Children's Home run by Keys Care Limited in Buckinghamshire

Inspection report children‟s home: SC421063 1 SC421063 Registered provider: Bettercare Keys 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

The home is run by a large private organisation. This home is one of a group of six that comprise a cross-regional project commissioned by six local authorities to provide a residential service for children and young people within their local area.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide medium- to long-term care for up to four young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. Young people living in the home may attend a school also run by the provider; they also have access to in-house therapeutic support.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 13 to 14 September 2017

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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

Date of last inspection: 17 January 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None Inspection report children‟s home: SC421063 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children develop strong relationships with staff.  Children make good progress in all areas of their lives.  Children‟s emotional well-being has improved, as has their behaviour.  Children engage in the educational opportunities available to them.  Children are achieving well in their education and have developed aspirations for their futures.  Children have increased confidence in their abilities and their self-esteem.  Children develop new interests and try new things.  Children feel that this is their home.  The manager is highly competent and passionate about each child doing well.  Staff nurture children and care deeply about them.

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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 manager does not include stakeholders‟ views in her six-monthly monitoring reports, and the reports lack analysis.  One significant incident had not been notified to Ofsted.  There is no information in the children‟s guide about how a child can access an advocate.  Not all new staff have received supervision at the agreed frequency.  Elements of some children‟s care plans and risk assessments have not been updated and not all key-work sessions are comprehensively recorded.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 27/07/2016 Full Good 12/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 07/10/2015 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: SC421063 3

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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 without delay notify HMCI of all significant events in the home, as defined in the corresponding regulation. (Regulation 40(4)) 03/11/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months. The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1)(2)(5))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that stakeholders‟ views are evaluated and that findings are used to identify areas for development. 03/11/2017

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Recommendations

 The children‟s guide should help children to understand: how they can access advocacy support or independent advocacy if eligible. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 24, paragraph 4.22)

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Recommendations

 The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. Professionally qualified staff employed by the home, e.g. teachers or social workers, should be provided with relevant professional or clinical supervision by an appropriately qualified and experienced professional. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 61, paragraph 13.2) In particular, ensure that new staff are supervised in line with their supervision agreements.

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Recommendations

 Keep all children‟s case records up to date. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 62, paragraph 14.3) In particular, ensure that internal care plans reflect the child‟s current situation, risk assessments are updated in line with practice when risks reduce and records of key-work sessions with children are comprehensively maintained. Inspection report children‟s home: SC421063 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The arrangements for admitting children to the home are effective and as a result children feel welcomed and settle well into daily life. Children said, „This our home.‟ One child said, „It‟s brilliant here.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and staff develop very good relationships. Some children develop good relationships and enjoy spending time with each other. Where relationships are not as strong, children respect each other‟s views most of the time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in decision-making about day-to-day life in the home and their care planning. Children know how to complain. Children say that staff listen to them and that their complaints are taken seriously.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make some very good progress in their attendance and attainment in education. Some children had not been attending school for some time and their progress is particularly noteworthy. Their self-esteem and confidence has increased, they are achieving well and they have developed aspirations for their futures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children keep busy after the school day and at weekends doing activities that are educational and/or recreational. They try new things. One child is learning to play the guitar, and is becoming proficient in it. Another child has found a love of bowling and is a regular attender at the bowling alley. Children also relax with staff and play computer games or watch the TV together. Children have made friends in the community and staff support these friendships to grow and develop. Children have learned about appropriate and inappropriate relationships and as a result they now make more positive choices about their friendships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are physically healthy and attend routine appointments, such as going to the dentist and optician. Specialist input regarding children‟s psychological and mental health is provided by an in-house therapy team. The therapist works with the staff and external professionals to develop and review individual care and therapy plans for each child. Direct work with children is also carried out by the therapist. Children also access external support for their mental health, such as from the child and adolescent mental health services. Children‟s psychological and mental health has improved as a direct result of this work. A social worker said, „There has been a remarkable shift in his presentation; he has grown in confidence; he is now talking about his feelings.‟ A mental health professional put the progress of the child she worked with down to staff and the care planning. She said, „They are brilliant, so supportive. He [child] has made lots of

