Children's home run by Keys KIN Ltd in Wealden

Inspection report children‟s home: 1226495 1 Registered provider: Kingdom Care Children‟s Homes Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children‟s home provides care and accommodation for up to six young people. It currently accommodates exclusively girls. The home is run by a private organisation that has another home close by.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children‟s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people are settled and making good to excellent progress in relation to their starting points. Inspection report children‟s home: 1226495 2  The management team provides effective leadership which enables staff to create a nurturing, family environment where young people receive consistent care and develop a sense of stability and security.  Young people‟s risk-taking behaviours decrease over time due to the consistency of staff practice and the application of boundaries.  Young people are provided with every opportunity to access education and are supported to achieve successful outcomes from these. Some young people have made outstanding educational progress, while others, who have a negative view of education, are supported to attend school or college.  Staff consult and listen to young people and make sure that their views and opinions are taken into account in the running of the home and in the care that

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Key findings from this inspection

they receive. Young people are able to access independent advocates when needed.  The staff team has excellent relationships with a range of professional agencies. The team works collaboratively with the young people‟s social workers and local safeguarding agencies to keep young people safe. In particular, the team works very closely with the local missing person police team.  Young people have quick and direct access to a range of health professionals, including a psychiatrist and psychologist.  Through close, individualised support, the young people establish trusting relationships with the staff. Staff respond thoughtfully to young people‟s needs.  Young people are provided with smooth moving-in and moving-on experiences.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children‟s home‟s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 The independent visitor‟s report and the manager‟s six-monthly review of the quality of care are not fully compliant with the regulations.  The home‟s location risk assessment does not include evaluation of the risks associated with child exploitation or radicalisation in the locality.  Young people have not all developed healthy eating habits across their daily routines.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/09/2016 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: 1226495 3

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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 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 children are effectively safeguarded and the conduct of the home promotes children‟s well-being. (Regulation 44(4)(a)(b)) 30/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”). (Regulation 45(3)) In particular, ensure that the report includes actions to improve the quality of care and does not just refer to the environmental developments. 30/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child. (Regulation 36(1)) In particular, ensure that individual records are filed in the correct young person‟s file. 30/09/2017

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, and should understand the key role that they play in the training and development of staff in the home. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 53, and paragraph 10.11).

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Recommendations

In particular, and in relation to e-safety, the registered person should have a more cohesive and improved structure to ensure staff receive up-to-date information on a regular basis, including using information from external e-safety agencies.  The registered person should ensure that children are provided with nutritious meals suitable for each child‟s needs. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 15, and paragraph 3.8) In particular, improve the eating habits of some young people, especially in Inspection report children‟s home: 1226495 4 relation to the breakfast meal.  The review (of the suitability of premises) 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, and paragraph 15.1)

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Recommendations

In particular, ensure that the location risk assessment contains details of the level of risk of child exploitation, radicalisation and drugs misuse gained from a range of local external agencies.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people experience individualised care within a nurturing environment, where they have opportunities to learn to manage their emotions more appropriately and keep themselves safe. They develop warm, positive and trusting relationships with the staff who, although a fairly new staff team, are resilient and consistent in their approach. Even during challenging times, the staff remain consistent in their approach and don‟t give up on the young people. The home provides in-house therapeutic support that complements staff practice. As a result, young people are making good progress in reducing their risky behaviours, such as self-harming and going missing from care. The therapeutic approach used has helped young people to regulate their emotions, develop their self-esteem and self-awareness, and improve their behaviour. Some of the young people have gained outstanding outcomes from their school experience and others are making good progress. The staff liaise closely with all

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

education establishments and work hard to support those young people who find engaging in education difficult. One young person has gained qualifications that enable her to go on to university, while others have also attained qualifications in functional skills. Young people are supported to keep healthy. The staff encourage young people to have a healthy lifestyle and to access medical intervention when needed. Incidents of self- harm are well managed and this has led to a reduction in such behaviour. Despite the encouragement of staff, young people are not all choosing to eat healthily. The views of young people are important to the staff. Through house meetings, key- working sessions and many informal individual consultations, the young people‟s views and opinions influence matters affecting their care and lives. They are actively involved in their care planning and setting goals. A strength of the home is how strongly staff

