Children's Home run by Keys Cwc Limited in Somerset

Inspection report for children’s home: 2568010 1 Registered provider: Keys Cwc Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private provider and offers care for up to four children. The home’s statement of purpose states that care is offered for children with social and emotional difficulties. At the time of this inspection, three children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been in post since September 2022 and has applied for registration with Ofsted.

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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: 2568010 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/08/2022 Full Good 02/11/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2568010 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress in this home. Staff have worked alongside children, their families and professionals to achieve positive outcomes. When barriers have been encountered, alternative arrangements have been explored to overcome them. For example, the manager agreed alternative learning arrangements and introduced meaningful incentives to improve school attendance. Although this does not negate the importance of full-time attendance at school on positive educational outcomes, there has been a positive impact and progress is ongoing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to do the things that are important to them. For example, one child was supported to go to a family wedding abroad. Other children have enjoyed day trips to family attractions, seeing family members, and gaming. Staff try to strike a healthy balance between the time children spend gaming and activities within the community, although this is not always easy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care plans provide staff with an overview of the children’s needs and the strategies required to support them. Care plans outline key considerations and how staff should respond to situations that challenge them. However, care plans are written in the first-person narrative, despite not being written by children. As a result, care plans are misleading and may not be meaningful to children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children said that living in their home was ‘alright’ and they get on ‘ok’ with the staff, who help and support them. Interactions between staff and children were light, caring and friendly. As children do not want to participate in formal house meetings, staff capture their views and wishes on a large blackboard in the kitchen. The blackboard is colourful and fun, and demonstrates that children are valued and listened to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Feedback from family members was mixed. One family member raised concerns about the care being provided. These concerns have been shared with the provider. Another family member said that they ‘could not fault’ the staff. They explained that the care was good, and staff support the children and are always available to talk to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The environment is warm and homely. There are lots of photos of children on the walls, doing the things they enjoy. Children’s bedrooms have been personalised with toys and posters, in line with their wishes. Snacks were locked away from children, which limited the staff’s ability to support the children’s understanding about the importance of healthy eating and moderation. However, this was rectified during the inspection.

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

Restraint has been used at the home. All of the restraints involved one child and were necessary and proportional to prevent harm. Leaders and managers Inspection report for children’s home: 2568010 4 recognised the difficulties staff were having when caring for the child and made the decision to support them to move out of the home. The manager worked with professionals to identify a suitable new home, and provided the child with the opportunity to view the children’s guide and speak to the manager of the new home before moving.

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

Following the use of restraint, debriefs with staff and children are used to identify what could have been done differently, both by staff and the child involved. Learning opportunities are shared with the staff team to prevent future occurrence and avoid the use of restraint. Staff have not used restraint to support the current children in the home, as staff have been able to find more positive ways to help children express themselves safely.

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

The response to safeguarding concerns is sufficient to ensure children’s welfare. When children have been missing from the home, staff have followed the agreed protocols, including trying to contact the child, speaking with their friends and family members, and performing local searches. When necessary, the manager has sought support from the child’s placing authority to agree expectations with the child and their family members about when a child is missing and their care arrangements. This has contributed to a reduction in missing episodes.

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

However, there is not always sufficient professional curiosity after safeguarding concerns have been raised. As a result, children are not always supported to fully consider risk or how to reduce it in the future. The manager’s oversight of safeguarding concerns has not always identified appropriate follow-up actions. This is also true when fire evacuations highlighted that children may require additional support to quickly and safely evacuate the building. Children have been safeguarded in this home, but more could be done to support their understanding of how to keep themselves safe.

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

Children benefit from meaningful conversations with staff. During these conversations, staff are caring and nurturing. They offer empathy and are accepting of the child’s feelings. These conversations are used to provide positive messages and guidance to children, although sometimes they are limited in depth and quality.

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

Feedback from professionals is positive. They said that staff listen to children, understand children’s needs and adapt their approaches to support them. Staff are caring and nurturing in their approach. They follow care plans and the relevant procedures to help and support children. Although the home has experienced some significant changes in the management and staff team, professionals said that as relationships have developed, children have been supported to achieve positive outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There remain five full-time vacancies in the team, and leaders and managers are not considering another child moving to the home until a full staffing complement is available. In the meantime, some agency staff are being used, although efforts are Inspection report for children’s home: 2568010 5 made to use the same few agency members of staff to ensure that continuity of care is provided to the children. Four new, permanent members of staff are currently going through the onboarding process.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Due to changes in the team, leaders and managers explained that the home has been on a ‘journey’ in terms of changing the culture, and that an emphasis has been placed on transparency and openness. The manager continues to embed this culture in the team. The introduction of therapeutic parenting has supported the team to develop its relationships with the children in the home, which has contributed to the progress children have made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff said that they enjoy working in this home. They said that children receive good care, from a team that is ‘never too busy’ and ‘always puts the children first’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff supervisions are held regularly and provide staff with a space to reflect on their relationships with the children, the children’s individual needs, and the strategies staff are using to support them. Team meetings are also reflective, and the manager seeks to explore any challenges the team may have experienced and identify learning to improve outcomes. Staff reflection is further supported by consultation meetings with the home’s therapeutic support team. This allows for specialist input into the care of the children and the approaches taken by staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Training opportunities are provided to staff to equip them with the skills they need to effectively respond to the specific needs of the children. Training compliance is generally high, although some trainings need to be offered to newer members of the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have taken appropriate actions to address the requirements and recommendation identified at the previous inspection. Since the previous inspection, when children have been missing from home, the manager has arranged return home interviews with the placing authority and appropriate learning has been shared. Moreover, children’s records have been updated to include the necessary information. Inspection report for children’s home: 2568010 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; and

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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)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that monitoring and oversight are used to support staff to help children explore and understand risk and how to keep themselves safe. Specifically, this relates to staff being supported to have the awareness and skills to use professional curiosity and identify when additional actions or support are required to help children. 5 July 2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person should understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about children must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to them. In particular, the registered person should carefully consider the appropriateness of recording children’s information using the first- person narrative. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children’s home: 2568010 7

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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: 2568010 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Keys Ltd, Maybrook House, Queensway, Halesowen, Worcestershire B63 4AH

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Inspector

Martin Brown, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2568010 9 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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