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

Inspection report children’s home: SC433286 1 SC433286 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

This children’s home is part of a large national organisation. It is located in peaceful countryside and provides care for up to two children.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 26 to 27 February 2019

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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 requires improvement to be 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

Date of last inspection: 31 October 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC433286 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/10/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 19/06/2017 Full Good 08/03/2017 Full Inadequate 14/12/2016 Full Inadequate Inspection report children’s home: SC433286 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

6: The quality and purpose of care standard The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff— provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(iv)) 30/04/2019

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Requirement Due date

12: The protection of children standard The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm; that the premises used for the purposes of the home are located so that children are effectively safeguarded; that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(b)(c)(d)) 30/04/2019

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that— 30/04/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC433286 4 helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 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; ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child; 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

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Requirement Due date

quality of care provided in the home; demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on— research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(c)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h)) 14: The care planning standard The care planning standard is that children— receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(2)(c)) 30/04/2019

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Requirement Due date

23: Medicines The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. (Regulation 23 (1)) 30/04/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC433286 5

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make very good progress from their starting points. For example, one child who struggled to communicate verbally can now hold discussions with staff, other professionals and the inspector. The child’s social worker stated that ‘this was incredible and significant progress for the child’. Another child has been supported by staff to better manage inappropriate behaviours. As a result, there is a reduction in emotional distress for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to attend education. The staff and the manager advocate well on behalf of the children. This helps to ensure that the challenges that children face are better understood by their educational providers. As a result, some changes to the curriculum and day-to-day arrangements for education enable children to engage better.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to and take part in a number of activities both with staff and in the community. For example, they can often be found around a camp-fire in the garden toasting marshmallows or enjoying camping. One of the children has joined a fencing club, which is something that they also love to do.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to move on from this home in a well-planned and appropriate way. When they move on, staff continue to make regular contact with children. This has allowed for continued emotional and practical support, which helps children to make progress in the next phase of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have access to clinical support and they receive good support from managers. As a result, the quality of care has improved. However, on occasions, agreed strategies are not consistently applied. This has a negative impact on the quality of care that is provided to the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some areas of the home are not well maintained. For example, some of the children’s bedrooms are not cared for or well furnished. This is compounded further by some institutionalised practices such as doors being unnecessarily locked, and children’s toys being locked away. Managers started to address these issues during the inspection.

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improvement to be good

Children told the inspector that they feel safe. This is because they have built positive and trusting relationships with the staff who care for them. They trust the staff to take any action required to keep them safe. Children refer to staff for guidance and reassurance.

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improvement to be good

The staff team responds positively and effectively to safeguarding concerns. All concerns are identified quickly and escalated effectively. This ensures that any possible or known risks to children are reduced. Inspection report children’s home: SC433286 6 Communication with other agencies is effective. A social worker confirmed that they receive regular updates and that they are made aware of any ongoing or emerging concerns or issues. These communications support access to additional services that children may require.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand the risks associated with internet access. They have strategies in place to ensure that children are safe online. For example, one child has supervised access to the internet for a specific period each day. There have been incidents when staff have not enforced the agreed times, which has led to inconsistencies for the child.

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improvement to be good

The arrangements in place to ensure the safekeeping and administration of medication are not always effective. For example, errors with a medication count and recording were identified during this inspection. In addition, refused medication is not always accounted for. This means that, at times, the amount of medication being stored is unclear or inaccurate.

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improvement to be good

The physical environment for children is not as safe as it could be. Children have access to, and spend time in, a derelict shed in the garden. The shed presents them with numerous risks including shards of glass and an unsafe structure. Risks are not assessed or considered. Staff had not recognised the increased risks associated with access to shards of glass for one of the children. Staff support children to access this space, however the management team was not aware of this arrangement.

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

The registered manager has recently established a full staff team. Staff are provided with a good induction and have regular and appropriate training. Staff described the team as ‘cohesive, motivated and supportive’. This has ended a prolonged period of instability and change in the team.

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

Managers have ensured that the requirement made at the last inspection has been met. In addition, steps have been taken to ensure that the staff are becoming increasingly familiar with Ofsted’s inspection framework. They have started to consider how this applies to their practice, so that they can improve the quality of care that they provide.

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

There are examples of good management oversight and analysis. For instance, the manager scrutinises any incidents that occur. Authentic debriefs with staff and the child take place, and poor practice is challenged. This approach supports the manager to satisfy himself that practice is appropriate and improving. Conversely, in some areas management oversight could be more robust. For example, the management team is not always aware of changes made by staff to the children’s care. At times, these decisions are not appropriate.

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

Staff receive good quality supervision. The manager builds on the team’s strength and focuses on areas for improvement. On rare occasions when practice falls below what is acceptable, the manager swiftly acts to address the shortfall. This enables staff to Inspection report children’s home: SC433286 7 understand what went wrong and improve their practice, and reduces the risks of repetition. Staff do not always receive supervision in line with the home’s policy. This is of concern because a number of the staff are in their probationary periods.

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

The manager does not ensure that concerns about children’s behaviour are accurately recorded. This means that he has made significant decisions for one child without the evidence to support those decisions. In addition, some recording and narrative made by the staff negatively and inappropriately label the children. The management team fails to address and challenge this.

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

Managers fail to identify that staff do not always care for children in accordance with their plans. The lack of robust management oversight means that managers are not fully aware of all aspects of the day-to-day operations of the home. At times this leads to an inconsistent approach to care that goes unchallenged.

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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: SC433286 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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Inspector

Tracey Ledder, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC433286 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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