Children's Home run by Keys Care Limited in Norfolk

Inspection report for children’s home: SC370949 1 SC370949 Registered provider: Keys Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private organisation. It provides long-term care for children who have social, emotional, behavioural or mental health needs. The manager registered with Ofsted in January 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC370949 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/06/2021 Full Good 10/09/2019 Full Good 31/05/2018 Full Good 03/08/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC370949 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three children were living at the home at the time of this inspection. Children enjoy living at the home and have excellent relationships with staff, who understand them well. There is lots of laughter between staff and children. Staff help children make progress in different areas of their lives. One child said, ‘I love it here and I love the staff, they have helped me so much.’

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to achieve in their education. One child has recently started to attend college and is making good progress. The child has historically struggled with changes in their life, and going to college was a significant step. However, from the beginning of the process, staff helped the child with their anxieties and communicated well with the college. This helped the child to settle quickly. Another child has had some incidents at school, resulting in exclusions. Staff have worked closely with the school to help overcome these and consider how to best support the child’s education. Managers advocate on behalf of children to ensure that they are accessing appropriate education provisions.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff meet children’s health needs well. When concerns have been identified in relation to children’s health, staff have helped children to access relevant health professionals. Help for children’s emotional well-being is prioritised. Staff are supported by the organisation’s therapeutic team. This helps staff to have a better understanding of children’s well-being needs. Staff have undertaken work in relation to one child’s self-esteem. The child’s social worker, as well as the child, said that this has helped the child to make significant progress in this area.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children are due to move on from the home in the coming months. Staff help them to prepare for this. Two children have been working through semi- independence plans and are now at the stage where they undertake their own budgeting, cooking and shopping. Staff provide an environment in which children can develop and use these skills and provide help for children if they need it. This helps give children the skills that they will need to live more independently.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to engage in work in the local community. One child has had a part-time job and another child has undertaken voluntary work. Staff have helped them to secure these positions, which provide children with valuable experience of workplaces.

p.3

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

Staff have a good understanding of risks to children and strategies to keep them safe. There have been no incidents of children going missing from the home, despite one child moving in with a history of being reported missing. This demonstrates that staff help children to feel safe and settled. Inspection report for children’s home: SC370949 4 Staff respond to behavioural incidents well. Staff intervene in ways that help the child to calm and enable incidents to end more quickly. After incidents, staff undertake work with children to help them think about the effect of their behaviour on others. On occasion, staff have used physical interventions as a last resort to keep children and others safe. Managers have good oversight of behavioural incidents and physical interventions. Management reviews are thorough and show professional curiosity. When managers identify areas in which staff could improve their practice, this is addressed in supportive ways that help staff to develop.

p.3

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

One child moved to the home with a history of self-harming behaviours. While there have been some incidents of self-harm since the child moved in, there has been a reduction in these over time. When incidents have occurred, staff have responded with care and ensured that the child receives the necessary medical support. Managers then work closely with the wider professional network around the child to ensure effective safety planning. Good responses to self-harm have helped to keep the child safer.

p.4

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

Staff share disclosures of abuse with social workers without delay. Managers ensure that immediate actions are put in place to keep the child safe. However, one allegation was not reported to the police, despite it being of a significant nature. There is no clear rationale recorded as to why the child’s social care team made this decision and managers did not challenge it. Staff are clear about current strategies to keep the child safe in relation to this risk. However, risk assessments are unclear. This lack of clarity leaves the potential for strategies to keep the child safe to be ineffective.

p.4

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

Staff recognise and celebrate children’s achievements. They make good use of reward systems. This helps to encourage positive behaviour and gives children clear expectations in relation to behaviour. When consequences are used in response to negative behaviours, these are fair and appropriate and restorative in nature. However, the effectiveness of these consequences is not routinely considered. This affects how well managers monitor consequences as a behaviour management tool.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is suitably experienced and qualified to level 5. She is passionate about her role and ambitious for children. This filters through to the staff, who are child-focused and strive to deliver the best possible care to children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers provide a highly supportive environment for staff. Staff said that managers are highly committed to their roles and available to support them whenever they need. Regular supervisions include detailed discussion of children’s needs and how effectively these needs are being met.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers place a clear focus on developing the skills and knowledge that staff need to provide good-quality care. Training is wide ranging, and additional training relating to children’s individual needs has been put in place when needed. Additional training in behaviour management has recently been provided to the team. Staff can Inspection report for children’s home: SC370949 5 identify how this training has benefited their practice and increased their confidence in managing children’s behaviours. Good levels of training and development for staff help them respond to children’s needs more effectively.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers are good advocates for children. They appropriately challenge other professionals when needed to ensure that children receive the services that they are entitled to. When one child moved on from the home, managers helped them raise concerns about a lack of planning in relation to this with their local authority. This helped ensure that an appropriate provision was identified for the child and that the child’s voice was heard.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have effective systems for monitoring the home. This includes effective external monitoring, which the manager uses to help drive improvements. The manager understands the strengths and areas for development of the home and has clear plans to make the improvements that she has identified.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers build effective working relationships with the wider network around children, including social workers, schools and families. Managers and staff communicate effectively. When challenges arise, these are discussed with the relevant professionals. This helps to achieve the best outcomes for children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC370949 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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare;

p.6

Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(vi)(b))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that managers appropriately challenge children’s local authorities if responses to safeguarding concerns are not managed in line with agreed processes, and that children’s risk assessments include all known risks for children and strategies to manage these. 27 February 2023

p.6

Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that all records of consequences are subject to regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair. In particular, ensure that the effectiveness of consequences is monitored. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)

p.6

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: SC370949 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Soloist Building, 1 Lanyon Place, Belfast, Northern Ireland BT1 3LP

p.7

Inspector

Joe Matkar-Cox, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC370949 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

p.7

Inspector

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.8

Inspector

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

p.8

Inspector

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

p.8