Children's home run by Keys Child Care Limited in Telford and Wrekin

Inspection report children’s home: SC449245 1 SC449245 Registered provider: Bryn Melyn Care 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 home is owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three children who have a variety of complex needs. The new manager started in February 2019 and became the registered manager in September 2019. She also manages another one-bedroomed home owned by the same provider and is working to complete her level 5 qualification in leadership and management.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 24 to 25 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC449245 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/03/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 30/04/2018 Full Good 09/01/2018 Full Inadequate 13/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC449245 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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who develop positive relationships with them; engage with them; and 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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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff 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. (Regulation 7(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children and young people receive regular feedback on requests that they make and issues that they raise in young people’s meetings. 31/10/2019

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people develop warm and trusting relationships with caring staff. They enjoy sharing jokes and having fun with staff as well as going to them for comfort and support. Staff enable children and young people to feel secure when they move in, which helps them to settle.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, the registered manager has redecorated and refurbished the home to make it more welcoming and attractive. Staff have helped children and young people to personalise their bedrooms. Children and young people love the large, well- maintained garden, where they play ‘hide and seek’ and build dens. The younger children enjoy the newly created playroom, which is colourful and age appropriate.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have undertaken some excellent work helping each child and young person to express their views, wishes and feelings. Staff skilfully use storyboards and a widget for a child who has autistic spectrum disorder. This enables him and staff to understand his Inspection report children’s home: SC449245 4 feelings throughout the day, including whether he feels safe and happy. Staff have made a referral for an independent advocate for a young person who is unhappy with her local authority plan. This will enable her to express her wishes and feelings and ensure that these are responded to appropriately by the local authority.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Consistent staffing ensures that children and young people benefit from clear rules and boundaries, providing a stable, secure environment. Child-focused staff help children and young people make good progress in their health, education and independence. Plans are underway for a young person who is learning independence skills to have driving lessons. Staff have helped her to make decisions about what she wants to do in the future and how to achieve her aims. She is interested in working with animals and is also very talented in beauty therapy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All of the children and young people attend school regularly. Staff support them to manage their anxieties in school by staying with them when necessary. Staff also help children and young people to do homework and to attend school on time. Staff have worked closely with the school attended by a child who has autistic spectrum disorder, and this has resulted in the school creating a sensory area for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people engage with staff in key-work sessions which are supportive, challenging and relevant to their placement plan. This enables children and young people to make good progress in managing their emotions and behaviour and developing their life skills. Children and young people also engage in young people’s meetings where staff consult them about any changes in the home and listen to their ideas and requests. However, staff do not always evidence how and when they feed back to children and young people when decisions are made following young people’s meetings. This is an area for improvement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children and young people to make progress in their physical and emotional health. They support children and young people to attend health appointments and encourage them to eat healthily and exercise. Staff strongly support children and young people to understand their backgrounds by ensuring that they see their family members. Staff also create life story books which include photographs of children and young people achieving, and having fun.

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

Children and young people say that staff keep them safe. This is echoed by social workers and previous carers. Highly trained staff engage children and young people in key-work sessions to help them to understand how to keep themselves safe. Subjects include internet safety, healthy relationships, the risks of going missing and substance misuse.

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

When incidents occur, staff follow protocols, responding appropriately and correctly recording events. Physical intervention is only used as a last resort and in keeping with children and young people’s individual behaviour management plans. The duration of each physical intervention for one child has significantly reduced as he makes progress Inspection report children’s home: SC449245 5 in regulating his emotions and behaviour. As staff have got to know him they have become increasingly effective at understanding what upsets him and how to help him to manage his behaviour.

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

When children and young people go missing, staff search for them and liaise with police, social workers and family members to find them and ensure their safe return.

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

The registered manager speaks to children and young people after incidents to understand their views, wishes and feelings, and to find ways to prevent incidents happening again. Managerial review of incidents and physical interventions is consistent and highlights learning points for staff.

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

Incidents when one young person harms themselves have significantly reduced since the last inspection. The registered manager and staff demonstrate an understanding of the reasons behind this behaviour and the triggers. This enables staff to be alert to the risks of further harm and act to reduce them.

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

The registered manager regularly reviews detailed risk assessments and individual behaviour management plans, which address each child and young person’s history and provide clear guidance for staff to reduce risk. Staff involve children and young people in discussing how they think staff can help them to keep safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

After a period of management changes, which led to a decline in the effectiveness of the service, the newly registered manager has worked hard to create a stable and nurturing environment for children and young people. She has a new team which is developing in skill and knowledge. The registered manager has a clear vision for the home. She is child-focused and thoughtful. For example, she has taken the young person who is learning independence skills out for some meals to spend time with her in a more adult environment. Children and young people respond well to the registered manager and staff feel supported by her.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager understands the strengths and areas for development of her staff and has plans in place to develop the team. She uses regular supervision and team meetings as opportunities for discussion and learning and is keen to further develop staff confidence and consistency of practice. The registered manager challenges staff’s knowledge with quizzes in team meetings to ensure that they understand regulatory requirements and other issues, including health and safety and multi-agency working. The registered manager wants to drive up standards even further and consults with staff, children, young people and professionals to achieve this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are dedicated and child-focused. They speak with affection and enthusiasm about children and young people, and work closely with education staff and social workers to ensure that children and young people’s needs are recognised and addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is well run. Files are in good order and staff rotas are covered by the team Inspection report children’s home: SC449245 6 without the use of agency staff. Staff are up to date with training that is relevant to the needs of the children and young people. For example, the registered manager arranged for staff to undertake training in autistic spectrum disorder before admitting a child with this diagnosis. The registered manager ensures that the child’s needs are also discussed on a regular basis with the in-house clinical psychologist, who attends team meetings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Social workers provide very positive feedback about the registered manager and staff. One social worker described their communication with her as ‘top notch’. A child’s previous foster carer said that staff listen and take her advice about how to understand and work with the child to meet his highly complex needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is benefiting from strong support from her manager and the wider registered managers group. She now has a new deputy, who has just started in this post. The registered manager acknowledges that the team faces the challenges of a busy home, working with children and young people who require staff to have a broad range of skills and understanding in order to meet their needs. She is clear about how to support the team to provide children and young people with a good standard of care and has evidenced this with the improvements made since the last inspection.

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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: SC449245 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bryn Melyn Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Edward James House, Hadley, Telford TF1 6QJ

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Inspector

Louise Whittle, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC449245 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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