Children's Home run by Keys Specialist Residential Children's Services Ltd in Worcestershire

Inspection report children’s home: SC481312 1 SC481312 Registered provider: Keys Specialist Residential Children’s Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private company and is registered to provide care for up to three children with complex emotional needs.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since June 2020.

p.1

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.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 6 November 2019

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC481312 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/11/2019 Full Good 12/06/2018 Full Good 28/02/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 02/08/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC481312 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children have come to live in the home during this inspection period. Staff considered the needs of these two children well prior to them moving in. For example, they considered their safety needs and how well suited they are to live together. One child has moved back to live with their parents. Staff prepared the child well for this move, in line with their plans. Children receive well-planned care at important points in their lives.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children talk fondly about the home and describe it as the best place they have ever lived. Professionals say that children have ‘come out of their shells’ due to the nurturing approach of the staff.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s school attendance has improved and they are in education full time. One child said, ‘I’m way calmer in school now. I actually want to be there.’ The child feels that this has led to less exclusions. The registered manager is working hard with the local authority to help one child to access education better suited to their long-term needs.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress with regards to their health needs. Regular praise and rewards encourage children and help them to achieve. Families and professionals notice improvements in children’s presentation, health and emotional well-being since coming to live in the home. As a result, children develop their self-confidence and trust in others.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is inviting to the children, and the rural outdoor space is well maintained. One child has become so settled in the home that, after family time last Christmas, they shared with family that they were happy to return to ‘their home’ when referring to the children’s home. This is marking significant progress for them. Children personalise their bedrooms, and staff regularly seek their views about the environment. This creates a personalised atmosphere for children, which makes them feel that they belong.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to maintain relationships with those who are important to them. They help children to understand why their care plans may change and how this can affect how often they can see important family members. Staff have good relationships with children’s close social networks. This approach promotes children’s safety when they spend independent time away from the home.

p.3

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

Staff understand their roles and responsibilities to safeguard children, including what to do if a child makes an allegation. The registered manager acts promptly in referring safeguarding incidents or allegations. They carry out investigations as advised and act when needed to ensure that the child is safe. Children are regularly Inspection report children’s home: SC481312 4 consulted about what is going on after they share their worries, and they are given clear feedback on the actions taken. This enables children to feel listened to.

p.3

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

Children’s behaviour improves because of the support they receive from staff. Staff promote positive behaviour and ask children how to best support them with their behaviour. As a result, the consequences given to children are low and these are proportionate to the behaviour displayed.

p.4

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

When there are worries that a child might be at risk of exploitation, staff work with professionals to get advice. Children receive specialist support to help keep themselves safer online and understand the risks posed by exploitation. Risk assessments are effective, and staff understand strategies to keep children safe from exploitation. This equips children to learn how to keep themselves safe and ensures that staff are there to support them with this when needed.

p.4

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

When children go missing from the home, staff correctly follow processes to try to find children and make sure that they return home safely. Children receive independent return home interviews. However, on one occasion, this was after 72 hours. The registered manager raised this with professionals at that point. This did not impact on the safety of that child. Overall, the response from staff in such incidents maintains the safety of children.

p.4

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

On some occasions, staff use restraint to manage children’s behaviour. Restraints are carried out as a last resort and only using trained restraint methods. Children are given opportunities to reflect with staff after incidents, and staff discuss incidents with the registered manager. Incident records do not always provide clear details about what happened or where children were during the incident. The registered manager does not address this as part of their monitoring or debrief. This issue is not widespread and does not impact on the quality of care that children receive. However, it does act as a barrier for establishing future learning after incidents.

p.4

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

Risk management systems are clear and include potential triggers for children and strategies to help them. When incidents happen, in almost all cases, staff follow the risk assessments in place and provide good support to children. However, on one occasion, staff did not follow the strategies as stated in the risk assessment. As a result, the incident continued for a lengthy period. In another example, staff have not received one child’s risk assessment to reflect a change in supervision ratios. These shortfalls have the potential to leave children’s emotional needs unmet.

p.4

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

The registered manager undertakes the required recruitment checks for permanent staff in the home. However, the same rigor is not always applied to the recruitment of agency staff. For one agency staff member, the registered manager has not carried out checks to ascertain the reasons for leaving previous roles working with children. The management team took immediate action to address this during the inspection. However, these shortfalls have the potential to leave children vulnerable. Inspection report children’s home: SC481312 5

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is very experienced, suitably qualified and leads the home well. He has positive relationships with children and is described by professionals as an excellent advocate for them. He has high expectations and strives to ensure that children are supported to make progress in all areas of their lives. This creates a culture of child-focused care in the home.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported in the home and describe the registered manager as a good role model. The registered manager has created a home that children enjoy living in and staff enjoy working in. This support is reflected in good-quality staff supervision and appraisals. However, not all staff have received supervision on a regular basis. This was during a specific period. The manager offered oversight through reflective discussions during team meetings as an alternative supervision mechanism. These lapses in individual supervision have impacted on the time that staff have had to reflect on their practice.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has begun work to further embed the home’s therapeutic approach. A team meeting focused on this development area to help staff understand the children’s behaviours better. This positively influences the quality of the care received by children and helps children to develop their self-esteem.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the home has experienced periods of staff absence, and several staff have left in quick succession. This has meant that staff from other homes within the organisation and an agency worker have covered shortfalls in staffing as well as the registered manager themself. The registered manager has worked hard to ensure that these staff learn about and understand the children. Consequently, these staffing shortfalls have not impacted on children’s overall progress in the home.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good insight into the home’s functioning. He knows the strengths and weaknesses and uses internal and external monitoring systems to develop the quality of care in the home. However, recent auditing systems have failed to identify shortfalls in recruitment, training and incident recording. This has the potential to impact on the strength of staff’s skills and the quality of trauma-informed care that children receive.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff do not always receive the training they require for their role in a timely manner. For example, one member of staff was unable to fully support children and staff due to a delay in receiving restraint training. In another example, a new member of staff is yet to carry out self-harm training. A plan is in place for this to be completed. Inspection report children’s home: SC481312 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.6

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))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that staff follow risk assessments and that all risk assessments are updated when changes around the management of risk occur. 8 December 2021

p.6

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—

p.6

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.6

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;

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; 8 December 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC481312 7 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)(c)(h))

p.6

Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that all staff receive the training they need to meet the needs of the children in the home in a timely way.

p.7

Requirement Due date

It also relates to the registered manager ensuring that they have effective oversight of the recording of incidents in the home and they reflect with staff after incidents to develop their skills.

p.7

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

p.7

Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 8 December 2021

p.7

Recommendations

 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. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that they maintain good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguard children and minimise potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

p.7

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: SC481312 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Keys Specialist Residential Children’s Services Limited

p.8

Children’s home details

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

p.8

Inspectors

Fiona Roche, Social Care Inspector Dean Wilton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC481312 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.

p.8

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9