Children's Home run by Keys Care Limited in Buckinghamshire

Inspection report children's home: 2543427 1 Keys Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

This home is one of a group of homes that make up the Cross Regional Project, which has been set up between Keys Group and four local authorities: Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes. The home cares for up to four children who may experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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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 May 2021 to carry out a monitoring 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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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: not judged

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 2543427 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/05/2021 Monitoring visit not judged Inspection report children's home: 2543427 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide the child with individualised care which is carefully documented in her personal records. She is making good progress. Some documents which relate to the child’s care, such as plans, are lengthy. To counter this, staff create child-friendly versions of these documents. This helps her understand key documents which are about her care and support. This creative approach also strengthens relationships between the child and the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to access education. She has improved school attendance rates, which benefits her learning and development. Staff work proactively with the education provision and show ambition for the child to achieve. She has recently completed a course and is currently exploring further vocational options.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work proactively with external services to ensure the child accesses the services she needs to progress. The child meets with specialist health and therapeutic services, which include quarterly assessments with the in-house therapy team. These assessments track the child’s progress regarding her emotional and behavioural well-being, and inform the bespoke therapeutic care given. This ensures the child receives care which is specific to her unique needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is treated with dignity and respect. Her views are understood, acknowledged and responded to by staff promptly. When she has found it difficult to talk about her own feelings, staff have been creative. She took part in a key meeting about her care, when previously the child had not taken part in such meetings. This contribution was achieved through creative input and support by staff. This was noted by an external professional as a significant achievement for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to develop living skills. The child has an independence plan with targets. This plan is appropriately reviewed to track the child’s progress in obtaining life skills as she moves towards adulthood. The child’s home is well maintained. The environment is welcoming, clean and in a good state of repair.

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

Staff work hard to make sure that the child feels safe and secure. As a team, they strive to be proactive and know safeguarding procedures well. They consider how the child’s previous experiences may influence the child’s behaviours, and how to respond. Through this approach, staff are successful in supporting the child to be safe, and the frequency of physical interventions and missing episodes has reduced.

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

Staff at the home have good insight into the background and needs of the child. They are consistent in their approach to responding to specific behaviours. This response provides the child with consistency and stability, which helps them to progress. Since the previous inspection, staff have been supported to reflect on how the therapeutic model of care is embedded into day-to-day practice. Inspection report children's home: 2543427 4 Managers understand the child’s risk factors. Risk assessments are of good quality and direct staff in how to reduce risks. One risk assessment had not been reviewed following a significant change in circumstances. The risk assessment was updated during the inspection. However, staff had been referring to out-of-date information and strategies which did not reflect the current risks for the child.

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

Staff support and challenge any unsafe behaviour with the child sensitively. Restorative work following any incident takes place swiftly. Strategies are implemented to support and educate the child. Keywork sessions are frequent and generally comprehensive. Some records show that the child’s section of the keywork session is left blank. It is therefore not clear if the child has been consistently consulted for her input on these meetings. In other documents, the child has not always signed to demonstrate her views have been considered or that she has been given the opportunity to sign her records.

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

The child is supported to raise any concerns she may have. Staff listen to her and act on her wishes and feelings. She has access to an advocate. This ensures the child can raise any concerns or worries she may have with staff or an independent person.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a dedicated and passionate registered manager in post. The senior leadership team has high expectations for the child. This sets an aspirational culture within the staff team and their practice. Staff are well supported by the manager and morale is high. One staff member said, ‘She brings the best out of people and her reflective practice is something that shines through the team.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders link effectively with other agencies and within the local community. External professionals report good communication with leaders. One professional said, ‘The manager in particular knows the child very well and is always proactive and consistent in sending updates.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular, formal supervision and training. The registered manager is currently undertaking the diploma in leadership and management for residential childcare to refresh their knowledge and understanding of being an effective leader.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the previous inspection, staff, including the manager, have received bespoke training about their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding. These sessions have enhanced, and improved staff practice around keeping the child safe. The responsible individual has taken part in higher-level safeguarding training to refresh their understanding of child protection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Recruitment practice has been reviewed. An additional check is now in place to consider whether an applicant is mentally and physically fit for their proposed role. One serious incident has been reported to Ofsted in line with regulatory requirements since the previous visit. This allows Ofsted to oversee the safeguarding practice in the home. The disciplinary procedure and safeguarding policy have been Inspection report children's home: 2543427 5 reviewed. Job descriptions have also been revised and now contain specific reference to an individual’s responsibility to safeguard children. The eight requirements set at the previous inspection have all been addressed and met in full.

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Statutory requirement

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

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)) 24 September

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are encouraged by staff to see the home's records as 'living documents', supporting them to view and contribute to the record in a way that reflects their voice on a regular basis. Records should also record that the child has had the opportunity to add to their records but has declined. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.19) Inspection report children's home: 2543427 6

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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: 2543427 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: C/o Pinsent Masons LLP, The Soloist Building, 1 Lanyon Place, Belfast, Northern Ireland BT1 3LP

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Inspector

Skye Frain, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2543427 8 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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