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

A suitably qualified registered manager oversees the home and was registered with Ofsted in March 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

Date of last inspection: 26 February 2019

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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: SC433286 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/02/2019 Full Good 31/10/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 19/06/2017 Full Good 08/03/2017 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

The care planning standard is that children receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home.

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Requirement Due date

that staff help each child to access and contribute to the records kept by the registered person in relation to the child.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that care plans, behaviour management plans and risk assessments are clear, concise and relevant, to ensure that all staff are provided with clear instructions on how to meet the young people’s current needs. In addition, encourage children to read and add further information to these plans. 13/09/2019

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 13/09/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC433286 4 demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received;

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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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(g)(i)(ii)h))

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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. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  Local authorities should have in place Runaway and Missing from Home and Care (RMFHC) protocols agreed with local police and other partners. Where appropriate, they should also have agreed protocols with neighbouring authorities. The protocols should be agreed and reviewed regularly with all agencies and be scrutinised by the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.23)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s opportunities and experiences are good. They are provided with a wide range of activities in the home and in the local community, for example judo and swimming. In addition, children thoroughly enjoy spending time in the home’s garden learning about wildlife. As a result, the children have developed a wide range of interests and hobbies that, in turn, improves their physical health and social skills. A social worker who contributed to this inspection agreed that this provision benefits the children and said, ‘The garden and grounds are fantastic for the boys.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are looked after by a manager and staff team that advocates strongly for them and that shows them genuine warmth and affection. Children’s needs and behaviours Inspection report children’s home: SC433286 5 are understood and managed well. Each individual achievement the children accomplish, regardless of how small, is recognised and rewarded. This means that children’s self- esteem and confidence are promoted effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are thriving because they have developed a good sense of belonging and permanence in this home. High staffing ratios mean that children have good opportunities to spend good-quality time with the care staff who look after them. The children said that they feel safe and listened to. The staff maintain clear, consistent and appropriate boundaries. This has helped the children to develop confidence in the staff and to form positive attachments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend school full time; their attendance and attainment have gradually improved in recent months. In addition, opportunities for children to learn outside of the school day are plentiful. Children have acquired an interest in local history and they have developed a kinship with nature and wildlife.

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

Children benefit from taking age-appropriate risks. Good use is made of the home’s garden and woodlands to help children to develop skills for adult life. They particularly enjoy gardening and learning about wildlife. Children are learning independence and survival skills when camping in the grounds, making a fire to keep warm and cooking their dinner.

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

Staff support children well to manage their emotions and feelings. When physical interventions are used, they are proportionate and appropriate, to manage the seriousness of the risks. Restraint practices are monitored for effectiveness. However, the manager does not always make a record of the actions he has taken when he has identified discrepancies or omissions in restraint records.

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

Overall, fire safety is managed well. All staff have received training in the actions to take in the event of a fire and, together with the children, have engaged in a fire evacuation drill. There are plans in place to improve the quality and accuracy of fire evacuation records.

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

The manager has completed a locality assessment. This document provides staff with information that they need to consider in relation to the potential risks for children. The manager has ensured that information relating to transport links and emergency services’ operational hours and response times is included in this assessment.

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

Monitoring of the quality of care provided in the home requires improvement to be good. The manager has not consistently identified or rectified omissions and inaccuracies in a range of reports completed by staff. Inspection report children’s home: SC433286 6 Reporting systems are cumbersome; they require staff to duplicate information across several different recording systems. This means that records of children’s progress, care planning, key worker sessions and the use of sanctions are not monitored effectively.

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

The home’s care planning documents align with the local authority’s aims and objectives. Although informative, these internal documents are extensive. Information is duplicated throughout, and there is an unnecessary focus on the child’s historical needs and behaviours. This does not provide staff with clear guidance about how to meet the children’s current daily living needs.

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

There have not been any missing from home incidents. Risk assessments and protocols are in place for staff to follow in the event of a child going missing. However, the manager has not ensured that the missing from home protocol has been approved by the police.

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

Staff confirmed that they attend regular team meetings, receive informal and formal supervision and are provided with good training opportunities. Despite this good practice, records of these opportunities do not confirm that staff are helped to reflect on their practice, learn from each other or consider patterns and trends in children’s behaviours.

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

The manager and team have the necessary skills and experiences. Collectively, the team shares the manager’s child-centred approach. The team recognises how past experiences may affect and influence the children’s current behaviour. A social worker who contributed to this inspection was exceptionally positive about the quality of care provided. She made particular reference to the staff’s knowledge and understanding of children’s needs.

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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 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Keys Group Progressive Care and 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

Sharron Escott, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC433286 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 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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