Children's home run by Key Change Children’s Service Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report children’s home: SC454688 1 SC454688 Registered provider: Key Change Children’s Service 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

The service is a mobile programme provided by a private company.  It is registered to provide care and accommodation in separate locations for up to three young people, aged between eight and 17 years old, who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.  It can offer emergency placements and must ensure that placements do not exceed 120 days.  The service is required to keep Ofsted advised of all children in placement and their locations and to ensure that those locations are suitably risk assessed.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: Improved effectiveness

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children’s home: SC454688 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home is outstanding because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Unique opportunities exist to give young people new experiences as they travel around and live in a selection of variable accommodation. Examples of the accommodation are wild camping and bunk house facilities, caravans and cottages, as well as a narrowboat.  Relationships between staff and young people are strong and productive. This enables young people to be fully involved in their daily programme and achieve their goals.  Staff encourage young people to have a voice that enables them to feel confident, valued and respected. Their involvement in planned activities and education builds their social interactions and self-esteem.  Based on their starting points when first entering the service, young people usually make outstanding progress in all areas of their lives.  Key-working sessions are planned and purposeful. These sessions benefit young people and support their progress.  Management oversight is good. The registered manager quickly addresses any

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Key findings from this inspection

identified shortfalls in staff practice.  A service that is logistically complex is well organised and managed. Communication levels between the whole staff group are high. As a result, young people benefit from a team-centred approach from a stable staff team that provides a high-standard consistency of care.

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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

 Consider offering providers of accommodation more information about the service by supplying them with a copy of the statement of purpose and the latest Ofsted report.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 15/11/2016 Full Outstanding 16/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 25/11/2015 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC454688 3

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Recommendations

 Many children placed in homes may undergo a difficult transition, and what should be simple aspects of their care take on a substantial significance in this context. Staff should provide a nurturing environment that is welcoming, supportive, and which provides appropriate boundaries in relation to their behaviour. Homes must also meet children’s basic day-to-day needs and physical necessities. Staff should seek to meet the child’s basic needs in the way that a good parent would, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met – doing so is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value them as an individual. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)  For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the

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Recommendations

needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety 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)  Ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes must take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and

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Recommendations

make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. They should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people have had the opportunity to try activities such as canoeing, kayaking, walking, camping and rock climbing. This has given them the chance to discover new Inspection report children’s home: SC454688 4 talents and enjoy new positive experiences that they have never tried before. This increases young people’s self-esteem and confidence and helps break the cycle of poor behaviour, or addiction to drugs and gang-related crime. The registered manager spoke about how young people change their identity following the programme; for example, they become a ‘rock climber’ a ‘canoeist’. One young person recently celebrated that he was the ‘climber of the month’ at the indoor climbing centre. He received a certificate and a prize and his achievements were published on the centre’s website. For another young person, his talent for canoeing was so profound that his social worker bought him his own kayak so that he could continue his passion once he left the programme. From a

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

starting point of not being in a kayak to reaching the standard to paddle in level 4 waters, this is outstanding. The registered manager has tailored the 12-week programme to the individual needs of the young people. This has benefited young people as it means that they engage and are willing to invest in the programme. Accommodation of a reasonable quality supports young people’s positive daily experiences. However, one camping barn was found to have a stained mattress and another was at a level of coldness that was unreasonable. The registered manager did rectify this during the inspection. Staff are passionate about providing personalised care to young people. They take time to get to know young people and they draw on young people’s strengths. Staff are skilled at supporting and enabling young people to engage in activities which meet their individual needs. Although the service does not suit all young people, most adapt and settle into their new

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

surroundings and daily routines. Since the last inspection, only one young person failed to settle into the programme and he was subsequently moved on to something that better suited his needs. Young people are accommodated in a variety of single occupancy facilities as they move around. A stable, dedicated staff group provides young people with a high-standard consistency of care. Young people are kept busy as they are introduced to new experiences and activities. Education in the form of AQA awards is also built into the programme. Young people can achieve levels in all manner of outdoor sports, for example mountain biking and fell walking. Awards can also be achieved in narrow boating, including boat safety, use of locks and manoeuvring the craft through the water. Key-working sessions are good. Staff make sure that the sessions are purposeful and that they meet the aims of the placement outlined in young people’s placement plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Key-working sessions cover a range of topics, such as anger management, health, stopping smoking and reducing risk-taking behaviours. These sessions are very effective and young people learn how to manage difficult situations, such as meetings with social workers and other professionals. One social worker commented on the difference in the social behaviour of her young person and how, for the first time, the young person had chaired his own looked after child review. Staff are good advocates for young people. Young people feel able to voice their opinions, and the registered manager makes changes to young people’s daily routines or the structures of the home based on young people’s feedback or complaints. For example, one young person stated that he was no longer happy moving from place to place and wanted to remain in one camping barn. This was arranged so that the young person felt more settled, and was able to make his

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

bedroom more personalised by making up a den in his room. Inspection report children’s home: SC454688 5 Young people confirm that they know how and who to make a complaint to. One young person is satisfied with the action that the manager took following a complaint that he raised. Staff effectively promote young people’s health and well-being. There are good arrangements in place to identify and support the young people’s physical health needs. Young people at the point of accommodation are registered with all local health services and their health needs are reviewed by the looked after children nurse. Staff have written details about the local health services as they travel around, should young people require medical assistance, or to transport young people to their local appointments, such as their own doctor, dentist, or when an eye examination appointment has been arranged. Medication arrangements were seen to be robust, as a good system of

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

recording, administration and safe keeping of medication while young people were on their travels was observed. Contact arrangements can be complex, but every encouragement is given to young people to repair and maintain relationships with those people who are important to them. Distance is no object based on the flexibility of the service, which is comforting to those young people placed a considerable distance from their home areas. Staff will support and supervise contact, or make suitable arrangements for young people’s families to travel and stay overnight in suitable accommodation. This helps to ensure that regular contact is maintained. These arrangements are consistent with young people’s contact agreements.

