, new experiences and the participation of children in their interests and hobbies are lacking. Some of the children spoke of being bored at times while living at the home. This shortfall, along with a lack of structure to the day and the staff’s lack of engagement with children, does not offer the children an attractive alternative to negative behaviours.

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improvement to be good

The children eat healthy, nutritious and home-cooked food and most sit together with the staff at mealtimes, helping to build children’s social skills. Staff ensure that they take into account children’s cultural needs and preferences. The children confirmed that the food is lovely.

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improvement to be good

The children are able to access the services and support that they need to meet their physical, emotional and psychological health needs. The organisation’s therapist attends monthly staff meetings to discuss the individual children’s needs and identify further strategies to support the children. In addition, the organisation’s substance misuse manager, and an external substance misuse agency worker, meet with the staff and children regarding concerns about cannabis use. Some children actively engage in these sessions to gain knowledge, as appropriate to their age and understanding, around keeping safe and making informed lifestyle choices. All of the children are registered Inspection report children's home: 1224093 8 with a doctor, a dentist and an optician. However, not all of the children attend their health appointments, such as dental checks. Although the staff rebook appointments and encourage the children to attend, there is a lack of consideration of potential alternative

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improvement to be good

strategies and options to help to support children to attend. There is a lack of consistent encouragement of the children to embrace healthy lifestyles. This fails to ensure that all of the children’s health needs are fully met.

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improvement to be good

All of the children have a psychologist-informed care plan, produced through multi- agency meetings with the organisation’s therapist, school staff, social workers and care staff. The plans provide clarity on how staff are to support the children and meet their individual targeted needs, including those that relate to well-being and risk-taking behaviour such as drug misuse and safe relationships. In addition, the home develops placement plans, risk assessments and behaviour management plans. However, the placement plans do not cross-reference the suggested strategies and therefore staff are not implementing the approaches consistently. This has an impact on the effectiveness of the staff’s engagement and relationships with children.

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improvement to be good

The staff support children to have contact with their family and friends, in line with the children’s care plans. The staff understand and link the importance of family relationships to children’s success. When children are not in contact with their biological family members, staff support them to maintain key relationships.

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improvement to be good

The home provides a sufficient standard of individual and communal accommodation. The staff have made improvements to provide a more homely feel, with pictures, books and improved decor. There is a further plan to update the kitchen to bring it in line with the rest of the communal areas. One professional made a comment regarding the welcoming and warm feeling that is experienced on entering the home. The recent employment of a gardener ensures that the external environment is hazard free and well kept, providing a safe play and relaxation area for the children.

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improvement to be good

All of the children have made progress in developing their independence skills since their placement at the home. They develop skills that include cooking meals, gaining information about filling in forms, such as for their passports, and knowing how to change a fuse. The organisation has its own independence plan for children to evidence their progress. However, despite children making progress, there has been a stagnation in them developing and moving on with the skills that they have learned so far.

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improvement to be good

All of the children spoken to say that they feel safe and that they can identify a number of staff who they can trust to talk to if they have a concern. The children confirm that they do not feel bullied, and that they have good relationships with each other.

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improvement to be good

All of the children have significantly reduced their missing-from-home episodes since their admission. Managers confirmed that there are no concerns regarding child sexual Inspection report children's home: 1224093 9 exploitation.

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improvement to be good

The organisation has a lead manager for child sexual exploitation and missing from care, who provides staff with up-to-date information and research. This lead manager is available for advice and training. When, on occasion, children have left the home without permission, staff generally implement the missing-from-care policy, enabling children to be returned or to return to the home. All of the children have received return-home interviews to enable them to have the opportunity to speak with someone outside of the home about their reasons for going missing. However, on occasion, in particular late at night, staff do not implement the missing-from-home risk assessment for some children. For example, the staff do not follow the children, in line with the children’s risk assessment. This fails to ensure that all possible action is taken to reduce the potential of a child going missing.

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improvement to be good

Some of the children access the internet using their own personal electronic items. However, while the company has internet monitoring systems, staff do not know what the children are accessing. The lack of an up-to-date risk assessment fails to ensure that staff are provided with details and strategies to keep children safe when the children access the internet.

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improvement to be good

The staff are trained in behaviour management, including physical intervention. Physical intervention is used as a last resort. The number of physical interventions is minimal. When physical intervention is used it is recorded and reviewed appropriately.

