Children's Home run by Keswick Care Limited in Wakefield

Inspection report children’s home: 1183197 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

A private organisation operates and runs this home. It provides care for children and young people whose plan is for them to live in a medium- to long-term residential setting. The experienced manager has been managing this home since October 2015 and has recently completed her level 5 leadership and management qualification.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1183197 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/04/2018 Full Good 06/06/2017 Full Outstanding 03/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 12/07/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: 1183197 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have good, trusting relationships with the staff. Their views are listened to and they have a say in the everyday matters in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to education and are making progress. Many of them had not engaged in education prior to moving into the home. The encouragement from staff has helped children to gain full-time attendance, GSCEs and placements at secondary education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are prepared for independence. They learn new skills, such as cooking, cleaning and washing their clothes. They are encouraged to make their own appointments and attend interviews, for example at college and for voluntary work.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Positive behaviour is promoted in the home. Children receive certificates and vouchers for making good choices. They will also get additional money incentives for completing little tasks, such as doing their washing, or for good attendance in education. They do a variety of activities of their own choice, from going to the cinema to boxing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are committed to working with families and other people who are significant to the children. This helps children to rebuild positive and meaningful relationships with those who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children get a warm welcome when they move to the home. Some children have moved back home to live with their family members or have moved on to other placements. When these moves have been unplanned, the staff have done their best to make the transition as smooth as possible for the children.

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

The staff spend a lot of time with the children, which helps to keep them safe. Any concerns or complaints from children are taken seriously and acted on. Key working is frequent, and this helps the children to identify methods to keep safe and regulate their emotions.

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

The staff are effective when dealing with challenging behaviour and make it clear to the children that they are there to support them no matter what. De-escalation techniques and a nurturing approach are used to reduce incidents of aggressive behaviour. The staff only use restraint if there is no other way to keep everyone safe.

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

The staff know the risks and strategies to keep children safe. These are reflected in the children’s records. However, this good practice was not evident in the risk assessments for children who no longer live at the home. This means that not all of their unsafe behaviours had been identified and measures put in place to address them. Inspection report children’s home: 1183197 4 The children very rarely go missing from this home. This is a big improvement for many of them. If they do go missing, this is usually for a very short period and staff follow the appropriate steps for their safe return. Return home interviews take place afterwards.

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

The children get support to take age-appropriate risks as part of their development. For example, they have their own mobile phones, have free time, and have responsibility for their money.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The experienced manager is highly motivated and wants the best for the children in the home. The members of the staff team receive good support from their manager and colleagues and enjoy working there.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the children well and demonstrates a good understanding of the progress that they have made. She considers the needs of the children coming to live at the home, and how these will affect those already living there. The admission policy is therefore effective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff work collaboratively with professionals and families and give weekly updates to social workers about the children. The professionals consulted valued the level of good communication from the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The recruitment of new staff is thorough, and good induction training ensures that new staff know how to work alongside the long-established team. The staff receive training which is relevant to the needs of the children, such as self-harming behaviours, and a therapeutic approach is used in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager carries out supervisions that are focused on children, working relationships and the well-being of the workers. This allows the staff to reflect on their practice and discuss their training needs with the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has ensured that notifications to the regulator are sent in regarding any serious incidents. However, these have not always been timely, and some outcomes of the investigations have not been notified to the regulator.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The house is homely and warm. It has personalised decorations for the young people and includes photographs of them. The manager ensures that the home is maintained to a high standard and feels and looks like a family home. Inspection report children’s home: 1183197 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, to ensure that all risk assessments are comprehensive and up to date with all the relevant risks identified 05/12/2019

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Recommendations

 Regulation 40(4) requires the registered person to notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if one of the situations specified in regulation 40(4)(a)-(d) occurs, or if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which the registered person considers to be serious (40(4)(e)). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10) Specifically, to ensure that incidents are notified in a timely manner and that outcomes of any investigations are sent to the regulator.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: 1183197 6 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: 1183197 7

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Inspector

Krista Hardy, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1183197 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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