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

Inspection report children‟s home: SC068206 1 SC068206 Registered provider: Crossway Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for one child. They offer to provide short-, medium- or long-term care to children, irrespective of gender. They offer placements to children who may have low self-esteem and confidence or challenging behaviours, or who are at risk of child sexual exploitation.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced, and was registered with Ofsted in 2007.

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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: 20 September 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC068206 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/09/2017 Full Good 01/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 20/12/2016 Full Good 25/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC068206 3

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Statutory requirement

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 compile in relation to the children‟s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must ensure that the home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose. (Regulation 16(1) and (5))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, any updates to the statement of purpose should be provided to Ofsted, and the arrangements for when young people have been missing from home, the information recorded in relation to inspections by Ofsted and the purpose of regulation 44 visits should be clear and accurate. 15/06/2018

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home‟s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. All children‟s case records (regulation 36) must be kept up to date and stored securely whilst they remain in the home. Case records must be kept up to date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 62, paragraphs 14.3, 14.4)  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 55, paragraph 10.24) In particular, ensure that regular consultation takes place with young people, their families and stakeholders as part of the external monitoring to improve and

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Recommendations

inform the quality of the care provided.  A record of supervision should be kept for all staff, including the manager. It is good practice for a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions to be kept and to ensure that both the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record. Staff and the manager should receive supervision of their practice, which allows them to reflect on their practice and Inspection report children‟s home: SC068206 4 the needs of the children assigned to their care. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 61, paragraphs 13.2, 13.3, 13.4) This relates to the registered manager not receiving a copy of her supervision records and the actions from supervision sessions for staff members not being followed up at subsequent supervision sessions.  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce

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Recommendations

related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should detail the process for managing and improving poor performance. The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home and used to record the on-going training and continuing professional development needs of staff – including the home‟s manager. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, and should understand the key role that they play in the training and development of staff in the home. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 53, paragraph 10.11.) In particular, training should be completed within the agreed timescales and the

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Recommendations

training matrix should be kept up to date to reflect the current training that staff members have undertaken.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff have high aspirations for the young person. This contributes to the good progress that the young person makes. The young person has made considerable progress in all areas of his life since he moved into the home. The young person said, „I am very happy and settled, and I can‟t thank the staff enough for all the help and support that they have given me. They all do a great job.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person had been home tutored for a considerable amount of time. However, the staff worked tirelessly with education professionals and others to identify a suitable education provision for him. The young person is now attending a school full time and is making good progress academically. He is experiencing an unsettled time at school due to incidents involving other pupils and inconsistent staffing at the school. However, the registered manager and staff from the home have fully supported him through these difficulties, and this has helped to maintain his regular attendance at school. The registered manager and staff have challenged the school appropriately and the school is now working on addressing the issues.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff have a good understanding of the young person‟s health and development needs. All staff have completed specialist training in autism spectrum disorder so that they can provide the most appropriate care and interventions Inspection report children‟s home: SC068206 5 for the young person‟s specific needs. The young person attends routine health appointments to ensure that his health needs are met. The registered manager and staff are in regular communication with the young person‟s looked after children‟s nurse, who provides appropriate advice and guidance on health and development issues. Regular consultation takes place with the young person and staff to discuss his individual health and development needs and to offer him encouragement and support to address these, such as maintaining a healthy diet and personal hygiene.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person is encouraged to engage in a range of social and recreational activities that are specific to his individual interests. For example, the young person has a keen interest in Nerf guns, so he has attended Nerf gun events with staff. Staff often spend time at home playing Nerf battles with the young person. Plans are in place for the young person‟s bedroom to be decorated in Nerf colours.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person has regular opportunities to share his views about the home and the care that he receives. Regular consultation sessions take place with the young person to ascertain his views on a wide range of issues. The young person is also invited to attend some of the staff team meetings and to contribute to the discussions and plans for the development of the home. The registered manager and staff take appropriate action in response to the young person‟s views, wishes and feelings. The young person feels valued and has the utmost respect for the registered manager and staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Records and plans for the young person are detailed, and clearly set out his needs and how these are being met. The young person‟s views are included in the records. However, some records have minor inaccuracies and are not in the correct order to be read and understood. Furthermore, not all records demonstrate that the registered manager and staff have read and understood them, and the records are not always signed and dated by the author. This is not helpful to the young person or staff in planning for the young person‟s care.

