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

Unique reference number SC063498 Inspection date 10/02/2014 Inspector Pamela Nuckley Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 27/11/2013 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 with emotional or behavioural difficulties 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 inadequate progress .

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Progress

At the last full inspection in November 2013, the overall effectiveness of the service was judged as good. Five recommendations were set to ensure good practice. Two have been met, three are repeated as requirements. Further to this an additional requirement and three recommendations have been set from this inspection.

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Progress

The home is making inadequate progress because young people are not fully safeguarded.

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Progress

All parties, including young people and parents, sign relevant documents to show their agreement to placement plans. However, the records are not clear or up-to- date because old information has not been archived, for example, there are six contact plans on file. As a consequence, staff are not aware of which document is the most current. This causes confusion and does not keep young people safe, for example when there are restrictions on contact. Therefore, young people are not adequately protected. The home is partly successful in ensuring that assessed risks are individual to the needs of young people. However, limitations or restrictions set out in a care plan, placement plan or court order are not fully reflected in the risk assessment and contact plan. This means that young people are not adequately safeguarded and there is inadequate consideration of the risk to staff and the wider community. Staff

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Progress

do not have clear guidance for the action to take should an unsafe situation arise.

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Progress

Some young people within the home choose to eat a limited diet. The home has been proactive in ensuring that a doctor has assessed their overall health. This has resulted, for example, in vitamins being prescribed to supplement the diet. However, the menus within the home do not show that nutritious meals are offered. Therefore, the home does not evidence that young people are being encouraged to eat a healthy balanced diet.

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Progress

Regulation 33 reports include relevant checks set out in regulations and guidance. They have improved since the last inspection and now contain all the detail necessary to sufficiently monitor the quality of care within the home. They include identified areas for improvements and actions for the manager to complete. However, the manager does not demonstrate that he addresses these issues in a timely manner or that the actions are shared with the staff team. Therefore, staff are unaware of the improvements needed and as a result, the monitoring of the quality of care within the home is ineffective. For example, staff are unaware of an action to ensure young people can access an independent service if they were unhappy with any aspect of their care. This means that young people do not have access to independent advocates.

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Progress

The home has been proactive in ensuring that young people receive formal education. However, the home does not have personal education plans in place. This has been highlighted for action within the young person’s last two reviews. Although this is not solely the home’s responsibility, the home cannot demonstrate that they are actively pursuing it. Therefore, staff within the home do not know what level some young people are at academically and this impacts on their ability to support young people with their education.

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Progress

Missing from care is not identified as a current issue. Staff demonstrate that they know the local authority’s missing from home protocol. However, the missing from home risk assessment does not adequately identify all known risks or actions for staff to take if an incident should occur. As a consequence, young people are at risk of not being fully safeguarded.

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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 the children’s home is conducted so as to promote and make proper provision for the safeguarding and welfare of children accommodated there. This is specifically in relation to having robust risk assessments (Regulation 11 (a)) 31/03/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that a placement plan is prepared in consultation with the child's placing authority. In particular in how, on a day to day basis, he will be cared for, and his welfare safeguarded and promoted by the home and any arrangements for contact (Regulation 12 (1b) (a) ( c) 31/03/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that there is a missing child policy. This is specifically in relation to ensuring that the risk assessment covers all known risks and gives guidance to staff of what action to take in light of these risks (Regulation 16 (4) (b)) 31/03/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that children accommodated in a children's home are provided with food that is wholesome, nutritious and sufficiently varied. This is specifically in relation to ensuring a balanced diet is offered and reflected within the home's records. (Regulation 13 (1) (ii) (iv)) 31/03/2014

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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 staff engage and work with schools, colleges, other organisations and the placing authority to support children's education. This is specifically in relation to securing personal education plans for all young people (NMS 8.7)  ensure that young people have access to independent advice and support from adults who they can contact directly and in private about any problems or concerns (NMS 1.5)  ensure that records are clear, up to date and contribute to an understanding of the child's life (NMS 22)  ensure that the registered person takes action to address any issues of concern that they identify or which is raised with them. (NMS 21.9)

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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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