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

Inspection report for children's home: SC480318 1 SC480318 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 provide care for up to four children. It provides a 12-week assessment for children in crisis. Children come to live at the home because of family or placement breakdown. Some children have difficulties that make it very hard to live in a family setting, or they choose not to. Some children have experienced early childhood trauma.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is appropriately qualified and has been in post since February 2022.

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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: SC480318 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/03/2022 Full Good 07/08/2019 Full Good 07/08/2018 Full Good 02/11/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC480318 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Before children move into the home, and throughout their assessment and stay, the registered manager works in close partnership with the education and clinical teams. The registered manager visits the children before they move in and gives them information about the home. Whenever possible, the children are encouraged to visit the home. This prepares them for the different stages of the assessment process and ensures that they understand they will only be staying for 12 weeks. Children respond well to this process and settle in well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff quickly build trusting relationships with the children, who are often going through a period of crisis in their lives. Staff make them feel safe and, as a result, the children are at ease with staff and enjoy spending time with them. Staff support the children to establish healthy routines and gradually rebuild confidence and self- belief.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff skilfully support the children to re-engage with learning. Children undertake initial baseline assessments and then take part in education, alongside outdoor activities and life-skills work. The service has a high success rate in re-engaging children who have often been out of education for a significant period. Children are proud of their achievements, learn new skills and experience adrenaline and risk in the form of planned and age-appropriate activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home’s two houses are furnished and maintained to a good standard. This helps to ensure that the children feel relaxed, warm and comfortable. However, some activity areas created in buildings in the grounds of the property are not maintained to this high standard. The porch entrance to the home is used by some children to vape. This does not promote a good first impression for visitors or other children, and hinders any efforts to dissuade children from vaping.

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

Children who live at the home have in the past exhibited a range of high-risk behaviours, for example, going missing from care, drug and alcohol abuse and exploitation. These behaviours significantly reduce or stop during the children’s assessment period and stay at the home.

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

Vigilant staff keep the children safe. Policies and procedures and child-specific assessments of risk and plans are in place and up to date. These documents underpin staff training and inform staff meetings. As a result, staff make informed decisions that always promote the children’s welfare. Managers work in close partnership with other agencies. Where appropriate, referrals are made, and information is shared promptly, with the best interests of the children in mind. Inspection report for children's home: SC480318 4 Clinical, educational and key-worker sessions are used to explore known and emerging concerns for the children. These sessions are reflective, inform the assessment process and help the children to learn strategies to keep themselves safe.

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

Staff are very skilled at calmly managing challenging incidents. All staff have good knowledge and understanding of risk. They are skilled at planning complex shifts and the social interactions of the children. They successfully minimise risks while promoting a wide range of opportunities for the children to succeed and excel.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and staff are child-focused and passionate about the service. They are aspirational for the children. They ensure the children make good progress in the short time they live at the home. They gather and evaluate information effectively, resulting in a detailed assessment of future need. This informs placing authorities how best to meet the needs of the children and enables children to successfully move on to the next stage of their life.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The 12-week assessment process, which is central to the home’s approach, is communicated clearly to all placing authorities prior to their children moving in. There are professionals’ meetings at key stages throughout the assessment process, to keep the placing authorities up to date with children’s progress and to help inform future care planning. At these meetings, the registered manager challenges robustly if she feels the placing authority is failing to proactively plan for the children’s next moves.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager knows the service well and continues to make improvements that drive up standards for staff and the children. For example, the children’s admissions are now more planned, which is resulting in children being more engaged with the assessment process. There is clear partnership work between residential, education and clinical staff throughout the 12-week assessment process. Managers and staff are proactively involved in moving the children on to their next homes when it is time for them to move out. Parents and partnership agencies and services are positive about the information shared with them and the support they are given in supporting the children to move.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers use audits to inform standards of practice. An audit of supervisions showed that they were not taking place monthly or that line managers had not recorded that they had taken place. The findings from this audit have not yet been successfully addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The induction for new staff does not include training to give them the required knowledge of the home’s assessment process. However, all staff, including those who are new, feel well supported by managers and colleagues. Staff are well informed of the needs of the children through induction, training, supervisions, appraisals and team meetings. They enjoy working at the home and are proud of the children’s achievements. Inspection report for children's home: SC480318 5 Children’s records and assessment reports are detailed and informative. The service uses electronic recording systems. Overall, these work well, however, there are some occasions when staff cannot access the records of a child who has moved to or from a home operated by the organisation. Inspection report for children's home: SC480318 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should ensure that any records stored electronically can be easily accessed by anyone with a legitimate need to view it and, if required, be reproduced in a legible form. Electronic records should be held at the individual home in accordance with data protection principles. IT systems should ensure the safe storage of these records and business continuity planning should be in place to prevent loss or damage to them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 14.2)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. This specifically relates to training staff during induction about the home’s assessment process. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislation (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: SC480318 7

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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, Greater Manchester BL1 4AG

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Inspector

Dawn Bennett, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC480318 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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