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

advocate for the young people when there is uncertainty around future placements plans, and when indecision is affecting the well-being of the young person. All professionals met during the inspection spoke very positively about the care young people receive and how well the staff team works to ensure that young people are kept safe. Young people moving in experience a sensitive and calm house. Young people Inspection report children‟s home: 1226495 5 welcome new arrivals and offer them real support to settle in. Moving on is well planned. It is a tribute to the home that many young people say that they never want to leave the home.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff have developed warm and caring relationships with young people. Through close supervision, the young people develop a sense of safety, protection and trust in the adults who care for them. Risk management is generally of a high standard. The staff work with other professionals to ensure that there are responses in place to any known risks. The staff are aware of and follow planned responses to incidents where young people may be at risk. The staff are consistent in their responses to risky behaviours. Over time, this has led to a significant decrease in individual risky behaviours such as self-harming, going missing from care, and aggression. The home has a location risk assessment in place, but this does not detail the local factors that may lead to risk of child sexual exploitation or radicalisation. Risk assessments are, in general, of a very high standard. However, the lack of information from external agencies in relation to known risks in the area means that they are not as

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

informative as they could be. Although the provider has a structure for addressing e-safety, it is not as cohesive as it could be. Staff have not had access to up-to-date information on a regular basis, nor utilised resources or training from external e-safety agencies. By working collaboratively and effectively with the young people‟s social workers and the local police, the staff are very pro-active in their approach to protecting the young people. There are incidents of young people leaving the home without permission; however, the vast majority of incidents involve young people being late back. When staff are concerned about young people leaving home without permission, they are determined in their practice to follow the young people. Young people often then return to the home because they recognise that staff are not giving up on them. Detailed behaviour management plans guide staff to provide effective support. The

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

young people receive thoughtful and sensitive support to manage their behaviour. The staff use physical interventions only as a last resort. The staff will use refocusing techniques rather than restraint whenever possible. Young people live in a safe environment, with all necessary health and safety checks in place. Young people experience fire evacuation drills and know what action to take in the event of a fire. Recruitment procedures are of a very high standard. Detailed and well-organised procedures include three interviews alongside all required checks. This helps to ensure that staff recruited are right for the job.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager demonstrates excellent leadership skills. He is a role model to the team. He is currently completing his level 5 qualification in leadership and Inspection report children‟s home: 1226495 6 management. He is a good motivator of both the staff and young people. He has been without a deputy for a few months and has a fairly new staff team in place. Despite this, the home has not been adversely affected, new staff have settled in quickly, and the home remains a calm and nurturing environment. The registered manager‟s strength is the support he offers to staff and young people. In addition, he is an excellent advocate for young people and will challenge professionals to ensure that the best interests of the young people are promoted. The young people speak very positively about the registered manager. However, the formal monitoring and review of the quality of care in the home is not

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

sufficiently robust. The detail in the independent visitor‟s reports does not meet the required standard. The reports do contain details of checks carried out and the young people and adults spoken with. However, they do not provide detail of the independent person‟s opinion as to whether children are effectively safeguarded and if the conduct of the home promotes children‟s well-being. In addition, the home‟s quality of care review reports, undertaken and submitted to the regulator every six months, do not fully meet the standard required. They do provide detail of the previous six months and action points for the future, but this is mainly regarding changes to the physicality of the home and not about the quality of care. The home‟s development plan does contain the required information. Individual young people‟s records and files are comprehensive and extremely well organised and accessible. However, on two occasions the inspector found records of

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

individual files containing paperwork relating to the wrong young people. This means that the information was probably not available in the correct place should it be sought. There is a comprehensive training programme in place for the staff, commencing with a thorough induction programme and leading to a very wide range of additional and on- going training provided by internal and external trainers. Processes are in place to establish the effectiveness of training delivered through supervision, post-training questionnaires and feedback questionnaires. Staff speak positively about the training and have received appropriate courses relating to the young people‟s needs. This ensures that staff are well prepared to meet the needs of the young people. The registered manager completes care plans to a very high standard. The care plans guide staff and promote a consistency in approach and successful outcomes. Referrals

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

are detailed and careful consideration is given to all placement matching. Strategies for managing behaviours are carefully considered and reviewed very regularly. All care plans and risk assessments are regularly updated. Child focus meetings, where the therapist is invited to contribute, provide a clear and positive guide to the staff team in understanding and managing individual life experiences, challenges and the mental health and well-being of young people. Social workers are very positive about their relationships with the staff and the effective levels of communication, which enable them to work together to protect young people and promote positive outcomes for them. The managers are pro-active in challenging ineffective responses from other services, including the police and placing authorities, to Inspection report children‟s home: 1226495 7 ensure that decisions made are in the best interests of the young people.

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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: 1226495 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kingdom Care Children‟s Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Kingdom Care Children‟s Homes Ltd, 30/34 North Street, Hailsham, East Sussex BN27 1DW

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Inspector

Liz Driver, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 1226495 9 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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