Children's Home run by Keys Nhcc Ltd in Shropshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC020607 1 SC020607 Registered provider: New Horizons (Child Care) 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 home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 11 to 12 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 requires improvement to be 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: Improved effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None Inspection report children’s home: SC020607 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 There is a well-coordinated response when young people go missing.  Young people’s risk-taking behaviours reduce.  Staff understand how to keep young people safe.  Staff are good at communicating with placing authorities.  Young people’s friendships are promoted. Staff encourage young people to invite their friends home for tea.  Young people enjoy positive experiences in the home. They take part in activities such as drama clubs, horse riding, cycling, swimming and trips to the seaside.  The registered manager listens to young people and acts on their complaints. She encourages and supports young people to complain when placing authorities are not fulfilling their statutory responsibilities.  Key-working sessions are good. They are individualised, planned and purposeful.  The registered manager has made significant improvements to the home environment. However, it continues to need some further maintenance work.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager invests in the staff team. She helps staff to understand young people’s behaviours.

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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

 Some young people do not have a school placement. Young people’s education plans do not focus enough on the young people’s individual needs.  When safeguarding information has been passed to placing authorities, staff do not always find out the outcome or ensure that placing authorities are taking action.  Young people’s case files do not contain the statutory information needed to inform their plans, such as looked after review minutes and up-to-date care plans. Inspection report children’s home: SC020607 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 08/12/2016 Full Requires improvement 23/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 05/11/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC020607 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 make measurable progress towards achieving their educational 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 that staff—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) and (2) (a) (x)) 27/10/2017

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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 that staff—

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) and (2) (a) (vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, staff should follow up safeguarding information with placing authorities. 27/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child, with particular reference to looked after review minutes, local authority care plans and personal education plans. (Regulation 36 (1) (a)) 27/10/2017

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety Inspection report children’s home: SC020607 5 legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have trusting relationships with staff. This supports young people to make good progress. Staff talk to young people about important issues such as family relationships, sexual health and education. Key-working sessions help young people to understand some aspects of being looked after such as care planning and court proceedings. Staff plan key-working sessions and use resources to make sure that they are informed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Individualised plans support staff to understand young people’s past experiences, their behaviours and how to respond effectively to them. Although young people’s case files lack statutory documents such as looked after review minutes and personal education plans, staff make sure that they liaise with social workers regularly. Staff focus on de- escalating young people’s behaviour, for example by offering them cuddles when they are becoming upset. Staff review young people’s plans collectively during staff meetings. They focus on areas of progress that young people have made. Young people are involved in their plans. Although some young people find this difficult, staff encourage them to know what is written down about them. Young people have a reward system for reaching targets, such as engaging with education or not swearing. This is effective. Some young people have been saving their rewards money, for example to buy a pet

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff are committed to supporting young people’s educational achievements. There is good liaison with virtual heads, colleges and schools. While some young people are not attending education outside of the home, the registered manager pushes for young people to experience education within a school setting. Delays in this being achieved have been due to the organisation, and not due to the registered manager. One young person is currently not attending college although she is completing work experience at a horse stables. There is a lack of a coordinated plan with regards to how staff should encourage the young person to attend some form of formal education. This shortfall is due to inconsistent social workers and poor placing authority responses. When young people are educated at the home, their education reports and assessments evidence that they are making good progress. Young people

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

take part in activities and staff are good at finding out about young people’s interests. One young person is taking part in a sponsored swim to raise money for the local dogs’ home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people feel listened to. They know how to make complaints and they know that the registered manager will act on their wishes and feelings. The registered manager is a Inspection report children’s home: SC020607 6 good advocate for the young people in her care. For example, she has supported a young person to make a formal complaint regarding the poor local authority input that she has had. The registered manager has recently arranged for an independent advocate to visit young people at the home. A social worker said, ‘This is the most settled I have seen my young person for a while. Staff are very nurturing. They are very therapeutic and child focused. They don’t give up easily, which is nice, a breath of fresh air.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

New young people are welcomed into the home. The registered manager ensures that she tries to match young people as well as possible. When difficulties arise regarding peer relationships, staff address these in a positive way by encouraging young people to have empathy and to try to see things from others’ perspectives.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager and staff report safeguarding concerns to placing authorities. However, staff do not always ensure that they follow up with placing authorities to find out the outcome of safeguarding incidents, or whether adequate action has been taken. Significant inconsistencies from one young person’s social worker have had an impact on communication and the response to safeguarding concerns. This potentially compromises young people’s safety when they are in the community or seeing friends.

