Children's home run by Keys Childcare Limited in Belfast

Inspection report children’s home: SC400219 1 SC400219 Registered provider: Keys Childcare 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

The home is one of a number owned and managed by a private organisation. The home currently works with female young people who may have experienced trauma through physical, emotional, sexual abuse or neglect and who may have been involved in child sexual exploitation. It is registered to care for five young people. The registered manager has managed the home since August 2012.

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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: SC400219 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/04/2018 Full Good 17/08/2017 Full Good 23/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 30/11/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC400219 3

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the home has a written policy on the use of CCTV, describing how this will support the safeguarding and well-being of those living and working in the home in accordance with regulation 24. Homes must gain consent to any monitoring or surveillance by the placing authority in writing at the time of placement. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.16)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that each child is prepared for any move from the home, whether they are returning home, or moving to another placement. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.27)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day to day basis. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that all staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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Recommendations

In particular, ensure that training is provided on substance misuse.

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes 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 benefit from living in a structured environment, with clear boundaries and routines. They know what is expected of them. Young people have good relationships with staff and most young people want to spend time with staff. The staff team is stable and consistent, and there have not been any new staff since the last inspection a year ago. This helps young people to develop trusting relationships. Young people who have left the home keep in touch with staff, demonstrating the significance of these relationships. Inspection report children’s home: SC400219 4 Staff encourage young people to pursue their own interests and culture. Plans were in place for one young person to attend a Thai festival, just a few days after the inspection. Young people routinely become involved in voluntary work, and many are also successful in obtaining part-time employment. Young people enjoy the independence that this

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

brings. This will help them to gain employment in the future and improves their confidence and self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All young people attend school or college, with the majority attending the on-site education provision. Young people attend regularly and make good progress. Young people sit national examinations and they have achieved some very positive results. This has enabled them to go on to college and follow their chosen career pathways.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Good-quality placement plans clearly outline young people’s needs, routines and contact arrangements. Staff are knowledgeable about young people’s histories. Young people’s physical and emotional healthcare needs are addressed. All young people access therapy on a regular basis. The organisation’s therapist is also available for staff consultation, which enables staff to address any particularly challenging issue in the most appropriate way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are generally well prepared for moving on from the home. Most young people remain here until they move on to independent living. They learn how to manage a budget and do their own cooking. Young people benefit from the use of a separate kitchen in the home, so that they do not need to work around staff preparing meals for other residents. However, one young person recently moved on from the home to foster care, with little transition planning or preparation. Her placement was short term, but records do not demonstrate how she felt about this move or what action was taken to help reduce her anxieties.

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

Staff ensure that the home is a safe place to live. Young people are mostly settled in this home, trusting those who care for them. Their behaviour demonstrates that they feel safe and secure here. They know how to make a complaint and have easy access to the registered manager, should they be unhappy about anything. They know that she will listen to their concerns.

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

Risk assessments demonstrate that staff assess a range of risks associated with each young person’s behaviour. They agree on the most appropriate strategy to adopt to reduce this risk and keep children safe. Risk assessments contain details about recent incidents of concern. However, despite this, some risks remain assessed as low despite a serious escalation of behaviour. While the impact of this is low, due to the stability of the staff team, it would be confusing for new staff working in the home.

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

The manager completes an impact risk assessment when looking at the possibility of a new young person moving into the home. This assessment includes known risk factors for those living in the home and those joining. However, despite acknowledging the Inspection report children’s home: SC400219 5 potential areas of conflict, the document falls short of considering the best strategies for staff to implement to alleviate the risks that have been identified. This would ensure that staff are clear about the actions to take to manage these risks safely.

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

Young people’s risk-taking behaviours reduce following their admission. Young people rarely go missing from the home. When this does happen, staff are proactive in their responses. They follow the young person’s missing-from-home protocol, contact known associates, search the local area and report to relevant agencies in a timely manner. One young person was missing at the time of the inspection. However, staff were working in partnership with other safeguarding agencies to expedite her safe return. This included staff searching for the young person in her area of origin, despite this being a long distance away and requiring an overnight stay. This demonstrates their commitment to the young people in their care.

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

Young people benefit from good-quality behaviour management plans. Staff are skilled at de-escalating the majority of challenging behaviours. There has been a significant reduction in incidents requiring a physical intervention for some young people, as they are learning more positive and effective ways to manage their anger.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced. She has recently returned to the home after a planned period of absence. The experienced deputy manager was registered to manage the home during this period, ensuring stability for staff and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a strong presence in the home. She leads by example and is a good advocate for young people. She will challenge local authority decision-making if this is not in the young person’s best interest.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and both deputies have a level 5 management qualification. In addition, the majority of staff have the minimum level 3 qualification, with the remaining three staff members currently completing this. Consequently, young people are cared for by staff with the required skills and experience. Staffing levels in the home are good, ensuring that young people can spend individual time with staff if they need to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak positively about the ethos of the home and their support from managers. Staff receive regular supervision and an annual performance appraisal. They are able to access a range of training opportunities. However, only three staff members have completed training on substance misuse. This would ensure that staff are alert to indicators of concern and have the knowledge to engage in meaningful discussion with young people about such matters.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Suitable action has been taken to address the one requirement and three recommendations made at the last full inspection. As a result, improvements are evident in relation to staff debriefs following a physical intervention, and a log book is now used to monitor any incidents of bullying in the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC400219 6 The home continues to operate in accordance with its statement of purpose. This includes details of the use of CCTV outside of the property. However, the organisation is yet to draft a policy to support the use of CCTV, including details of access and retention.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Generally, the standard of record-keeping and organisation is good. However, a few anomalies were identified at this inspection. These included: incorrect information about one young person being included in the report for her review; a negative consequence not being recorded accurately; and the inability to locate one young person’s monthly update report and a room search record. A recommendation is made in relation to this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works well with other professionals, and feedback from them is positive. One professional commented: ‘This is a really great home. It offers good support 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 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: SC400219 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: C/o Pinsett Mason Llp, The Soloist Building, 1 Lanyon Place, Belfast, Northern Ireland BT1 3LP

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Melanie Kavanagh

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Inspectors

Mandy Williams, social care inspector Marie Cordingley, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC400219 8 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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