Children's Home run by Crossways Care Ltd in Somerset

Unique reference number SC452009 Inspection date 26/02/2014 Inspector Heather Chaplin Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 13/09/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This children's home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care and accommodation to one child who may have emotional and behavioural difficulties or learning disabilities.

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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

The home was rated good at its last inspection in September 2013. Two requirements were made. The first requirement concerned the home's previous use of agency staff to fill gaps in the staff rota. The company terminated its use of a particular agency and since then, there have been no further concerns. The Registered Manager designate ensures that agency staff are not currently used, because this would not support the present young person's complex needs. This requirement is therefore met.

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Progress

The second requirement related to the home's previous practice of allowing restraints to be effected by lone-working staff. Before the last inspection, this had resulted in a staff member and young person falling over during a restraint, which could have resulted in serious injury to one or both of them.

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Progress

Since the last inspection, the technique in question has been used by single members of staff on several occasions, but only when there have been additional staff present, which provides a safeguard for young people. Although the technique is legitimate within the company's chosen restraint method, the manager at this home has instructed staff never to restrain the current young person alone. This requirement is therefore met.

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Progress

The inspection of this single-placement home took place just one week after a long- term resident moved out and another young person moved in. The two young people are at different stages in their journeys through care and consequently, represent two extremes in terms of progress, stability and attachments. They are also very different in terms of their behaviour and risk-taking, so their outcomes are mixed. In such a short period of time, the home has not yet had the opportunity to effect any great changes in the recently-admitted young person's stability and behaviour. These factors are reflected in the judgement of satisfactory progress.

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Progress

The home provides an exceptionally nurturing, warm environment where the quality of care is very high. For example, the home has achieved very good outcomes for the young person who was in placement there for a long period. This young person is now living in a home operated by the same company, where they can develop the necessary life skills to live with another young person.

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Progress

This was a positive and exceptionally well-planned move, which has involved every member of the young person’s original staff team. The inspector spoke with this young person recently during an introductory visit to her new home. The young person is happy and interacting with adults and other young people in a very mature manner. The home has helped this young person to make exceptional progress in terms of confidence and resilience since the last inspection. For example, the young person now has much more secure attachments and has developed significant communication skills. This has increased their capacity to form rewarding relationships in the future and to reach their potential.

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Progress

The home is now caring for another young person with very complex needs. This young person is extremely vulnerable and moved in an emergency, after going missing from their previous placement. While absent from that home for several days, a serious incident took place which resulted in the young person suffering significant harm. The placing authority is monitoring the young person very closely and the home's senior managers are proactively engaged with the police and other professionals to try to ensure their future safety.

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Progress

In the week leading up to this inspection, there have been some further incidents. For example, the new young person has gone missing several times; mostly for periods of short duration but on one occasion, overnight. There have been serious assaults on staff and an incident of fire setting. No harm has come to the young person as a result of these incidents, but they were all potentially hazardous.

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Progress

Although this situation is concerning, the manager can see some early signs of improvement in behaviour. The responsible individual confirmed that six days after the inspection visit, there have been no further incidents. This is positive, but it is still very early days. All the professionals involved with the young person are aware that the young person has little acknowledgement of risk. This could easily lead the young person into further serious situations where their safety is jeopardised. The placing authority is now commissioning specialist therapeutic work to support the young person.

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Progress

Young people attend school and also undertake education in the home, supported by staff. They are active, healthy and enjoy a variety of activities. The manager has undertaken very creative and inspirational work, jointly with the social worker, to improve the quality of family contact. This improves outcomes for young people in terms of their community involvement and identity.

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Progress

The home provides an exceptionally nurturing environment in a compact, attractive rural house, where the layout of the home lends itself to effective supervision for young people. The Registered Manager designate has emphasised to the staff the importance of nurturing young people. Her interactions with the young person are warm, supportive and honest, with very clear boundaries. For example, simple, homely care is prioritised, such as ensuring that baths are run for young people, they are the correct temperature, clothes are freshly laundered and good food is provided. Sometimes small gestures prove to be really important to young people; for example, the manager left a note on the message board to wish the young person well. The young person has kept the note, as it is reassuring. This sound, fundamental childcare practice provides stability for young people. Specifically, it provides a secure base upon which they can start to build resilience and self-esteem.

