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

Good

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The young person is becoming increasingly safer because the staff have helped her to reduce risk taking behaviours, including going missing from home.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Young people build trusted and secure relationships with the adults working in the home and feel well cared for.

p.3

The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff know young people well, listen to them and invest time in them on a daily basis. Staff provide clear boundaries regarding safe and acceptable behaviour.  The young person is now fully engaged in education and is making significant progress.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Young people are actively and positively involved in activities in the local community, as a result their confidence and self-esteem is improving.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Proactive and effective working relationships with the police and other safeguarding agencies support and protect the young person. Any concerns are immediately shared.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The staff team is qualified and competent to deliver high quality child care.  The young person plays a significant part in the running of the home. However, at times they struggle to engage fully in their independence programme.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Records including health plans, placement plans and education plans do not contain up-to-date information.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff receive regular supervision and training so they have the skills and knowledge to meet the needs of the young person. However, the records do not demonstrate that all staff have had their performance and fitness formally appraised.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Staff must help each child to prepare for any moves from the home, this includes supporting the child to develop emotional and mental resilience to cope without the home's support and, where the child is moving to live independently, practical skills such as cooking, housework, budgeting and personal self- care.(The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 17 paragraph 3.27)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that, in line with their individual health plans and ethos of the home, children are offered advice, support and guidance on their health and well-being. Staff should have the relevant skills and knowledge to be able to help children understand, and where necessary work to change negative behaviours in keys areas of health and well-being such as, but not limited to, nutrition and healthy diet, exercise and use of tobacco.(The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 35 paragraph 7.18)

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Recommendations

 Ensure the performance and fitness of all staff is formally appraised at least once annually. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 61 paragraph 13.5)

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Recommendations

 All children's case records must be kept up-to-date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. This specifically relates to the placement plan, health care plan and education plan.(The Guide to the Quality Care Standards, page 62 paragraph 14.3)

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Information about this children's home

The home is owned and managed by a private organisation. It provides care and accommodation for one young person with emotional and or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

07/07/2015 CH - Interim sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

10/02/2014 CH - Interim Inadequate Progress

p.5

good

Since the last inspection, the young person has made good progress in terms of her education, behaviour and emotional resilience. They have built trusted and secure relationships with the adults working in the home, the caring environment has helped to stabilise her life. The young person said, ‘I used to do reckless stuff and I don’t go missing anymore. I didn’t want to get close to people…now I have good relationships with (names of staff)…they are really easy to talk to and they have helped me with my relationship with my mum.′ Her mother said, ‘they are brilliant, she has come on so much.′

p.6

good

Staff work closely with education providers to ensure the young person’s full participation in their education. When she refuses to attend they reinforce the importance of regular attendance. As a result, she is now achieving 100% attendance and is very focused on achieving a number of GCSEs this summer. The young person is ambitious and has aspirations; she wants to go onto higher education. An educational professional said, ‘her attitude is completely different…I’ve been liaising closely with the home…her progress is unbelievable.′

p.6

good

Staff make sure the young person has access to health care services when they need them. They are fully supported to talk about their health choices and encouraged to participate in a smoking cessation programmes, however so far they have chosen not to engage. The young person does not always choose to eat healthy and nutritious meals, although they were supported by the staff recently to seek advice about this from a dietician.

p.6

good

Staff act as positive role models and through regular one-to-one sessions help the young person to reflect on their past and understand their personal circumstances. As a result, their feelings of self-worth increase and they feel valued and respected. They benefit from a staff team who have a very good understanding of their needs, listen to them and invest time in them. Staff ensure they are actively involved in making decisions about their care. The young person said, ‘shows how much they know me, they remembered me looking at a Vamps CD and have bought me tickets to see them in April.′

p.6

good

The young person engages in a number of interests and hobbies, she particularly enjoys drama and is a member of a local drama group. She had a lead part in their recent Christmas production and is busy rehearsing for the auditions for the next production. She is also very busy writing her own play and collecting costumes for this. She said she also enjoys spending time with the staff watching DVDs. The young person is an avid reader and staff actively encourage this.