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

All accommodation used by young people is risk assessed along with the areas that they visit. The registered manager does not routinely ask for public liability insurance or request to see any safety certificates of properties that he hires. Currently, he relies on a visual inspection and confirmation from the provider that any premises checks are in place. While it is acknowledged that it is not always possible to gain such documentation, for example in a mountain bothy, the manager accepted that it was a fair criticism and is keen to follow up on the recommendation. The standard of accommodation is often very basic. For example, in a camping barn young people were observed to sleep in a sleeping bag, on a mattress on the floor. There is a two-ring gas burner to cook on, and heating is often a wood burning stove. The barn was cold. When the manager asked a young person what he thought of the camping barn, he did acknowledge it was cold.

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

Sleeping arrangements are often shared with staff. Risk assessments are in place to protect staff and young people and these are generally followed. On one occasion, the risk assessment said that staff should sleep downstairs and that the young person should have his own bedroom. This was a request from the young person in order to protect his privacy and dignity. However, staff had not followed the assessment and were observed to be sleeping in the communal bedroom together. This fails to respect young people’s wishes. Inspection report children’s home: SC454688 6 The safer area risk assessment does not gather young people’s views on the accommodation types and their locations. While it is acknowledged that being isolated and living in basic accommodation is a big part of the programme, young people should have a formal opportunity to have their views recorded. Social workers rarely visit the accommodation, as it is often quite inaccessible and some distance from main roads.

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

This also applies to the regulation 44 visitor as, while he does visit the narrowboat, he doesn’t visit other accommodation. Having other professionals view the accommodation would assist the manager in making changes or improvements should these be suggested. Young people’s risk-taking behaviours reduce. Staff are skilled at de-escalating incidents. They use their relationships with young people to engage them in discussions regarding risk-taking behaviours such as violence, aggression and running away. There has been a significant reduction in incidents. Young people rarely go missing. On occasions when young people tell staff that they want to run away, staff walk with young people regardless of the distance, talking to young people and encouraging them to return home. After young people have been missing, they do not have the opportunity to speak to someone independent of the home. Staff benefit and confirm that they are provided with a wide range of training

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

opportunities provided by the organisation. This enables them to be familiar with, and up to date in their knowledge of, relevant legislation and good safeguarding practice. This includes young people’s safe use of the internet and the dangers associated with young people using social media sites, as well as how to recognise and respond to online grooming and radicalisation. Staff are trained in behaviour management and safe restraint techniques. Their preferred methods of managing young people’s inappropriate behaviour are by using de- escalation, incentives and positive rewards, which young people respond well towards. Restraint is only used as a last resort to protect young people, staff or property. All visitors to the locations that young people live in are requested to show their identification, sign in and are not left unsupervised with young people. A new staff member confirmed that their recruitment process was thorough and that they did not

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

commence work with young people until all relevant checks had been carried out and returned. Regular checks on existing staff are carried out and this has been seen during previous inspections. These arrangements protect young people, staff and visitors when using or visiting the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been in post at this service since July 2015, but has been a registered manager since 2009. He is also the registered manager of a nearby children’s home. He has completed his level 4 diploma in leadership and management and has the relevant experience of working with young people. He is supported by an experienced deputy manager. Together, they manage the service effectively. Staff are positive about the support that they receive from them. Regular supervision and annual appraisals enable managers and staff to discuss young people’s needs, set and test objectives and identify future training opportunities for themselves. Inspection report children’s home: SC454688 7 The management team has a clear understanding of the individual goals for young people to achieve. These are recorded in young people’s case files and progress sheets and clearly demonstrate improvements that they have made. Young people’s progress is

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

measured, regularly analysed and reported back to their social worker and family on a weekly basis. This ensures that the service is caring for young people as agreed in their plan. Staff have access to a variety of training programmes, with clear expectations placed on them to complete outdoor qualifications. For example, the staff team has recently undertaken a wild swimming course, which allows young people to access the many lakes in the area. Staff also have a route into becoming professionally qualified once probationary periods have been successfully completed, for example in mountain leadership or rock climbing. Online training is available for mandatory training, for example in safeguarding. Staff commented that they preferred the face-to-face training and that sometimes the online training was a little basic. The internal monitoring of the service is good. The manager monitors and evaluates

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

practice, which is critically analysed and used to highlight areas of strength and weakness. However, rather than identifying new areas of development, the manager reviews the three key areas from 2015. The development plan is an opportunity for the manager to identify new ways of working to improve the service and to incorporate the views of young people, to ensure that areas for future development are clearly identified. Currently, the development plan does not do this. External senior managers are active in monitoring the service and provide good support to the manager. External monitoring of the service takes place regularly each month. However, the regulation 44 visitor doesn’t always have the opportunity to see the young people face to face in different accommodation. Reports are detailed, thorough and evaluative. The service has an updated and revised statement of purpose document. The service is

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

achieving its aims and objectives as set out in this document. Equally, young people have a children’s guide which provides them with good information about external services and the service that they can expect, and by whom, while they are accommodated in the service. One provider of accommodation asked the inspector if she could have more information about the service that uses her properties. This is an area of development for the service to work more closely with its community of providers. The management team works well with external professionals and agencies and advocates well on behalf of young people. The management team is not afraid to challenge services. This ensures that young people receive all the necessary support that they need and is in line with their care plans, and is in agreement with their placing authority.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC454688 8 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: SC454688 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Key Change Children’s Service Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Black Birches, Hadnall, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY4 3DH

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Inspector

Elaine Clare, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC454688 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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