Children's home run by Keys Specialist Residential Children‟s Services Ltd

Inspection report children’s home: 1277552 1 Registered provider: Keys Specialist Residential Children’s Services 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 home is owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to two children who display a variety of challenging behaviours and have a range of complex needs. The home is currently without a registered manager. The present manager is in the process of applying to register with Ofsted. This is the home’s first inspection since its registration in July 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1277552 2

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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 registered person must ensure that full and satisfactory information is available in relation to any individual employed to work in the children’s home in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32(3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This is in respect of agency staff. 31/12/2018

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the children’s guide is reviewed and updated to reflect any changes. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.23)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive experiences while living in the home. They engage in a variety of leisure activities, including football, basketball and horse riding. Children also enjoy visits to local football matches and holidays to the seaside. These activities help children to be healthy, develop social skills and improve their confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good-quality care from staff who fully understand their individual needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work in partnership with therapists and undertake different types of individual work with children to good effect. This includes workshops with children around anger management and improving self-esteem. Staff have also introduced ‘the worry monster’; this is a fun and creative way to support children to express their emotions and feelings. One child’s social worker said, ‘This has really worked well… threats to self-harm have minimised.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager advocates strongly for children to have the specialist health and therapeutic support they need. For example, she has sourced bereavement counselling for one child who was having difficulties accessing support from mental health services. Inspection report children’s home: 1277552 3 Children make good progress. One child has settled well in school. He is engaging in his school work and managing peer relationships better. Staff provide good support for children who are not in full-time education. They engage children in structured activities both inside and outside of the home. The manager works closely with placing authorities and advocates effectively for children to secure educational placements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff teach children valuable life skills by engaging them in activities such as shopping and cooking. During the inspection, one child was painting his room with the support of a member of staff.

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

Children are happy and feel safe. Staff implement consistent routines and boundaries, which contribute to the children’s well-being. This also helps children to develop a sense of security.

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

Incidents of children displaying negative behaviours are reducing in number and it is rarely necessary for staff to physically restrain children to keep them safe. With support from staff, children are beginning to take responsibility for their behaviour and understand the impact of what they do and say on themselves and others.

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

Staff have a good understanding of the children’s behaviour and the risks they may encounter. They are clear about the measures they need to adopt to safeguard children. Staff receive a range of training opportunities to enable them to keep children safe. Good training is supplemented in team meetings by meaningful discussions and quizzes. Such activities help staff to retain the skills and knowledge that they need in order to protect children.

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

Managers adopt strong recruitment practices for those staff employed by the company. However, the recruitment of those employed through an agency is less robust. This is because managers have not always adequately scrutinised information provided by the agency, prior to an individual working at the home. Senior managers have recently put systems in place to improve the recruitment of agency staff and there are no agency staff currently being used in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A new manager is in post. She is receiving good support from a regional manager and peer managers from other homes within the company. Good monitoring and quarterly progress reports mean that the manager is aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. She also has a clear understanding of the progress children are making.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are motivated and feel well supported. They receive good-quality supervision and training both of which are tailored to help them meet the needs of the children they care Inspection report children’s home: 1277552 4 for. The manager also conducts reflective supervision following any incident, to develop the staff’s understanding and practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The positive working relationships between staff and professionals are a strength, and help to ensure that the best possible all-round support is provided for children. One therapist commented, ‘ The team are fantastic… they are one of the easiest teams I have ever worked with in absorbing information and their ability to work with it with children.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The statement of purpose is an accurate reflection of the service offered by the home. However, the children’s guide has not been reviewed and updated to give a true reflection of the service provided by 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 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: 1277552 5

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Keys Specialist Residential Children’s Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

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

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Alison Blyth-Bishop

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Inspector

Sue Young: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1277552 6 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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