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

Inspection report children’s home: 1164089 1 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 privately owned home provides care for up to four children who have complex needs and who require specialist support.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2019.

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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 15 December 2020, 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

Date of last inspection: 5 February 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1164089 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/02/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 17/09/2019 Full Good 05/09/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 02/10/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1164089 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have begun to make progress since moving to the home. A child said, ‘The staff are like family. I love it here.’ The staff have a good understanding of children’s past traumas and the impact of trauma on behaviours.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s placement plans are comprehensive and detailed. These plans work alongside the home’s practice model and ensure that staff work consistently with the children. Children are involved in commenting on these plans when they are reviewed, and this helps them to understand how the staff are working with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend regular house meetings during which a wide variety of topics are discussed. Staff use these meetings to ascertain the children’s wishes and feelings. The manager responds to children’s views and feeds back to the children on the decisions that are made. This helps children to feel that their views are important, listened to and acted on.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff actively encourage children to attend education. When children have been struggling with school, the staff have worked with providers to find an alternative education plan. This shows children that staff see education as an important part of their daily life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has had some redecoration. However, children’s bedrooms are not personalised and the communal spaces look bare. This does not provide children with a homely environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A child-friendly guide is available to children. However, the guide does not explain the day-to-day routines at the home, or how children can complain. This means that new children may not know what is expected of them during the day to support them to settle in, and may not understand how to complain.

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

The staff have had the appropriate safeguarding training and know how to report concerns. Staff know their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding children. All safeguarding concerns are reported and managed effectively.

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

Children have comprehensive risk assessments which support staff to understand the children’s triggers and behaviours. The risk assessments are written in line with the home’s model of practice, and ensure that staff are working consistently with the children.

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

Children have individualised missing-from-home protocols, which support staff should the children go missing. Staff actively search for children and debrief them on their return. However, children do not consistently have return home interviews with Inspection report children’s home: 1164089 4 an independent person. This means that staff may not be aware of why the children left the home.

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

Staff have managed some unwanted behaviours well. They consistently challenge these behaviours and reinforce boundaries. Staff have reflective conversations with the children, using the home’s therapeutic model. This supports the children to explore the incidents and their feelings. These effective strategies help children to manage and discuss their feelings, and move forward in their emotional development.

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

The staff use appropriate sanctions. They record the reason for the sanction and the outcome. The manager evaluates the records to establish the effectiveness of each sanction. A child said that sanctions have helped her to understand what behaviours are unacceptable and the consequences of such behaviours, and this has made her think before acting. The staff also focus on children’s positive behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced and has the qualifications to manage the home. Professionals said that she is approachable and supportive of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager monitors the practice at the home and uses the recommendations from the independent person’s report to continue to develop the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff speak openly and honestly with the children. This helps the children to understand their past traumas, and supports them to move forward.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a consistent and stable team of staff who know and understand the children’s individual needs. Staff have regular supervisions, appraisals and staff meetings. This supports staff to work consistently with each other and the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff have undertaken the organisation’s mandatory training. Staff have or are working towards a relevant level 3 qualification. Staff have undertaken training to support them to use the organisation’s therapeutic practice model. This means that they have appropriate training and qualifications to work with the children effectively. Inspection report children’s home: 1164089 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

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

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i)) 17 December

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s guide helps children to understand the day-to-day routines of the home, and informs children of how they can make a complaint. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.22)  The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such 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) Inspection report children’s home: 1164089 6

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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: 1164089 7

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Trish Palmer, Social Care Inspector Amanda Start, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1164089 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 after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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