Children's Home run by Crystal Care Solutions Limited in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report children’s home: SC358638 1 SC358638 Registered provider: Crystal Care Solutions Limited Company Number 05952454 Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home is registered for one young person with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 14 December 2016

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC358638 2

p.1

Key findings from this inspection

 Staff are successful at developing positive relationships with the young person.  Proactive staff support the young person to engage in education.  Good links with the therapy team ensure that the young person’s emotional health needs are met.  Staff plan well for the young person’s transition to his next placement.  Staff have a comprehensive understanding of how to keep the young person safe.  The registered manager is motivated, keen and child-focused in his approach.

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development:

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

 The home requires redecoration to ensure that it affords the young person a consistently pleasant and homely environment in which to live.  The registered manager has not completed a quality of care review in the last six months.  In some isolated instances, case records are not helpful tools for staff to understand how to meet the health needs of the young person.

p.2

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/12/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 10/08/2016 Full Good 30/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 26/01/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC358638 3

p.2

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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(2)(c)(i)) In particular, the registered provider should ensure that damaged walls and doors are repaired and decorated and worn carpet is replaced. 30/11/2017

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months. In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating— the quality of care provided for children; the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review. The registered manager must supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on

p.3

Requirement Due date

which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (1)(2)(a)(b)(c)(3)(4)) 30/11/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC358638 4

p.3

Recommendations

 All children’s case records must be kept up to date. In particular, the registered provider should ensure that placement plans and health plans provide a reflection of the young person’s current needs, with clear guidance to staff on how they can support the young person to meet these needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 32, paragraph 14.3)

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are successful at developing relationships with the young person. Staff show a high level of resilience and commitment to the young person. These positive relationships provide the young person with a sense of stability and security. Caring staff provide the young person with tailored support to meet his needs. Because of this, the young person has made significant strides in all aspects of his life. For example, the young person has overcome barriers to attending school. Staff worked creatively with school to achieve this. This included the young person moving into a class with older pupils. The young person is now attending school daily and is on track to complete his GCSEs. This is positive progress considering the young person’s starting point. Staff have excellent links with the therapy team. This means that they have a good insight into the young person’s emotional health needs. The young person is benefiting

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

from accessing weekly therapy sessions. As a result, there are signs that the young person is becoming more emotionally resilient. A therapist told the inspector, ‘He has come a huge way from where he started.’ Staff have planned well for the young person’s transition to his next placement. Staff work closely with the social worker and therapy team to identify what support will be needed, before and after the move. This means that the young person is given the best opportunity to succeed in their journey to adulthood. The young person’s anxieties are a barrier to accessing much needed health services. Staff use reassurance and incentives to encourage attendance at routine health appointments. Sometimes, this is successful, but in other instances the young person will refuse to access follow up treatment. Placement plans do not provide staff with clear guidance on how to support the young person to access this treatment.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is in need of improvement. For example, there is a broken shed in the garden and some internal and external doors are damaged. The carpets are old and worn. Damaged walls have been plastered but are in need of painting. These issues limit the extent to which the young person experiences a homely environment. Positively, there is a budget and a plan in place to address these deficits. Inspection report children’s home: SC358638 5

p.4

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

Staff have a comprehensive insight into what factors make the young person vulnerable. Furthermore, staff recognise the situations in which he may present a risk to others. Risk management planning is well considered. This means that staff have clear guidance on how to keep the young person safe. Staff limit the young person’s free time and access to electronic devices to manage risk. Equally, staff are not risk-averse. They provide the young person with opportunities to build up trust and they support him to make positive choices. The young person has made steady progress, including spending time with friends. This is a significant achievement for the young person. Incidents of the young person going missing are rare. When such events occur, the young person quickly returns to the home. Nonetheless, staff plan well for such incidents and take decisive action when needed. This means that the potential risks to the young

p.5

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

person are reduced. Staff are successful at implementing consistent rules and boundaries. This provides the young person with a sense of security. This has contributed to some significant changes in the young person’s behaviour. Specifically, the level of aggression displayed by the young person has decreased considerably. In spite of this, there is more progress to be made. For example, the young person has continued to cause damage in the home. Positively, the frequency and type of damage has reduced.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has only been in post for a short period. However, he is also the registered manager for one of the provider’s other homes and so he is experienced in his role. He holds a relevant qualification. It is clear that the registered manager is still establishing himself in the role. There has been a period of change under the new manager as he has a vision about how the home should operate. It is clear that this is work in progress, as some of the changes are not yet embedded. Monitoring systems are used to good effect by the registered manager. This ensures that he has an accurate understanding of the care provided to the young person. The registered manager has not completed a formal quality of care review. However, this has not had an adverse impact on the quality of care afforded to the young person. Regular staff supervision, team meetings and access to training ensure that staff have

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

the skills that they need to meet the young person’s needs. Partnership working forms the cornerstone of staff’s day-to-day practice. Staff have developed good links with the school, therapy team and the local authority. This collaborative approach ensures that the young person is safe and is able to continue making progress in all aspects of his life. Inspection report children’s home: SC358638 6

p.5

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 differences 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.

p.6

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: SC358638 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Crystal Care Solutions Limited Company Number 05952454

p.7

Children’s home details

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

p.7

Inspector

Paul Robinson: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC358638 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, 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 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

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

p.8

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8