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improvement to be good

When young people go out to see their friends, staff ensure that they complete checks with the friends’ parents. They phone young people to make sure that they are safe and they go and see them at regular intervals. Staff are good at allowing young people to take part in age-appropriate activities in as safe a way as possible.

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improvement to be good

Young people are safe and staff support them to become increasingly safer. When young people have gone missing, there has been a well-coordinated response. The registered manager has established good working relationships with the police, including the child sexual exploitation team. Effective partnership working between the registered manager, staff and other agencies promotes young people’s safety and well-being.

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improvement to be good

Staff always collect young people when they have been found, regardless of the time. Staff ensure that young people are warmly welcomed home. For example, they make sure that the young person has fresh bedlinen on their bed and that their bedroom is warm and welcoming. Staff know who young people’s friends are and they liaise with placing authorities and the police to ensure that there are no risks associated with the young people’s friends. A social worker said, ‘The staff were fantastic when my young person went missing. They were picking her up at midnight. Staff were very active as they would report her missing and then call her, and then call her friends. They were on the ball. The registered manager helped coordinate meetings with the right people, like the missing from care police team and the child sexual exploitation team. We can’t talk more highly of the service we got from them. I don’t think they could have done

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improvement to be good

anything else.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC020607 7 Overall, young people’s risk-taking behaviours significantly reduce. Physical interventions are rare. When they occur, staff ensure that they debrief with the young person after the incident. Physical interventions are carried out sensitively. Young people’s incidents of self-harm decrease. When young people say that they will harm themselves, staff are quick to respond and liaise with health professionals. Staff understand young people’s risk-taking behaviours and they know how to respond appropriately and in a way which meets the young person’s individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a registered manager in post. She is qualified and has a national vocational qualification (NVQ) level 5 in leadership and management. Of the eight members of staff, five are suitably qualified and the other three are in the process of completing their NVQ level 3. The registered manager monitors their progress through frequent supervisions and discussions with their NVQ assessor.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager knows the young people, their past experiences and their progress. Through daily consultation and interaction with and observations of the young people, the registered manager is aware of what the young people’s everyday experiences are like. She encourages young people’s progress and development through, for example, clubs and activities. The registered manager has high aspiration for the young people in her care and she has high expectations of her staff team. She is a good advocate for young people in her care. When she is dissatisfied with a placing authority’s response, she challenges this, and she encourages young people to challenge as well. The registered manager seeks young people’s views and she acts on them. Young people feel listened to as a result.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management oversight and monitoring are good. The registered manager understands the strengths and the areas for development in the home and she takes effective action to address any shortfalls. She has introduced recent changes to the way in which staff work with young people. For example, she has introduced more planned key-working sessions, which are child focused. She encourages staff to understand young people’s behaviours and to engage with therapeutic support. Supervisions are good because they are child focused and informative. She allows staff to reflect on their practice, which supports their development. Staff feel supported and said that they are being given good direction and guidance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager monitors staff practice and she provides them with a good role model, showing them how to respond to certain situations. Training is good. The registered manager encourages staff development during team meetings. For example, staff have had recent child exploitation and online protection training during the team meeting from a child sexual exploitation police officer. The registered manager is committed to ensuring that her staff have good opportunities to develop their knowledge Inspection report children’s home: SC020607 8 and skills. A staff member said, ‘The registered manager is very knowledgeable, very dedicated and stretches my knowledge. I am excited about how she is going to push and stretch my knowledge and skills. She invests in her staff team.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Partnership working is good. The registered manager has worked hard to develop positive working relationships with relevant professionals such as the police, schools, virtual headteachers and children’s rights commissioners. These relationships have benefited young people’s progress, as they have provided a coordinated response to meeting young people’s needs.

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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: SC020607 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Horizons (Child Care) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hurstwood Court, New Hall Hey Road, Rawtenstall, Lancashire BB4 6HR

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Inspector

Hannah Bates, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC020607 10 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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