Children's Home run by Keys Cwc Limited in Somerset

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2568010 1

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Keys Cwc Limited

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 for up to four children who have experienced social and emotional difficulties. Three children live in this home and two of these children spoke with the inspector.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since May 2023.

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This monitoring visit

This monitoring visit was carried out following a complaint being submitted to Ofsted about the quality of care that is provided to children. The complainant also shared their concerns with the registered manager and many of the concerns have been resolved.

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This monitoring visit

However, other concerns were identified during this visit and as a result, a compliance notice was issued under regulation 12, The protection of children standard.

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This monitoring visit

The support that staff provide children with to help them to maintain their bedrooms to a good standard of cleanliness is insufficient. One child’s bedroom smells strongly of cannabis, and there are burn marks on their furniture and duvet cover, some of which appear to have been made intentionally. Tobacco and cigarette ash are spread over their bedside table and carpet, and a cigarette lighter remains in their bedroom and easily accessible to the child. This poses a significant risk of fire to all children, staff and visitors to the home.

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This monitoring visit

Although a detailed risk assessment has been completed to help staff to reduce the risk of fire, children have continued to smoke in their bedrooms and the risk remains high. The strategies that are in place to help staff to mediate the risk of fire have been inadequate. Leaders and managers have not taken robust and immediate Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2568010 2 action to stop children from smoking in their bedrooms, and there has been minimal consultation with relevant external services about fire safety precautions.

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This monitoring visit

Notwithstanding the significant risk of fire, children’s bedrooms are poorly maintained. There are food wrappers on the floor and piles of unfolded clothes on a child’s bed. The maintenance works that were completed in another child’s bedroom have left yellow stains on the child’s radiator. These have not been cleaned and demonstrate a lack of care and low aspiration from staff.

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This monitoring visit

None of the children in the home are participating in full-time education. When children decline to participate in planned educational activities staff issue a consequence to the child. This often involves staff declining to take children out in the evening to meet with their friends. Although this consequence is used consistently, it has not been effective in improving children’s educational engagement. Instead, children have opted to walk from the home to meet their friends. This has inadvertently resulted in staff being less aware of where children are going, what they are doing or who they are spending their time with.

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This monitoring visit

Furthermore, staff are not sufficiently curious about where children are getting cannabis from. Due regard is not given to contextual safeguarding and the risks that children may be exposed to when they are away from the home. Staff are unsure whether one child may be the victim of child criminal exploitation, but they confidently say that other children living in the home are not. Despite this uncertainty, concerns have not been shared with the relevant professionals and robust safety plans have not been agreed. There remains the potential that one child is the victim of criminal exploitation and insufficient action is being taken to protect them. Staff have missed opportunities to explore concerns of exploitation with the child.

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This monitoring visit

Staff do not always demonstrate a sound understanding of the care of children or the support that they require. Not all staff have the skills or knowledge that they need to meet children’s needs and help them to keep safe effectively.

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This monitoring visit

Children say that they enjoy living in this home. One child said that they wanted to move out of the home but quickly explained that they were ‘only joking.’ Another child said that they do not feel safe in the home when the behaviours of other children challenge staff. They explained that during these times they do not always feel supported by staff and that their worry has led them to call the police to ask for assistance.

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This monitoring visit

When staff are challenged by the behaviours of children, the registered manager evaluates the effectiveness of the support provided and helps staff to identify what they could do differently in the future. The manager also reflects on the child’s likely motivation behind the behaviour and takes some action to provide children with additional support. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2568010 3 When it was identified that a child who had previously lived in the home had entered the property at night, without staff being aware, leaders and managers took action to prevent this from happening again. Some actions involved enhancing the physical security of the building. However, importantly, the registered manager also tried to understand why the child wanted to visit the home. The registered manager then took action to lessen the need for the child to turn up in an unplanned way in the

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This monitoring visit

future. Accordingly, opportunities are being explored for the child to spend planned time with their friend who still lives in the home. Concerns of this nature have not been repeated.

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This monitoring visit

When children misuse substances, staff seek medical advice swiftly and monitor the children to ensure that they are safe. Staff also provide children with clear advice and guidance about the implications of substance misuse, both in terms of their health and the possible legal consequences. Despite this, children have continued to misuse substances.

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This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers are receptive of the feedback that has been provided and are taking immediate action to address the significant safety concerns that have been highlighted. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2568010 4

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 11/06/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 10/05/2023 Full Good 23/08/2022 Full Good 02/11/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2568010 5

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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 with 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

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;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child's health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(b)(d)) 19 March 2025 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2568010 6 In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff have the skills and knowledge to identify, understand and respond to mediate risk to children effectively. Staff must be supported to understand the actions that they must take to help to keep children safe.

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Requirement Due date

Staff must take immediate action to prevent children from smoking in their bedrooms and/or intentionally burning furniture. The registered person should review the fire safety arrangements and take action to mitigate the current increased risk of fire.

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Requirement Due date

Staff must have a sound understanding of contextual safeguarding and help children to keep themselves safe when they are out of the home. Staff must have the skills to recognise concerns that indicate that a child may be the victim of child criminal exploitation. These concerns should be shared with relevant external services so that robust actions to keep children safe can be taken.

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Requirement Due date

Finally, the registered person must take action to ensure that all children feel supported and protected from harm by staff. Staff must offer prompt support to the children in the home when the behaviour of other children becomes challenging towards staff.

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children's home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must take immediate action to reduce the significant risk of fire that is posed by children smoking in their bedrooms and/or intentionally burning furniture. Staff must take robust action to prevent these behaviours from occurring, Further, leaders and managers must share their concerns with relevant external services to ensure that robust actions are identified and implemented effectively. (Regulation 25 (1)(a)) 19 March 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—

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Requirement Due date

promotes their welfare. 1 April 2025 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2568010 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

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 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(b) (2)(a)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must review the skills of the team to identify where staff need additional support to enable them to meet children's needs and help them to keep safe effectively.

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Requirement Due date

Further, the registered person must use monitoring systems to ensure that they have robust oversight of the care that is provided to children. The registered person should use this oversight to ensure that children are benefiting from good- quality care and that their individual needs are met.

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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;

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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; 1 April 2025 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2568010 8 help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult; and

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Requirement Due date

make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child's relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice. (Regulation 6 (1)(b) (2)(b)(ii)(iv)(v)(vi)(ix))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff help children to develop the skills that they will likely need in the future. This includes supporting children to maintain their bedrooms to a good standard of cleanliness and to help them to understand why this is important. Further, when maintenance tasks are completed, the registered person must ensure that the works are finished to an acceptable standard. The registered person and staff should demonstrate that they have high standards for children.

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject of a compliance notice.

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2568010 9

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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

Martin Brown, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2568010 10 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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