Children's Home run by South West Childcare Services in Plymouth

Inspection report children’s home: 1254740 1 Registered provider: Keys Group Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a national provider of children’s homes and offers care and accommodation for up to two children. The provider states in its statement of purpose that care is provided for children with social, emotional or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since April 2017.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 20 October 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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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 requires improvement to be 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

Date of last inspection: 17 September 2019

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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: 1254740 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/09/2019 Full Good 16/07/2018 Full Good 30/01/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 17/10/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: 1254740 3

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improvement to be good

Outcomes for children are mixed. One child left the home recently and made good progress. The staff succeeded in supporting the child to meet the aims of their plan; consequently, the child made a successful move back to foster care. However, a second child was moved from the home to an alternative placement as the staff were unable to manage his behaviour. One child has recently moved into the home.

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improvement to be good

The staff fail to implement routines and boundaries effectively. The child currently living at the home is regularly refusing to get out of bed until at least late morning on a school day. This means that he is not able to engage in meaningful educational activities.

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improvement to be good

The staff have not used creative strategies to ensure that the child is making progress with his education. For example, the staff failed to ensure that alternative educational activities were put in place until a formal education plan was available. Prior to arriving at the home, the child had been out of education for two years. The home’s plan does not detail how the child will be supported effectively by the staff to re-engage with education.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers do not ensure that the child is provided with good routines and a healthy lifestyle. For example, he is not regularly eating nutritious meals and is snacking on ‘junk’ food in his bedroom. He does not always eat with staff at the table; instead, he eats alone in his bedroom. Meals eaten are not recorded accurately by the staff to ensure that there is oversight of what the child is eating and how this can contribute to the maintenance of a healthy weight.

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improvement to be good

The child is beginning to build relationships with the staff. He can name a member of staff who he would speak with if he was worried or unhappy. However, in an attempt to engage with the child and help him to settle, the staff are allowing him too much control in the home and are not implementing the consistent boundaries and expectations to ensure that he makes progress and feels safe. He is deciding when he gets up, what he eats and what he does during the day.

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improvement to be good

The child’s placement plan does not contain comprehensive and creative strategies that the staff need to support the child effectively and that will help to monitor his progress.

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improvement to be good

The staff succeed in supporting the child to maintain relationships with his family. His friends are welcome to stay overnight, as a child’s friends would be in a family home. In addition, his family members are always made to feel welcome at the home by the staff. Inspection report children’s home: 1254740 4 The home is generally comfortable and homely. Any damage to the home is promptly repaired. However, the staff fail to ensure that the child is being supported to learn to keep his bedroom clean and tidy. His bedroom was found to be very untidy, with the previous evening’s fish and chip meal remains still in his bed and on the floor.

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improvement to be good

At times, staff are struggling to manage the behaviour of the child, who has highly complex care needs. They report that they often feel on edge because of repeated aggressive incidents where the child has hurt and threatened members of staff. One incident resulted in the staff locking themselves in the office and the police being called. However, staff are remaining calm during incidents and are using a therapeutic approach. Consequently, the child’s levels of aggression are slowly reducing.

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improvement to be good

Behaviour management strategies are not comprehensively documented in the child’s behaviour management plan to offer the inexperienced members of staff guidance and direction.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments do not offer the staff comprehensive, clear strategies and control measures for potential risks, for example if a child’s friend stays overnight or if the staff find illegal substances in a child’s bedroom.

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improvement to be good

The child reports that he feels safe living at the home. Since he arrived at the home, he has not gone missing from care. Any safeguarding incidents are appropriately referred to safeguarding professionals.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers follow staff disciplinary and recruitment procedures effectively to ensure that only suitable people are employed to work at the home.

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good

There is a lack of management oversight in the home. Documents and records are not being comprehensively reviewed by the manager to closely monitor the quality of care and to inform care planning and staff practice.

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good

There is now a full and consistent staff team. Despite the challenging and complex needs of the child, the staff report that there is good morale. They feel well supported by the manager and are well trained. If specialist training is requested by a member of staff, then this training is obtained. For example, training is planned in substance misuse reduction, and trauma and attachment. In addition, the staff benefit from therapeutic sessions from an outside provider to inform their practice.

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good

Staff receive regular supervision sessions from the manager. Records of these sessions are not comprehensively recorded. For example, when a new member of Inspection report children’s home: 1254740 5 staff requested strategies to use to safely manage the behaviour of the child, the response of the manager is not recorded.

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good

Feedback from placing social workers and professionals is positive. One foster carer reported that the manager and staff provided effective support to ensure that a child experienced a smooth move from the home to foster care. Professionals and comment positively on the quality and regular communication from the home.

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good

A requirement from the previous inspection was for the manager to ensure that notifications of serious events are sent to Ofsted without delay. On two recent occasions, the staff failed to notify Ofsted of a serious incident in a timely manner. This requirement is therefore repeated. Inspection report children’s home: 1254740 6

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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 registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if ─

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child that the registered person considers serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(e)) 2 July 2021

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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

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult. 2 July 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 1254740 7 (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(ii)(iv)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to leaders and managers ensuring that: the child has a planned daily routine; expectations are clear; and boundaries and rules are consistently applied by the staff.

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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 ─

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child overcome any 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 each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(v)(x)) 2 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that ─

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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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

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well- being. (Regulation 10 (1)(a) (2)(a)(i)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to ensuring that the child eats regular, healthy meals with adults and that the child’s weight is regularly monitored. 2 July 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 1254740 8 The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop and to benefit from, relationships based on ─

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Requirement Due date

an understanding of acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iv)(x)(xi))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to leaders and managers ensuring that creative strategies to manage a child’s behaviour are clearly documented in a child’s behaviour management plan for staff to follow, and that these strategies are discussed in supervision sessions with staff. 2 July 2021

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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 reach 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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; 2 July 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 1254740 9 understand the impact that the quality of care provided by the home is having on the progress and experience of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a) (2)(a)(f))

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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: 1254740 10

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Tina Maddison, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1254740 11 to 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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