Children's Home run by Keys ACE Limited in Halton

Inspection report children’s home: SC366002 1 SC366002 Registered provider: Keys 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

A private company owns this home. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for four young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The current manager was registered with Ofsted in June 2019.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 17 to 18 December 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 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: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC366002 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/06/2018 Full Good 07/02/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 22/06/2017 Full Good 28/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC366002 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 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—

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This is specifically in relation to ensuring that the safer area report is used in conjunction with a young person’s impact risk assessment, to ensure that the area is safe for them. Further to this, all risks in the local community should be identified and addressed. 29/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This is specifically in relation to ensuring that each young person has an up-to-date local authority care plan. 29/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study; 29/02/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC366002 4 understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, all information about a young person’s education should be drawn into one plan, and an education timetable should demonstrate what support is being offered when young people are not in full-time education. 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—

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the fence panels are replaced, that old utility items are removed from the garden and that internal wires are secured. 29/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

The regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order applies to the home. The registered person must ensure that the requirements of the Order and any regulations made under it, are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2)(b)) This is with particular reference to providing fire drills for newly placed young people. 29/02/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC366002 5

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Recommendations

 The home’s record of a notifiable event must include the outcome of any resulting investigation. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.14) Notifications should detail the action that the home has taken to fully safeguard the young people in its care.  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) This is specifically in relation to ensuring that staff have clear risk management guidance on the action to take, if an incident was to occur.  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11) In particular, staff should receive bereavement training to support young people.

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Recommendations

 Ensure that when a placing authority does not provide the input and services needed to meet a child’s needs during their time in the home, the home must challenge them to meet the child’s needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 12, paragraph 2.8) This is specifically in relation to ensuring that robust challenges are made and escalated, if necessary.

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improvement to be good

Some young people have been admitted to the home without any local authority documents, such as care plans. Therefore, the home cannot demonstrate that it is following an agreed plan for the young person. One young person has been without the necessary plans for over four months. The manager has sent several emails to try to secure them but has not escalated his concerns further. However, they received them on the morning of the inspection. On a positive note, each young person has a placement plan formulated by the home. The young people said that they have contributed to these plans and that they are regularly consulted about any changes in them.

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improvement to be good

Young people make steady progress from their starting points. However, their progress is not fully recorded in the plans. For example, one young person required dental treatment, and, although her health plan states that an appointment was made, it does not say whether she attended. The young person said that she did attend and had a tooth taken out. Young people are fit and well because staff ensure that all the young people’s health needs are attended to. Young people benefit from having access to a wide range of healthcare professionals. Inspection report children’s home: SC366002 6 Young people’s experiences and views of the home are varied. Some young people are happy and content. They develop positive relationships with staff and enjoy living at the home. However, not all young people share this view and some young people want to move nearer to their families.

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improvement to be good

Staff help young people to eat healthily and encourage the young people to help prepare and cook meals. Young people are proud of these achievements and they said that this helps them with their independence skills.

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improvement to be good

Some young people have good attendance at school, while others refuse to attend school or have limited engagement. It is unclear what action staff have taken to encourage young people to attend school. This is because information is in several different places in the young people’s files. Emails have been sent to the young people’s social workers and the virtual head of education, but the manager has not escalated his concerns. Some young people remain in bed until dinner time. Further to this, there is no education timetable in the home that could support young people to re-engage in education. Poor daily routines and the lack of structured education activities hinder the young people’s continued progress in this area.

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improvement to be good

Some young people enjoy and take advantage of a range of activities offered to them, such as going to the cinema or to the beach or having beauty treatments. However, some young people often refuse to take part in community-based activities and choose to spend time with their friends. Staff have been proactive in this area and have tried to encourage the young people to try different things or to join clubs, to no avail. However, this is an area that is frequently discussed in staff meetings, and staff are looking at more creative ways to engage the young people.

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improvement to be good

The home has recently been decorated, and a new kitchen has been installed. However, the old oven, dishwasher and sink have been left in the garden. The home runs alongside a railway track. Three fence panels need replacing to ensure that the young people cannot access the train track. In addition, the evening before the inspection, one young person had pulled out the telephone wire that runs down the edge of the stairs, leaving the wire trailing down the stairs. This was not secured until the inspector discussed the possible safety risks with the manager. This does not show that the home takes immediate action to rectify any potential hazards.

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

Staff and managers undertake a range of training in safeguarding matters and in related topics, such as radicalisation, county lines and gang culture. This ensures that staff have a good understanding of their safeguarding roles and duties.

