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

Inspection report children’s home: SC390434 1 SC390434 Registered provider: Crystal Care Solutions Limited Company Number 05952454

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to two young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 21 February 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection

None Inspection report children’s home: SC390434 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people feel safe and are safe. Well-planned risk management strategies ensure that young people’s risk-taking behaviours reduce.  Young people make good progress across all areas of their development. Overall, they engage with education or employment.  Staff are committed to the young people that they care for. Young people and staff enjoy positive relationships with one another.  Independence work is a strength of this home. Staff help young people to take responsibility for their decision-making.  Staff are good at supporting young people to maintain positive relationships with their families.  Partnership working is good. The registered manager has established effective working relationships with important agencies such as the police.  There is a stable staff team in place.  The registered manager is supportive of his staff team. He listens to them and respects them.  Management monitoring and oversight are effective. The registered manager

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Key findings from this inspection

consistently reviews the progress of young people. He is ambitious for the young people in his care.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff do not always help young people who are on independence programmes to make healthy choices regarding their diet and eating habits.  The location risk assessment is not easy and accessible for staff to read. It is not annually reviewed in its entirety.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 27/10/2016 Full Requires improvement 09/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 27/07/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC390434 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet 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

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard). (Regulation 46 (1)) 28/07/2017

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that, in line with their individual health plans and the ethos of the home, children are offered advice, support and guidance on health and well-being to enhance, and supplement that provided by their school through Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE). Staff should have the relevant skills and knowledge to be able to help children understand, and where necessary work to change negative behaviours in key areas of health and well- being such as, but not limited to, nutrition and healthy diet, exercise, mental health, sexual relationships, sexual health, contraception and use of legal highs, drugs, alcohol and tobacco. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.18)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Good-quality individualised care supports young people to make progress across all areas of their lives. Staff take time to get to know the young people and they offer a strengths-based model of behaviour management. Staff praise young people’s achievements and encourage them to succeed. They are ambitious for the young people in their care. Overall, young people engage in learning and employment. Staff regularly seek feedback from employers or educational providers to ensure that they are all supporting young people consistently. On occasion when some young people have had difficulties within their college placement, staff liaise with the young person’s tutor and support the young person to understand about appropriate and acceptable behaviours.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people feel cared for. A young person said, ‘Ever since being in this care home I’ve been so much happier. I was worried when I first came as I didn’t know who would Inspection report children’s home: SC390434 4 be there, if there would be idiots and if I wouldn’t be able to sleep, or what staff would be like. But now I’ve been here six or seven months, it is one of the best care homes I’ve been in.’ Staff support young people to develop healthy relationships with friends in the community. They safely support them to enjoy everyday experiences, such as going to their friends’ homes for tea and going on holiday with friends. Young people benefit from these positive experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy positive relationships with their staff team. A young person said, ‘It’s alright here, staff are sound.’ Young people invest in their relationships and their placement. They engage in group activities such as trips to the safari park, meals out and bowling. Staff involve young people within the home and are respectful of the young people. For example, during a time when there was staff sickness and agency staff were used, staff discussed this with the young people, explaining the reasons for this and making sure that young people felt happy and safe with the staffing arrangements. Consultations with young people are good. Young people are listened to and their views acted upon wherever possible.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Planned and purposeful key-working sessions support young people to learn from incidents. Staff encourage and support young people to talk to them about how they are feeling. They provide advice, information and guidance to young people so that young people can learn from incidents or experiences. Young people contribute to their risk assessments, which helps staff understand what young people need from them to be able to keep safe. Young people’s behaviour management plans are good; they are clear and informative. Staff understand young people’s behaviours and they are consistent in how they manage their behaviours. This supports young people’s progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Independence work is a strength of this staff team. Independence plans are good. Young people are clear about the expectations. When young people choose not to engage in some aspects of their independence plans, such as attending health or youth offending appointments, staff work with young people to help them to see the consequences of their decision-making. However, on occasions, some young people do not have enough consistent guidance on healthy eating. Staff are skilled at supporting young people to learn how to take responsibility for their decision-making and their futures. A social worker said, ‘Staff are very proactive at giving my young person opportunities and him having some control. My young person was asking for independence and budgeting skills and the home have been good at jumping straight into that and working on that. I think my young person has been listened to and they have supported him greatly. It is early days, but the messages are very clear to him. He

