Children's home run by Keys Group Progressive Care & Education Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report children‟s home: 1247491 1 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 is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four young people who may have learning disabilities. The home is privately owned and managed. There is currently no registered manager for this home.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 29 to 30 November 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 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/03/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: 1247491 2 31/10/2017 Full Good 11/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: 1247491 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 children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child‟s health. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, repair the broken toilets and ensure that the damp in young people‟s bathrooms are resolved. 07/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard, the provider should—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (2)(c)(f)(g))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all staff have autism spectrum disorder training, and ensure that management monitoring and review systems are robust. 07/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 07/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of 07/01/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: 1247491 4 care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months. The registered person must supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home. (Regulation 45 (1)(4)(a)(b))

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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 home regulations including the quality standards‟, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people live in a safe and nurturing home. They are receiving a good quality of care that is bringing structure, reliability and emotional security to their lives. Young people have strong and positive attachments with the staff and very much feel that this is their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy trusting and meaningful relationships with the staff. Staff know the young people well and work out the best ways to engage with them. The staff‟s nurturing approach gives young people strong messages that the staff care about them. A young person described the staff as „10 out of 10‟. A staff member commented, „I strive to create an environment where the young people feel loved.‟ This commitment to young people allows them to develop positive and lasting relationships with a stable, caring staff team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people receive individualised care and support. Staff know the young people well and provide support on a day-to-day basis effectively. They understand the support needed for some young people regarding their ongoing medical and personal care needs. A parent said, „I could not fault the care provided; staff are exceptional.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education for most young people continues to be a very positive experience, with good communication between the schools and the home. One young person has not had an Inspection report children‟s home: 1247491 5 appropriate education provision in recent months. The staff have been proactive in addressing this. As a result, a suitable educational placement has now been identified for the young person.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A strength of the home is the commitment to work with the families of the young people. Staff strive to build positive relationships with families. This helps to keep the young people safe and means parents and family members feel involved in the young person‟s care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is looking tired and some aspects require urgent repair. The ceiling in one young person‟s bathroom had signs of damp and was covered in black mould. Furthermore, the damaged toilets need replacement. Although the responsible individual, who was present throughout the inspection, took immediate action to instruct repairs, the interim manager had not acted sooner. The continued lack of action had the potential to have an impact on young people‟s health.

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

Young people feel safe and are kept safe. They appear comfortable and relaxed around the staff caring for them.

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

The home‟s care planning process includes arrangements to identify and address the potential individualised risks posed to young people in their day-to-day care and the activities they are engaged in. Placement plans set out in detail how staff should approach and interact with young people. For example, the plans for young people are very specific about how they like to communicate and how this differs when they are distressed. This is important, as it helps staff to prevent the young person from becoming distressed and therefore avoids the possible challenge arising from this.

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

Staff use de-escalation and distraction techniques to good effect. This means that, in most instances, staff can help young people who are feeling anxious or frustrated to calm down. A social work manager commented, „The staff are experienced, and this has led to a significant decrease in incidents of aggressive behaviours, which prior to living at this home were almost daily for the young person.‟

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

When staff use physical interventions, they are reflective and analytical about these incidents. Records of how the staff review incidents that occur are learning opportunities that support the staff to improve practice. The de-briefing sessions that occur after an incident help the staff to manage young people‟s behaviours more effectively. They provide good opportunities for the staff to reflect on how they can support young people to behave well and how to understand young people‟s emotions and why they may display certain types of behaviour. A staff member said, „I value the debrief sessions because it gives me an opportunity to see what I could have done to prevent the incident.‟

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

The staff team understands how to safeguard young people, including those who are additionally vulnerable because of their learning disabilities and presentation of autism Inspection report children‟s home: 1247491 6 spectrum disorder. The staff receive regular training in this area. Safeguarding young people is a key component of care planning and delivery. However, the manager has not extended the comprehensive autism spectrum disorder training to all staff.

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

The home is currently managed by an interim manager who is in the process of registering with Ofsted.

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

Staff feel valued and supported by the manager. However, some staff have not received regular supervision in recent months. The lack of regular supervision does not enable staff to reflect on their practice and identify any further training that they may need to support their continued professional development.

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

In some instances, case records are not as clear and accurate as they should be. For example, the organisation has recently introduced an electronic recording system. This system generates redacted information, assigning young people and staff members an identifying number. Furthermore, the system identifies children and young people as „service users‟, which detracts from the experience of this being their home. This format does not lend itself to providing young people with accessible records that will be helpful to the young person, should they want to view their records now or in the future.

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

It was noted during the inspection that risk assessment documents, for young people, were displayed in a glass cabinet in the kitchen area. These documents were in full view of any visitor to the home. These documents should be stored securely to maintain individual young people‟s confidentiality.

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

Internal quality assurance requires improvement. For example, management oversight of the medication records is not robust. Although there were no errors in the administration of medication, the management auditing of the files was incomplete. Therefore, some shortfalls may not have been addressed. Furthermore, the interim manager has not completed a six-monthly review of the quality of care provided for young people.

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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 Inspection report children‟s home: 1247491 7 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: 1247491 8

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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: Melanie McGuinness

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Inspector

Elaine Allison, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 1247491 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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