Children's Home run by Keys Care Limited in Cambridgeshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC370910 1 SC370910 Registered provider: Keys 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

The home provides care for up to three children who have complex behavioural and/or emotional needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been working at the home since 2016 and was registered by Ofsted in April 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 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: 5 February 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC370910 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 25/05/2017 Full Good 21/12/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness 28/04/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC370910 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)) 23/7/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only— employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

The requirements are that— the individual is of integrity and good character; 23/7/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC370910 4 the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1)(2)(a)(b)(3)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Recommendations

 Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5.) This is with particular reference to potential risks in the local community.  The registered person should only accept placements for children when they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs as recorded in the child’s relevant plans and when they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)  Ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph

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Recommendations

13.1)  Any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5.)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The nurturing relationships between children and staff help children to feel safe and happy. The staff spend quality time getting to know the children. This means that they know children’s likes and dislikes. Because the staff are so nurturing, the children learn to trust others and make friends. One child has been supported by the staff to visit a friend. The child said that this had been a very positive experience for her.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children know how to complain and feel able to talk to the staff. A child said, ‘The staff Inspection report children’s home: SC370910 5 here are very nice. They are caring and they are good. I have no problems with the staff at all. I get on really well with my key workers, I think I have the best ones.’ The staff support the children to share their views and wishes through direct work and regular children’s meetings. Children feel listened to and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff support the children to attend school. One child had not been at school for a significant period prior to living at the home. She is now attending mainstream school and there is a clear plan to increase her attendance. There is effective communication between the manager, the staff and the school. This child has aspirations for the future. The staff are helping her to achieve her goals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff communicate well with family members. They recognise that it is in the best interests of the child to maintain these links. The staff support the children to have good relationships with their families, and they ensure that the children see their families and phone them regularly. This helps the children to remain in close contact with their families and friends even though they are living away from home. A parent said that the staff are ‘absolutely brilliant’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children receive good healthcare. The staff support the children to attend all of their appointments. Children start to understand the importance of looking after themselves. The therapists within the organisation work closely with the staff and the children. This provides timely expert help and advice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

During the inspection, only one child was living at the home. One child has moved to a specialist service because their needs changed. Another child successfully moved to a home nearer her family.

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

Staff respond well when children place themselves at risk by running away. The manager requests regular professionals’ meetings to discuss presenting risks and formulate plans to reduce the concerns. The manager and staff share information transparently with safeguarding agencies. Managers regularly review risks and make quick decisions when risks escalate. One child has moved to another home, due to the high risks that they presented. The child’s social worker said, ‘Communication is really positive and they [the staff] let me know about any incidents or concerns. They sent me records of all of the incidents in detail. The manager is great. She is very invested in the children. The home has been really good with my child.’

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

The staff have good knowledge of safeguarding procedures. The manager investigates allegations fully and consults with the designated officer. This means that any concerns are dealt with quickly, following a transparent process.

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

Behaviour management is good. The staff make sure that there is a balance of positive and negative consequences. This helps the children to regulate their behaviours and make positive choices. Inspection report children’s home: SC370910 6 Impact assessments are undertaken, but potential risks related to known patterns of behaviour are not fully considered. This specifically relates to the risk that previous behaviours might re-emerge. Currently, the impact assessments do not make it clear how these risks are to be minimised by staff if they were to re-emerge.

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

The current location risk assessment does not include enough information about local areas that may present a risk to the children. The manager is liaising closely with other agencies to improve the quality of the assessment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that the home is providing high-quality care. She has high standards and sets high expectations of her staff team and other agencies. She is skilled at bringing agencies together to improve services to children. She challenges other agencies if they are not meeting the needs of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works hard to ensure that the staff are supported to provide the best care to the children. Staff are encouraged to increase their skills and knowledge. Staff meetings include input from the therapists. The therapists help staff to improve their relationships with children and support staff to develop their own emotional resilience. Core staff receive regular formal supervision. This provides a space for the staff to talk about their role and review their work with the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses consistent agency staff who are familiar with the home and know the children. The manager continually supports the agency staff but does not have a clear oversight of all of the agency documentation. In addition, these important staff are not receiving formal, recorded supervision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent visitor’s reports are not rigorous enough because all visits take place at similar times, often when children are at school. The views of parents are not routinely sought. The organisation is aware of this issue and is making changes to rectify this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Although there are sufficient staff to meet the needs of the current resident, there are currently not enough staff to meet the needs of three children, which is the number that the home is registered for. A number of interviews are planned over the next few weeks to recruit staff to the home.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC370910 7 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: SC370910 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Soloist Building, 1 Lanyon Place, Belfast BT1 3LP

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Inspector

Debbie Young: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC370910 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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