Children's home run by Keys Child Care Limited in Telford and Wrekin

Inspection report for children’s home: SC372602 1 SC372602 Registered provider: Bryn Melyn Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The service is owned by a private company. The home is registered to accommodate three children. Children come to live at the home because of family or placement breakdowns. Some children have difficulties that make their situation very challenging, or they choose not to live in a family setting at this time. The registered manager is suitably qualified and was registered by Ofsted in October 2018. She holds the level 5 diploma in leadership for health and social care and the children and young people’s services residential management pathway.

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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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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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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC372602 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/08/2019 Full Good 07/11/2018 Full Good 13/02/2018 Full Outstanding 29/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC372602 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, one child lived at the home. Two children have recently had well-planned moves to new homes. Children make good progress and have positive experiences of living at the home. Staff teach children independent living skills, and as a result, children are prepared for their next steps.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a warm and homely environment that is well maintained. Children build positive relationships with staff who they know care about them. They receive good levels of support from a consistent and committed team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to make progress in their education. For example, one child who previously struggled to attend school is now in full-time education, and is attending regularly. Staff work closely with education professionals to ensure that children are provided with continuity of support. This is helping children to reach their full potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s health and well-being. They make sure that children are up to date with primary health appointments. Staff are proactive in ensuring that they support children’s emotional health. The manager has creatively accessed a mentoring service to ensure that one child received help and advice when there were challenges and delays in accessing therapeutic support. As are result, the child has made progress and has been supported with strategies to regulate his emotions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children maintain relationships with those who are important to them. Staff work positively with one child’s parent. This parent said that they are pleased with their child’s progress and that the home was the ‘best decision we all made for him’. Staff have worked hard to support another child to maintain a new relationship safely. As a result, the child has been supported to have positive social experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of hobbies and interests. One child who has a keen interest in shopping and fashion went on a shopping trip to London. Children are supported to engage in new experiences and have recently been on holiday and enjoyed an outing to a theme park.

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

Overall, staff have a good understanding of children’s risks and behaviours. This enables staff to keep children safe and promote their well-being. Incidents are minimal in the home.

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

Children respond well to incentives, such as rewards and verbal praise from staff. Staff include children in setting their own achievable goals and logical consequences. Inspection report for children’s home: SC372602 4 Staff and children work together well; this helps to keep them motivated and promotes positive behaviour.

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

Clear rules and boundaries in place help children to feel safe. As a result, staff do not often have to restrain children to keep them safe. The need to restraint one child has significantly reduced because of the positive way staff support children to manage their behaviour. When staff do restrain children, this is as a last resort. Records reflect thorough accounts of incidents. The manager’s oversight is evident, and this is used to reflect on whether things could have been done differently.

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

Staff undertake a wide range of work with children to address risk. Staff complete direct work with children to inform them of the risks associated with gang affiliation, drug use and going missing from home. Staff help children to keep safe from online risks. For example, having internet restrictions in place, being able to monitor their online usage in the home and having open and honest conversations give children the knowledge and understanding to help keep themselves safe now and in the future.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home. When children do go missing, staff work collaboratively with safeguarding agencies and take the necessary steps to find out where children are. Detailed records are completed. Staff maintain contact with close family and friends to ensure that children are located as quickly as possible. However, there have been two occasions when proactive steps could have been taken to prevent a child from going missing from home. The manager and staff have reflected and learned from what happened in order to prevent a similar situation from occurring again.

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

Staff ensure that children have written risk assessments in place. These assessments provide staff with guidance about individual risks that children might face. Risk assessments are regularly reviewed and updated to include new and emerging risks. However, staff have not always followed the guidance contained in children’s risk assessments. As a result, staff have not always adequately supervised children to ensure their safety. The manager has responded quickly to these omissions and fully investigated the incidents. Learning from this has resulted in additional training being provided to all staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been in post since 2018. She is confident in her role and has high expectations of her team. The registered manager is aware of the strengths and the areas of development for the home. She has a clear vision to address these weaknesses through reflection, training and development of the home environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager supports the staff team through regular supervision and yearly appraisals. The registered manager is passionate about developing staff and supports them to progress in their role. This keeps staff motivated, promotes staff retention and ensures that children receive consistent care. Inspection report for children’s home: SC372602 5 The registered manager has a good understanding of the children’s needs and the progress they make. She is a good advocate for children and is confident to challenge other professionals. This ensures that children are provided with appropriate support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An independent reviewing officer shared that the manager and staff communicate in a timely manner. A school special educational needs coordinator shared that the manager had been passionate about seeking additional support for a child and that the manager can always be relied on to advocate for children. These strong working relationships help to secure positive outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have a wide variety of training that is up to date. Overall, the training provided is relevant to the needs of the children. Specialised training is requested when required. For example, the staff team received training form a diabetes specialist nurse. The manager and staff work hard to ensure that they use the home’s therapeutic model of parenting to inform their care of children. This means that children receive care that is underpinned by a caring and empathetic approach.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children know how to complain. Their views are sought regularly, and they are given the opportunity to share their views in a variety of ways, for example through weekly meetings and discussions with staff and the registered manager. Overall, the registered manager maintains good oversight of children’s views. However, on one occasion she did not adequately follow up concerns raised by one child when he raised that he was experiencing difficulties in a relationship with his peer.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has some good monitoring systems in place. However, she does not always use these to good effect or ensure continual consultation with external stakeholders in this review process. Regular review would support the manager with greater oversight of the quality of care provided in the home. The home does not currently have a workforce development plan, and the location risk assessment did not include consultation with other safeguarding agencies. Inspection report for children’s home: SC372602 6

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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 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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring staff understand risk assessments and that they supervise children in line with risk assessments that are in place. 10 December

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h)

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that required monitoring systems are in place and are regularly reviewed and evaluated. 10 December

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each 10 December Inspection report for children’s home: SC372602 7 calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46(1)(2))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that consultation with other safeguarding agencies takes place at the time of the review.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. (‘Guide to the Children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)

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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: SC372602 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bryn Melyn Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Atria, Spa Road, Bolton BL1 4AG

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Inspector

Natasha Skinner, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC372602 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 children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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