Children's home run by Keys Nhcc Ltd in Rossendale

Inspection report children‟s home: SC362094 1 SC362094 Registered provider: New Horizons Childcare 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

This children‟s home is registered to provide care for up to two young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 29 to 30 November 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 requires improvement to be 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: 7 February 2017

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people develop positive relationships with staff.  Young people confide in staff. Staff listen to young people and act on their Inspection report children‟s home: SC362094 2 views.  Young people make good progress.  Staff have clear strategies to keep young people safe. Staff understand and manage risk well.  Staff are committed to meeting young people‟s individual needs.  The registered manager advocates strongly for young people.  Staff support young people to stay in touch with their families.  Social workers and teachers talk positively about the home.

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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

 Admissions processes have not always been clear. This has led to a young person whose needs the staff cannot fully support being admitted to the home.  Managers and staff do not always record information relating to complaints well.  The policy for the administration of medication is not clear.  Managers do not follow safer recruitment procedures consistently.  Young people‟s case files do not contain all of the required documentation.  Supervision records lack detail.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 23/05/2016 Full Good 18/01/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 06/08/2015 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children‟s home: SC362094 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 protection of children standard is that the registered person must ensure that staff assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child‟s relevant plans, and, if, necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (2)(a)(i)

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Requirement Due date

This is with particular reference to pre-placement planning, assessing the risks of the impact of admitting new young people into the home. 31/01/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (3)) 31/01/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children‟s home. (Regulation 23 (1)) 31/01/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children‟s safety. Full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1)(3)(d)) 31/01/2018

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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; and are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)) 31/01/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC362094 4

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home‟s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Recommendations

 A record of supervision should be kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33 (4)(b). („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 61, paragraph 13.3) In particular, ensure that supervision records are sufficiently detailed, show that staff have the opportunity to reflect on their practice and identify future developmental and training needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are proud of their home and want to keep it clean and tidy. Staff encourage young people to take responsibility for some of the household chores. Undertaking such tasks helps young people to develop confidence and learn new skills. One young person said, „I will be able to look after myself when I get my own place.‟ His grandmother described how in the past he used to „have things everywhere‟, but he has learned to be organised and will now put things away.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff genuinely care for young people and this helps the young people to feel secure and safe. A grandparent said, „Staff want the best for him.‟ Good standards of care protect young people and promote their welfare.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people said that they feel comfortable talking to staff. Staff listen and help young people to work through any worries that they may have. This helps young people to feel safe and secure. One young person said, „I can talk to any of the staff and they listen, then try to help me. Here, everyone cares. I like living here. I am doing well here and I am happy; if I need anything, I just have to ask.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to maintain good links with their families. This applies to all the young people, including those who live a long way from home. Young people enjoy returning to their home area to see their family and appreciate being able to talk regularly to family members on the telephone in between visits. As a result, young people feel less isolated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide young people with good routines. Young people benefit from individualised care from staff who know them well. The inspector observed young people interacting Inspection report children‟s home: SC362094 5 well with each other and staff. Young people feel relaxed and comfortable in their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy a range of activities and have positive experiences. Staff actively research different leisure activities for young people to get involved in. Young people enjoy going fishing and show great patience in their quest to catch a fish. One young person enjoyed singing at a karaoke event, which boosted his confidence. Social activities enable young people to develop new skills while having fun.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is a high priority. As a result, young people learn to value their education. Staff support young people with their learning, they ensure that young people attend school regularly and they encourage young people to develop ambitions for the future. One young person has made excellent progress from his starting point. Historically, the young person did not attend school, and now he is planning to sit five exams. The young person regularly receives achievement certificates, which he is immensely proud of. Consequently, young people‟s confidence blossoms.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to maintain good health. They encourage young people to attend routine appointments. When young people refuse, staff persist, and this yields good results. For example, one young person has now been to the dentist, after previously refusing three appointments.

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

Staff work hard to keep the young people safe. Young people do not go missing from the home as often as they once did. In fact, there has been a significant reduction in such incidents. On the rare occasions when young people leave without permission, staff follow them and encourage the young people to return. Staff liaise appropriately with the police and seek support to reduce the risk of harm to young people. Because of the actions that staff take, young people recognise that staff care about them.

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

Young people have regular key-worker sessions with staff. The young people value the opportunity to talk with their key workers. For example, one young person said that these sessions help him to recognise the impact that his behaviours have on other people. Individual work with young people enables young people to share their worries and seek reassurance from staff.

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

Staff take prompt action when young people present challenging behaviour. When young people cause damage to the home, staff ensure that this is repaired quickly. This minimises the impact on other young people. Staff ensure that they regularly update young people‟s individual risk assessments. They involve key professionals in this process. Good risk assessments provide staff with strategies to minimise risk and keep young people safe.

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

Although there have been some occasions when police have been called to the home, officers reported that, „Staff have dealt with matters proactively and have engaged well with police throughout.‟ Inspection report children‟s home: SC362094 6 When young people make a complaint, records do not show how staff support the young people. Furthermore, on some occasions there is a lack of sufficient management oversight to ensure that complaints are thoroughly investigated. As a result, it is not always clear whether young people receive a satisfactory outcome and whether steps have been taken to prevent the same situation from happening again.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager is suitably qualified. She has 24 years‟ experience of working within residential childcare. There is a stable core team of staff, most of whom have been in post for many years. Consequently, young people receive consistent care. Committed staff help each young person to develop positive and trusting relationships. This provides a platform from which young people make progress in different aspects of their development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers and staff meet regularly with the organisation‟s therapist and other key professionals, to review young people‟s progress and needs. The registered manager listens to young people and challenges placing authorities when this is necessary. This ensures that young people get prompt access to the support and services that they need.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager‟s decisions regarding which young people should be admitted to the home are sometimes overruled. On one occasion, a senior manager made a decision to admit a young person whose needs staff could not fully meet. Although the young person has made some progress, and despite the best efforts of staff, staff cannot always manage his behaviour safely. As a result, the young person‟s placement is ending early. The registered manager has taken steps to resolve this issue. As a result, she has received assurances from senior managers that, from now on, she will be responsible for decisions about new young people coming to live at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Procedures for the safe administration of medication require greater clarity. This is with particular reference to how staff record that the medication has been administered, and how many staff are required to do this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager does not always ensure that pre-employment checks are thorough. Consequently, some staff files lack some of the required checks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Young people‟s case files do not contain all the necessary documentation. Minutes from young people‟s statutory review meetings, care plans and health and education records are not up to date. Although the registered manager and staff request these documents from the placing authority, they fail to adequately follow these requests up. A lack of sufficient records has the potential to undermine staff‟s ability to provide care in line with the placing authorities‟ plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

This inspection identified some shortfalls in recording. For example, records of restraints Inspection report children‟s home: SC362094 7 and complaints do not always contain sufficient detail. This inhibits the manager‟s ability to monitor incidents effectively. Furthermore, recording by staff of specific incidents was not always clear and objective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff receive regular supervision. However, supervision records do not always accurately reflect the discussions held. These brief records do not show that staff have the opportunity to reflect on their practice and learn lessons when incidents happen.

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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: SC362094 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Horizons Childcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Balsinder Jaspal-Mander, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC362094 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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