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

A private company owns the service. The home is registered to provide care for up to four children in two separate buildings. The main home building provides accommodation for three children, and a separate annex provides accommodation for one child. The home provides a 12-week assessment for children in crisis.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living at the home. Two children were living in the main home building and one child was living in the annex. A further six children have lived at the home and moved out since the last inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is registered with Ofsted and is working towards an appropriate qualification.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 27 February 2024

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC480318 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/02/2024 Full Good 21/03/2023 Full Good 09/03/2022 Full Good 07/08/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC480318 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Three children were seen and two were spoken to during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Managers and staff have not taken effective or prompt enough action to address issues with the home environment. In particular, there has been a lack of support, care and nurture to ensure one child’s bedroom and the main bathroom was in a suitable living condition. This lack of action has meant, that for one child, they have experienced an extremely poor quality bedroom. In addition the bathroom was dirty, damaged and had an overpowering smell. During the inspection, managers took action to address the issues relating to the child’s bedroom.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

When planning for moves into the home, managers do not robustly consider the needs of children alongside the skills and experience of the staff team. As a result, children have moved into the home and staff have been unable to meet their needs effectively in the trauma-informed manner specified in the home’s statement of purpose.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

When children move from the annex to the main home building, managers do not revisit the initial assessment of children’s risks and needs and how these may affect them living alongside other children. As a result, there has been at least one significant safeguarding incident between children due to insufficient safeguards being in place.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children expressed concerns about difficulties in their relationships with other children living in the home. Staff and managers talk to children about expectations of behaviour; however, this has not proved effective.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Some children have made progress at this home. For example, one child was provided with creative support to engage them in education. During their time at the home, there were no missing-from-care episodes or concerns about substance misuse, both of which were previous issues. This child was supported to have a planned move from the home.

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

Staff and managers have not taken effective action to safeguard children. Staff do not consistently provide children with therapeutic responses. When incidents occur, staff do not have the skills or experience to de-escalate these situations effectively.

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

Staff and managers have not taken consistent action to support children to understand the impact of their behaviours and how this can affect other people. For one child, staff have allowed negative behaviours from the child towards them to impact negatively on their relationship and their responses to them. . While some discussions have taken place with the child about their behaviour, this has not been effective in stopping or reducing this. Inspection report for children’s home: SC480318 4 When restraint is used, it is generally in appropriate circumstances and to prevent serious harm. However, during one incident, staff did not de-escalate the situation effectively, records are so poor that management oversight would not be effective to understand if the restraint was proportionate to the risk. When other children witness incidents where restraint is used, staff are not considering how this may impact on them

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

Management oversight of incidents does not clearly identify or address issues of poor staff practice. When significant incidents occur, managers do not routinely review the safeguards in place to prevent harm to children. For example, when a safeguarding concern was raised about one child, managers did not consider the potential risks to the other child living in the home.

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

Staff have not consistently provided children with an appropriate level of supervision as set out in their care and support plans. For example, on one occasion, two children went missing together during an activity due to staff not providing sufficient supervision. On another occasion, a child was left locked in a car at a service station while staff went into the building without them.

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

When significant safeguarding concerns or complaints about care are raised, managers and senior managers generally follow appropriate safeguarding procedures. Investigations are carried out promptly and recommendations and follow-up actions identified.

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

Alarms are used on children’s bedroom doors. An individualised approach to risk is in place; however, records are not sufficiently detailed and do not include a clear date or mechanism for review. This leaves restrictions imposed on children without reviewing any progress and if they continue to be necessary.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers have not established a clear culture or ethos in this home. Issues relating to staff practice and culture have not been promptly identified or addressed during routine management oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers have not provided sufficient oversight or challenge to staff. As a result, the children’s dignity has not been protected or promoted. Staff have shown a lack of aspiration for some children, for example through their acceptance of a poor-quality home environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff undertake relevant training; however, managers have not ensured that staff have the necessary skills and experience to meet the complex needs of some children. Staff generally enjoy working at this home. However, they have reported feeling affected by recent changes to the management structure.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

In recent weeks, managers have identified shortfalls in the home and have put plans in place to begin addressing these. The responsible individual has recently increased her Inspection report for children’s home: SC480318 5 presence at the home and a plan is in place to develop and upskill the staff team through regular workshops during team meetings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

A detailed workforce development plan is in place. It identifies areas for development and takes the identified shortfalls into account. However, at the time of the inspection, measures taken were not embedded.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Professionals speak positively about the communication from managers and the progress made by some children. The home manager knows the children well and has a good overview of the needs and risks for each child who has lived at the home since the last inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: SC480318 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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 the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that the home environment is well maintained, clean and homely throughout. Additionally, the registered person should ensure that children are able to access their belongings and clothing freely and that any restrictions in place around this are fully documented and regularly reviewed. 21 November 2024

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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— 21 November 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC480318 7 lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child.

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home.

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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)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that management oversight is suitably robust and that any issues relating to staff practice or culture in the home are identified and addressed promptly.

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; 21 November 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC480318 8 manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm;

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff understand their responsibilities with regards to safeguarding children, including providing them with appropriate supervision in line with their plans.

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Requirement Due date

Additionally, the registered person should ensure that staff take appropriate action to reduce risks and de-escalate difficult situations.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person should also ensure that following significant incidents or changes in circumstances, measures to safeguard children are formally reviewed.

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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

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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 children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended 21 November 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC480318 9 that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that the skills and experience of the staff team are considered when a decision is being made about whether a child’s needs can be met at the home before they move in.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the reasons for any restrictions or monitoring in the home environment are recorded clearly. Timescales and mechanisms for review should be specified and children’s individual views on these measures should be recorded. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)

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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 10

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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: Maybrook House, Third Floor, Queensway, Halesowen B63 4AH

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Inspector

Janet Jauregui, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC480318 11 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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