Children's home run by Crossways Care Ltd in Tewkesbury

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 registered manager and staff team are clear about their responsibilities to safeguard young people. Strong and effective relationships are maintained with safeguarding agencies. Staff follow the safeguarding procedure well when there are concerns about a young person.  The current young person is looked after by a dedicated team that has high aspirations for them. The team is motivated, enthusiastic and has the experience and skills to meet her needs.  The registered manager works closely with other professionals to achieve the best outcomes for the present young person. A social worker said, ‘The staff team has a very good understanding of the young person’s needs, they are good at looking at alternative ways to manage her behaviour and encourage her to reflect on how she can make different choices. Self-harm incidents have reduced as a result.’  Staff have been successful in supporting the current young person to

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The children's home provision is good because:

explore and identify alternative coping strategies when her emotional health declines. This work has contributed significantly to the reduction of self- harm incidents.  The young person is developing life skills, she is attending an alternative education programme that she enjoys. She frequently volunteers her free time to local services, which has enhanced her confidence, developed her social skills and as a result her social life has improved.  The weaknesses identified at this inspection relate to the quality and accuracy of records. The manager’s monitoring of these has lacked effective and robust scrutiny. To date, this has not had a detrimental impact on the current young person’s safety, progress and well-being.

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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 (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard, the registered person must— (2)(g) demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on— (ii) feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; (h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 29 July 2015

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Requirement Due date

35: Behaviour management policies and records

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— within 48 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, the registered person or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so— has spoken to the user about the measure; and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and in particular ensure that any methods used or steps detailed to avoid the need to use a measure are actioned (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i)(ii). 29 July 2015

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair and the principles as set out in paragraph 9.5 are respected (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36).  Ensure that all children’s case records are kept up to date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. In particular, ensure that care plans and personal journals detail the current needs and behaviours of the young person (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3).  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62,

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for three children with emotional or behavioural difficulties. The home was set up by a small private company which is now part of a large national provider. The home’s statement of purpose confirms that the home can accommodate children irrespective of gender up to the age of 18 years.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Good

Good transition and care planning have contributed to the success of the current young person’s placement at the home. She has made good progress and her care plan aims and objectives are well met. The young person’s social worker is pleased with the care the young person received and said, ‘The care team has gone above and beyond my expectations. They have a good understanding of the young person’s needs and are skilled at identifying alternative ways to help her manage her behaviour. I am really impressed with the quality of care and support provided to the young person.’ The care team is enthusiastic, motivated and committed in their work. They have been successful in developing a positive and respectful relationship with the present young person. They act as good parents. Staff speak positively about the young person and are proud of her achievements. One member of staff said, ‘The progress the young person has made is amazing, we are so very proud of her.’ The

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Good

staff team are taking the young person out for a meal to celebrate her six-month anniversary in placement. Considering the young person’s placement history this is a significant achievement. The present young person’s confidence has grown significantly, she has developed a broader range of skills and interests and has established friendships within the local and farming community. She has high aspirations. She is determined and focused on achieving her goals. The young person contributed to the inspection and she said, ‘I want to be a farmer, and ideally I would like my own farm.’ The staff ensure that the young person is encouraged to peruse her interests and desires. She frequently enjoys days out attending agricultural events and regularly completes work experience at local farms. As a result, the current young person is maintaining her interests and developing her skills and knowledge in animal welfare and care.

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Good

The current young person is looked after by a staff team that has like-minded interests and talents. For example, one member of staff lives and works on her family’s farm. This means that the young person can discuss her day’s events and experiences with an adult who understands the challenges associated with farming. They frequently discuss breeds of animals and animal care. Another member of staff, who enjoys outdoor activities, pre-plans his shift with the young person. On the day of inspection, they prepared home-made beef burgers to barbecue on the beach to enjoy after they had finished bodyboarding in the sea. The present young person has recently expressed an interest in using her qualifications by volunteering for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, which is currently being considered. Since living at the home, the present young person has developed a broader range of skills and interests and established social friendships

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Good

within the community. The current young person is in good general health. The staff ensure that she has access to and receives the right care for her physical and mental health.. With staff support the young person has made exceptionally good progress in managing and understanding her own mental health needs. She is now able to identify when her mood is deteriorating and is able and confident to talk to staff. Significant incidents of self-harm have reduced as a result. Sanctions are rarely imposed for negative and unwanted behaviour. However, when used, the care staff have not considered alternative restorative consequences. This means that the present young person is not always encouraged to learn from and take responsibility for unwanted behaviour. For example, in response to displaying negative behaviour towards a social worker the young person was prohibited from accessing the home’s Wi-Fi for seven days. This

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Good

action is not conducive to her learning and development.

