Children's home run by Keys Group Progressive Care & Education Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report for children’s home: SC389178 1 SC389178

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Registered provider: Keys Group Progressive Care & Education Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and run by a private organisation and provides care for up to five children who have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been without a registered manager since June 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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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

Date of last inspection: 14 January 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: SC389178 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/01/2020 Full Outstanding 27/11/2018 Full Outstanding 13/02/2018 Full Outstanding 29/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC389178 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s experience of living in this home enhances their well-being and provides them with a safe environment to have fun, play and grow in confidence. Staff provide child-centred and nurturing care for the children. As a result, the children develop a sense of belonging and are supported to realise their full potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Attuned staff use a variety of personalised systems to develop and support the children’s communication. Detailed communication plans help to ensure that the staff are consistent in their communication with the children, and with their responses to the children. Because these systems improve understanding between the staff and the children, children’s anxiety and stress are reduced.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have a good range of interesting pursuits to take part in and enjoy, for example the newly furnished outdoor play area, hot tub and sensory room. Staff carefully plan for activities in the local area, recognising that participation in the local community enriches the children’s life experiences and well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

School attendance has been variable for some of the children during the last year because of COVID-19. When children have not been at school, staff advocate effectively for them. In-house care planning links to the children’s education and health care plans. This helps to ensure consistency across the settings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There has been a large investment at the home since the last inspection. However, although some areas of the home are well furnished, some parts of the home are not so well maintained, for example the front entrance area. Moreover, practices such as the staff wearing keys and their identification badges lead to an institutionalised feel.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s bedrooms are well furnished and reflect their tastes and preferences. For one child, his wardrobe was locked to prevent damage to his possessions, and this was reported to be his preference. No assessment for this restrictive practice had been recorded or agreed for. This may decrease opportunities for the child to learn how to take care of himself.

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

Staff’s knowledge and understanding of the children, alongside effective planning with the children’s school, allocated social workers and families ensure that risks are understood and minimised. Well set out risk assessments and risk management plans identify the children’s vulnerabilities and risks.

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

An area of improvement has been the development of positive risk planning. For one child, this involves staging support, supervision, and teaching of his use of a smartphone and social media, in preparation for adulthood. Consequently, the Inspection report for children’s home: SC389178 4 children learn to take age-appropriate risks and develop their independent living skills.

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

Staff provide creative, direct work to the children, to help them learn about what is safe and acceptable. A previous requirement which related to physical intervention records is met. Positive behaviour is encouraged by praise and encouragement. Staff use identified strategies in which consideration is given to the children’s communication and learning needs in order to divert and minimise incidents. Physical intervention is in the lowest form and for the least amount of time. Records contain all the required details and are clear about what happened. This helps ensure that there is effective and timely management oversight.

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

The staff spoken to are clear about what to do and who to tell if they had a concern or worry about a child. There is a strong safeguarding focus throughout the culture of the home. This is reflected in the staff training, supervision and team meetings. As a result, the staff are continually encouraged, and tested, to further develop their knowledge of safeguarding.

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

The children, including those who communicate non-verbally, are supported to make day-to-day choices and are encouraged to express their wishes and views. Staff understand the importance of listening to and involving the children in all aspects of their care. Consequently, the children have a sense of being known and valued.

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

Staff make a deliberate effort to ensure that the children’s families feel welcomed at the home. Leaders and the staff encourage and provide practical support for the children to maintain and develop their family relationships. For example, a staff member supported and accompanied a child and parent on a short holiday. Actions such as this assist the children to sustain attachments and build a positive sense of their own identity.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A change in the management at the home and the recent departure of a group of longstanding staff have led to a period of instability at the home. This has been further compounded by the staff sickness levels relating to COVID-19. Consequently, there has been an increase in the use of agency staff and less experienced staff providing care to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The new manager and the responsible individual have worked hard to mitigate the negative impact of staff changes on children. Measures have included using known agency workers and staff deployed from other nearby homes in the organisation. Careful planning has ensured that experienced staff work alongside less experienced staff joining the home. This approach has helped the newer staff to feel part of the team, and has provided consistency for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Contingency planning and risk management in response to COVID-19 has been effective. The team split into ‘bubbles’ to reduce the risk of infection. For a period, when two children tested positive for COVID-19, a small staff team self-isolated with Inspection report for children’s home: SC389178 5 the children. This is a testament to their commitment to the children. However, some personal and professional boundaries became blurred for some of the staff during this period, which contributed to disharmony in the team. This has been addressed by the new manager and senior leaders, and further work is planned to develop the team, such as a forthcoming team building day.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The external independent visitor provides robust and helpful oversight in supporting the development of the home. The manager works closely with other agencies, involving all relevant parties in care planning and review processes. Feedback from these sources about her performance is positive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and the staff promote an inclusive environment, where equality is upheld, and diversity is respected. The manager is confident to seek out specialist support and solutions and is supported well by the responsible individual and other managers in the organisation. Inspection report for children’s home: SC389178 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home is a nurturing and homely domestic environment. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations. However, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. In particular, review the staff practice of wearing their lanyard identification and keys while carrying out their duties, and ensure that the environment is consistently maintained and furnished to a high standard. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that children are supported to express themselves as individuals and should be given an appropriate degree of freedom and choice in relation to day-to-day arrangements for their care, depending on their individual needs and the setting in which they are cared for. This is in

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Recommendations

relation to activities and personal items such as clothing and technology. Children’s reasonable preferences in relation to day-to-day arrangements should be met with consideration given to safeguarding. Where a child’s preferences are unreasonable or cannot be met for safeguarding reasons, staff should discuss this with the child to help them understand why. In particular, the registered person should ensure that the staff consistently record any reason for restricting a child’s access to facilities, such as wardrobes, agree such restrictions with significant people in children’s lives, detail such restrictions in a child’s care plan, and ensure that any restrictions are regularly reviewed. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.21)  The registered person is responsible for leading a team which provides high- quality care for all children living in the home. They must lead and manage the

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Recommendations

home in a way that delivers the ethos, outcomes and approach set out in the home’s Statement of Purpose. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.4)

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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 for children’s home: SC389178 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Keys Group Progressive Care & Education Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2nd Floor, Maybrook House, Queensway, Halesowen, Worcestershire B63 4AH

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Michelle Callard

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Inspector

Anne-Marie Davies, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC389178 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, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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