Children's home run by Keswick Care Limited

Inspection report children‟s home: 2483830 1 Registered provider: Keswick 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

This newly registered and privately run children’s home provides care and accommodation for two children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The manager is suitably qualified and experienced and is registered with Ofsted. This home opened in October 2018. The manager was running another home with the same company before moving premises to this address, along with the existing staff team.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 10 to 11 September 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 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

Date of last inspection: this is the first inspection

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Recent inspection history

This was the first inspection for this home. Inspection report children‟s home: 2483830 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people in the home receive individualised and nurturing care. They have made good progress from their starting points in respect of their self-care skills, their education and regulating their feelings. The young people have positive, trusting relationships with staff and can express their views clearly and freely.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people have access to a variety of activities of their choice such as spending time with horses, swimming, go-karting and days out. One young person has developed her confidence and is now comfortable going for a meal with staff, which she struggled with before. She now goes to the local youth club and spends time with her friends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people‟s attendance at school is good. The staff have good professional working relationships with school and the virtual head. The staff communicate with education providers daily about the young people. This has helped the young people to engage and progress with their education and pass their exams.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people are learning independence skills such as self-care skills, cooking, gardening, cleaning and budgeting. Positive behaviour is rewarded with incentives such as money towards treats, and this approach is working. The young people are involved in the day-to-day planning in the home, from decorating to choosing meals and activities for the week ahead, which gives them a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people know how to complain. The manager introduced the “You said - I did” method so that the young people can have meaningful conversations about how they feel about different issues. The young people have also accessed advocacy services to help to get their views heard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people can see and stay in touch with their family members. This is because of staff working proactively with parents and families and encouraging positive relationships.

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

The staff know the young people and understand their risks, and the risk assessments are thorough and detailed. The physical environment is safe and well maintained. The young people benefit from close supervision from the staff in the home, while still being able to access some free time with regular welfare checks. This means that age- appropriate risks are promoted.

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

The staff know the risks that the use of the internet, particularly social media, may pose for young people, and they have interned monitoring system. The staff have quickly acted on any risks arising from young people’s internet use to keep them safe from exploitation and harm. Inspection report children‟s home: 2483830 3 The young people have trusting relationships with staff and can speak to them if they are worried about anything. All the staff in the home are female, and this could deter the young people from forming positive trusting relationships with males.

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

The young people do not go missing from home often. When this happens, staff follow them and persuade them to return home. If the staff lose sight of the young people, they follow the missing-from-home protocol. The young people have return home interviews to ensure that there is appropriate follow-up afterwards. The staff have good working relationships with the local police and attend community meetings, which assists them in keeping the young people safe.

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

All the staff have received training to use de-escalation and physical intervention techniques. These are only used as a last resort to keep young people safe with minimum force and as quickly as possible. The young people and staff have debriefs following the incidents to discuss their feelings and plan preventative methods for the future.

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

The young people have access to the in-house therapist and are engaging in therapy. This helps young people to regulate their emotions and therefore further enhance their safety and well-being. If young people need any specialist help, such as from the drug and substance misuse service, referrals are made promptly, and advice is sought regarding how to help them.

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

The young people know the rules in the home, and appropriate boundaries are in place for them. They have access to a mental health first aid box, which helps to de-escalate situations before aggressive behaviour happens. The young people also like to use the positivity box to access treats when they make good choices about their behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Both staff and the manager have a good understanding of the needs of the young people in the home. The staff report that they have great support from their manager and they work well as a team. The manager is actively involved in the day-to-day running of and events in the home and ensures that she has always got time to speak to the young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of the progress that the young people are making. She took action when she recognised that the home was unable to keep a young person safe, and ended the placement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has high expectations of all the young people in the home and wants to ensure that they have continuity and high standards of care and support. The manager has been supporting the transition of a young person by liaising regularly with the new carers about his needs, which has enabled a more positive transition. Inspection report children‟s home: 2483830 4 The staff receive regular supervision that is focused around the young people in the home. However, the supervision records are not always an accurate reflection of the issues discussed. The new staff receive good induction training, but some of the staff have not received training in child sexual exploitation, which is necessary to reflect the needs of the young people in the home. The staff have got opportunities to engage in learning new skills in between official training sessions via a system development programme that the manager supervises.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager recognises the achievements of staff. Each month, a member of staff is awarded ‘employee of the month’ for doing something that has made a difference to young people. This could be for supporting a young person through a difficult time. The staff have a chance to do additional sessions with the in-house therapist to promote their own well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good oversight of the home. She acts on recommendations made in the independent visitor’s s monitoring reports. She writes a report once a month in respect of the progress of the young people and developments in the home. These summaries are then used to create the bi-annual report to the regulator. The manager reviews the records relating to key-working sessions, risk assessments and weekly reports to maintain an overview of the home. The young people’s views are actively sought and included in the planning for the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff work proactively with other agencies. This includes sending notifications of any significant incidents to the appropriate authorities. The social workers report good communication from the staff and the manager and appreciate weekly reports and frequent updates on any changes in respect of the young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The changes in the management structure have given opportunities for workers to take more ownership of the home and have a chance for a progression, which has been much welcomed by the staff. Inspection report children‟s home: 2483830 5

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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 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— ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b), (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person should ensure that all staff have training that is specific to the children’s needs. 06/11/2019

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Recommendations

 Whenever possible, staff in day to day contact with children should include staff from the different gender groups. Where the home’s Statement of Purpose makes it explicit that the home uses staff of one sex only, clear guidance will need to be in place and followed as to how children are enabled to maintain relationships with people of a different gender. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.22)

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Recommendations

 It is good practice for a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions to be kept and to ensure that both the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4)

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Recommendations

Specifically, ensure that the supervision records are an accurate reflection of the issues discussed. Inspection report children‟s home: 2483830 6

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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: 2483830 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hylton House, 150 Barnsley Road, Hemsworth, Pontefract WF9 4PQ

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Inspector

Krista Hardy, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 2483830 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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