Children's home run by Keys Cwc Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 1245569 1 Registered provider: Crossways Care 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 children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to three children, irrespective of gender, who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted to manage this home in 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 31 July to 1 August 2019

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1245569 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/03/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 02/08/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 1245569 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

7: The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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develop positive relationships with them;

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take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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

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ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare;

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help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child;

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regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 30/09/2019

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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 30/09/2019 Inspection report children’s home: 1245569 4 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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In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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

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feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received;

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use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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

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

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

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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. 30/09/2019 Inspection report children’s home: 1245569 5 36: Children’s case records

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) for each child which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all case records are kept up to date.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that all records identify the author of reports and are dated.

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Recommendations

 1Staff shoulde familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. 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)  Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5) In particular, ensure that behavioural risks are assessed, and staff are provided with guidance on how to manage and mitigate risk.

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improvement to be good

Weaknesses in how well children are helped and protected and the effectiveness of leadership and management have impacted on children’s overall experiences and progress.

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improvement to be good

Internal care, behaviour and health plans are cumbersome. These unwieldly documents do not specifically set out each child’s current daily living needs and behaviours. Recommendations identified in one child’s health assessment are not incorporated into his healthcare plan. Similarly, the same child’s education targets are not included within his internal education support plan. All three children’s behavioural risk assessments lack clarity. This means that temporary staff are not provided with enough information to enable them to respond to the children’s daily living needs and behaviours effectively. Inspection report children’s home: 1245569 6 Although staffing levels are high, in recent months children have not benefited from continuity of care. During this period, four staff resigned, giving insufficient notice. To meet the children’s supervision needs, the manager assigned vacant shifts to agency and

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improvement to be good

casual staff. As a result of these staffing changes, the home was unsettled as children were regularly looked after by temporary staff who did not know them well.

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improvement to be good

Sanctions given by staff in response to children’s negative behaviour are inconsistently applied. Restorative consequences are not always considered. This means that not all children are provided with an opportunity to consider the impact their behaviour has on themselves and others and learn from it. Children’s progress is not maximised; this is because their behavioural incentive targets are not reviewed.

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improvement to be good

Children are consulted with in many ways, including key-worker discussions, house meetings and questionnaires. In addition, two children are members of a young person’s forum. Despite this, not all of these formal consultation systems are effective. Records do not confirm what actions have been taken when children have made a request or expressed their views.

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improvement to be good

Children take part in a wide range of activities that are good for their health and well- being. They enjoy spending time with their friends in the community and at home. Consequently, their social skills and self-esteem are developing positively.

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improvement to be good

The manager and permanent staff have the skills and experience to quickly form meaningful relationships with the children. Children are developing positive attachments and have trust and respect for the care staff that they know well. During this inspection, interactions with children were observed to be warm, caring and sensitive. The atmosphere within the home is relaxed and calm.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, four staff have left, resulting in an increased use of agency staff. The manager has not gained sufficient information on these agency staff to confirm that they have the required training, skills and experience to meet the children’s needs. In addition, on two occasions more than 50% of staff on duty were agency workers. This means that children are looked after at night by adults who have not been assessed for their suitability or who know the children well.

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improvement to be good

Incidents resulting in physical intervention do occur. Since the last inspection, there have been seven reported incidents. These interventions were for a limited period and only used to manage serious risks. Following some of these incidents, the manager has not sought the child’s views about being held. Similarly, the staff have not been provided with the opportunity to reflect on what alternative actions they could have considered taking.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, there has been one missing-from-home incident. Staff took appropriate and swift action to make sure the child returned home safely. Missing-from- Inspection report children’s home: 1245569 7 home protocols have been approved by the police. Despite this, the manager has not included critical information within these protocols, such as known associates and locations the child is known to frequent. This lack of important information could limit the ability of staff to respond effectively to missing-from-home incidents.

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improvement to be good

The manager deals with child protection issues in accordance with statutory guidance. The management of allegations against staff is robust. Since the last inspection, there has been one allegation referred to safeguarding agencies. The manager took appropriate action and records of the incident are well maintained.

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

Monitoring of the quality of care lacks rigour. The manager’s monitoring of significant events, including physical interventions, missing-from-home incidents and sanctions, is neither clear, concise or evaluative. This reduces the team’s ability to reflect on their decision-making and actions to improve the quality of care and children’s progress.

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

Staff spoken to as part of the inspection said that they felt supported by the manager and each other. However, not all staff receive regular, formal supervision or have their performance appraised in line with the home’s policy. As a result, opportunities for staff to formally reflect on their practice, develop their skills and share any concerns are missed.

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

The manager has established and has maintained good links with local authorities and supporting services. However, despite these good links, the manager has not been successful in escalating his concerns in order to obtain copies of all children’s local authority care plans, looked-after children’s review minutes and personal education plans.

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

The manager leads by example; he often works directly with the children. As a result, he knows their needs and behaviours well. The staff team shares the manager’s child- focused approach. Its members offer children nurturing care while still maintaining boundaries and expectations. The members of the staff team are up to date with mandatory training, which provides them with enough information to meet the children’s varying 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. Inspection report children’s home: 1245569 8 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

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Information about this inspection

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: 1245569 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Keys Group, Maybrook House, Queensway, Halesowen, Worcestershire B63 4AH

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Inspector

Sharron Escott, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1245569 10 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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