Children's Home run by Crusoe Care Limited in East Sussex

Unique reference number SC434573 Inspection date 02/10/2013 Inspector Liz Driver Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 21/01/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This is a privately children's owned home for two young people who have emotional or behavioural problems. There is a satellite unit which also has spaces for two young people who have emotional or behavioural problems. The satellite unit is used to provide young people with a semi-independent living experience.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding : a service of exceptional quality that significantly exceeds minimum requirements Good : a service of high quality that exceeds minimum requirements Adequate : a service that only meets minimum requirements Inadequate : a service that does not meet minimum requirements

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be good .

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Overall effectiveness

Young people are progressing well in numerous areas of their lives. Relationships between young people and staff are good; built through trust and sensitive guidance.

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Overall effectiveness

The care provided is based on comprehensive assessments of each young person's needs that are regularly reviewed. Young people are happy at this home and feel very well cared for and safe. Their confidence has grown and they have developed a more positive self-view.

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Overall effectiveness

Staff understand safe care and carry out safe working practices. There is an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses by the management and a commitment to continued improvement and development. As a result, young people make good progress from their starting points in relation to their welfare.

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Overall effectiveness

Shortfalls identified at the last inspection have been robustly addressed and form part of a clear development plan now in place. Since that inspection much work has been undertaken to move the service forward, together with financial investment into the upgrading of the decoration and fabric of the home.

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Overall effectiveness

Shortfalls identified at this inspection relate to; notifying Ofsted of all incidents as required in accordance with Regulation 30; better evidence the effectiveness of fire evacuation drills; submission of twice yearly Regulation 34 reports to Ofsted and creation of a lone working policy that works alongside the lone working protocol.

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Statutory Requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person/s meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that all persons indicated in column 1 of schedule 5 are notified in respect of the events in column 2 of the table. (Regulation 30 (1)) 29/11/2013

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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

 better evidence the effectiveness of fire evacuation drills (NMS 10)  create a lone working policy that works alongside the company's lone working protocol (NMS 17.9)  submit twice yearly Regulation 34 reports in respect of reviewing the quality of care. (NMS 21)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people's self esteem is increasing as is their confidence in their abilities. Young people have very good relationships with staff and healthy relationships with each other. They are confident in expressing their views and confident that staff take appropriate action if they raise a worry or concern.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are beginning to develop resilience and coping strategies that will help them to be more independent in the future. Young people are provided with appropriate support to help them understand past events and together with sensitive behavioural guidance previous negative behaviours are diminishing.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people experience good physical health and are learning how to keep themselves well and fit. One young person stated `staff always encourage us to eat healthily`.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have very good attendance at school that is fully encouraged and supported by staff. They enjoy school and staff support them to find the most appropriate educational establishment.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people enjoy contact with those significant to them. Contact is well managed with close liaison with social workers about negative contacts.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are making a positive contribution to the home. All young people are encouraged to have outside interests that staff support in a safe way.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are learning the skills they will need to live a successful independent life; targets are set on an individual basis. At times young people do not enjoy their daily chores but they do understand that it is important they carry these out.

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Quality of care

Young people enjoy healthy and constructive relationships with staff and each other and this helps them to make good progress in all areas of their lives. These positive relationships also help young people to feel valued. Staff encourage positive behaviour and a sense of right and wrong. They have high and clear expectations of young people. As a result, young people understand how to interact positively and behave appropriately. Young people are encouraged to take responsibility for their behaviour. For example, suitable sanctions are imposed when young people behave in a way they should not. There is a consistent approach to behaviour management from staff which ensures that young people feel fairly treated. Young people say that bullying is not a problem in this home. They feel confident that staff would prevent bullying from becoming a problem and there is a clear understanding in the home that bulling is unacceptable. If a bullying incident occurs outside the home staff are

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Quality of care

quick to respond with good outcomes for the young person.