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

will lose out if he doesn’t attend education and appointments. He will have some opportunity to achieve but he has to contribute to that.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Prior to young people moving into the home, the registered manager completes an in- depth admission assessment. Careful consideration is taken regarding matching of young people. The registered manager has recently implemented a new admission document which supports staff to ensure that young people have a smooth transition into their new home and that they access the services that they need. Inspection report children’s home: SC390434 5

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Young people feel safe and are safe. Staff understand young people’s risks, their histories and how to promote their safety and well-being. Staff balance keeping young people safe alongside enabling young people to take age-appropriate risks, and have age-appropriate experiences. This promotes young people’s identity safely. Young people’s risk management plans are focused on their needs and contain any known risks related to the area in which the home is located. Young people contribute to their risk management plans. This helps staff understand what responses and interventions young people need to help them to keep safe. Staff implement young people’s risk management plans effectively and they are consistent with boundary-setting. A staff member said, ‘One of our strengths as a staff team is consistency. Staff speak to each other and communicate. Children by their very nature will play staff off each other. We

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

communicate about boundaries and what they can and can’t do so the line isn’t blurred.’

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Overall, young people’s risk-taking behaviours reduce from their starting points. Since the last inspection, young people have not gone missing from the home and there have been no physical interventions. Incidents in the home are rare. However, after incidents either in the home, the community or college, staff use debrief sessions and key-working sessions to help young people to learn appropriate and acceptable behaviours. They support young people to reflect on their behaviours and consider the impact of their behaviour on others. Staff are good at using their positive relationships with young people and they provide young people with positive role models.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff engage in regular training with regard to issues such as radicalisation. Staff understand the risks relating to the area where the home is located. The local police team frequently shares relevant information about risks in the area and its members attend team meetings. This supports staff in promoting young people’s safety when out in the community. However, the home’s location risk assessment is not written in one clear document for new staff to refer to and so it is not thoroughly and annually reviewed. The impact of this on young people is minimal due to effective partnership working and sharing of information.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a suitably qualified registered manager. A committed and knowledgeable deputy manager supports the registered manager. Two of the three members of staff in the team hold the required qualification in working with children and young people. All of the staff are trained in first aid. The registered manager encourages staff to engage with training. The team leader is currently in the process of completing a vocational qualification in leadership and management. Staff say that there are ongoing training and learning opportunities in subjects such as radicalisation, social media and young people, and reporting and recording training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Good leadership and management mean that staff feel supported and any staff practice issues are quickly rectified. The registered manager is a strong and committed leader. The registered manager said, ‘ I respect my staff team’s opinions and I don’t think I am Inspection report children’s home: SC390434 6 always right. I have a happy staff team. If the staff are happy then they give an aura of care to the young people. Staff want to be here, be part of young people’s lives and care for them.’ Supervisions are frequent and of good quality, as are staff appraisals. Young people are consulted prior to staff’s appraisals and the registered manager values their opinions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Frequent team meetings provide staff with a forum for information sharing, learning and reviewing the progress of young people. The registered manager provides good-quality oversight of the young people’s progress. The registered manager has high ambitions for the young people and staff team. Good-quality management monitoring means that he is aware of the strengths of the team but also areas where he would wish to develop, such as ensuring that staff engage in more bespoke training to benefit any new young people moving into the home in the near future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Partnership working is good. The registered manager attends provider forums to share information and intelligence related to the area in which the home is located. This supports young people’s safety. The registered manager ensures that his staff team understands and knows about risks in the local area, including radicalisation and child sexual exploitation. He consults not only with young people and staff but he also liaises closely with placing authorities, the local police team and other relevant professionals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Effective partnership working, good management oversight, and care delivered by a committed and knowledgeable staff team mean that the home is delivering its aims and objectives.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and 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 whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: SC390434 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Crystal Care Solutions Limited Company Number 05952454

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Bank House, Market Square, Congleton, Cheshire CW12 1ET

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Inspector

Hannah Bates, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC390434 8 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, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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