Chrysalis Assessment and Support Centre

Unique reference number SC435330 Inspection date 9 June 2015 Inspector Debbie Foster Ceri Evans Type of inspection Full

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Setting address 12 Tennyson Avenue, Bridlington, North Humberside YO15 2EP

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Email terea@chrysalisassessmentcentre.co.uk

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Registered person Dragonfly Childrens Services Limited

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Registered manager Rachel Staves Responsible individual Teresa June Scarlet

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Date of last inspection 29/11/2012 Chrysalis Assessment and Support Centre Inspection report for residential family centre Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Brief description of the service

This service is a Residential Family Centre. It comprises of four family rooms over two floors. Each room has a sink and two of them have en suite facilities. The communal space includes a bath/shower room, a kitchen/dining room, a separate dining room and a living room. There is a storage area for prams and an outside garden and soft play area.

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The overall experiences of children and parents

The overall experiences of children and parents good

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The overall experiences of children and parents

Parents and professionals said priority is given to keeping children safe. Staff said the outcome for children is always a positive one, to be nurtured and safe with their birth family or with a new family.

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The overall experiences of children and parents

Parents said ‘We were welcomed on arrival, after a very long journey. We were anxious but staff put us at ease. They explained everything about the service and our assessment. This really helped. ’ Another said, ‘we get on with all the staff, they are very supportive, explain things, we feel able to check things out with them.’

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The overall experiences of children and parents

Parents are consulted and provided with constant feedback from key workers and support staff. This includes how their assessment is going, with the positives, the progress being made and about the areas which still require development and change.

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The overall experiences of children and parents

Communication and links with professionals have improved overtime, being more embedded and consistent. This ensures everyone is kept up to date with the progress of the assessment at all times.

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The overall experiences of children and parents

Each family’s diversity is considered and supported to ensure they receive an individual assessment and support plan which gives them every opportunity to succeed. Parent’s capacity to change and the impact of particular behaviours on their child is assessed by qualified social workers.

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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, Residential Family Centres Regulations 2002 and the National Minimum Standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Reg. Requirement Due date

21 Fitness of premises The registered person shall not use premises for the purposes of a residential family centre unless- (a) the premises are suitable for the purpose of achieving the aims and objectives set out in the Statement of Purpose. (2) the registered person shall ensure that (c) all parts of the residential family centre are kept clean and reasonably decorated ( Regulation 21 (1) (a) (2) (c) In particular, decoration, furniture and fittings are kept to a good standard throughout the service at all times.

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28/08/2015

17 Employment of staff The registered person shall ensure that all persons employed by him receive appropriate training, supervision and appraisal. (Regulation 17 (5) (a)) In particular, all staff receive supervision at regular intervals.

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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 training and development programme is evaluated for effectiveness at regular intervals and is updated as necessary. ( NMS 16.3) In particular, the effectiveness of the training undertaken by staff

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Recommendations

ensure the overall number, competence and deployment of staff, both as a staff group and on individual shifts, can fulfil the centre’s Statement of Purpose and meet the needs of all the parents and children resident at the centre. ( NMS 15.1) In particular, staffing levels deployed at weekends

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Recommendations

ensure that the manager regularly monitors, in line with the residential family centre regulations 2002, as amended; all the records kept by the centre to ensure compliance with the centre’s policies, to identify any concerns about specific incidents and to identify patterns and trends. Immediate action is taken to address any issues raised by this monitoring. (NMS 19.2) In particular, the environment, staffing levels, effectiveness of training and staff supervision.

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Quality of assessment

Children benefit greatly from an assessment that is child focussed on safeguarding and their wellbeing. The assessment is individual to the diverse needs of the family. It is thorough and evidence based on the parent’s skills and capacity to care for their child. There is a strong emphasis to analyse the parent’s ability and capacity to change. This ensures parents are supported to safeguard, nurture and maintain their child’s welfare and development effectively.

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Quality of assessment

The assessment is undertaken by a qualified social worker. The final assessment report links directly to the specified areas of the local authority’s instructions. This gives conclusion and recommendations on the identified risks and concerns. Professionals commented on the standard of the assessments, they said, ‘The assessment was good, evidence based and fair,’ another said, ‘The staff have a good knowledge of the family; the assessment was of a good quality.’

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Quality of assessment

Staff have a very clear understanding of the assessment process and the individual elements to be explored, evidenced and analysed for each family. This is achieved by the training they receive and following the support plans devised by the qualified social worker. Staff demonstrate a good knowledge of the specific assessment areas for each family and these mirror the directions given by the local authority, the written support plans and assessments records. This supports the service in providing a good assessment focussed on the needs, welfare and safety of the child.

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Quality of assessment

Parents experience very good levels of consultation throughout their assessment. Parents said, ‘When we first arrived, the staff explained the assessment process to us, so that we knew what to expect. It is hard at first but this was helpful,’ and another said, ‘We are informed at each session how the observation or group work has gone. This can be positive or the staff highlight areas where things need to improve and we can then do this. We are asked how we think it went, give our views and these are recorded,’ another parent said, ‘Staff go through all reports with us before they are sent to the social worker, we get a chance to add our comments, even if we don’t agree.’ This demonstrates that families are frequently kept informed and consulted. They are made aware of their rights and well informed of their progress throughout their assessment.

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How well children and parents are protected and helped

The service is good at how well children and parents are protected and helped.

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How well children and parents are protected and helped

Children’s safety is a priority, professionals, staff and parents confirm this. The health visitor said, ‘I feel this is a safe place for families and staff are very vigorous when it comes to checking ID and signing in/out procedures.’ The families attend the health clinic weekly or two weekly. Staff attend with them to give support to all parents. This ensures that the health needs of the babies are monitored regularly. Staff demonstrate a good awareness and understanding on the risk and the impact identified for each family. They support parents well to recognise the risks, to enable them to make the necessary changes to protect their children.