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

The young person feels safe and is kept safe from harm. The registered manager and staff help the young person to understand both risk and how to keep himself safe. There are thorough risk assessments for the young person to support his safety both inside and outside of the home.

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

The staff‟s approach to behaviour management at the home is good, and this helps the young person to manage his own behaviour. An elaborate reward and incentive points system has been implemented in conjunction with the young person. This approach has had a positive impact on the young person‟s behaviour. Consequently, the young person presents with very settled behaviour and strives to achieve his full allocation of points. Furthermore, the reward and incentive system encourages and supports the young person to attend school regularly and keep his bedroom clean and tidy, as well as to improve his personal hygiene.

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

Due to the improvement in the young person‟s behaviour, there has only been one Inspection report children‟s home: SC068206 6 incident of physical intervention at the home since the last inspection. The intervention took place to keep the young person safe from harm. The registered manager reviewed the intervention to ensure that it was appropriate and necessary. Debriefings took place with both the member of staff who undertook the intervention and the young person to give him the opportunity to express his feelings about the intervention. All staff members are adequately trained to use physical intervention when necessary. However, this is not an intervention that is used regularly at the home.

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

Good health and safety practice at the home helps to make it a safe place for the young person to live. For example, there is an up-to-date fire safety risk assessment, and regular fire drills take place to ensure that the staff and young person are aware of the procedure to be followed in the event of a fire. Safeguarding training is prioritised to provide the staff with the necessary skills to keep the young person safe.

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

The home‟s review of premises has improved since the last inspection. The registered manager has liaised effectively with other agencies to gather relevant information to enable her to undertake a thorough location assessment that clearly outlines all known risks in the community. The location assessment includes details of the strategies in place to manage the risks. Consequently, the location assessment now helps the registered manager and staff to keep the young person safe in the community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is very motivated and passionate about her work. She has high aspirations for her staff team and the young person. She demonstrates a real drive to improve the quality of care that the young person receives. Furthermore, she supports her staff in their continuous professional development to enable them to develop and provide the best possible care to the young person.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and staff work collaboratively with a range of agencies and professionals who are involved in the young person‟s care to secure positive outcomes for him. They challenge other professionals effectively and take action when they are concerned that others are not doing what they should to support the young person and meet his needs. Feedback from stakeholders is positive, praising both the registered manager‟s and staff‟s commitment to the young person and the young person for the progress that he has made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel valued and supported by the registered manager. A member of staff said, „The manager is always available to provide me with valuable support and guidance. She regularly praises my work and offers constructive criticism to improve my practice.‟ The arrangements for the supervision of staff result in them receiving effective supervision that enables them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the young person. However, when actions are set for staff, these are not monitored at subsequent supervision sessions. The registered manager receives regular supervision, but she is not provided with a written record of the content and/or outcomes of the sessions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and staff benefit from regular opportunities to support their Inspection report children‟s home: SC068206 7 training and development needs. Regular discussions take place at team meetings in relation to research and practice, in which staff members share examples of good practice to aid their development. As a result, the staff have the necessary skills to provide a good quality of care to the young person, and they feel supported, valued and motivated. However, not all training is undertaken within the agreed timescales.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring and review systems at the home support the registered manager to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the staff and the home. She takes effective action to address any shortfalls and build on the strengths. However, the external monitoring would be further improved if it included regular consultation with the young person, his family and stakeholders.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The development plan for the home clearly outlines the registered manager‟s plans to develop the staff team and the home. However, the workforce plan does not include details of the arrangements to manage or improve poor performance. The home‟s statement of purpose is unclear on the arrangements for when young people have been missing from the home, the information in relation to inspections by the regulator and the purpose of the external monitoring of the home. Furthermore, an up-to-date statement of purpose has not been sent to the regulator in line with regulation.

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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: SC068206 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Crossway Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Rouse House, 2 Wyther Lane, Leeds LS5 3BT

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Inspector

Lisa Mulcahy: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC068206 9 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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