ONE of the UK’s leading providers of care for children and young people has appointed Rachel Mundy as Director of its Supported Accommodation division.
Keys, part of Keys Group, provides care for young people across England and Wales in its residential children’s homes and supported accommodation (previously known as Leaving Care).
In this newly created role, a key responsibility will see Rachel prepare the organisation and its supported accommodation provision make the transition to being Ofsted-regulated. This regulatory oversight is something Keys has campaigned strongly for to ensure all accommodation supporting young people aged 16 to 21 to live in suitably high quality environments, with the right support in place that they need.
Around 100 young people are supported by the Keys supported accommodation division and Ofsted regulation applies to locations which support those aged between 16 and 17. However, Rachel says, the organisation won’t be differentiating.
She said: “While Ofsted regulation will only technically apply to locations / services supporting those aged 16-17, we will not be treating any of the locations differently. We believe passionately that all young people, no matter their age, should receive the same level of quality and a high standards of caring support.
“All of the quality and standards set out by Ofsted for supported accommodation will be embraced for all young people we support. We have, as a long-established provider of residential children’s homes, and adult services in our Accomplish division, vast amounts of experience of working in regulated environments and we’ll use that experience to make sure the service we offer is robust and of excellent quality. We feel very positive about this change.”
Supported accommodation and its regulation will work in a similar way to adult supported living services. A central office will be registered which is in an area where we have our supported accommodation. Depending on who lives within those properties, they service they receive may or may not be regulated, as it will flex depending on how young people move on, or increase in age.
Keys Group Chief Executive Officer David Manson said: “Rachel joins Keys with extensive experience which will be invaluable in helping us ensure our supported accommodation, and the support it provides, not only meets but greatly exceeds the regulatory standards set by Ofsted.”
Rachel added: “This regulation will also be new for Ofsted and these services are very different to children’s homes. By their nature, they have to allow young people – many of them significantly impacted by the on-going consequences of childhood trauma – to take some managed risks and we have to work in a very individualised way with each young person.
“The young people are living semi-independently in the community, they have their own front door key. And they can choose not to follow advice or engage. Our job is to provide a safety net, like any good parent, and be there for young people when things don’t go according to plan.
“However that cliff edge for young people still exists t 18, and we’re under significant time pressure to help them gain the skills, and knowledge and develop the emotional resilience they need for independent living before they move on. That includes key skills in safety, in social, emotional and regulation skills as well as practical life skills.
“We changed the name of our services to supported accommodation because Leaving Care is quite generic and we wanted to be clear about what we’re providing. Some of the young people we support are on full care orders until they are 18, and the new name brings a clarity to these services.
“The inspection cycle starts in April 2024 and we are really looking forward to getting that started. The quality of support and dedication of supported accommodation teams across Keys, and their passion, is second to none. Everybody really understands the needs of the young people and is willing to go that extra mile to ensure they are getting the support they deserve.”