Children's Home run by Crystal Care Solutions Limited in Cheshire East

Unique reference number SC460800 Inspector Marian Denny 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 Peter Rowlinson Date of last inspection 01/08/2014 2 of 6 Inspection date 19/03/2015

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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 improved effectiveness .

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This inspection

This home has made good progress since the last inspection. One recommendation has been made in this inspection which relates to a maintenance issue in the home.

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This inspection

The home now has a Registered Manager who is suitably experienced and qualified to carry out his responsibilities. He has several years’ experience in the residential care working with children and young people and was previously the deputy manager in this home prior to his appointment as Registered Manager. He has achieved NVQ level 3 in working with children and young people and has obtained a level 5 Diploma in the Management of Children’s Homes. He demonstrates a real commitment to improving the standards in the home and is striving to make it an ‘outstanding’ home. He is committed to staff’s continued professional development, so that they can improve their skills and knowledge through training. He is also equally committed to his own continued professional development and is looking to undertake further higher qualifications in the work.

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This inspection

The Registered Manager has taken robust action to address the recommendations made at the last inspection. The environmental issues raised have been addressed. The manager ensures the home only provides accommodation for children whose assessed needs can be reasonably expected to be met. Staff therefore have all the necessary training and competency to meet these needs. He also ensures staff disciplinary procedures are followed in practice. The Statement of Purpose has now been revised so that it is more user-friendly and can be easily understood by any parent or person with parental responsibility. The children’s guide has also been revised and contains helpful information for young people about how they can contact their independent reviewing officer. Notifications of significant events are now notified to Ofsted within 24 hours.

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This inspection

Since the last inspection, some young people have left the home. Records clearly 3 of 6 demonstrate that the planning of the moves and the work undertaken by staff has been good. As a consequence, young people have settled well in their new homes.

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This inspection

The young people living in this home are happy, settled, and safe. They engage very well with staff and are making good progress. They enjoy a range of positive experiences as a result of living in this home. For example, they engage in local community facilities, such as football, golf, ten pin bowling, as well as going to the gym and cinema.

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This inspection

Some young people who have not wanted to engage with education, health professionals and other services before being placed here, now attend school, are up to date with their health appointments and are engaging with other specialised services. Other young people are completing college courses which will aid them in their future career choices. This shows that the home is proactive in ensuring young people understand and receive prompt services to meet their needs. This ensures young people are afforded the same opportunities as their peers, are in good health and are achieving within education.

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This inspection

Staff also work hard to support young people in developing their independence skills using a well-planned programme. As a result, young people keep their room tidy, learn how to shop and cook for themselves and to manage their finances. The independence work carried out by staff enables some young people to move to semi-independent accommodation and from there they can ultimately move on to their own accommodation.

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This inspection

Young people are safe and protected from harm. Staff demonstrate a significant degree of initiative and confidence in dealing with potentially difficult safeguarding issues. It is clear that any form of bullying is unacceptable in this home and this is confirmed by young people. Since the last inspection, no young people have gone missing from this home. Indeed incidents of young people going missing are extremely rare. This is as a result of the level of staff supervision and young people’s detailed risk assessments.

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This inspection

Staff actively support and encourage young people to develop positive behaviour and social skills. They ensure good behaviour is rewarded and, if they use sanctions, these are relevant and reasonable. Where possible, sanctions are agreed with the young people concerned. Staff only use physical restraint to keep young people or others safe. It is appropriately recorded and there is good managerial oversight to promote any learning. There have only been a few incidents involving the use of physical restraint since the last inspection. There have been some complaints made by young people and one by staff. These have all been appropriately responded to and satisfactory resolved.

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This inspection

The manager and staff have effective working relationships with a number of partners to promote young people's well-being and safety. They work well with the community police, one of whom visits the home on a very regular basis. This 4 of 6 enables the young people to engage with the police on a more positive basis and listen to their advice. They also understand the impact of their behaviour on others and have better relationships with them.

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This inspection

Staff engage well with health professionals and other specialist health services. They seek advice appropriate advice so that young people's health needs are effectively met. There is regular contact with social workers and independent reviewing officers to promote good communication and consistent care. This is clearly illustrated by one professional, who said, ‘I wish more management would take the positive approach which you did. It was a fantastic support to us, as a police service.’ This close partnership and the collaborative working that takes place ensures everyone involved with the young person is working together in a consistent way. Consequently, this greatly improves outcomes for the young people.

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This inspection

The Registered Manager has introduced some changes since being appointed. For example, he has improved communication between the three teams through the use of regular senior manager’s meetings, as well as staff team meetings. He has worked hard to improve the culture of the home so it is no-longer a ‘Blaming’ culture but rather a ‘Can do’ and ‘learning organisation’. He has worked hard to support staff to share their knowledge, as well as to develop their knowledge and skills and adopt different ways of working. This has resulted in the home’s standard of care really improving.

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This inspection

The manager clearly demonstrates a good understanding of the strengths and shortfalls of the home and continually works with staff to develop their practice. Both he and his team are extremely supportive to the young people and work hard to ensure all their needs are met. He also keeps up-to-date with legislative changes, for example, the Children’s Homes Regulations 2015, and is currently working on their effective implementation in the home. At the time of this inspection, the whole staff team were working extremely hard to attain the highest standard of practice and the best possible outcomes for all the young people in their care.

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This inspection

One shortfall was identified in this inspection and relates to the environment, specifically to the tiles surrounding the barbeque, which required repairing or replacing. 5 of 6

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Information about this children’s home

This children's home is owned by a private company. It is a specialist service that provides care and accommodation for up to four young males.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/08/2014 Full adequate 19/12/2013 Full good

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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 provides a comfortable and homely environment and is well maintained and decorated, specifically to the tiles surrounding the barbeque, which required repairing or replacing. (NMS 10.3) 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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