Children's Home run by Crossway Services Limited in St Helens

Unique reference number SC063498 Inspection date 22/01/2013 Inspector Pamela Nuckley Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 23/07/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This service is managed by an independent company who provide a number of small children's homes. The home provides accommodation for one child and is staffed in accordance with their assessed needs.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Good progress The children’s home has demonstrated continued improvement in quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the large majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Satisfactory progress The children’s home has maintained quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Inadequate progress The children’s home has failed to address one or more requirements and/or has not met the majority of recommendations and/or the quality of care and outcomes for children and young people have declined since the last full inspection.

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Progress

Since their previous inspection the service is judged to be making satisfactory progress .

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Progress

At the full inspection, in July 2012, the home was judged to be good. Two requirements and two recommendations were set.

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Progress

A requirement to ensure that Regulation 33 reports are completed regularly has been addressed. Regulation 33 visitors are making regular monthly, unannounced visits. This enables the home to monitor the quality of care given to young people on a regular basis. The manager forwards copies of these as well as copies of the Regulation 34 monitoring report to Ofsted. This means Ofsted have good oversight of the home between inspection visits. The home has also improved these forms to include consultation with young people. Furthermore, the findings from these reports have been included in the home’s development plan. This means that the home is continuing to develop the service.

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Progress

A requirement to ensure that the restraint record contains all the information as laid down within the Children’s homes Regulation 2001 has been addressed. There have been no restraints since the last inspection. However, in the event of a restraint, the record format contains all the information necessary.

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Progress

The home was asked to ensure that placement plans capture young people’s views, wishes and feelings. Young people regularly view and add comments to their placement plan. Young people are being encouraged to include their thoughts in all documentation within the home. For example, young people minute their own key working sessions and say what they have done well or not well that week. This gives young people an opportunity to reflect on the past week and gives opportunities for celebration or improvements for the next week. Young people confidently said that they are fully included in their care.

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Progress

At the last inspection, the manager was asked to ensure that risk assessments were in place for staff who worked alone with young people. This has not been met. As a consequence, the risks to staff, children and members of the public have not been identified. Therefore, the recommendation has been repeated.

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Progress

The home has made improvements in consulting with other professionals. Feedback from professionals assists the home to develop their service and also shows the good work that they are doing. One Independent Reviewing Officer said ‘the care given at this home is the best. I have watched this young person grow and progress while they have been at this home and this can be attributed to the individual care that they receive.’

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Progress

Young people at this home have excellent attendance at school. The home celebrates all achievements within education. All certificates received are framed and young people proudly hang them up within the home. The home works closely with schools to ensure that young people are attaining educationally and so they can further support young people with homework or projects. As a consequence, young people are currently achieving beyond expectations in most subjects.

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Progress

Young people at this home say they are safe, well cared for and that staff listen to them. They report that they have no complaints but were clear on how they could complain if they needed to. Young people said that consequences for inappropriate behaviour were fair and discussed with them. There has been a significant reduction in imposing consequences. Staff say this is partially due to young people being more settled, partially due to young people taking responsibility for their behaviour but mostly through identifying what consequences are effective. For example, reducing one young person’s bedtime as a consequence has significantly impacted positively on their behaviour. Young people also receive rewards for positive behaviour. One young person said ‘I got all my points on my chart. I was able to choose an outing and pick three friends to go with me. We went to Gulliver’s World. It was ace.’ This

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Progress

shows that young people's achievements are celebrated and that they are given opportunities to develop friendships.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 ensure where only one member of staff is on duty at any time, a risk assessment has been carried out and recorded in writing, identifying any likely risks to children, staff and members of the public. (NMS 17.9)

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About this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards.

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About this inspection

The report details the progress made by the provider since the last full inspection, identifies any further strengths, any areas for improvement and makes judgements as outlined in the Inspection of children’s homes – framework for inspection.

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