Children's Home run by Crystal Care Solutions Limited in Stoke-on-Trent

Unique reference number SC358638 Inspector Elaine Cray Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Registered person Crystal Care Solutions Limited Registered person address Nelson House, Boat Horse Road Kidsgrove STOKE-ON-TRENT ST7 4JA Responsible individual James Maxwell O'Leary Registered manager Kevin Mark Brammer Date of last inspection 28/05/2014 2 of 7 Inspection date 10/02/2015

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Previous inspection adequate Enforcement action since last inspection none

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This inspection

This home was judged adequate at the last full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judge that it has sustained effectiveness .

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This inspection

There is a range of continuing adequate outcomes for young people who have lived at this home since the last inspection. Some young people successfully move on from the home, returning to their local community and reunification with family. Other young people face strict restriction on their free time and require high levels of staff supervision due to risk taking behaviours. All young people, including some who come from poor starting points, maintain adequate levels of safety and make progress.

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This inspection

For example, while some young people do not attend fulltime education, their few hours of education per week is an improvement on previous attendance. Young people’s relationships with staff indicate some level of attachment as young people are less violent and challenging since coming to the home. These growing attachments enable young people to begin to accept support. This is evident when staff persistence helps young people attend health appointments and have outstanding immunisations and health checks.

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This inspection

Staff work hard to find education placements for young people with complex behaviour, risk taking activities and public protection issues. Delays in obtaining personal education plans and up-to-date statements about educational needs hinder early engagement in education. While some of these shortfalls result from placing and local authority responsibilities, resources to enable complex young people to connect with alternative and specialised learning require improvement.

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This inspection

Some young people are negative about their experiences at the home. They say they lack socialisation, cannot attend mainstream school, and have no free time on their own due to the constant supervision by staff. However, such limitations are legal requirements. Compatibility assessments are effective in identifying significant risks suitably managed in this single placement children’s home. While young people 3 of 7 express frustration with their placement, they are more stable because there are fewer incidents of violence and risk of harm to others. Staff do their utmost to engage them in a range of activities such as trips to the gym, football, youth club, martial arts, cinema and shopping.

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This inspection

Social workers have a positive view of the home. They fully appreciate the commitment of staff to support complex and sometimes very extreme behaviours. Professionals are confident that the staff manage high levels of risk well. They are very pleased with staff ability to work in partnership with placing authorities, therapeutic services, legal services and safeguarding agencies. This partnership working promotes young people’s welfare and promotes public safety.

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This inspection

The service sustains effectiveness because the manager and staff work hard to meet the statutory requirements and recommendations from the previous inspection. Developments impact positively on the quality of care for young people. Improved record keeping, more focused care planning and bespoke transition planning are now effective in supporting young people’s care.

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This inspection

Professionals also have a positive view of the work carried out by staff to support and prepare young people to leave the home and return to family life. Social workers say they, ‘have nothing but praise’ for the staff who were ‘instrumental’ in driving transition planning forward. They believe that young people’s successful return to family life is, ‘due to the consistent messages’ that young people got from the staff while living at the home and during the transition.

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This inspection

Lapses in the day-to-day cleaning and maintenance in the home compromise the positive impact of re-decoration, new carpets, and furnishings in the house. Staff took action during the inspection to clean, tidy and make improvements to the house. However, the state of young people’s bedrooms continues to deteriorate. Bedrooms are dirty and furniture damaged due to poor behaviour by young people. Incentives for young people to tidy their rooms have no impact and the lack of staff intervention promotes the wrong message about the unacceptable standards in young people’s bedrooms.

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This inspection

Care plans are clear, easily understood, and cover all aspects of young people’s needs. Routine review and needs-led adjustments to care plans and risk management meet the on-going challenges presented by young people. Placing risk assessment at the core of the care framework prioritises and promotes their safety. This rigour maintains effective staffing levels so young people are safe, able to take part in activities and benefit from appropriate contact with their family and local community.

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This inspection

Management of the home is effective because the manager now gives exclusive time to management tasks as well as working face to face with young people. Monitoring is robust and the manager gives priority to staff training. Staff feel supported and develop due to good quality and regular supervision. 4 of 7 While progress for some young people is slow and engagement a constant challenge for staff; social workers’ comments such as, ‘I cannot fault them. I have no concerns they are not doing enough’ exemplify the commitment of the management and staff team. 5 of 7

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Information about this children’s home

The children's home is part of an organisation operated by a private company. The home is registered to care for one young person aged eight to 17 years, with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/05/2014 Full adequate 24/01/2014 Interim good progress 01/05/2013 Full good 17/12/2012 Interim inadequate progress

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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 young people’s bedrooms are kept clean and reasonably decorated and maintained. (Regulation 31 (2) (e)) 30/04/2015

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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 the home has high expectations of all children and staff. This is with particular attention to maintaining acceptable standards in young people’s bedrooms (NMS 3.1)  encourage young people to take responsibility for their behaviour, in a way that is appropriate to their age and abilities. This is with particular 6 of 7 attention to staff’s consistent implementation of incentive plans and behaviour management plans for young people (NMS 3.6)  help young people to achieve their educational or training goals. This includes providing support, facilities, and opportunities as needed. Staff should work with a child's education provider to maximise each child's achievement and to minimise any underachievement. (NMS 8.4) Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Recommendations

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What inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspections we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection.

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Information 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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Information 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 framework of inspection for children's homes.

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