Children's home run by Keys Direct Care Limited in Southend-on-Sea

Inspection report for children’s home: SC430587 1 SC430587

p.1

Registered provider: Keys Direct Care Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and operated by a private company. It is registered to provide care for up to four children who may have social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, four children were living in the home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a qualified and experienced registered manager.

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

Date of last inspection: 11 October 2023

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC430587 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/10/2023 Full Good 29/11/2022 Full Good 26/10/2021 Full Good 01/10/2019 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC430587 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children enjoy positive and meaningful relationships with staff. They show genuine emotional warmth to children. This results in children building trusting relationships with staff, which allows them to feel settled in the home and make good progress.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff see themselves as a family around the children, in a family home. The environment is welcoming and homely. The communal areas and children’s bedrooms are personalised, and there are many photos of the children enjoying different activities around the home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children enjoy good health. Children are supported by staff to attend their medical appointments. Staff advocate on behalf of children to ensure that any additional services for their emotional welfare are in place. This helps to maintain the children’s physical and emotional well-being.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the barriers to education and help children to overcome these. Staff work well with education professionals. As a result, some children who have been at risk of being without an education have returned to school. One child has made significant progress and has recently completed their GCSEs after a period of non- attendance.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend time with people who are most important to them. One child enjoys a shared care arrangement with their family. The staff ensure that the time the child spends with their family members is positive. This contributes to the stability of the children’s placements.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to develop their independence and benefit from having new experiences. One child is being supported to develop their confidence in using public transport independently, which is a skill that can be taken forward into adulthood.

p.3

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

Children have trusted relationships with the manager and staff. Children know they will be listened to and taken seriously. Therefore, the children can be open about their feelings and emotions. As a result, children have the stability they need, which helps to keep them safe. One child said, ‘I feel very safe here and care about the staff a lot.’

p.3

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

Staff know the children well and understand the risks that the children can be exposed to. Individual risk assessments are regularly reviewed, updated and shared with staff. This provides clarity and direction for staff if incidents occur, and staff follow these plans consistently. As a result, the children receive swift and well-coordinated responses from staff to keep them safe. Inspection report for children’s home: SC430587 4 Staff undertake training in safeguarding alongside specific training in relation to the children’s individual needs. Staff also benefit from bespoke training from the organisation’s therapeutic team to understand complexities in behaviours and their safe management. Staff have regular supervision and monthly team meetings, which encourages consistent reflection and learning.

p.3

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

Staff use physical restraint as a last resort to keep the children and others safe. The least restrictive measure is used. All incidents are reviewed by the manager, and reflection informs staff practice through debrief discussions. The children are spoken to following an incident and in regular key-work sessions. Staff use a restorative approach with children following an incident, which helps to strengthen relationships in the home.

p.4

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

The manager and staff have developed good partnership links with external agencies. Professionals commended the manager and staff on the good quality of care provided to children. A common theme in feedback provided by agencies is how happy the children are living in the home. One professional said that the child reports being very happy and is a complex child who is well understood by the staff.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by an experienced registered manager. The manager is ambitious for the children and encourages staff to be equally ambitious for the care provided to the children. The staff say that they are happy at work, feel supported and have confidence in the manager.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has increased his oversight in the home and taken action to strengthen the areas previously identified for development. He always knows what is happening in the home. The manager regularly reviews staff recordings and all incident records. He shares reflections and learning with staff to aid their development in regular supervision discussions and team meetings.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are robust recruitment procedures in place that ensure staff working with children are suitable to do so. The manager has procedures in place to ensure their continued suitability.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are from diverse backgrounds and bring different skills and experience to the home. However, although the manager has ensured that there are always enough staff on duty to ensure appropriate supervision and support for the children, there have been several occasions when agency staff have been needed. This does not provide consistency and continuity of care for the children. The manager is actively recruiting additional staff, but this has been slow to progress. This is an area for development.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is supported by a leadership team that is equally committed to the care and progress of the children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC430587 5

p.4

Recommendation

 The registered person must ensure that the home has enough suitably trained staff on duty to meet the assessed needs of all children in the home. The registered person must demonstrate every effort to achieve continuity of staffing so that the children’s attachments are not overly disrupted, including ensuring that the employment of any temporary staff will not prevent children from receiving the continuity of care that they need. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 51, paragraph 10.1)

p.5

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: SC430587 6

p.5

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Keys Direct Care Limited

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, Third Floor, Queensway, Halesowen, West Midlands B63 4AH

p.6

Inspector

Caroline Coop, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC430587 7 regulates and inspects 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.6

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.7

Inspector

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

p.7

Inspector

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

p.7