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Inspection report children’s home: SC370956 1 SC370956 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 is privately owned and is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four young people 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC370956 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/01/2018 Full Good 30/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 14/07/2016 Full Good 29/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC370956 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

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(e)) 31/10/2018

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are happy and generally get on well with each other. They like the home. One young person thought it should be given an outstanding judgement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are enthusiastic to return to school or college after the summer break. Young people who do not currently have a school placement are encouraged to complete educational activities. Staff have worked closely with local authorities, schools and colleges to ensure that young people have a school or college placement to attend. Young people have been instrumental in choosing their school or college placement. Staff know the young people well and know how to motivate them to attend education. When young people are anxious about attending education, staff are encouraging and supportive. This helps young people to overcome their anxieties.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s health is a priority. Staff encourage them to eat a balanced diet and to be active. Young people who smoke are encouraged to stop smoking. The emotional well-being of young people is promoted through access to specialist healthcare professionals, including a therapist within the company. Inspection report children’s home: SC370956 4 Young people are given lots of opportunities to express their thoughts and feelings. They are encouraged to make informed decisions. They take an active part in making decisions that affect their lives. For example, young people read their care plans and can make comments and changes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are encouraged to learn independent living skills. This helps them to transition into adulthood successfully.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff facilitate contact with family for young people, no matter what the distance, because they understand that this is important to young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy a wide range of activities within the local and wider community. For example, they enjoy horse riding, ice skating, the gym, trips to the cinema, theme parks and much more.

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

Risk-taking behaviours, such as going missing from home and self-harm, reduce over time. This is because staff build strong and supportive relationships with young people. They adopt a therapeutic approach towards the young people, understanding why they behave the way they do. This helps young people to feel safe and secure as well as to move forward with their lives. A police officer from the missing person’s unit commented on the low incidence of young people going missing from the home: ‘My coordinator, who visits regularly, believes this is down to improved management at the home.’

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

Young people learn to regulate their own behaviour. Staff know the young people well. They know how to defuse young people’s anxiety, frustration and anger. For example, staff use humour or give the young person space to calm down. Appropriate behaviour is promoted through the use of incentives. Consequently, physical intervention is rarely used and sanctions are not given routinely. A restorative approach is often taken, such as asking young people to apologise for their actions. This helps young people to gain an understanding of the impact of their behaviour on others.

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

Staff have a good understanding of the home’s safeguarding procedures. Safeguarding concerns are dealt with appropriately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager provides strong and supportive leadership. He is experienced and expects to be fully qualified by the end of this year. He is a reflective manager who learns from his mistakes. He has a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the service. He has good plans to address any identified shortfalls and improve the service further.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The established staff team is highly motivated. Its members are enthusiastic about providing a therapeutic service for young people that not only meets their needs but Inspection report children’s home: SC370956 5 helps them to shine and fulfil their aspirations. A social worker said that the staff and managers ‘go above and beyond. Nothing is too much for them.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff work closely and effectively with external agencies to ensure the best outcomes for young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Through the home’s warm and nurturing approach, young people quickly become attached to staff. This helps young people to feel safe and secure. However, redeployment of staff to other homes means that young people sometimes do not go out with the member of staff they have planned to go out with. Young people and staff feel frustrated by this.

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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: SC370956 6

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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(s)

Joanne Vyas, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC370956 7 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(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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