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Quality of care

Young people feel listened to and know that their wishes will be acted upon. Young people say, `staff are always here to listen to me`. They also say they know how to make a complaint and feel confident that it will be taken seriously. The positive relationships that staff enjoy with young people encourage discussion and enable young people to have their say about what is important to them. Staff maintain positive and professional relationships with partner agencies and significant people in young people's lives. As a result, the views of these people play a significant role in making positive decisions about young people's lives.

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Quality of care

Each young person has a care plan that is understood by staff. Care plans cover all aspects of young people's care, including arrangements for contact with family members and religious requirements such as views about attending a place of worship. As a result young people receive care that meets their needs. Strong arrangements are in place for ensuring that young people benefit from maintaining good physical, emotional and psychological health. For example, all young people are registered with the local doctor, dentist and optician. Staff ensure that young people have access to services such as the child and adolescent mental health service and drug counsellors as necessary. Staff value education and support young people to attend suitable provision.

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Quality of care

Young people are supported to access leisure activities and develop individual interests. For example, young people are encouraged to enjoy healthy relationships with friends and also spend leisure time with staff. They say they like going to the cinema, fishing, theme parks and out for meals. As a result, young people develop confidence and their emotional, intellectual and social skills. Young people live in pleasant and homely surroundings that are well maintained. There is adequate space for young people to enjoy and there is easy access to facilities and community activities. This promotes young people's well-being.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The service is good at keeping children and young people safe and feeling safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people say that they feel safe living in the home. One young person said `I feel safe here and staff help me to keep safe`.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are safe living at this home because there is a robust approach taken to risk assessing the complex needs of each young person and how these impact on their well-being. A recent incident of bullying at school was efficiently and effectively dealt with by the home with a good outcome for the young person.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Behaviour management is well planned overall and based on individual needs. Since living here the number of incidents of being absent without permission had dropped significantly and there has been a huge drop in the number of physical interventions; which are now very rare.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are very well informed of expected behaviours and the consequences. Input from staff around positive behaviours results in improved behaviours with young people receiving rewards for targets met. For current young people this works extremely well.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The arrangement for staff recruitment is sound; this ensures those employed to work with young people are skilled, experienced and of good character.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home's environment is a safe place to live and work. Good attention is paid to ensure that the home is maintained with a significant investment in the decoration and refurbishment. Young people and staff know what to do in the event of a fire and regularly undertake fire evacuation drills; however their effectiveness is not recorded as fully as they could be.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the children's home are good .

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Leadership and management

The home is managed effectively which ensures that young people receive a service that meets their needs. Management and senior staff know their responsibilities and who they are accountable to. More specific detail and forethought is now given to the service's development plan and direction.

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Leadership and management

There are clear polices and procedures that staff understand and follow, that have been subject to recent review. The management has undertaken a complete practice review starting with the review of policies and now plan to develop further. This has resulted in changes to risk assessments and staff management. There is regular monitoring of the service through regulation 33 visits. Any concerns identified are quickly addressed. Young people and staff are consulted with as part of the monitoring process and this means that their views influence the way in which the home is run. The Registered Manager undertakes regular monitoring of records and practices however there is a failure to submit twice yearly reports to Ofsted; although this does not appear to have a negative impact on the well being and safety of young people.

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Leadership and management

A clear Statement of Purpose is in place and sets out what the home intends to do. This ensures that young people and other stakeholders know what to expect from the home. There is an updated children's guide that has been put in place since the last inspection. Young people benefit from having their privacy upheld and information about them is kept confidentially. Records are well maintained and safely stored.

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Leadership and management

Staffing levels reflect the needs and numbers of young people placed in the home and result in a high level of support to young people. Lone working is supported by a lone working protocol although there is no lone working policy in place. Staff are well informed of the protocol. Since the last inspection the senior management have introduced more robust management of staff. There is regular supervision, team meetings and handover sessions and this promotes strong team work and a consistent approach to young people's care. As a result, young people are well cared for. Staff receive training which equips them with the skills they need to care for young people safely and keep them up to date with professional and legal developments. Young people are very positive about the staff and feel they can trust them.

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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 main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made against the Inspections of children’s homes – framework for inspection and the evaluation schedule for the inspection of children's homes.

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