Children's Home run by Keys Direct Care Limited in Norfolk

Inspection report children’s home: SC450994 1 SC450994 Registered provider: Keys Direct Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run home provides care for up to four children who display challenging behaviour and may have been subject to abuse. The manager has been registered since 2012.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 27 to 28 November 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: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC450994 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/03/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 30/08/2018 Full Good 08/03/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 03/07/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: SC450994 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(i)) 31/01/2020

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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

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Requirement Due date

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

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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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(h)) 17/01/2020

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children’s parents as the independent person requires. (Regulation 44 (2)(a)) 31/01/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC450994 4

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Recommendations

 Ensure that managers take the initiative in identifying others who must play a part for their children and engage with those relevant people proactively, advocating for the children in their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 12, paragraph 2.7) In particular, this refers to strengthening the relationships with the local police.  Children’s homes staff should encourage children to take a proactive role in looking after their day-to-day health and well-being. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.10) In particular, this relates to encouraging the children to eat a healthy diet.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children receive very good care, which makes a big difference to their lives. Social workers described the children as doing ‘really well’ and ‘brilliantly’ at the home. An independent reviewing officer said that a child who has experienced a number of previously unsuccessful placements ‘loves it at this home’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff support the children to maintain good relationships with their families and to see them regularly. Some of the children are living a considerable distance from their homes and families. The staff take the children to see their families and have stayed overnight in close proximity to support the child. This support enables the children to have better quality time with their families and reduces excessive travel time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children make good progress in their education and for some of them this is significant. Children who have been out of education for some time before coming to the home are in education and doing well. One social worker described this positive change as ‘amazing’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff and the established children welcome new children when they move in. This helps to make sure that the new children can settle, even if they have not had time to visit the home prior to the move.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and the staff look after the children’s emotional needs. They have good relationships with them and provide a warm and nurturing environment. However, some areas of the home are worn and untidy. Rubbish left in the garden, a stained sofa and a worn doormat detract from an otherwise pleasant environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff make sure that the children attend their general health appointments. However, the children do not always eat a healthy diet. Although the managers recognise that this needs to improve, the progress to achieve this is slow. The staff fail to encourage some Inspection report children’s home: SC450994 5 of the children to eat as healthily as they could.

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

The staff understand the risks for individual children and help them to manage these risks. This includes helping them to understand about safe internet use and monitoring their mobile telephone contacts.

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

The children become safer while living at the home. One child has significantly reduced her self-harming behaviour. Another child has learned to manage her anger more effectively, reducing her risk of becoming involved with the police and the criminal justice system.

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

The staff help the children to understand about risk and to take risks that are age appropriate. These include travelling independently, attending college, making friends in the community and using social media. Consequently, children are prepared to keep themselves safe as they become more independent. The children benefit from a variety of real experiences in line with their peers.

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

The children learn how to regulate their own behaviours. A social worker said that the staff take a child’s behaviour in their stride and manage it, whereas previous children’s homes have struggled with it. The staff help the child to understand the impact of her behaviour. A social worker said that she has seen how effectively the staff can calm a child.

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

The manager and the staff help the children to build and maintain good, positive relationships with each other. The staff act quickly if there are any concerns about possible bullying. Consequently, the children build rewarding friendships and this reduces potential bullying.

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

The staff generally use sanctions and physical interventions appropriately. However, one sanction and one physical intervention had not been recorded clearly. The manager had not picked this up through her monitoring. Although the impact on the children is minimal, it does show that shortfalls in records that could be significant are not being identified consistently.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The established registered manager has the relevant qualifications for her role. The managers know the children well. They understand their needs and want them to do well. They have good relationships with the children, who are very much at ease with them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the strengths and areas for development that are required. She is addressing areas identified in her managerial review of care to improve the home and the experiences for the children. Inspection report children’s home: SC450994 6 The children’s views are sought and seen as important. One child has been able to significantly influence their care plan, with the support of staff. This creates an environment in which the children feel listened to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The number of staff at the home has increased and a deputy manager has recently been appointed. The increase in staffing and strengthening of the management team provide a better staff structure to meet the children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent visitor makes monthly visits to the home and prepares reports to help identify areas in which the care can improve. A recommendation was made at the last inspection that the independent visitor’s reports include the views of parents and social workers. Since then, the views of social workers have been included, but those of the parents have not. This means that the information which the independent visitor uses is not inclusive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and the staff have good working relationships with other agencies. This helps to make sure that coordinated working leads to good outcomes for the children. However, there is room to improve the working relationship with the local police to make this more effective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff have regular supervision, which they value. There is a good range of training for the staff to help them provide good care for the children. Despite this, a member of staff was significantly overdue some refresher training. The manager had not identified the need to make sure that this was completed.

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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: SC450994 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Keys Direct Care 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

Clive Lucas: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC450994 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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