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How well children and parents are protected and helped

Children benefit from the social work and group sessions which take place with parents on positive relationships. They are helped to understand the impact of negative relationships and behaviour on their children. A parent said, ‘The X groups have helped me reflect upon my emotions and how to manage these, they have been really helpful.’

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How well children and parents are protected and helped

Staff are proactive to manage challenging behaviour presented by parents; a professional said, ‘When issues or tensions emerge between residents, staff nip this in the bud quickly and deal with it fairly. Families have every opportunity to air their grievances and resolve issues.’

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How well children and parents are protected and helped

Staff work closely with parents understand the importance of attachment and bonding with their child. They make close observations of parent’s relationship and responses to their child. This promotes the establishment of secure attachments between parents and child.

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How well children and parents are protected and helped

Children are kept safe by the constant presence of staff around the home. Frequent observations, intervention, support and monitoring of families takes place. When parents demonstrate the appropriate level of care and safety of their child, the level of supervision reduces over time in consultation with placing authorities and parents. This forms an essential part of the assessment to ensure the child’s safety and their welfare is promoted.

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How well children and parents are protected and helped

Families are provided with a safe environment in which to live. The kitchen and two bedrooms have recently been decorated. However, some of the accommodation’s decoration, fixtures and fittings are showing signs of wear and tear and some general damage. Some furniture is badly stained; the wall paper in two areas of the play room was peeling, there was a damp area in a bathroom and the built-in wardrobe did not have doors. Consequently, the standard of the quality of accommodation is not meeting the expectations of the Statement of Purpose, a placing authority has raised issues with the provider regarding this.

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Working with partners to improve outcomes

The service is good at working with partners to improve outcomes.

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Working with partners to improve outcomes

The majority of professionals say that they have good working relationships with the service. Regular communication and written updates on the progress of families takes place to support this. Staff attend all review and placement meetings, are fully prepared and aware of the support and protection children require to keep them safe.

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Working with partners to improve outcomes

Health professionals, guardians and solicitors state that the work undertaken with families is consistent and of a good standard. Staff are clear on their roles and responsibility to ensure the welfare and safety of children. They have adapted the assessments to meet the diverse needs of particular parents who have learning needs and where English is not their first language. This assists in providing an holistic support for children and parents.

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Working with partners to improve outcomes

Where concerns and differences have been identified with the service provided. Suitable action has been taken to address these matters with placing authorities and clarify any misunderstandings. This has promoted the continuation of positive working relationships.

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Working with partners to improve outcomes

The service has established and suitable links with the safeguarding children’s board. This facilitates effective communication on child protection matters to ensure suitable action is taken when required.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The effectiveness of leaders and managers is judged good.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The Registered Manager is a qualified social worker with over 10 years practice experience, and is currently undertaking the level 5 Diploma in Leadership for Health and Social Care. She has been a Registered Manager of this service for over 2 years.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Children and parents benefit from a management team who have a clear plan to continually improve. They keep up-to-date with new legislation and have established links with other agencies and professionals. This enables best practice developments to be incorporated into the service and brings good outcomes for children who are kept safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The SOP and parents handbook are comprehensive documents informing commissioning services and parents on what they can expect from the service . These documents set out clearly the ethos and objectives of the residential family centre.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The requirements and recommendations made at the last inspection have been implemented. Routine monthly monitoring of the service has been undertaken by an independent person. The Registered Manager has established and maintained a monitoring system to review the quality of care. Reports have been compiled on the monitoring undertaken and these have been submitted to Ofsted as required. Staff have undertaken appropriate training; in particular in safe medication procedures, first aid, fire safety and sexual exploitation. This has brought further improvement to the overall quality of the service provided to children and parents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The registered person have notified the appropriate authorities where significant welfare and safeguarding matters have taken place. Feedback from professionals indicates that there is regular communication with them. They are kept well informed of incidents, areas of concern and safeguarding matters. As a result, this allows professionals to take the necessary action to protect and safeguard children when required. Children and parents are supported and cared for by staff who have under gone robust recruitment checks. This ensures that they are safe to work with vulnerable children and adults.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Children and parents receive support and guidance consistently from a stable staff team. The core team are well established and knowledgeable about their work and child protection. Overall, staff receive suitable training in essential areas. However, the majority of training undertaken by staff is through online courses. This can limit the exploration of discussion and debate to broaden staff’s learning to extend the quality of their knowledge, understanding and develop their practice further.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Suitable staffing levels ensure children and parents receive appropriate supervision, intervention and monitoring. During the week staffing levels are higher than at weekends. The majority of family appointments are held during the week. This allows staff to support and accompany families where required. However, at weekends the minimum staffing levels limits trips out where parents require continual supervision. This does not always ensure families are afforded reasonable choices to get out and about in the community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The quality of the monitoring of the service has improved. The monthly monitoring undertaken by the regulation 25 visitor is thorough, identifying omissions and areas for improvement, which in the main are then addressed. Monthly auditing is undertaken by the manager along with the completion of an annual review of the service. The senior team have designated service areas to audit on a regular basis. The manager responds well to complaints made about the service from professionals and families. Surveys have been undertaken with parents, placing authorities and solicitors to check on the quality of the service and identify where improvements can be made. However, the manager’s monitoring does not always, evaluate patterns and trends in all areas of the service. For example not all staff are receiving supervision in line with the homes policies. Overall, good systems have been developed to assist in the continual improvement of the quality of the service

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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 inspection framework and the evaluation schedule for the inspection of residential family centres.

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