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Progress

Safety is a very high priority in this home. The home's managers are acutely aware of the risks to young people and have a range of highly-developed strategies in place to reduce these risks. For example, access to money is very tightly managed, because in the past, young people have used money taken from children's homes to help them go missing.

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Progress

Robust strategies are in place to maximise the chances of ensuring the young person's safety, but despite every effort, their behaviour still has the potential to become extremely hazardous. If there is a further incident, there is acknowledgement among the professionals involved that the young person may have to be admitted to secure provision. Discussion with the manager and the responsible individual shows that they are appropriately positive, very proactive but at the same time realistic about the future of the young person in an open children's home.

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Progress

Sanctions, rewards and restraints in the home have all been appropriate and fair. Physical intervention is carefully managed and well recorded. If there is an injury to staff, most but not all restraint records state who the injured party is. Although this is recorded elsewhere and responded to appropriately, the regulation requires this information to be in the restraint book. A requirement has been made.

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Progress

The young person has made a complaint, which is currently under investigation. The home's managers have responded very constructively to this complaint and drove the agency that received the complaint towards an investigation on behalf of the young person. They did far more than they were obliged to do in order to move the issue forward, which demonstrates their objectivity and child-centred practice.

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Progress

There are effective strategies in place with the local police to ensure that there are clear responses to a range of events, for example, when young people go missing. This has helped to protect young people and when they have gone missing, they have usually been found very quickly.

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Progress

The home's manager works very effectively with placing authorities and other professionals to ensure detailed and comprehensive communication. This helps to support young people's progress in the home and promotes their safety through rigorous information-sharing. For example, the responsible individual and deputy head of care attend monthly multi-agency meetings to review the young person's progress and level of risk.

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Progress

The home's former Registered Manager resigned from the post in July 2013. Although there has not been a Registered Manager in post since that time, the company has kept Ofsted well informed. The responsible individual immediately appointed a very able, confident and professional manager who was already in a deputy management role in another home. This person has led the staff extremely effectively and has forged a strong and supportive relationship with both young people. She shows appropriate ambition for the service and her management monitoring systems are focused, with clear, child-centred objectives to help promote excellence in care quality.

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Progress

An application to register the acting manager is progressing well and a successful interview has taken place. The manager has submitted her Level 5 management award assignments for external verification, so her management qualification is almost completed.

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Progress

The manager is very enthusiastic about staff training and has many creative ideas about how to develop her team. She explained that she identifies and builds on staff strengths and matches the staff together in pairs, to provide the best combination for the young person. There is a good balance of male and female staff in the home in order to provide young people with care that reflects the gender balance in the population as a whole. All the staff have worked with the young person in the past, which helps to increase her sense of security. Currently, the young person is on two- to-one staffing with waking night cover, to help ensure her safety.

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Progress

Staff in the home are enthusiastic about their work. They are provided with four- weekly supervision to help support them in a challenging task. The responsible individual explained that clinical supervision is now being provided by a child psychotherapist, to help improve understanding and practice for young people's benefit.

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Progress

The home has been visited every month by a senior manager, who conducts comprehensive visits to comply with Regulation 33. The responsible individual is aware of the recent change in regulations regarding independent visitors and is putting a system in place to accommodate this significant change. Although Regulation 33 and 34 monitoring is completed as it should be, Regulation 33 reports sometimes take some weeks to reach Ofsted. This means that Ofsted's management information about the home is not always up to date. A requirement has been made.

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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

17B (2001) ensure that, within 24 hours of the use of any measure of control, restraint or discipline in a children's home, a written record is made in a volume kept for the purpose which shall include a description of any injury to the child concerned or any other person. In particular; record the names of any staff injured in the restraint book. (Regulation 17B (3) (g)) 30/04/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that the independent person produces a written report about a visit and provide a copy of the report to HMCI. In particular, ensure that reports reach Ofsted promptly. (Regulation 33 (9) (a)) 30/04/2014

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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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