Children's home run by Keys Education Ltd

Inspection report children‟s home: SC488439 1 SC488439 Registered provider: Keys Education Limited

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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 is a private children‟s home. The children‟s home provides care and accommodation for up to three young people who may 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved 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

 Staff have not fully considered how to keep one young person safe when they Inspection report children‟s home: SC488439 2 are having contact with their family.  Staff have mixed success in assessing and reviewing young people‟s vulnerability to risk.  Staff do not adhere to fire safety procedures for staff and young people who are new to the house.  Staff do not assess the appropriateness of young people administering their own medication.  The registered manager does not always ensure that placement plans support staff to provide young people with personalised care.  Managers do not always document the content of staff supervisions.  The registered manager‟s monitoring systems have not been sufficient to enable her to have an understanding of areas that require improvement.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff are enthusiastic and child-focused.  Staff support young people to be better able to regulate their emotions.  Staff encourage young people to be involved in a range of positive activities in the community.  Staff provide young people with opportunities to express their views and wishes.  Staff have developed effective relationships with a range of partner agencies, including the police and local authorities.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 14/11/2016 Full Requires improvement 03/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 16/06/2015 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: SC488439 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child‟s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm. (Regulation 12 (1) and (2) (a) (i) (iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered provider should ensure that when a young person is identified as being at high risk of harm that staff plan how to manage and reduce the risk and take the necessary action. 30/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‟s home that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1) (a) (b) (2) (f) (g)) 30/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the requirements of Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2) (b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered provider should ensure that in line with the provider‟s current fire risk assessment that fire evacuations are completed in 24 hours of the arrival of a new admission. 30/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which include the information and documents 30/10/2017 Inspection report children‟s home: SC488439 4 listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; are kept up to date; are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1) (a) (b) (c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered provider should ensure that placement plans should be kept up to date, support staff to provide young people with personalised care and be reflective of the local authority‟s care plan.

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Recommendations

 Staff should understand factors that affect children‟s motivation to behave in a socially acceptable way. Staff should encourage an enthusiasm for positive behaviour by using positive behaviour strategies in line with the child‟s relevant plans. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 39, paragraph 8.13) Specifically, the registered person should ensure that staff support young people in line with their behaviour management plans, particularly when a young person has identified strategies that they feel are effective.

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Recommendations

 Children should be supported to keep and take their own medication if they are able to do so safely. Staff should be mindful that children holding their own prescribed medication must only use it for themselves in accordance with the prescription. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 35, paragraph 7.16) Specifically, the registered person should complete an assessment to determine the appropriateness of young people administering their own medication.

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Recommendations

 It is good practice for a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions to be kept and to ensure that both the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 61, paragraph 13.4)

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improvement to be good

Staff facilitate family contact even when this requires long journeys and overnight stays. This ensures that young people feel less isolated and are able to maintain relationships with their families. However, for one young person, the risks associated with him having contact with his family have not been sufficiently considered by staff and, as a result, existing contact arrangements place the young person in a situation where he is potentially vulnerable.

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improvement to be good

Although staff have a good understanding of young people‟s needs, key documents, Inspection report children‟s home: SC488439 5 such as young people‟s placement plans, are not reviewed regularly and do not always reflect the care that young people receive. This shortfall in the quality of case recording hinders the registered manager‟s ability to evaluate young people‟s care.

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improvement to be good

Despite this, young people make progress in respect of their educational, emotional and behavioural development. For example, one young person has recently started a full- time job, which has the potential to provide him with a long-term career. This is a significant achievement considering his starting point. Education provision is in place for the two other young people.

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improvement to be good

Dedicated staff work hard to develop good relationships with young people. Staff are enthusiastic and energetic. Staff encourage young people to keep busy, with activities such as ice hockey, which is a favourite activity for two of the young people. One young person told the inspector, „It is a good house, good staff, they help me out a lot and they go out of their way for me.‟

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improvement to be good

Staff encourage young people to develop the skills they will need to live on their own. For example, young people are encouraged to take part in daily chores and to help with the cooking. These opportunities enable them to learn the basic skills they will need for adulthood.

