Children's Home run by Keys Child Care Limited in Hertfordshire

Inspection report children’s home: 1164089 1 Registered provider: Broadwood Residential Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The children’s home is managed by a private organisation. It provides care and accommodation for four children aged between 10 and 18 years, 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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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: 13 January 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: 1164089 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 The children have positive relationships with a staff team that knows and understands their individual needs.  The children say they can speak to the staff if they are worried or upset, and that the staff will listen to and help them.  The staff understand the importance of young people having contact with their families, and facilitate this contact.  The children recognise their own achievements and the staff celebrate these with them.  The children are fully involved in the plans which are in place for them.  The staff understand the importance of listening to and acting on the children’s wishes and feelings.  The children say they feel safe living in the home because of the staff.  The staff are consistent with regard to setting boundaries and challenging any unwanted 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

 The children should have a clear plan when moving into the home.  The children should have the opportunity to comment after any restraint, within 24 hours of the restraint occurring.  The children’s guide needs to detail the day-to-day routine of the home.  Parts of the house need some maintenance work completed.  The location risk assessment needs to be more robust to further safeguard the children.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 15/06/2016 Full Good 10/11/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1164089 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who understand the children’s home’s overall aims and outcomes it seeks to achieve for children, and use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard, the registered person to ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6(1)(a)(b)(2)(c)) 18/12/2017

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home and have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that arrangements are in place to ensure the effective induction of each child into the home. (Regulation 14)(1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(i)) 18/12/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year, taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard). (Regulation 46) 18/12/2017

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Recommendations

 Ensure that any child who has been restrained is given the opportunity to express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the restraint incident. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.60)  Ensure that the children’s guide helps children to understand the day-to-day routines of the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.22) Inspection report children’s home: 1164089 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children make good progress living in the home. A stable and motivated staff team understands the needs of the children and how important it is for them to progress. The staff work closely with the children, social workers and other professionals to achieve this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff understand the importance of setting realistic and achievable targets which are meaningful and support the children to progress. The staff monitor these daily and at the end of each month, the manager evaluates the progression that the children have made. The children can earn financial rewards, which they can save towards something they want, or they can receive more instant rewards, such as going out for coffee with a member of staff. This approach enables the children to gain positive self-identity and promotes further progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have good and trusting relationships with the staff. This was observed during the inspection, where mutual respect along with a sense of fun were evident. A child commented, ‘Staff here are fun and want to do things with you.’ These relationships enable the children to develop and maintain positive interactions with adults who care for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff promote and maintain children’s contact with their families. A social worker commented, ‘He can now have unsupervised contact with family, and that’s thanks to the staff, who are able to stay in the area to support him should he need it.’ The staff record all contact to look at trends and patterns before and after contact, and put in place strategies for supporting the children if needed. This understanding enables the children to maintain positive relationships with their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff recognise the importance of education, and work closely with the organisation’s school to support this. Two children who are on bespoke timetables were involved in implementing these with the staff from the home and the education staff. They attend school certain days a week, and complete educational work with staff in the home. The headteacher commented, ‘We work closely with the staff and have seen great improvement with the children re-engaging in education.’ This joint working provides good support for the children engaging in education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff promote the children’s health needs. All of the children are registered with the local doctor, dentist and opticians. The staff support the children to attend all health appointments, and teach them the importance of understanding their own health needs and leading a healthy lifestyle. This support ensures that all of the children’s health needs are met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff support the children to learn to manage risk and keep themselves safe in the community. The children who are permitted free time plan this with staff. A child commented, ‘I have to plan my free time. Staff always ask where I’m going and when I Inspection report children’s home: 1164089 5 will be back. I stay in touch when I’m out with friends.’ A social worker reported that staff have supported a child to be able to have overnight stays at a friend’s house. The staff completed a risk assessment and met the friend and the friend’s parents. This understanding shows that staff are not risk averse, and that the staff want the children to have the same experiences as their peers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have memory boxes and the staff take photos of activities and celebrations which can be put in these boxes. This enables the children to take positive memories of their time in the home with them when they leave.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have individualised placement plans that the staff regularly review and keep up to date. The plans support the staff to work with the children, who are fully involved in the writing of the plan. The children are able to comment and sign to say that they understand the plans and how staff are working with them. The children feel fully involved in plans and decisions that are made regarding their care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children attend weekly house meetings, where staff obtain their views, wishes and feelings. The children spoken to said that the staff do listen to and act on these. The manager responds to each meeting in writing and the staff feed this back to the children. The children’s views and ideas are valued and acted upon by the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have regular key-work sessions which cover a wide variety of topics. These are well recorded, which shows that the children are fully involved in key-work sessions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There have been two discharges from the home and three admissions into the home since the last inspection. However, there is no clear evidence of transition plans, or of how each child is supported with moving into the home. This means that the staff may not understand the individual needs of children, to support them in visiting and moving into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is located just outside a main town. It is large, spacious and bright, and has a nurturing feel. The children all commented that it has a homely feel and there are photos of the children and the staff around the home, giving it a personal feel. The communal areas are decorated and furnished to a good standard. There is a large well- kept garden to the rear of the house with a trampoline and a sandpit. However, some of the children’s bedrooms need some repainting; one child has damp coming in from a shower next door; and the stair carpet is worn. As a result, not all areas of the home are well maintained.

