Children's Home run by Keys Care Limited in Windsor and Maidenhead

Inspection report children’s home: SC438624 1 SC438624 Registered provider: Bettercare Keys Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to accommodate up to two young people who may have behavioural and /or emotional difficulties. It is operated by a private provider who provide children’s homes across the country.

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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

Date of last inspection: 11 January 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC438624 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Some young people are engaging well with the staff, and making good progress while forming positive relationships with the staff.  Efforts are made by the staff to obtain the views of the young people, and act on any concerns that they may have.  The young people are engaged in education, and are encouraged to attend daily with the support of the staff.  Some young people have improved their confidence and social skills by obtaining age-appropriate skills.  Safe recruitment procedures are followed when new staff join the team.  A manager has successfully registered to manage the home.  Monitoring of the home is sound, and informs planning for the young people.

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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

 There is a high level of conflict between the two young people currently living in home.  The staff have found it difficult to engage and develop relationships with all young people.  The staff do not always follow the guidance contained in the risk assessments to ensure the safety of young people.  A lack of communication with an external professional has prevented a young person from receiving timely assistance.  The reasons for the turnover of staff in the home are not collated and analysed.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 28/09/2016 Full Good 04/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 04/11/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC438624 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

In order to meet the positive relationship standard, the registered person must ensure that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on (a) mutual respect and trust (b) an understanding about acceptable behaviour (c) positive responses to other children and adults. (Regulation 11(1)(a)(b)(c)) 09/01/2018

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered person must ensure that staff (2)(a)(ii) help each child to understand how to keep safe (iv) manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other (v) understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12(2)(a)(ii)(iv)(v)) 09/01/2018

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Recommendations

 The registered manager should monitor and review the patterns and trends in the turnover of staff, whether agency or directly employed, and be able to understand, and where possible address, any negative trends. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.19)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Inspection report children’s home: SC438624 4 The children’s home is currently at full capacity. The two young people have resided in the home for over a year. One of them is making reasonable progress and engaging well with the staff. The other young person is unsettled, and is exhibiting behaviours that have disrupted the home environment. Despite these difficulties, the staff have attempted to provide some support, but this has been mostly unsuccessful.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people have a voice within the home. The staff listen to their needs and try to respond accordingly. The staff have taken opportunities to gain the views of the young people despite their conflict with each other. The young people’s meetings have been held separately and key-working sessions have been designed so that pertinent issues can be discussed. The documented discussions form a useful record of the attempted (and sometimes successful) engagement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The relationships between the young people and the staff differ at present. One young person has developed some positive relationships with the staff, specifically his key worker. The young person has been able to openly share his views while being respectful and adhering to rules of the home. The other young person has struggled to positively engage with the staff. In addition, the two young people very rarely engage with each other without conflict occurring. This has caused a lot of tension in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people are engaged in education, although both have struggled with consistent attendance. The staff have used incentives and rewards as encouragement, which has led to a gradual improvement. One young person is attending college and pursuing an array of interests. The staff maintain communication with professionals from education by attending and contributing to personal education plan meetings that highlight how the young people are progressing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff utilise the health plans of the placing authority to meet any medical needs the young people may have. When additional needs arise, the young people are supported to schedule and attend appointments. When the young people are experiencing difficulties with their emotional well-being, records reflect that the staff consult the in- house therapeutic support or refer to their local child and adolescent mental health services. Currently, neither of the young people is engaged with individual therapeutic support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One of the two young people is actively participating in activities that suit his individual interests. He displays a good range of independence skills that see him fully engaged in the community with friends. The young person has been able to successfully sleep over at a friend’s house on numerous occasions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is located in a residential area and provides the necessary space for the young people to feel comfortable. The young people are able to utilise their bedrooms for private time and personal belongings. Routine checks undertaken by the staff help the young people to understand the importance of keeping their areas tidy. Inspection report children’s home: SC438624 5

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improvement to be good

The staff have struggled to manage the behaviours of a young person for the last six to eight months. The unpredictable behaviour of the young person has led to numerous safeguarding incidents and the environment of the home being unsafe at times. The frustration of the staff is sometimes apparent.

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improvement to be good

The staff do not always adhere to the protective measures put in place to manage risk. There is a risk assessment in place advising that a young person should be monitored with a staff ratio of two to one. During the inspection, despite the guidance provided, a staff member proceeded to take the young person out in the community, one to one. It was unclear if this was an isolated incident in staff practice or a regular occurrence.

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improvement to be good

There have been a number of assaults on the staff. These incidents have resulted in the police attending and possible criminalisation of the young person involved. The staff’s poor communication with the youth offending service has prevented the young person from receiving the assistance that he needs in order to learn from his actions.

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improvement to be good

Allegations were made against the staff, and were referred to the designated officer; they were subsequently judged to be unfounded. The managers have worked with the designated officer to put protective measures and a plan of action in place for how future allegations will be managed.

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improvement to be good

The ongoing conflict between the young people resulted in one young person leaving the home with his whereabouts unknown. The young person was reported missing to the police and the placing authority, in line with his missing-from-care protocol.

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improvement to be good

Physical intervention has been undertaken exclusively to prevent the young person from harming himself or others in the home.

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improvement to be good

The turbulent relationship between the young people raised a concern about bullying. One of the young people contributed to the other being bullied on social media. The young person expressed his concerns to the staff, who were able to intervene and put an end the situation.

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improvement to be good

The recruitment files for the two members of staff that recently joined the team were reviewed. A safer recruitment practice was undertaken specifically for staff that have resided outside the United Kingdom.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A manager was appointed in May, and has successfully completed her registration. She recently managed another home within the organisation as registered manager. Unfortunately, she was on annual leave at the time of this inspection, and so was unable to contribute her views. A staff said, ‘The manager is fair and active with the young Inspection report children’s home: SC438624 6 people.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring of the young people’s progress is good. Their progress is reviewed and tracked, informing planning and decision-making. The management recognised the impact of the young person’s behaviour on the other resident and the staff by ending the placement. The decision was not made in haste, as the staff did try to engage the young person for several months, without any success, before deciding that he was unsuitable for the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent visitor’s monthly reports capture the progress of the young people and the challenges faced by the staff, and are based on their visits to the home. This unbiased view provides additional guidance to the manager, and has been considered and included in her annual reporting and the development plan.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been some key losses among the staff team, resulting in agency workers being used to provide adequate staffing numbers. Several members of staff left in response to the behaviours of a young person. Unfortunately, their supervision files were not available at the inspection so that the support and guidance provided for them could be ascertained.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The transfer of an experienced senior worker from another home and the recent recruitment drive have brought some stability to the home. The staff feel that they have received support and opportunities for reflection during the difficult period. They highlighted team meetings, group therapeutic input and individual supervision as key coping strategies.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The statement of purpose was updated. The ethos of the home is outlined along with all of the necessary information. The document is useful in assisting professionals, parents and young people with the service.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC438624 7 children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: SC438624 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: Laganwood House, Newforge Lane, Belfast BT9 5NW

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Ruth Gorin Post vacant

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Inspector

James Harmon: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC438624 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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