Children's Home run by Crystal Care Solutions Limited in Staffordshire

Good

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

p.2

The children's home provision is good because:

 The current young person is safe. Staff rigorously follow safeguarding protocols when the young person makes allegations. Complaints are quickly and thoroughly investigated.  The present young person is making excellent academic progress. His attendance has improved and he is engaging in learning for his GCSEs.  There has been a significant reduction in the young person’s incidents. Staff manage complex behaviours well, effectively implementing de-escalation strategies.  The current young person is engaging with therapy. Staff support this process and work collaboratively with the therapists.  The present young person has good relationships with the staff team. The staff team knows him and provides good-quality personalised care which meets his needs.  Consistency in behaviour management is a strength of this home. This has helped the young person to make progress.  Relationships with placing authorities are good. The staff team is good at

p.3

The children's home provision is good because:

communicating with other professionals and sharing relevant information.  There is a registered manager in post who staff say supports them well. The deputy manager provides further support to staff. Both are committed to providing a supportive environment in which the present young person can make progress.  One requirement regarding the personalisation of the home and three recommendations have been made during this inspection.

p.3

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.

p.4

Requirement Due date

6: The quality and purpose of care standard In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard, the registered person must ensure that staff: (2)(b)(vi) help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult; (vii) provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably. 08/12/2016

p.4

Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Staff supervision must enable staff to reflect and act upon how their own feelings and behaviour may be affected by the behaviour of the children that they care for ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 39, paragraph 8.15).  The registered person is responsible for ensuring that all staff consistently follow the home's policies and procedures for the benefit of the children in the home's care ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 54, paragraph 10.12).  Children should be encouraged by staff to see the home's records as 'living documents' supporting them to view and contribute to the record in a way that reflects their voice on a regular basis (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.19).

p.4

Information about this children's home

This home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home specialises in providing a therapeutic environment for young people who display sexually harmful behaviours.

p.5

Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 29/03/2016 Full Requires Improvement 14/12/2015 Full Inadequate 10/02/2015 Full Good 19/09/2014 Registration

p.5

Good

The current young person makes good progress across all areas of his development. Personalised plans take into account all of the young person’s needs and are regularly reviewed. Staff are able to support him emotionally and practically. The young person is making excellent progress within education. His attendance is good and he is engaging with clubs. Staff encourage him educationally. The young person has recently started studying for his art GCSE with both the school and staff recognising that art is a subject that he is good at and which provides him with a focus. A school staff member says, ‘The home is fabulous. Communication is fabulous. They are pleased with how he is doing. Nothing is too much for them. They come in to speak to me and we keep each other updated, which is good. He is happy and speaks well of the home.’ Behaviour management plans provide clear guidance to staff. Although the plans

p.6

Good

are personalised, the present young person’s views are not always evident within his behaviour management plans. Staff know the young person and so the consistent staff team is able to implement effective behaviour management strategies. The staff team communicates with other professionals, such as the young person’s therapists, and seeks advice and guidance from them. This provides him with a consistent team approach. Staff monitor incidents in the home and try to identify triggers and patterns to behaviour. This has resulted in a decrease in the frequency of incidents in the home. The young person’s social worker says, ‘There has been an improvement within his behaviour. The amount of incidents has reduced. Incidents have been more significant but the frequency is less. He has good relationships with some of the staff. They are good at engaging him in therapy and they are creative in identifying strategies to keep him engaged.

p.6

Good

I receive a lot of updates from staff.’ Key working sessions are good. They are focused and purposeful. Key working sessions cover a range of topics such as safe and appropriate relationships, how to make and keep friendships, hygiene and anger management. Staff regularly consult the current young person to seek his views on the care that he is receiving and also his views on the progress that he feels he is making. Staff then use this information to inform the care that they provide to him. Although staff encourage his independence, there are no plans in place as to how they will be encouraging and building the young person’s independence skills. Consequently, the young person’s preparation for independence lacks focus and progress. Overall, the present young person enjoys positive daily experiences. Staff and the young person enjoy positive relationships with one another. They encourage him to take part in a range of activities such as fishing, den building, and football and

p.6

Good

youth clubs. The young person enjoys spending time with the staff team. Staff support his relationships with his family both through face-to-face contact and also by keeping his family updated about his progress. This has helped the young person to build positive relationships with his immediate family. The home is large and spacious. It is able to accommodate up to four young people and is a very large home for one person. While the young person’s room is nicely decorated and maintained, as well as personalised, some other communal areas of the home lack personalisation or a sense of being lived in. Some parts of the home are in need of maintenance. For example, in some areas the blinds are broken and there is a broken desk on one of the home’s landings.

p.7

Good

Risk management plans provide clear guidance to staff as to how to keep the current young person safe. Staff risk assess situations prior to activities and while on activities. Currently, staff are trying to promote the young person’s independence when on activities while managing the potential risks. The registered manager and staff regularly review risk assessments and amend them according to the young person’s needs, and in consultation with his therapists and other professionals. While the significance and severity of some incidents has increased, the frequency of incidents and physical interventions has reduced. This is due to a consistent approach to behaviour management and risk management. Boundaries are consistent and the registered manager has put into place a new consequences system. This has provided clarity for everyone and consistency. Good recording of physical interventions evidence that staff focus on de-escalation

p.7

Good

strategies and using their relationships with the present young person as opposed to restraint. After physical interventions, the registered manager makes sure that the young person has opportunity to discuss the physical intervention itself. Any complaints or allegations are reported to the designated officer in line with the organisation’s safeguarding policies and protocols. When the young person leaves the home, staff follow him and effectively implement the missing from home protocol. Incidents of going missing are rare. Partnership working with other agencies has meant that there has been a consistent and joined up approach to managing incidents. Judgement grade

p.7

Good

There is a registered manager in post who is qualified up to national vocational qualification level 5 in leadership and management. A deputy manager supports the registered manager. The deputy manager is currently studying towards her national vocational qualification level 5 in leadership and management. The registered manager is focused on making improvements within the home. He has good monitoring tools which identify the current young person’s progress. The registered manager uses staff meetings as an opportunity for staff to review incidents within the home and identify triggers for the young person’s behaviours. The registered manager knows the young person and the progress that he has made. He has a clear plan for supporting the young person’s progress further. This means that care is purposeful and planned. Partnership working is good. The registered manager encourages staff to communicate with other professionals and seek their advice and guidance. This

p.8

Good

results in good-quality partnership working. The registered manager has linked in with the local policing team to put together a location risk assessment which is detailed and up to date. Communication with placing authorities is good. Consequently, the present young person receives a consistent and joined up approach to his care and placement aims. The registered manager supports staff to learn from safeguarding incidents and complaints. He ensures that he thoroughly investigates all of the young person’s allegations. Safeguarding policies and protocols are followed. Leaders and managers have taken effective action when there have been complaints. Learning from these incidents has been identified, specifically around staff following the home’s policies and procedures regarding confidentiality and professional boundaries. Staff say that they feel well supported, ‘I get good support here. I get a lot of

p.8

Good

praise off the registered manager. The team has worked well together and management has been supportive to all of us.’ Supervisions are frequent. However, on occasion they lack reflection. After significant incidents, the registered manager makes sure that staff have a debrief. This allows them the opportunity to reflect on specific incidents as to what aspects of their practice were effective. The current young person receives good-quality care from a reflective staff team. The home is delivering its aims and objectives as set out within its statement of purpose.

p.8

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’.

p.9

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

p.9

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.

p.9

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

p.10

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 .

p.10

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,

p.11

Information about this inspection

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

p.11

Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.11

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

p.11