Children's Home run by Keys Group Progressive Care & Education Limited in Southampton

Inspection report children‟s home: SC389174 1 SC389174 Registered provider: Keys Group Progressive Care & Education 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 and accommodation for up to seven young people who have learning and/or physical disabilities. It can provide long-term residential care for up to four young people, and short-break care for up to three young people.

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Information about this children’s home

There is an acting manager in post who is not yet registered with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 25 to 26 September 2018

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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: 14 November 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC389174 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/11/2017 Full Outstanding 08/02/2017 Full Good 13/09/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 20/01/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children‟s home: SC389174 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

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b)(5)(a)(b)) 31/01/2019

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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 staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)) 31/01/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: SC389174 4 In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that staff receive training that is bespoke to meet all of the young people‟s needs. Employment of staff

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, staff must receive formal supervision on a regular basis. 31/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

Behaviour management policies and records

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child‟s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and 31/01/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: SC389174 5 has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(iv))

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Recommendations

 The children‟s home must produce a children‟s guide. The children‟s guide must be made available to all children when their placement in the home is agreed and must be age appropriate, provided in an accessible format and explained to each child to make sure they understand it. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 24, paragraph 4.21)  Staff should have the skills and confidence to communicate easily and understand the importance of listening, to, involving and responding to the children they care for. Staff should understand that they have a responsibility to observe, notice and respond to children who are expressing their views. („Guide to the children‟s home regulations including the quality standards‟, page 22, paragraph 4.10)  Measurements of progress should include qualitative information. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 26, paragraph

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Recommendations

5.2) In particular, this should include a system to identify young people‟s targets and monitor their progress.  Children‟s homes must comply with the relevant health and safety legislation (food hygiene). („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 15, paragraph 3.9) In particular, staff must ensure that food hygiene standards are followed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from close supervision from committed and enthusiastic staff. As a result, they develop warm and friendly relationships alongside a sense of safety, protection and trust in the adults who care for them. The staff‟s knowledge of young people‟s health, social and emotional needs, their diet, routines, activity preferences and communication styles, helps to ensure that all of the young people‟s needs are met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people live in a comfortable home that has an extension providing a dedicated short-break area. All young people share the fully equipped sensory room and a large Inspection report children‟s home: SC389174 6 garden space which includes a hot tub for relaxation during the warmer weather. Young people who live in the home personalise their bedrooms, and examples include young people choosing their wall decorations, furniture and curtain colour.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people safely participate in a wealth of exciting activities both inside and outside of the home. Young people enjoy cycling, walks to the park and shopping trips to buy items for cooking sessions and cultural celebrations in the home which enhance and broaden their experiences. A wall display of certificates celebrates young people‟s successes and achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to support young people to make progress from their starting points. Examples include young people eating more healthily and their increased engagement in structured group activities. Despite this, staff do not consistently review progress targets and this runs the risk that young people‟s targets may become out of date, which would limit young people‟s further development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people receive encouragement from staff to develop their independence skills. Several young people are able to manage their personal care, tidy their bedrooms, use public transport and take their personal items to the laundry. However, a young person‟s independence programme sampled during the inspection had not been reviewed and their targets had not been updated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

During the inspection, the home was undergoing substantial repair and upgrade following water damage. This required the temporary closure of the short-break service. As a result, the inspector had limited access to the short-break service facilities and its day-to-day operation.

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

Staff complete detailed risk assessments on young people. This helps to ensure that staffing ratios are suitable and any risks, both inside the home and in the community, are appropriately assessed and managed. Staff accompany young people in the community at all times, to ensure that they are kept safe without limiting their experiences.

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

Staff are risk aware but not risk averse. A very detailed risk assessment recently enabled four young people to safely enjoy a day out sailing together. A comprehensive environmental risk assessment helped to ensure that young people‟s safety was prioritised during the current building works.

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

The home provides a safe physical environment for young people. Young people do not go missing from the home. An electronic keypad system to enter and exit the building helps keep young people safe. All statutory certificates for fire risk and health and safety checks are current and reviewed in line with the relevant guidance. However, one food item stored in the fridge did not meet food safety guidelines.

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

Staff know the young people very well and are skilled in managing young people‟s Inspection report children‟s home: SC389174 7 behaviours. Behaviour support plans identify young people‟s individual needs and vulnerabilities. However, during the inspection, staff did not respond in a timely manner to a young person‟s observed raised anxiety levels. A short time after the behaviour was identified, staff addressed this appropriately.

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

When physical intervention is used, it is appropriate, and helps keep young people safe. However, staff do not always follow the home‟s recording procedures. As a result, physical intervention records are not always complete and young people are not routinely offered the opportunity to talk about their feelings following an incident. This limits the acting manager‟s ability to monitor and evaluate the patterns and effectiveness of the use of physical intervention in the home.

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

Young people and parents receive a young people‟s guide when young peoplestay in the home which sets out what young people can expect. Although useful, the guide is not accessible to young people who have alternative communication styles. The acting manager is developing a new young people‟s guide to address this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The very highly skilled and knowledgeable acting manager provides strong leadership in the absence of the registered manager and is awaiting her Ofsted registration. Staff spoken with describe the acting manager as empowering, warm and approachable. The acting manager is aware of the home‟s inspection shortfalls and is addressing these.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The acting manager and staff team have established links with professionals, parents and carers. Staff work effectively with schools and parents, which helps to ensure a continuity of care. A parent said, „They [the staff] care for [name of child] very well and the staff are always good at communicating with me.‟

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Quality assurance includes robust independent scrutiny. The independent visitor provides detailed monthly reports identifying areas for development. The acting manager is ambitious for the home and young people and proactively addresses identified areas that require improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Regular team meetings, alongside detailed shift handover discussions and comprehensive shift planning, enable staff to plan appropriately to meet the needs of the young people. However, while team meetings are held regularly, the written records and actions from the meetings are not clearly recorded.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive training in child protection, safeguarding vulnerable young people and appropriate restraint techniques. However, not all staff have attended training that enables them to meet all of the young people‟s individual needs and, as a result, the staff‟s knowledge is limited in some key areas of care and support for young people. Further bespoke training is planned for the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff do not receive regular supervision. This limits leaders‟ and managers‟ overview of the staff team‟s welfare, skills and any areas for professional development. All staff are Inspection report children‟s home: SC389174 8 either qualified or are undertaking the appropriate level 3 qualification. However, one member of staff has not completed the course within the regulatory timescales.

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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: SC389174 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Keys Group Progressive Care & Education Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, 2nd Floor, Queensway, Halesowen, Worcestershire B63 4AH

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Michelle Callard

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Inspector

Victoria Jones, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC389174 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 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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