p.6

good

Staff promote contact between the young person and her family. They work closely with members of her family to help build relationships because they understand the importance of contact on her emotional well-being. In addition, she is able to see her friends and they regularly have sleep overs at each other’s houses.

p.7

good

Staff encourage the young person to develop her independence skills, they have implemented a semi-independence plan that consists of having a budget, shopping and cooking at the weekends. However, there has been little success with this plan because she has contact most weekends.

p.7

good

The young person confirms that they feel safe and they can talk to the staff if they are worried or concerned. Staff are very aware of her risks and vulnerabilities and good systems are in place to ensure she is effectively safeguarded. There is a strong, robust and proactive response that reduces the risk of harm to individuals. For example, a recent concern was reported to appropriate safeguarding agencies and appropriate action taken to keep her safe.

p.7

good

Prior to coming to live at the home the young person was frequently missing and engaging in risk-taking behaviour; this is not an issue at this time. Staff have a good understanding of the missing from care protocols. Staff understand the risks that the internet and social media may pose, including grooming and abuse. The young person confirms that staff talk to her about how to keep safe. She is currently engaged in some preventative work with a specialist agency to help her understand the risks around child sexual exploitation. She said, ‘they talk to me about good relationships and bad ones.′ She also confirmed that the staff keep in touch with her via her mobile phone when she is away from the home and this helps her to stay safe. Staff provide clear boundaries and highly effective behaviour management strategies, which have, over time, reduced the incidences of challenging behaviour. The young person responds well to praise and incentives. The young person

p.7

good

agreed that the sanctions are reasonable and fair. She said, ‘I don’t think I deserve it at the time but when I look back I know I did…the staff do talk to me about it.′ This reflection supports her to understand the impact of her behaviour and to learn to take responsibility for her actions. The home does not use physical restraint.

p.8

good

Safe recruitment procedures ensure all new staff are vetted prior to their employment. In addition the home provides a physically safe and secure environment and detailed risk assessments support the young person to take age- appropriate risks.

p.8

good

The suitably qualified and experienced Registered Manager has been in post since 2005. He is extremely passionate about improving outcomes for young people. He is also registered to manage another two single bedded homes, but divides his time effectively between them.

p.8

good

Staff confirm they are well supported by the manager and they receive regular supervision. They recognise the importance of this because it assists them in their work. A member of staff said, ‘it helps my development…if you say you’re unsure about something then he’ll help you because he is very keen on making sure you know how to do things right. He is good.′ However; it is unclear from the supervision record when staff last had their appraisal. That said, staff have access to good training and development opportunities to ensure they can meet the needs of the young person. This includes attending a recent training event run by a specialist service regarding sexual exploitation and keeping young people safe on the internet.

p.8

good

There have been some changes to the staff team since the last inspection. However, a small core staff team has remained stable. They work effectively as a team which contributes to the positive care the young person receives. She has formed some very positive attachments to key members of the team. Staff work well together to cover any gaps in the rota to ensure the young person continues to receive a continuity of care.

p.8

good

The home is achieving its aims and objectives as set out in the Statement of Purpose. The manager and staff work proactively and effectively with other agencies to secure positive outcomes for the young person. For example, working with educational professionals to ensure good educational progress.

p.9

good

At the last inspection three requirements and one recommendation was made. The manager has addressed these to improve the quality of care and outcomes for the young person. These included engaging with services required to meet the young person’s needs and supporting her to resume full-time education. The manager promotes the development of the service through his own monitoring and an independent visitor also undertakes regular monthly visits. The manager and registered provider are currently working with the visitor, to see how his monitoring can be further improved to ensure high quality care practice. The manager demonstrates a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home, and can demonstrate improvement over a sustained period.

p.9

good

The young person’s experiences and progress are good. Her case records reflect her everyday life and some of the work that is undertaken with her. However, some plans, including the education plan, have not been updated to reflect her achievements. This is not impacting on the high quality care she receives.

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection.

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What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children's home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children's home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children's home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of looked after children is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place, however, the children's home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children's home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

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What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children's home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children's home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This 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 Children's

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Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. the guidance raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, workbased learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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