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Inspection report children’s home: SC064050 1 SC064050 Registered provider: Keys BR Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned and run children’s home providing therapeutic care for up to three children. The home supports children between the ages of eight and 18 years old. The aim is to support children to build the skills to be able to either return to family or move on to independence.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 18 March 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: good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Inspection report children’s home: SC064050 2 A monitoring visit on the 3 February 2021 identified serious shortfalls under regulation 12 and 13. Compliance notices were issued to address these shortfalls alongside a restriction of accommodation notice. On 18 March 2021, a further monitoring visit was undertaken. The inspector found significant progress had been made and it was agreed that the compliance notices had been met. The restriction was also lifted. Inspection report children’s home: SC064050 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/08/2019 Full Good 16/01/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 01/08/2018 Full Good 23/05/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: SC064050 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff provide children with a consistent, nurturing approach that enables children to build trusting relationships. Children have made positive connections and see staff as trusted adults. These relationships continue even when children leave the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

For children moving into the home, their needs are well considered and matched to the ability of the staff team, the location and any other children living in the home. Pre-planning meetings and visits for the children ensure that clear plans are in place to support the children prior to them moving in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children understand the reasons they are living at the home and explore the child’s feelings around this. Staff revisit this when needed and help the children to understand their own journey. This helps children to recognise they are not at fault, which helps to rebuild their self-esteem and confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children leave the home, including when this is unplanned, this is well thought out and the children are involved in their future plans. This enables children to have positive endings to their time at the home. Some children continue to contact the staff once they have moved on to update them of their progress. This further demonstrates the positive relationships they have forged.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s views and wishes are clearly heard and evidenced in the home. Weekly meetings support the children to have a structured environment to discuss any concerns or issues, make plans for the coming week and spend time together as a group. Staff ensure that they are always available for the children to discuss their views and respond to any requests. Advocates are in place to further support the child’s voice to be heard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are all registered with health professionals and are encouraged to engage in LAC medicals and appointments. This enables children to receive the healthcare and support they need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Incentives are in place to promote positive behaviour and encourage education and independence skills. Achievements are celebrated and any areas of development are discussed sensitively with the children to gather their views and enable support to be put in place.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff support children to engage in education. For one child, their attendance has significantly improved. Numerous meetings and discussions, both with school and with the child, take place to help identify and address any barriers to learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Discussions with children take place to discuss a wide range of topics to help them learn. The recordings of these discussions and the children’s daily notes capture the Inspection report children’s home: SC064050 5 child’s day and conversations that have taken place. The care plan is an active document that shows an understanding of the child and provides staff with guidance to support the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from the staff working with the company therapist. Staff apply the training and learning they have in their interactions with children. As a result, children live in a calm, nurturing environment.

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

Staff know the children well, even those who are new to the home, and are able to recognise when a child is becoming anxious or upset. Staff respond to this well and there has been a reduction in incidents of aggression, and the level of damage to the home has decreased.

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

Children’s risks associated with online gaming and phone use are considered by staff and a balanced approach is taken to enable children to access these in a safer way. This enables children to continue to have the online experiences and contact with family that is appropriate.

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

When children go missing, staff are quick to respond and actively search for them, working well with other agencies such as the police and transport services. Children engage in discussions around the reasons why they go missing, and staff try to educate them on the dangers of this. Risk assessments are in place and offer detailed guidance for staff to follow. However, some of the information within these documents is contradictory to the protocols used by the police. This may lead to confusion in the future.

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

Staff use a restorative approach to help children understand the consequences for their actions. The manager reviews these restorative approaches and ensures that they are relevant and will remove any that are not, ensuring this is addressed with staff to help support their understanding.

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

Room searches are completed rarely. However, when they do occur, the recording of these searches is not always clear as to why they were needed. Furthermore, some of these records are not evaluated by the manager. This means that the rationale for a room search has not been fully scrutinised for appropriateness.

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

Staff support children to understand how to live alongside their peers. Incidents of bullying are rare. When this does occur, staff immediately address this, supporting the children involved to understand that this is unacceptable and helping them to rebuild their relationship.

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

Children are supported to understand how to keep themselves safe and healthy. Staff give children information to enable them to make informed choices, both verbally and by use of a resource file. This helps empower the children and gives them the knowledge to make positive choices. Inspection report children’s home: SC064050 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a clear vision for the home. She has made numerous improvements to the sharing of information and the knowledge and understanding of the staff. This has improved the quality of care the children are receiving.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff training is up to date and refresher training has recently taken place. Staff are using the information they have received to support the children. The manager recognises the need for this to be fully embedded.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feedback is extremely positive. They feel well supported by the manager. Staff share that they now feel they are part of a team and are involved in the children’s lives. Staff want to come to work, they want to support the children and feel they have the skills to do so.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervisions are taking place regularly. These are used as a positive way to identify any areas for improvement and to celebrate the staff and child’s progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Handovers are clear. They provide staff with the details of the previous shift and any recent events or changes to children’s plans. Staff have the information they need to support the children. The use of a reflective tool in handovers and positive comments on daily reports is helping to capture the positives for the children and motivate staff, while identifying areas of development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An in-house auditing tool supports the manager to have oversight of the home. Regulation 44 visits are used to identify any shortfalls and the manager responds quickly to any actions. This is improving the quality of the home and the care the children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The location risk assessment identifies known risks, but lacks evidence of consultation with others. This does not ensure that all information within the local community is known and any concerns addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff team engage regularly with the therapist who supports the home. However, the manager was unaware of some aspects of the information that is needed. This means that the therapist may not have the information she needs, and is not in keeping with the home’s statement of purpose. Inspection report children’s home: SC064050 7

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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 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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager should have a full understanding of the therapeutic aspects of the organisation and provide full information to the therapy team to further improve the support available. 16 January 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered manager should ensure that there is no contradiction in risk assessments and protocols are in place for staff to follow when children go missing. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.28)  The registered manager should ensure that records of room searches are completed in full and clearly identify the reason for any room search, be signed by staff and evaluated and commented on by the manager. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered manager should consult with other professionals when completing and reviewing the regulation 46 and ensure that any information received is clearly recorded within the document. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1 Inspection report children’s home: SC064050 8

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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: SC064050 9

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspectors

Debra Boldy, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Evelyn Chafota, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC064050 10 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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