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

The children say they feel safe living in the home because of the staff and the homely environment. They can speak to staff if they are worried or upset and staff will listen to and help them. The staff have a good understanding of safeguarding. Any concerns are reported to the designated officer or manager and the staff follow the advice given. This shows that the staff understand the importance of keeping the children safe. Inspection report children’s home: 1164089 6 The staff challenge unwanted behaviours and reinforce boundaries, taking into account the child’s age and level of understanding. Incidents are recorded and discussed with the children. The staff support the children to look at more appropriate ways of managing their behaviours. Sanctions are fair, proportionate and given appropriately. The staff discuss these with the children, who have the opportunity to sign and comment on them. The manager comments on the sanctions and evaluates their effectiveness. This

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

reflection helps the children to understand negative behaviours and develop skills to reduce them. There has been a decrease in incidents of children needing to be held. However, not all children have been debriefed or have signed to say they understand why the hold took place. This means that the children may not have understood the reason for being held, or may not have had the opportunity to talk about their experience of this with staff.

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

Comprehensive risk assessments are in place. These outline the risks, concerns, and strategies for keeping children safe, and support staff to manage behaviours safely. Behaviour management plans are in place, which the children read, comment on and sign. This practice gives the children ownership of their plans, and of how staff will work with them to keep them safe.

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

There has been a significant decrease in incidents of children going missing since the last inspection. The children have individual missing-from-care protocols, which are regularly reviewed. A social worker commented, ‘He is safe living in the home and the staff also teach him how to keep himself safe.’ The children have return to home interviews with an independent person, to try to establish the reasons for them going missing, which further safeguards them.

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

The manager works closely with social workers and other professionals involved in the children’s lives to ensure that there is consistency in the children’s care. The children know how to complain. There has been one complaint since the last inspection, which was resolved within the required timescale. The child was kept up to date, and commented and signed to say they were happy with the outcome. A child commented, ‘If I wanted to make a complaint I would talk to staff, but I have never had to.’

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

There is a location risk assessment in place. However, it is not robust and it does not identify all of the potential hazards in the area, or have the relevant views of others recorded.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been in post since August 2017, and has the relevant experience to manage the home. She has a clear vision for the home, and recognises the strengths and areas for development. She has begun to build partnership working with local health professionals, education providers and the local police officer who comes to visit the home to build relationships with the children and staff. These opportunities will support the children in different aspects of their lives and help them to Inspection report children’s home: 1164089 7 progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There was one requirement from the last inspection, which has been met, and three recommendations, one of which will be repeated. Risk assessments reflect any changes to children’s presenting risks. The children have memory boxes and the staff complete individual photo albums for the children to take with them when they leave. The staff have a clear understanding of the signs of child sexual exploitation, and have completed all of the relevant training. However, the children are still not always given the opportunity to express their feelings following a restraint.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager monitors the care practice and uses the monthly reports from the independent person to support and drive improvement. These are discussed in staff meetings to ensure that the staff are aware of and involved in improving the quality of care in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a comprehensive induction programme in place. A new member of staff commented that she has had the opportunity to attend her mandatory training, and is having supervision with the manager fortnightly. New staff have the opportunity to shadow experienced staff before starting to work on shift. This opportunity supports new members of staff to be able to learn from more experienced staff while they begin to build up relationships with the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff receive regular supervision, which is recorded and is signed by staff. All of the staff have an updated appraisal. This supports the staff in their work with the children and ensures that their development needs are met. The staff have completed their mandatory training. They have completed, or are in the process of completing, their level 3 diploma in residential childcare within the required timescale. This ensures that the children receive care from staff who are appropriately qualified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is working in line with the aims and objectives set out in the statement of purpose and function. There is a child-friendly children’s guide in place for children who are moving into the home, which gives them information about the home, including who to complain to if they do not wish to speak to staff. However, it does not contain the day-to-day routines of the home to ensure that the children understand what happens in the home so that they are supported to settle.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is confident about raising issues with the relevant professionals if she feels that the individual plans are not in the best interest of the child or fail to safeguard them. This practice means that the manager is aware of each child’s individual plan, and challenges appropriately when plans do not fully support the child. Inspection report children’s home: 1164089 8

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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: 1164089 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Broadwood Residential Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Trish Palmer: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1164089 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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