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Inspection report for children’s home: SC064050 1 SC064050 Registered provider: Keys Child Care Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a private provider. It offers care for up to three children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, two children were living in this home. Both children were spoken with.

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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

Date of last inspection: 7 November 2023

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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: SC064050 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/11/2023 Full Good 03/08/2022 Full Good 20/10/2021 Full Good 28/08/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC064050 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy living in the home. Children build trusted relationships with the staff and have staff who listen to them. One child said, ‘It is just like a normal house, like a family.’ Another child said, ‘The staff are nice, I like them, they listen to me.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are welcomed into the home in a planned and child-centred way. Prior to a child moving to the home, the staff are provided with relevant information about the child’s needs and vulnerabilities. Moreover, the staff spend time with the children getting to know their likes, dislikes and ambitions. This helps staff to provide children with individualised care from their starting points. When children move on from the home, this is done in the best interests of the child and they are helped by the staff to move and settle into their new homes in a planned way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views matter to the staff. The children have influence and staff encourage them to take part in everyday decisions about the home. This supports the children to make decisions about the food they eat, the activities that they take part in, how the home is decorated and how they personalise their bedrooms. Children’s views also influence how the staff support them to spend time with the people that matter the most to them. In addition, children know how to make a complaint and are kept fully informed as to the outcome of any complaints they make.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s care plans are individualised to each child, are detailed, and help staff to understand each child’s background, needs and vulnerabilities. Short- and long-term goals are identified for children. Plans are regularly reviewed so progress can be measured, and the children’s achievements can be celebrated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The commitment of the staff and the quality of relationships between staff, professionals and children’s family members help children to make progress in all areas of their lives. Family members and professionals speak positively about relationships with the staff and the quality of care provided to children. One child’s grandmother said, ‘Since moving to the home, [child’s name] is settled and has turned things round.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s guide is clear and overall supports children to understand the expectations of the home and what the offer of care is. However, the guide does not fully explain to children the use of bedroom door alarms in the home. While this has not had any impact on the children living in the home, this does not help children to fully understand the use of surveillance and monitoring in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC064050 4

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

Children feel safe in the home. One child said this is because the staff ‘look out’ for them. Another child said that if he is having a ‘rubbish day’, the staff will help to calm him down by spending time with him. Staff try to understand what is upsetting him and then help in whatever way they can. Professionals and family members said that they think the staff do a good job of keeping the children safe.

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

Staff spend time with the children having focused conversations that promote their safety and well-being. The conversations that the staff have with the children are aligned to the children’s individual vulnerabilities, and staff encourage the children to consider ways in which they can keep themselves safer. These focused conversations also help the staff to understand how they can best help and protect the children.

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

There are good communication systems in place that enable the staff to consistently help the children manage their own behaviours and emotions. This input from staff reduces instances where the children become distressed. Staff’s understanding of the children’s needs and vulnerabilities is supported through a variety of means: regular conversations, daily records, team meetings, staff supervision sessions and the children’s individual risk assessments and behaviour support plans. All records and plans are reviewed and updated on a regular basis.

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

All staff are effective in using de-escalation techniques, which means that children are very rarely held. When children are held, this happens to safeguard everyone and staff only ever hold a child in the least restrictive way. After a child is held, discussions take place with the staff and child to support well-being and the repairing of relationships.

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

Staff overall know what to do when children go missing from the home. When a child goes missing from the home, the staff take all reasonable actions to find the child. When children return home, the staff provide appropriate care to welcome the child home and ensure they have come to no harm. There was one instance where a child was absent from care and staff practice fell below expected standards. However, the manager took appropriate action to remedy this. When children go missing from the home, the manager ensures that return home interviews take place. However, these are not conducted in line with national procedures and return home interviews are conducted by the child’s social worker. This shortfall prevents children from having the opportunity to speak with someone independent about the reasons why they were missing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a suitably qualified and experienced manager. She is committed to making a difference to children’s lives and has high expectations of herself and her staff. The manager knows the children living in the home well, understands the plans for the children and knows the progress they are making. The children, their families, professionals and the staff have confidence in the manager. Inspection report for children’s home: SC064050 5 The manager has good oversight of the home and understands the strengths and weaknesses of the staff. The manager values external scrutiny as this enables her to further understand where improvements can be made in the care children receive. The manager uses feedback from a range of sources to make improvements. However, the workforce development plan does not detail the frequency of staff supervision or how poor performance will be managed and improved. This weakens transparency and the

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

manager’s ability to hold her staff to account.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy working in the home and describe a child-centred environment where children are at the centre of decision-making. Staff understand their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding children and the staff feel supported in their roles through access to relevant training, supervision and team meetings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The annual review of premises is thorough, includes consultation with external professionals, and identifies risk and how to mitigate risks. This helps to support staff to keep children safe in the community and identifies positives in the local area, such as leisure and social facilities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager informs the regulator of serious incidents in the home, but this is not always done in a timely way. This prevents the regulator from being able to assess whether measures to maintain the safety of the children living in the home are effective. Inspection report for children’s home: SC064050 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to,

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

is instigated; or concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 1 August 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s guide helps children to understand what the day-to-day routines of the home are (‘what happens in the home’). The children’s guide should explain to children the use of bedroom door alarms in the home, the reasons why they may be used and what needs to happen for the door alarms to be deactivated. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 24, paragraph 4.21)  The registered provider should ensure that when a child returns home after being missing from care or being away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority provides for children to have an independent return home interview. Inspection report for children’s home: SC064050 7 (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 45, paragraph 9.30).  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce-

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Recommendations

related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should detail the process for managing and improving poor performance and detail the process and timescales for supervision of practice. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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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: SC064050 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Keys Child Care Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Shirin Khan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC064050 9 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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Inspector

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