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Good

Since the previous inspection, there have been four child protection concerns that have required the manager to liaise with local authorities and the Local Safeguarding Children Board. A chronology, that is accessible to all staff, details the actions taken and who she has liaised with. Notifications provided to Ofsted evidence the action taken by the manager in response to these concerns. However, due to the manager being on leave at the time of inspection, the full safeguarding records could not be accessed. The inspector obtained feedback from the young person’s social worker who confirmed that the manager is working closely with all agencies, attending strategy meetings and addressing actions agreed. Staff were clear about their responsibilities to safeguard the young person. The current young person talks to staff about the use of her mobile phone, in particular, individuals that she is talking to on social media. This enables staff to

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Good

talk to her openly about friendships, relationships and keeping safe online. The young person said that she feels safe and named individual staff members who she shares her concerns or any anxieties with. The present young person is looked after by a staff team that has the skills to form respectful and supportive relationships. Observations of staff interaction with the current young person demonstrate that they maintain good boundaries while enjoying spending time with her. Care staff spoken to say that the progress that the young person has made is phenomenal, they said that they are proud of her achievements and progress and truly believe that she will succeed in all that she aspires to achieve. Going missing from home records inform that there has been one incident whereby the current young person has been reported as missing. Appropriate action was taken by staff and going missing from home protocols were appropriately followed.

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Good

The staff maintained contact with the young person, searched known areas and frequently communicated with the police. On her return, the staff team discussed their concerns for her safety and collectively identified strategies to prevent further occurrence. However, the staff team has not recorded the safeguarding procedures that they followed and the direct work that they have undertaken with the young person. A return to home interview was completed as required.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager is currently on a planned leave of absence. In response, an interim manager has been appointed to ensure continued management provision. The staff team and the current young person benefited from a three- week handover process between the managers. During this inspection, the interim manager was also on a week’s leave. As a result, a number of records could not be accessed. Therefore, records relating to safeguarding, staff supervision and appraisals could not be reviewed. The manager’s monitoring of records requires improvement. Complex recording systems maintained in the home result in staff duplicating information in a wide range of records. As a result, the records of actions taken by staff are diluted and/or not recorded in the correct document. In addition, not all information is clear, concise and comprehensively completed. For example, staff handover logs, the young person’s journal and incident reports do not always provide an accurate

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Requires improvement

reflection of the young person’s day. The organisation is currently reviewing the home’s recording systems to streamline paperwork. The manager regularly reviews the current young person’s care plan and risk assessments. Handwritten updates evidence this. However, this document is unwieldy and not written in a format that makes it easy for the young person to understand. The lengthy document details historical events and behaviours. While this is critical information, this dilutes critical information that informs staff of the current needs and behaviours of the young person. Records pertaining to physical interventions, significant incidents and sanctions do not comprehensively or consistently provide sufficient detail. They do not reflect actions taken by staff and the support provided after a significant event. The manager’s monitoring of these records requires improvement. She has failed to robustly scrutinise records to identify weaknesses and gaps within them. In

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Requires improvement

addition, the views, wishes and feelings of the current young person are not documented. In response, a new recording system has been recently introduced that will enable the staff and the present young person to reflect on their actions, review decision making and consider alternative strategies. It is too early to evaluate the effectiveness of these new recording systems and procedures. Staff say that they feel well supported and listened to by their managers. They appreciate the managers working alongside them and the high staffing levels help them to support the current young person well. Staff say that they receive supervision that helps them to reflect on their practice and the training opportunities provided are good. The manager ensures that the staff’s skills and interests are compatible with the present young person’s needs. The registered manager has met one of the two requirements and one of the

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Requires improvement

recommendations set at the previous inspection. The independent visitor provides the home with a detailed report of their visit and subsequent findings, which includes consultation with young people, social workers and parents. These reports are mainly informative. However, the manager’s monitoring of the home’s records requires continued improvement to ensure that the records maintained by the staff are clear, concise and factually accurate.

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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 that 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

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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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