Children's home run by Keys Direct Care Limited in Southend-on-Sea

Inspection report children’s home: SC028174 1 SC028174 Registered provider: Keys Group

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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 privately owned and provides care and accommodation for up to four children and young people aged between 10 and 18 years. The home primarily works with children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home’s manager has been registered with Ofsted since February 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: requires improvement to be good

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Good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC028174 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/10/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 28/11/2017 Full Good 27/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 14/09/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC028174 3

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Recommendations

 The specific responsibilities of the home towards supporting the health and well- being of each child should be agreed with the placing authority and recorded in the child’s placement plan. It is the joint responsibility of the registered person and the placing authority that this is agreed at the time of placement. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.7) This is in particular reference to recognising and sourcing emotional health and well-being support for young people in a timely manner.  Staff should 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 home regulations

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Recommendations

including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5) This is with particular reference to an individual and specific risk management plan.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to make good progress from their starting points. Young people are happy and relaxed around staff because staff focus on building positive relationships. One young person who had recently left the home said: ‘I want to go back there. I had really good relationships with staff.’ Young people are supported well to engage in education. All young people have made significant progress in relation to their educational engagement. Young people are positive about their achievements and now have aspirations for the future. Staff have a good understanding of young people’s histories and past experiences. Staff understand how past experiences can affect how young people form new relationships. Young people’s views are central to their day-to-day experiences and are an important part of having some say in their care. One young person was supported to share her views on the changes to her care plan. It was subsequently agreed for her to remain at

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

the home, where she wanted to stay. Young people are supported well with moving on from the home. Young people are supported to maintain positive and staying-close relationships. A team manager for a young person who had recently left the home said: ‘The staff were brilliant. The young person had a brilliant relationship with staff and they have maintained positive contact with her.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC028174 4 Young people maintain links to people who matter to them. Staff have positively supported improvements in family contact arrangements. This has led to some young people returning to live at home, when it is safe and appropriate to do so. Young people engage in fun activities both inside and outside of the home. For some young people, this involves regular activities like horse-riding and football. Young people’s self-esteem and social skills have developed over time. Young people are receiving good emotional health and well-being support from a variety

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

of sources. This could have been sourced in a timelier manner for some young people.

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

Young people say that they feel safe. When young people have presented with risk- taking behaviours, they have been supported to reduce these risks. Risk assessments are detailed, identify potential risks and highlight what staff should do to reduce risks. These are reviewed as and when necessary. Staff are experienced in identifying risks in relation to self-harming behaviours. Staff have appropriate training and support in self-injurious behaviours and access specialist support from professionals. Specialist support can be accessed by young people and advisory services are available for staff. Young people are not going missing from the home. When young people have previously presented with missing-from-care incidents, these have been responded to appropriately. A police representative said: ‘Things appear much more settled. The manager has been running the home really well and we have nothing adverse to report.’

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

Young people who move into the home are quickly supported to manage and address any behaviours of concern. Incidents of violence towards staff have reduced. An independent reviewing officer said: ‘I feel that staff are managing the young person really well. Staff are consistent and building up good relationships with the young person.’ Incidents of physical intervention are rare at the home. For some young people, this is significant progress from their previous care experiences. Recruitment processes are well managed, and regulations are followed. There are clear and effective processes in place to ensure that the staff working in the home are safe to do so. There was one specific individual risk assessment that was missed for a young person who had recently moved into the home. The manager agreed to address this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has worked hard with the team to address the shortfalls identified at the previous inspection. The manager and deputy are committed to promoting positive outcomes for young people in their care. Staff report that they feel well supported by the managers and feel Inspection report children’s home: SC028174 5 that they can go to them at any time. Staff say that teamwork is good and that they work well together to provide consistency. Staff advocate well for young people. For one young person, this involved challenging through an appeal process for a school placement. For another young person, the local authority was challenged in relation to their care plan. The manager is keen to promote a nurturing and caring environment for young people. She challenges any institutionalised or stigmatising language in the home. The staff team is starting to promote child-centred and personalised language.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is aware of the strengths and areas of development for the home. She is transparent about her staff and their learning needs. She acknowledges that the staff team is still growing and developing. There is stability in the staff team, with some staff having worked at the home for some time. Training, staff supervision and team meetings are structured, take place regularly and are well recorded. Staff feel able to share their experiences and they respect the registered manager. There is a strong, nurturing ethos in the home. There is good collaborative working with other agencies. There is positive communication between agencies and evidence of close working relationships with social workers, the missing from care coordinator, independent reviewing officers and education providers. Staff are introducing a model of care that brings research-informed practice into their work. This is at the early stages, but is a positive step towards professionalising the work

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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: SC028174 6

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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:

Bev Allison, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC028174 7 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:

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

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