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

Inspection report children's home: 1247491 1 Registered provider: Keys Group Progressive Care & Education Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is one of several homes operated by a large private organisation. The provider states in its statement of purpose that care is provided for up to four children with learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

There is currently no registered manager in post.

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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 requires improvement to be 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 children's home: 1247491 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/07/2019 Full Good 29/11/2018 Full Good 14/03/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 31/10/2017 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 1247491 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The adults who care for children communicate well with them. Children who have communication needs are supported through creative methods to express their views. Since moving into the home, children have developed their communication skills and are therefore empowered to express themselves.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s written plans are detailed, and they are brought to life in their documents. However, not all significant assessments are considered as part of children’s plans. This means that recommendations from other agencies are not always utilised to inform children’s care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have lots of opportunities to develop their social and emotional skills. They enjoy various activities of their choice, and they are also introduced to new experiences, such as having new pets. Children have thrived socially and emotionally, which gives them more skills to flourish in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to meet their health needs. Children who require support with their personal care are supported by the adults who care for them. They are also supported to develop more independence with meeting their self-care needs and have made significant progress in this area.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The adults support children to spend time with people who are important to them. Creative methods are put in place when children cannot see their loved ones face to face. The adults also ensure that distance is not a barrier for children seeing people who are important to them. This practice provides children with opportunities to create meaningful memories.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most children are engaged in formal education. Those children who are not in formal education are supported to learn at home with education resources. This provides structure to children’s days and ensures that they have access to education. There is however a lack of awareness relating to the local offer which sets out the support available for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This is a missed opportunity to access additional resources for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children do not move from their home without a plan and children have therefore moved on to their adult homes successfuly . The adults who care for children work with other agencies to ensure that their future care meets their needs. This good practice supports children to emotionally manage a significant change in their lives.

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

The risks in children’s lives are known by the adults caring for them. They are aware of how to keep children safe and how to manage safeguarding incidents. The Inspection report children's home: 1247491 4 strategies in place to reduce risks are not always reviewed. This could result in children being subjected to measures that are oppressive.

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

When children spend time with their family, safety plans are not robust enough. Children have a high level of support and supervision due to their needs. The provider is responsible for children’s safety at all times. The provider needs to ensure that safety plans are put in place for children when they are outside of the home without supervision from the team at their home.

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

Adults caring for children have a detailed knowledge of the triggers that may cause children to struggle with their emotions. Various strategies are put in place to soothe children. Following an incident, the adults involved and the child/children reflect about the event and move forward.

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

Children are listened to when they raise a concern. If the matter is a safeguarding concern, child protection procedures are followed immediately. The designated officer for safeguarding is notified and multi-agency plans are put in place to safeguard children. Adults caring for children are confident in identifying safeguarding matters and keeping children safe.

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

Children do not go missing from their home and there are clear safety plans for the adults to follow if this situation ever arises. Children are supported with legal orders to keep them safe from going missing.

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good

There has been inconsistent management support due to various changes in managers. Management systems are not robust, and the team has lacked direction from leaders. A new experienced manager is in post and is being supported by another experienced manager. They have worked on tackling cultural issues and a low team morale. There have been significant changes in the team dynamics and there is an enthusiasm to make improvements to further benefit the children.

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good

Managers have not always challenged and escalated matters in a timely way. Children have not always received external services that they are entitled to. The lack of escalation has resulted in children not receiving a positive outcome and situations drifting. This shortfall means that children with vulnerabilities have not always had someone advocating for what they need and deserve.

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good

Team members have not received formal support to develop their practice in line with the provider’s policies and procedures. This includes supervision, team meetings and appraisals. This reduces the opportunities for the adults caring for children to reflect on their practice. It also prevents the manager from monitoring development to ensure that the children are receiving the best standard of care.

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good

Managers have not always notified the regulator of significant concerns. They have also not always updated the regulator about the outcome of child protection Inspection report children's home: 1247491 5 matters. This shortfall prevents the regulator from having oversight of practice to ensure that children are being safeguarded.

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good

Most of the adults caring for children have completed training to meet the children’s needs. There are some team members who still require specific training to enhance their skill base. Addressing this development area will ensure that children are cared for by adults who all have the skills to meet their needs. Inspection report children's home: 1247491 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, the 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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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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)(a)(b)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager having systems in place to enable her to analyse practice. Robust systems will ensure that poor performance is monitored to make sure that the children are receiving good-quality care. These systems include reflective practice-based supervision, training, appraisals, team meetings and management evaluation. 28 February 2022 Inspection report children's home: 1247491 7 This also relates to the manager challenging other services in a timely manner when children are not receiving services that they are entitled to.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children's home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children receive effectively planned care in or through the children's home.

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to children's care and plans being informed by specialist services when it is required. 28 February 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 28 February 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 28 February 2022 Inspection report children's home: 1247491 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Clear systems of review must be in place to ensure that plans are not overly restrictive for children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should recognise that a high proportion of children in children’s homes have special educational needs (SEND) (a research study found 38% to have a statement of SEN). Staff must understand the specialist support children may need to be able to engage positively and achieve in education. Staff must be aware of whether a child has an education, health and care plan (EHC plan) and the information in it. An EHC plan details the education, health and social care support that is to be provided to a child or young person with SEND. For further information, see the ‘SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years’. (‘Guide to

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Recommendations

the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 26, paragraph 5.4)

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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 children's home: 1247491 9

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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: Maybrook House, Queensway, Halesowen, Worcestershire B63 4AH

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Inspector

Carly Quinn, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 1247491 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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