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

The designated officer was not available to comment, when contacted as part of this inspection. However, the records maintained in the home are thorough. Any incidents are reported quickly, and records show that staff take suitable action regarding any safeguarding incidents and that they seek the designated officer’s opinion about how the Inspection report children’s home: SC366002 7 staff have dealt with a concern. The young people said that they are confident that any concerns are dealt with appropriately and that they are fully informed of the outcome. The manager has used mediation successfully when young people have had an issue with a member of staff. This has helped both parties to repair their relationship. Further to this, other professionals involved in the young people’s care reported that the staff are exceptional in ensuring the safety of the young people. However, some safeguarding notifications that are sent to Ofsted have not been closed. Furthermore, some

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

safeguarding notifications require more detail to ensure that the regulator has a good overview of the action taken by the home.

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

Incidents of young people going missing from the home are reducing. Staff follow the missing from home procedures well. Staff have assisted the police to secure information on the young people’s whereabouts when they have been missing from the home. This has helped the police to take enforcement action to stop the young people going to places that are deemed unsuitable or from having contact with unsuitable adults. Return interviews are completed by an independent person. This means that the young people have an opportunity to talk about the reasons why they went missing, which helps reduce the risk of reoccurrence.

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

Individual risk assessments and behaviour management plans identify known and emerging risks to the young people’s safety. However, the manager has used a wealth of information in the section that covers proactive action to be taken by staff, such as what paperwork to fill in, what to record and who to contact. This has detracted from giving staff clear information on what action to take if an incident was to occur.

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

Young people have been held for their own or others’ safety. Members of staff are trained in restraint and de-escalation techniques. Clear recordings show that the intervention was necessary, and the young people and staff are debriefed on the incident. The debrief gives both parties the opportunity to reflect on their behaviour.

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

The company follows safer recruitment guidance. All staff checks are completed and verified to ensure that members of staff are suitable to work with the young people. Health and safety checks are completed regularly, and all utilities are serviced annually. However, a new young person to the home has not completed a fire evacuation practice, and the inspector was not told of the procedure. This does not ensure that all young people and visitors can leave the building safely in the event of an emergency.

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

Staffing levels have increased. There is a new registered manager, and there are more clearly defined roles within the staff team, such as a deputy manager and team leaders. This ensures that continuity of care is good. The manager is undertaking his level 5 diploma qualification.

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

Members of staff complete all mandatory training as part of their induction, and this is refreshed accordingly. The training provides members of staff with the skills and knowledge to look after young people well. Members of staff benefit from regular Inspection report children’s home: SC366002 8 supervision and annual appraisals of their practice. This means that they have the opportunity to discuss their practice and to develop. One member of staff said, ‘I have not done this kind of work before. I have learned so much in a short time through training and professional discussions. The support I receive is fantastic. I really enjoy coming to work.’ However, members of staff would benefit from receiving training in bereavement and loss to support young people who have lost someone close to them.

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

A workforce development plan is in place, which evaluates the team’s learning and identifies staff’s training needs. Staff meetings have focused on issues such as behaviour management strategies and the cycle of trauma. The learning from these meetings is evident in the reduction of incidents in the home and in the reduction of episodes of young people going missing from the home.

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

Young people are admitted to the home when the manager has made an informed decision on whether the staff can meet the young person’s needs. However, the manager does not always consider the safer area report for new admissions to check that the area is safe for the new young person. In addition to this, the safer area report does not consider all the risks within the community, such as a nearby canal, bridges or the access to motorways. Therefore, consideration is not given to all potential risks, and the document does not include strategies to manage the presenting risks in the locality. At this time, this has not had an adverse impact on the young people, but if not addressed it has the potential to do so.

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

External monitoring of the home has improved. The independent visitor to the home provides a detailed overview of the quality of care and protection provided. Effective external monitoring supports the service’s development and improvement plans. The manager has a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home and he is committed to implementing the changes required to improve the progress and experiences for the young people. For example, he ensures that the young people’s records show the progress that they have made, so that the young people can understand their journey through care and the support that they received from the staff to be able to move forward. He is confident that he will robustly challenge local authorities and associated professionals, so that the young people receive the services that they require.

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

At the last inspection, the manager was asked to ensure that staff training reflected the young people’s individual needs and that monitoring systems improved. These requirements have been met. The manager was also asked to ensure that the furnishings and decoration of the home improved. This has been partially met. A requirement has been made in respect of other aspects of health and safety concerns reported above. Inspection report children’s home: SC366002 9

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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: SC366002 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Second Floor, Maybrook House, Queensway, Halesowen, Worcestershire B63 4AH

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Inspector

Pam Nuckley, social care regulatory inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC366002 11 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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