Children's Home run by Keys Child Care Limited in Cambridgeshire

Inspection report children’s home: 2596476 1 Registered provider: Keys Child Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home looks after up to four children aged between 10 and 18. The home specialises in providing therapeutic care for children who display challenging behaviours and are emotionally vulnerable .

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted on 13 November 2020. The manager registered with Ofsted in February 2021.

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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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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 2596476 2

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improvement to be good

Since the home registered in November 2020, three children have moved in and two children have moved out of the home. The staff struggled to manage one child’s complex needs. Consequently, the placement ended. Despite this, staff have continued to care for the child away from the home and work closely with the social work team to find an appropriate placement. Another child experienced a positive ending. The staff carried out effective work with the child to develop her confidence and social skills. This enabled her to successfully move to a placement closer to her family.

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improvement to be good

There is currently one child living at the home. The staff ensure that the child consistently receives positive messages that he is valued. However, staff do not understand the therapeutic model of care to be offered. Despite the availability of a therapist and assistant psychologist to provide consultation, the child’s care plans are not fully reflective of this specialist support. Consequently, the staff are not able to apply this knowledge to the child’s daily life.

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improvement to be good

Some of the children’s plans do not identify all their individual needs. This limits the staff’s ability to provide personalised care that can best promote the children’s development.

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improvement to be good

The staff support family relationships for the children. However, details of the family visits for one child who previously lived in the home were not precise. The plan highlighted some concerns but did not explain what these concerns were. Therefore, the staff did not have clear guidance on how best to manage these visits. The manager expressed concerns about the impact of family visits on one of the children. However, these concerns were not formally escalated to request action from the child’s social worker. This meant that the negative experiences that the child was having were not addressed.

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improvement to be good

The staff actively support the children’s education. They have created home study routines that enable children to practise new skills and do their homework. Consequently, children make good progress in their learning.

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improvement to be good

The manager is child focused. She regularly offers the children different ways to express their wishes and feelings and take part in the running of the home. She actively encourages children to take part in clubs and activities. These opportunities encourage the children to make connections in the local community and develop their social skills. Inspection report children’s home: 2596476 3

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improvement to be good

The staff struggled to manage one child’s self-harming and violent behaviours. This led to an increase in offending and a reliance on the police to keep the child safe. The manager failed to report all these incidents to Ofsted. This limits Ofsted’s oversight of incidents at the home.

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improvement to be good

When children have gone missing from the home, staff do not consistently obtain information from return home interviews. This means that potentially valuable information to better inform children’s future safety plans may be missed.

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improvement to be good

When there were three children living in the home, the manager failed to identify all the children’s risk factors in their behaviour support plans, despite themes emerging from reviewed incidents. The use of household items as a weapon was a recurring feature for one child. The lack of formal recognition of this risk meant that staff may not have been aware of the actions to take to keep the child and themselves safe.

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improvement to be good

Some of the risk-reduction strategies that were identified do not provide sufficient detail of how staff should act to meet the children’s needs sensitively. One plan described challenging the child’s behaviour but did not explain how to do this effectively. Therefore, staff did not have a clear guide on how to work with the children to manage risky behaviours safely.

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improvement to be good

The staff have, when necessary, used physical interventions to keep children safe. These interventions have been proportionate and justified and have been recorded appropriately. The manager has ensured that the children and staff have had an opportunity to debrief following an incident.

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improvement to be good

The staff take a thoughtful approach to managing negative behaviours. They include the child in deciding consequences that are meaningful and restorative, such as writing letters of apology. These actions encourage children to understand the consequences of their behaviour and their impact on others.

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good

Since the home opened in November 2020, there has been some turnover of staff. In addition, the manager took a period of extensive planned leave. A temporary manager provided oversight. However, a lack of understanding of the statement of purpose means that the specialist resources and the organisation of the home do not support the specialist care offer. The manager has failed to provide staff with identified specialist therapeutic training. This means that staff are not fully prepared to understand how to support children to heal from issues related to trauma and adverse life experiences. Inspection report children’s home: 2596476 4 The internal recording and monitoring systems require improvement. Some of the records are handwritten and are hard to read. Staff do not consistently recognise the need to evaluate incidents to inform children’s care and risk plans. This means that staff may not be aware of changes in the children’s needs.

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good

Although the staff consult with external and internal therapy teams, not all the necessary information is obtained and developed into workable objectives for children’s care plans. Consequently, it is not clear what some of the positive outcomes for the children should look like.

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good

The manager is well experienced and leads by example. She has developed positive relationships with partner agencies and the staff. This means that staff feel well supported and their morale is high.

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good

The manager is responsive to complaints and allegations. She has undertaken timely investigations and shared outcomes with the children and staff. Such an inclusive approach encourages learning to inform future practice at the home.

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good

The manager and the responsible individual have acknowledged the shortfalls identified and have shown commitment to learning from this inspection. They have begun reflecting on how they can change practices to make improvements. Inspection report children’s home: 2596476 5

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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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (c)) 1 October 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

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

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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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. (Regulation 6 (1)(a) (2)(a)(b)(i)(iv)) 1 October 2021

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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 staff— 1 October 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2596476 6 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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that risk assessments are up to date and accurate and provide clear details of what the risks are. Plans should provide effective risk-reduction strategies to keep children safe.

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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

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;

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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)(a)(h)) 1 October 2021

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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 which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(d)) 1 October 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should take account of information provided by return home interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Specifically, ensure that all staff write full and detailed Inspection report children’s home: 2596476 7 records that are legible and inform the children’s associated risk assessment, placement and support plans. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2596476 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Keys Child Care Limited

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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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Inspectors

Leemya McKeown, Social Care Inspector Jamie Cousins, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2596476 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.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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