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

progress.‟ A child also said that he felt that it was due to staff support that his mental health has improved so much. Inspection report children‟s home: SC421063 5 Where it is appropriate and safe to do so there is good support to children and their families to maintain or develop relationships. Staff understand the potential for children to have confused feelings about seeing their parents due to their past experiences and support them well to deal with these.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have become more independent. They have developed practical skills and have developed in their emotional maturity. Staff work with children, in an age-appropriate way, so that they are better prepared for moving on from the home.

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

Children confide in staff when something is worrying them. Staff make sure that any issues children raise are sorted out. Children trust the staff.

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

Staff use effective strategies to help children to keep safe. As children make improvements in their emotional well-being and reasoning skills they are allowed to take a higher level of responsibility for their own safety. There is a minor shortfall in the written risk assessments because when risks reduce these are not always updated.

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

The instances of children going missing have reduced significantly. On the odd occasion a child does go missing there is a well-coordinated response to finding them and bringing them home.

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

The clear and consistent boundaries that the manager and staff provide help children to make improvements in their behaviour. Children understand the rules and generally abide by them. Staff are usually effective at de-escalating situations. This reduces the need for the use of sanctions. Physical interventions are seldom used and only if they are required to protect children and staff. Children are supported to reflect on their actions and consider how they could deal with similar situations more effectively in the future.

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

Staff act appropriately if they have a concern that a child may be at risk. Staff refer child protection issues to safeguarding agencies and professionals appropriately and cooperate with any resulting investigations.

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

The local police officer visits the home from time to time. This has improved children‟s view of, and relationships with, police officers. One child was confident enough to contact the police for advice. A police officer said, „Care in the home is largely positive.‟

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

Children live in a safe and nurturing environment that is well maintained.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The aims, objectives and ethos of the home are set out in its statement of purpose, which is implemented well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager leads the staff team effectively and ensures that the quality of care Inspection report children‟s home: SC421063 6 remains consistently high. She knows each child‟s individual needs. She is committed to the children and passionate about ensuring that her team is effective in supporting them to grow and develop.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection there have been some changes in staff. The manager is supporting the team to build effective working relationships. Overall, the staff are working well and providing children with a good quality of care. A social worker said, „Staff genuinely care; they nurture the children and are concerned for them.‟

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are supported in their roles through good quality supervision and training, although not all new staff have received supervision at the expected frequency. Team meetings are used to discuss children and to support staff to improve their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff have good working relationships with placing authorities, other agencies, professionals and parents. A social worker said, „Staff keep me informed about the child I work with.‟ Another said, „Staff work well with me.‟

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The arrangements for the manager‟s monitoring of the work need improvement. In particular, the views of stakeholders are not currently used to inform the findings. Additionally, findings are not fully analysed. The reports produced are largely descriptive and this limits the opportunities to develop the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Most of the recommendations made at the last inspection have been met. There remains a minor shortfall in the children‟s guide as it does not provide information to inform children how they can access an advocate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When significant incidents arise, these are dealt with effectively by the manager and staff. One significant event had not been notified to Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Individual plans for each child are followed by staff to help children to grow and develop their skills. One plan had not been updated in a timely way but this had little impact on the child as staff knew the new arrangements well. Children are supported by staff during one–to-one meetings to learn about matters such as making safe relationships. The records of these meetings are not all comprehensively maintained.

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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. Inspection report children‟s home: SC421063 7 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

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Information about this inspection

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: SC421063 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bettercare Keys Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Keys Group, Laganwood House, Newforge Lane, Belfast BT9 5NW

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Inspector

Rosie Dancer, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC421063 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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