Children's Home run by Keys QTC Limited in Gloucestershire

Inspection report for children’s home: 1280578 1 Registered provider: Keys QTC 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

The home is owned by a private provider and offers care and short-term specialist support for up to four children. The provider states in the home’s statement of purpose that in addition to the registered home, children will also use a variety of off-site accommodation as part of an outdoor adventure activity programme.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, two children were living in the home. One child was present in the home during the inspection and both children were spoken with.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has submitted their application to register with Ofsted.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1280578 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/06/2023 Full Good 15/06/2022 Full Good 01/10/2019 Full Good 18/02/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1280578 3

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improvement to be good

The two children currently living in the home have spent the majority of their time at the home’s off-site accommodations. This provides children with the opportunity to participate in a range of outdoor pursuits, including rock climbing, mountain biking and visiting local areas of interest.

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improvement to be good

The children living in the home are yet to meet each other. However, they have started to develop positive relationships with staff, which has supported them to share their views, feelings and accounts of their previous experiences. One child who has moved out of the home said that the staff were ‘really nice people’ and ‘on a level’ that helped them to ‘sort their head out’.

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improvement to be good

Children are making some progress in this home. As children demonstrate that they can make positive choices, they are provided with more opportunities to spend time in the community with their friends, manage their own money, access social media and the internet, and spend positive time with their families. When areas of concern are identified by professionals, children are provided with specialist help and support from internal and external services.

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improvement to be good

There are environmental features and practices in the home that detract from the homely environment, and their use has not been robustly reviewed. Cable window restrictors are fitted to all windows on the first floor and door alarms are used on each child’s bedroom door during the night, without individual risk to children being regularly reassessed. Children’s bedroom doors are also fitted with automatic locks, which means that children are required to carry a key or to ask staff to unlock their door so that they can access their bedrooms. These features result in an institutionalised rather than domestic feel to the home.

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improvement to be good

Processes are in place to support children to move into the home. However, due to the nature of the home and the needs of the children who may live there, there are often occasions when it is in children’s best interests for these processes to be expedited. In these instances, managers expect the same standard of information-sharing from external professionals to inform their assessment of whether they can meet the child’s needs and keep them safe.

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improvement to be good

Despite this, managers do not always consider staff skills and experience before children move in. Unfortunately, two children have been required to move out of the home because staff were not able to help them to keep themselves safe effectively and the severity of risky behaviours increased. Nine other children have been supported to move out of the home in more positive ways. Inspection report for children’s home: 1280578 4

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improvement to be good

When staff are challenged by the behaviour of children, staff respond positively on most occasions and help to de-escalate confrontations. However, there have been occasions when staff have been unable to help children to express themselves more safely and it has been necessary to use restraint and/or call police.

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improvement to be good

The quality of reflections with staff and children after an incident that has challenged staff varies. In some instances, reflections are robust, and actions and learning are identified to prevent similar occurrences from happening again. However, in other instances, children are not supported to identify what they could have done differently, and reflections with staff are delayed, unhelpful and do not identify robust actions to prevent risky situations from escalating in the future.

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improvement to be good

In one incident, a child was hurt due to the actions and inaction of staff. The child was not offered prompt medical attention and the responses from staff to the child did not engender feelings of safety or care. Worryingly, the learning from this incident is yet to be fully actioned, despite it having happened over three months ago. When the actions of staff do not meet expectations, appropriate staff support is not always offered swiftly. Managers are aware of the vulnerabilities that have been identified and acknowledge that the home ‘is on a journey’ of improvement.

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improvement to be good

When children go missing from the home, staff follow the agreed procedures, including searching the local area and the areas that the child is likely to go to, attempting to contact the child and their friends and family, and reporting the child missing to the police. When the child returns to the home, staff welcome them back and use professional curiosity to help them to feel cared for and protected.

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improvement to be good

When the current manager started their role in the home, they reviewed the actions and outcomes of all recent concerns that had been raised by children about staff and other professionals. The manager identified one concern that had been left unresolved. As a result, the manager took appropriate action to ensure that the concern was shared with the relevant professionals and that a satisfactory outcome was agreed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Children’s support plans vary in quality. They do not always contain the most up-to-date or accurate information. Some important information about how staff support children’s health needs, educational needs, behavioural needs, and relationships are missing. As a result, children’s plans are not always reflective of the support that they require, so they are not always a helpful resource for staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Team meetings help staff to reflect on the care that they provide to children. A recent focus has been placed on supporting staff to develop the skills that they need to help keep children safe, ensuring that records are helpful for staff and children, and ensuring that staff provide consistent and clear routines, boundaries and structure for children. Inspection report for children’s home: 1280578 5 However, actions following team meetings are not always identified, which results in some developmental opportunities being left to drift.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Overall, staff training compliance is good. However, staff do not always have the skills that they require to apply their knowledge to their practice. Furthermore, some members of staff have supported children as their appropriate adult while they have been detained at the police station, despite not having received any training to carry out this important role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Feedback from staff is mixed. Staff acknowledge some recent improvements in managerial oversight and recognise that there is a renewed focus on supporting children’s educational achievements. However, staff also say that the consistency of the care that is provided to children could be improved. One member of staff also commented that the manager could spend more time with children when they move to the home. This is particularly pertinent as one child currently living in the home did not know who the manager was, and the manager explained that they had only met once.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager started their role in the home in July 2024 and has submitted their application to register with Ofsted. The manager has recognised some areas of development for the home and identified some of the vulnerabilities that have been raised during this inspection. The manager has taken some action to help staff to develop their skills and improve the quality of care that is offered to children. However, this is an ongoing process. Inspection report for children’s home: 1280578 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 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

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

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. (Regulation 12 (2)(a)(i)(v)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff have the skills and knowledge to help children to keep themselves safe and express themselves safely. Staff’s responses to children should help to prevent harm.

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Requirement Due date

Furthermore, managers should help staff to robustly and honestly reflect on their practices so that learning can be identified and the support that is being provided to children can be developed. Children should also be routinely helped to reflect on their behaviours so that they can identify how they can express themselves in safer ways in the future. 6 January 2025

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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— 6 January 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 1280578 7 promotes their welfare.

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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)(b) (2)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff are supported to apply their knowledge to their day-to-day practice and the care that they provide to children. Staff should be supported to develop their skills and managers should use monitoring systems to provide staff with appropriate learning opportunities. Furthermore, managers should consider the skills and experiences of staff before children move into the home to ensure that staff are able to meet children’s needs and keep them safe effectively.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those 6 January 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 1280578 8 expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding; and

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iv)(v)(xi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff have the skills to meet children’s needs. Staff should have a clear understanding of the boundaries and expectations for children, and staff should apply these consistently so that children feel safe and supported. Staff’s responses to children should de- escalate behaviours that expose children to risk and/or harm.

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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

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

protect and promote each child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. (Regulation 6 (1)(b) (2)(b)(ii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that children’s plans are up to date and reflective of the care and support that they require to have their needs met. This should help staff to provide good-quality, personalised care to children. 6 January 2025

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment. In most cases, children’s homes will be domestic and homely. In particular, the registered person should routinely review the use of window restrictors and door alarms so that unnecessary restrictions in the environment are removed when they are not needed. Furthermore, the registered person should review the use of locks on children’s bedroom doors, as they are not consistent with what would be Inspection report for children’s home: 1280578 9 expected in a family home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 1280578 10

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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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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Agata Dokszewicz

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Inspector

Martin Brown, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1280578 11 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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