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improvement to be good

Staff ensure that young people have opportunities to express their views and wishes. Young people participate in weekly house meetings and receive feedback from staff about any request they have made. This ensures that they feel listened to by staff and know that their opinion matters.

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improvement to be good

Staff are inconsistent in their monitoring and assessment of risk. Although a wide range of risk assessments are in place, these are not always brought up to date following significant events, such as a young person going missing. Furthermore, staff do not always read risk assessments in a timely manner. This has an impact on members of staff‟s abilities to know how best to keep young people safe.

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improvement to be good

Staff are not always proactive in planning for those young people who are at risk of going missing from home. For example, staff do not fully consider the individual needs of young people, such as their age, vulnerability and lifestyle choices. As a result, strategies to respond to missing incidents are too general. Despite this, the action taken by staff in response to a recent incident in which a young person went missing was good. Staff worked closely with partner agencies to locate and safely return the young person. This means that although the staff planning is weak, when a young person does go missing the actions of staff are good.

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improvement to be good

Staff recognise the importance of clear and consistent boundaries for young people. A firm but fair approach by staff supports young people to understand what appropriate behaviour is. All young people have made progress compared with their starting points, Inspection report children‟s home: SC488439 6 with significant reductions in aggression and risk-taking behaviours. However, some young people struggle to maintain their good progress, with one young person recently becoming involved in offending behaviour while missing from home. Staff encouragement, guidance and support has enabled young people to learn how to make positive choices, although this approach is not yet fully embedded in practice.

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improvement to be good

Staff involve young people in planning how best to manage their behaviours. For example, an incentive points system enables young people to choose to have short-term rewards, such as an activity, or to save up the points to get a bigger reward. In one instance, a young person identified a creative way in which staff could help him to manage his behaviour, with coloured cards as a visual prompt when his behaviour was unacceptable. However, staff did not implement this approach. This was a missed opportunity to use the young person‟s input to assist him in learning how to control his behaviour.

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improvement to be good

When staff and young people are new to the home, the registered manager does not ensure that they take part in a fire evacuation drill within 24 hours of their arrival, in line with procedures. However, when young people are new to the home, staff do explain the evacuation process to them, reducing the potential impact of the delay in fire evacuations drills taking place.

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improvement to be good

One young person currently self-administers his own medication. However, staff have not assessed the appropriateness of this. As a result, staff do not ensure that young people are able to administer their own medication safely, placing young people at potential risk of harm.

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improvement to be good

Staff have an appropriate understanding of young people‟s vulnerability to exploitation, both online and in the community. Appropriate measures are in place to keep the young people safe. This includes direct supervision of young people, restrictions on the use of the internet and key-work sessions to educate young people.

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

The registered manager has been in post since 2015 and is currently working towards her level 5 diploma in leadership and management.

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

Despite a range of monitoring systems being in place, the registered manager has not been able to identify areas that require improvement. This has had an impact on the extent to which staff take the actions necessary to keep young people safe and to ensure that the care young people receive is personalised to their needs.

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

Staff are consistent in their praise for the registered manager, who they say is approachable and helpful. Although staff receive regular supervision, the manager does not always record the content of the supervision. While there is no immediate impact from this, it does limit the manager‟s ability to identify and respond to any emerging staff performance issues. Inspection report children‟s home: SC488439 7 Staff benefit from a comprehensive range of training, which includes bespoke training delivered by the provider‟s therapist. This supports staff‟s awareness of how to work with young people who experience trauma and attachment disorders.

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

Staff work closely with a range of partner agencies, and have established particularly good relationships with young people‟s placing authorities and local police. This collaborative working helps to meet the needs of 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 differences 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 whom 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: SC488439 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Keys Education Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hurstwood Court, Laganwood House, New Hall Hey Road, Rossendale, Lancashire BB4 6HR

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Inspector

Paul Robinson, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC488439 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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