Children's Home run by Keys Group Progressive Care & Education Limited in Manchester

Inspection report for children’s home: 1247773 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

The home provides care for up to seven children who may have learning disabilities. The home is run and managed by a large private company. At the time of the inspection, there were five children living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

There is currently no registered manager in post.

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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

Date of last inspection: 19 January 2022

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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: 1247773 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/01/2022 Full Good 12/02/2020 Full Good 10/10/2018 Full Good 10/01/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 1247773 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have trusting and secure relationships with staff who know them well and make their well-being a priority. The staff treat the children with dignity and respect. Staff care for children sensitively, according to their individual needs and abilities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are supporting children to make progress in line with their individual targets. Since moving to the home, one child who is non-verbal has started to use some words and signs to communicate their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children are supported to be involved in decisions about their lives. This is done in a way that meets their communication needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children have good attendance at school, are making academic progress and enjoy attending each day.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who are new to the home are always welcomed sensitively and with the best possible planning. There is a robust referral process which is used to assess the needs of children who already live in the home, to ensure that staff will be able to meet the needs of all the children who are living together. This ensures that there is a child-centred approach when making decisions about whether children should live together.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who have moved out did so in a positive and planned way, in line with their individual plans. Staff have supported the children with the moves to their new homes to make the transition as comfortable as possible for them. There is one young adult living in the home; their plans have been carefully considered and there is a clear plan in place for their move to an adult placement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met. Staff support them to attend routine health appointments and additional specialist health input is sought when needed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support family time in line with relevant plans, ensuring that it meets the individual needs of the children and they can maintain relationships which are important to them. Children are also encouraged to take part in activities and hobbies that they enjoy, and some of the children have enjoyed holidays together. This means that children can build skills and have opportunities to form relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support and celebrate children’s cultural and religious needs, which helps the children to gain a sense of their own identity. Inspection report for children’s home: 1247773 4

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

Following a recent increase in incidents of restraint for two of the children in the home, additional support was enlisted from the company’s positive behaviour support lead. They worked alongside the staff to reflect on recent incidents and review the behaviour support plans. This proactive approach helped to reduce the number of restraints for the children.

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

When children have been held to keep them safe, this has been necessary, reasonable and proportionate. Incidents are recorded appropriately and all relevant professionals are notified. The manager has evaluated each incident report and children are given the opportunity for a debrief following an incident.

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

Each child’s individual risks are detailed in their risk management plans. These are robust documents that give clear guidance to staff to ensure consistent responses to children’s behaviours. Staff understand these documents and put them into practice. However, the manager and staff do not always ensure that plans are updated regularly to ensure they contain current information.

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

Staff respond to children with clear boundaries about what is acceptable and seek to understand the children’s individual needs. Staff support the children to manage their own behaviours and emotions appropriately.

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

Leaders and managers have responded suitably when safeguarding concerns have been raised. They have taken all necessary action to investigate and address complaints, ensuring that the needs of the children were prioritised throughout the process. The manager and staff work collaboratively with external professionals to ensure that the children receive any necessary support and that their needs are met.

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good

There is currently no registered manager in post, however, there are clear plans in place for the day-to-day management and oversight of the home. When there are weaknesses in staff practice, leaders and managers have identified the issues and they have plans in place to address them. A new manager has been recruited and there is a robust handover and support package in place for him.

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good

Staff spoken to describe the leadership team as supportive and readily available to provide advice and guidance.

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good

There has been a high turnover of staff since the last inspection, however, leaders and managers have ensured consistency for the children. When agency staff have been used, there are robust procedures in place to ensure that safer recruitment is adhered to and regular agency staff have been used, to ensure that the children are cared for by staff who know them. Inspection report for children’s home: 1247773 5 Supervisions have taken place regularly and are practice related. However, regular agency staff are not provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children. In addition to this, not all staff have had their performance appraised, which means their fitness to perform their roles has not been assessed.

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good

The core staff are suitably qualified and have completed mandatory training. However, not all staff have had training that is tailored to the specific individual needs of the children, such as autism spectrum disorder, Makaton and intensive interaction.

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good

Team meetings are held monthly and are well attended. They cover topics which are relevant to the current matters arising in the home and are used as a development opportunity for the team.

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good

The manager ensures that plans for children comprehensively identify their needs. However, for one child, they do not take into account the local authority care plan, as the home does not have access to the plan.

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good

There are systems in place for effective monitoring and review of the home. These ensure that the leaders and managers have oversight and are able to identify and address any issues. However, the quality of care review does not include a clear plan of actions to improve or maintain the ongoing quality of care provided for children. In addition to this, the home’s statement of purpose is not up to date.

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good

The manager has completed a report which reviews the suitability of the location of the home. This report is reviewed annually, however, the manager did not consult with relevant people such as the local police or the safeguarding team, which means their views and knowledge of the area have not been considered in the report. Inspection report for children’s home: 1247773 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff have appropriate training to meet the individual needs of the children, specifically training in autism spectrum disorder, Makaton and communication. 24 April 2023

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same. 24 April 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1247773 7 (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(x))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff, including regularly used agency staff, receive supervision.

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed (Regulation 14 (1) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that children’s plans are available for staff to read and understand.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that up-to-date plans are obtained from placing authorities and that outcomes from these plans are used to inform the home’s plans for the children. 24 April 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)) 24 April 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement ("the statement of purpose") which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and 24 April 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1247773 8 notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1) (3)(a)(b))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff have their performance and fitness to carry out their role formally appraised at least once annually. This appraisal should take into account, where reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and of children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)  The registered person should ensure that the home is suitably located so that children are safeguarded effectively and can access services to meet needs identified in their relevant plans. The registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing

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Recommendations

these. When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)  The registered person and staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them, ensuring that risk assessments and behaviour support plans are regularly updated. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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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: 1247773 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, Second Floor, Queensway, Halesowen, Worcestershire B63 4AH

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Inspector

Katie Tomlinson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1247773 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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