Children's home run by BKY Care Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 2742899 1 Registered provider: BKY Care Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home is registered to provide care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties. At the time of this inspection, three children were living in the home. Two children were spoken with during the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is suitably qualified and experienced. He is registered to manage two homes. The manager was present in the home for the first day of the inspection.

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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 widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected and their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded. The care and experiences of children and young people are poor.

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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: 2742899 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/03/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2742899 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Failures in safeguarding practice and in the leadership and management of the home compromise children’s experiences, progress and safety.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Since the last inspection, there have been several staff changes at the home. While new staff are getting to know the children, the changes have negatively impacted one child’s emotional stability. A staff member said the child has struggled with lots of new staff in their home, which has caused them to feel anxious at times, and has spent more time in their bedroom to avoid the new staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

One child said they like living in the home and the best thing about it is their bedroom and their quilt cover. The home is clean and bright and there is a large well-maintained garden with a huge trampoline for children to enjoy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are developing important life skills to prepare them for adulthood, in line with their plans. One child has learned to make themselves bacon and egg sandwiches and another child takes great care of their treasured pets.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Two children attend school, which is significant progress for them. When children do not attend school, staff support them to learn at home and the staff team advocates for their return to full-time education. A school placement has been found for the third child, who is excited about starting school.

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

One child says that a member of staff shouts, and their presence in the home makes them feel uncomfortable. This significantly compromises the child’s feeling of safety.

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

Safeguarding practice is poor. When a child shared their concerns about a member of staff, leaders failed to follow their safeguarding policies to protect the child. The information was not escalated to safeguarding authorities. In addition, the safety plan in place to keep children safe at this time was not followed by the member of staff during the inspection.

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

Before moving into the home, one child had ingested toiletries, which compromised their safety. The child’s social worker confirmed that, due to this risk, staff must only give the child toiletries when required, to ensure their safety. However, a large number of shower gels and shampoos were accessible to the child in the communal bathroom. This leaves the child vulnerable to harm. The items were removed by the manager. Furthermore, this risk had not been assessed and there is no guidance in place to help staff provide safe care to the child. Inspection report for children's home: 2742899 4 When children have been restrained by staff, they have not had the opportunity to express their feelings and talk about their experiences of being held. This shortfall was identified at the last inspection. The manager has failed to review all incidents to ensure restraint practice in the home is necessary and proportionate to keep children safe. In

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

addition, debriefs do not always take place with staff following the incidents. This is a missed opportunity to share any learning to improve practice to benefit children.

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

Staff do not consistently support children in line with the home’s therapeutic approach. On one occasion, a child felt frustrated because staff ended an activity early. The incident escalated and the child was distressed. The child was restrained by staff to ensure their safety. While the manager has identified and addressed this poor staff practice, the incident could have been avoided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Management oversight of children’s care is weak. The manager’s oversight of children’s experiences is compromised because he has not been working in the home since April. In the manager’s absence, the home is run by the quality manager. The management arrangements are not sustainable long term. In addition, management changes and the high turnover of staff have contributed to the instability of children’s care, which has caused some staff to feel unsettled.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Monitoring systems are not effective to ensure that children always receive good-quality, safe care. Systems have failed to identify shortfalls, including poor safeguarding practice and the lack of guidance in children’s records. This has compromised children’s safety. The lack of scrutiny following incidents is a missed opportunity to improve practice to benefit children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have not ensured that staff are well prepared to care for children. Staff say they have not completed training to help them support children’s specific needs, including autism and self-harming behaviour. As a result, leaders cannot be assured that staff understand children’s needs and that they have the skills to care for children well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff attend team meetings to talk about the children and share ideas. Staff say they receive reflective supervision to support their practice. However, records of the manager’s supervision meetings with staff are not kept up to date.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Annual appraisals for staff who have worked at the home for more than 12 months have not taken place. This means opportunities to review practice and identify any areas for improvement in staff practice are missed. The quality manager is planning to address this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders do not ensure that Ofsted and safeguarding authorities are notified of all significant events that occur in the home, such as when children make allegations against staff. This compromises external oversight of safeguarding practices in the home. Inspection report for children's home: 2742899 5 The home’s statement of purpose has not been shared with Ofsted when it has been revised. This was identified at the last inspection and the requirement is restated. Inspection report for children's home: 2742899 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 promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos:

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

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; 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)(a)(c)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they have effective oversight of children’s care and that children’s care is provided in line with the home’s statement of purpose. 28 October 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2742899 7 Monitoring systems must be effective to identify shortfalls and action must be taken to improve outcomes for children when areas needing improvement are identified.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all staff working with children, including senior managers, have the knowledge and skills that they need to understand children’s needs, promote their welfare and keep them safe.

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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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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

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staffing changes at the home do not have an impact on children’s welfare. 28 October 2024

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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;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other; 28 October 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2742899 8 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 effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that risks associated with children’s care are assessed. Guidance must be in place for staff to follow to keep children safe, in line with their plans.

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Requirement Due date

Also, staff must understand their responsibilities to protect children. They must work in line with safeguarding policies and prompt action must be taken to escalate concerns to safeguarding authorities when children are at risk of harm.

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that when the statement of purpose is revised, it is shared with Ofsted within 28 days.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated. 28 October 2024

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Requirement Due date

A person may only manage a children’s home if—

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the person is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

having regard to the size of the home, its statement of purpose, and the number and needs (including any needs arising from any disability) of the children— 28 October 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2742899 9 the person has the appropriate experience, qualifications and skills to manage the home effectively and lead the care of children; and

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Requirement Due date

the person is physically and mentally fit to manage the home (Regulation 28 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must demonstrate they have to appropriate skills to lead and manage the home effectively.

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The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that their staff are appraised annually. Also, records of the manager’s supervisions must be kept and made available for review. 28 October 2024

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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a description of the measure and its duration;

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details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and 28 October 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2742899 10 a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is

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authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")

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has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that children who are restrained by staff have the opportunity to talk about their experience following incidents. Also, debriefs with staff must take place to provide the opportunity for reflection and to improve practice.

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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

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)) 28 October 2024

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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: 2742899 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 8 Fairlawns, Sutton Coldfield B76 1PQ

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Inspectors

Amy Richards, Social Care Inspector Tonia Dubidat, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2742899 12 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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