Children's Home run by Keys Care Limited in Norfolk

Inspection report children's home: SC370949 1 SC370949 Registered provider: Keys Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private organisation. The home provides long-term placements for up to three children with social and behavioural difficulties who are emotionally vulnerable.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 2021.

p.1

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.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 10 September 2019

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC370949 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/09/2019 Full Good 31/05/2018 Full Good 03/08/2017 Full Good 06/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC370949 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive relationships with staff and enjoy spending time with them. Throughout the inspection, children were observed laughing and joking with staff. Staff have a good understanding of children’s needs. They are child centred and committed to supporting the children. One child’s social worker said that staff ‘give them the nurturing that they need’ and that the child has become happier at the home over time. Positive relationships between staff and children help children to feel wanted and valued in their home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress. One child has maintained excellent engagement in education, despite the home being a significant journey from their school. The staff have worked to make the journey manageable and have committed to maintaining the education placement. Another child is on a reduced timetable. The home has worked closely with the school to support this timetable increasing. A child’s social worker said that their child made significant progress while living at the home, after a long period when this had not been the case in previous placements. A child’s independent reviewing officer said that the home is supporting the child ‘to blossom, while still putting safe boundaries in place’.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by staff to make healthy choices. One child has recently given up smoking. This had been a real challenge for them and staff supported them through the process. Supporting children to make positive lifestyle choices has beneficial effects on children’s health.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help the children to see and speak with their families. One child said that staff always support them to see their family, driving a significant distance to make sure that this happens. Another child has recently started to regularly speak with and see family members, after a period of not doing so. This was emotionally challenging for the child. The manager recognised this and took steps to provide additional support for the child. Supporting children to see people who are significant to them helps children to develop and maintain important relationships.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is welcoming and well maintained. A child has recently completed a project to decorate one communal room. Another child spoke about their plans to decorate another area of the home. Allowing children to play a role in the upkeep and decorating of the home helps them to invest further in it and see it as their own home.

p.3

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

Children are supported by the staff to understand risks, and staff have a good understanding of risks to individual children. Children’s risk assessments are comprehensive and provide staff with clear strategies to reduce risks and manage children’s behaviour. One child has had fewer incidents of self-harm and going Inspection report children's home: SC370949 4 missing from the home over the last year. The child’s independent reviewing officer said that this was as a direct result of the work that staff have undertaken with the child. Helping children to understand risk and reduce risky behaviour has helped to keep children safe.

p.3

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

Staff manage difficult behavioural incidents well. They demonstrate an understanding of how to de-escalate such situations and work in line with children’s risk assessments. Children respond well to the staff’s interventions and incidents have reduced in duration. When restraint is used, it is done so as a last resort and children are well supported afterwards. Children are helped by staff to think about incidents so that they can learn from them. The staff’s ability to manage behaviour effectively helps children to feel more safe and secure at their home.

p.4

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

Staff help children to stay safe online, using key-work sessions and a recent children’s meeting to do this. All children have completed an e-safety quiz with the staff, which prompted discussion about online risks; the children engaged well in the discussion.

p.4

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

Managers write impact assessments prior to children moving into the home. However, these assessments do not fully consider all risks arising from the mix of children at the home. This means that risks are not satisfactorily explored and, as a result, the risks to children are greater.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and deputy manager are new in post in recent months. Staff spoke positively about the support that they provide and how available they are to them. The manager demonstrates a good understanding of the strengths of the home as well as areas for development.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager monitors children’s plans and incidents that happen at the home. When she has identified practice issues, she has addressed these appropriately, which has helped aid learning for the team. Team meetings are used to consider how the team supports children and to consider how improvements can be made. Good oversight of the home helps to make sure that children’s needs are consistently met.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager leads a culture which is child focused. She ensures that children’s views are heard and acted on. Children seek out the manager for support and she understands their needs well. The staff recognise children’s achievements and work in a way that rewards positive behaviour. This helps children to learn and encourages them to make positive choices.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff have developed good relationships with external professionals. One headteacher said that they communicate with the home every day about the needs of a child and this means that there is effective planning and support for the child’s education. An independent reviewing officer said that children are well supported to attend meetings and staff are always prepared for them. When there have been Inspection report children's home: SC370949 5 concerns in relation to other professionals, the manager has escalated these. Good links with other professionals enables effective working to meet children’s needs.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision. However, this does not always include discussion on children’s needs and behaviours. This means that opportunities to learn from practice and explore different strategies of support are not always being taken.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has identified the strengths of the home in her six-month internal review, but there is a lack of scrutiny of areas for development. There is also no clear action plan for the next six months or feedback from children and external professionals. Therefore, the ability of the review to drive improvement is limited. Inspection report children's home: SC370949 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

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))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that impact risk assessments give sufficient consideration to the risks arising from any potential mix of children. 30 June 2021

p.6

Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

p.6

Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

p.6

Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (2)(a)(b)(c) (5)) 30 July 2021 Inspection report children's home: SC370949 7

p.6

Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that all staff receive supervision of their practice which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

p.7

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: SC370949 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Soloist Building, 1 Lanyon Place, Belfast, Northern Ireland BT1 3LP

p.8

Inspector

Joe Cox, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC370949 9 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9