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improvement to be good

All of the children have individual incentive schemes and targets, such as settling to bed on time or avoiding swearing. These incentive schemes have not been monitored because some children are gaining full marks, demonstrating that they have achieved this target, and other children have very minimal incentive achievement for about six weeks. This does not encourage children to improve their behaviour or enable staff to identify when a child’s needs have changed and alternative support is required. There are few positive rewards recorded. When sanctions have been given for inappropriate or challenging behaviour, these have been ineffective because they do not always relate to the incident. For example, for refusing to settle on time, a child received a sanction of supervised spending; the same sanction was imposed for smoking cannabis. On occasions, records fail to demonstrate that a manager has spoken to the child about the

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improvement to be good

sanction. This fails to ensure that behaviour management systems promote positive behaviour and that they enable children to learn to resolve conflicts positively and to take responsibility for their actions.

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improvement to be good

The staff are well informed of the organisation’s policies and procedures through induction and training. They know how to protect children from abuse and they know the procedures to follow in partnership with other agencies. When there have been allegations against staff, the manager has appropriately referred the concerns to the designated officer. Investigations that have been completed are to a good standard. The records held in the home detail all of the action taken and the decision-making process. Therefore, children are kept safe. Inspection report children's home: 1224093 10

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager has recently resigned from the service. The organisation has taken sufficient steps and has appointed an interim manager while it recruits to the vacancy. The interim manager has a relevant level 5 diploma, is well experienced, is motivated and provides strong and supportive leadership. The interim manager has developed a good understanding of the strengths and the shortfalls identified during this inspection. A recently devised detailed development plan to improve practice and the quality of care for children has already been implemented. The appointment of an additional deputy manager and strong support from senior managers strengthens the capacity for improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has taken some action to meet some of the requirements raised at the last inspection. Health and safety maintenance in the home has improved. Changes made to electrical sockets ensure that there are no trailing wires that could cause potential hazards to children and staff. Internal monitoring reports now identify the further action required to improve the quality of care for children. External monitoring reports include the visitor’s evaluation of the safeguarding arrangements in the home. Staff supervision of children and an informed approach have ensured that there have been no incidents or concerns regarding bullying in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Some of the requirements are not fully met. While improvements have been made to some of the children’s risk assessments, they fail to provide consistent guidance for staff on how to keep children safe. Furthermore, staff fail to implement the risk assessments in a consistent way. The manager has sought the views of external agencies regarding potential known risks to children in the area. However, the location risk assessment requires further review to ensure that all actions to keep staff and children safe are recorded and known. The registered provider has made sure that all appropriate agencies, including Ofsted, are informed of significant events. Yet, due to the organisation’s system, these are not always reported to Ofsted within the appropriate timescales. This prevents Ofsted from having a current view of the home and the action taken to safeguard children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The children are cared for by a stable staff team that consists of staff members who know them well. There are always enough staff on duty at all times and this gives staff the opportunity to spend quality time with the children. The recent management changes, including changes to senior management in the organisation, provide clear structure, accountability and delegated lead roles that provide good support to the staff. The staff report that the training provided is of a good quality. They value the face-to- face training that they receive. In addition to mandatory training, staff receive specialised training in managing substance misuse, child sexual exploitation and sexually harmful behaviour. The organisation is committed to providing a qualified workforce and the staff have either completed, or are enrolled on, a level 3 diploma. This ensures that the staff have the skills and competence to meet the children’s needs. The staff speak

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

positively regarding the support that they receive from managers and they confirm that they receive reflective supervision that supports their professional development. Monthly Inspection report children's home: 1224093 11 staff meetings are child focused and well attended.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

All of the required records are held in the home, but there is a lack of robust oversight of some records. On occasion, staff rotas do not identify all of the staff who worked on a particular day. In one instance, a member of staff was recorded as having worked for three days with no sleep. This was inaccurate. Failure to provide accurate records of the hours that staff work does not enable the manager to have effective oversight or to establish that working patterns are reasonable and likely to provide the best support for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Children’s records are stored securely and the management team has made improvements to the quality of records. This now ensures that all information regarding children’s day-to-day care is held within one document, providing a clear and detailed account of the child’s activities for that day. However, there is a lack of memorabilia for children to remind them of their time at the home.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and 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.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, 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’. Inspection report children's home: 1224093 12

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Broadwood Residential

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Keys Attachment Centre, Hurstwood Court, Rossendale BB4 6HR

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Inspector

Natalie Burton: social care inspector Inspection report children's home: 1224093 13 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, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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