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

Inspection report children‟s home: SC480594 1 SC480594 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 for up to four young people who present with complex behaviours because of early childhood trauma. The home specialises in work with young people who display sexually harmful behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

There is an acting manager in post who is not yet registered with Ofsted. She holds a level 5 qualification in leadership and management in health and care services

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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: 28 November 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: SC480594 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/11/2017 Full Good 22/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 05/10/2016 Full Good 29/03/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children‟s home: SC480594 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who understand the children‟s home‟s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children and use this understanding to deliver care that meets children‟s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

The conditions are that the care is delivered by a person who has the experience, knowledge and skills to deliver the care. (Regulation 6(1)(3)(c)(i)) 31/08/2018

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child‟s health. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(d)) 08/08/2018

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Requirement Due date

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 is applied to the home the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for Article 23 (duties of employees), are compiled with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25(2)(b) 08/08/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

Within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”) has spoken to the user about the measure. (Regulation 35(3)(a)(v)(b)(i)) 31/08/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC480594 4

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Recommendations

 When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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Recommendations

 Regulation 19(2) details sanctions that are prohibited in behaviour management. Any sanctions used to address poor behaviour should be restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In some cases it will be important for children to make reparation in some form to anyone hurt by their behaviour and the staff in the home should be skilled to support the child to understand this and carry it out. Equally, staff should understand the system for rewarding and celebrating positive behaviour and recognising where children have managed situations well. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 46 and 47, paragraphs 9.38 and 9.39)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that children are 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)

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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. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to children. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people receive care from a committed staff team that is motivated to support young people to achieve their potential. This allows young people to build trusted relationships with staff. Young people provide regular feedback about staff with comments including „She‟s like a mum to me‟ and „He‟s just approachable.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support for young people‟s education is a continued strength in this home. Regular school attendance is part of the home‟s daily routine. This promotes improved outcomes for young people. For example, one young person has managed to secure his chosen college placement for next year because of his hard work at school. Another young Inspection report children‟s home: SC480594 5 person has achieved 100% school attendance for three consecutive months.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are supported to take part in activities that reflect their individual interests. These include trampolining, motor sports, dry slope skiing and „crabbing‟. The variety of opportunities that staff provide mean that young people enjoy a range of new experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Placement plans detail the individualised care that each young person requires. However, staff do not always demonstrate attention to detail when completing these records. This results in inaccuracies. In addition, staff are not creative in gaining young people‟s views about their plans. This means that staff miss out on the opportunity to consult with young people on matters that are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At times the home environment suffers high levels of damage. This is reflective of the complex needs of the young people who live in the home. Managers are creative in their responses to damage, identifying specialist solutions when necessary. At times this can impact how quickly damage is repaired. Managers work hard to balance the environment with the needs of young people. However, staff do not always ensure that day-to-day health and safety matters in the home are addressed as quickly as they could be. This can cause further unnecessary impact on the home environment.

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

Staff implement detailed risk management plans that are regularly updated. These help staff to understand and respond to the complex needs of the young people who live at the home.

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

Staff respond quickly to young people who go missing from the home by implementing agreed protocols and working closely with partners such as the police. One police officer told the inspector, „I wish all the care homes worked with us like [the name of home] do.‟ However, staff do not always advocate for young people to have the opportunity to speak with an independent person after they have been missing from the home. This limits the staff from having a better understanding of the reasons why a young person has chosen to put themselves at risk.

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

Staff ensure that behaviour support plans are devised with the advice from other professionals. This ensures that staff use a range of techniques that help to promote positive behaviours. However, the rewards and consequences that staff use to support behaviour management are not always used consistently. This can leave young people confused about what is expected of them.

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

All staff are trained to de-escalate challenging situations and see physical intervention as a last resort. However, when physical intervention has been used, managers do not always ensure that staff receive a debrief after the incident. This means that the safety and well-being of staff is not always supported following significant incidents.

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

Managers ensure that safe recruitment practices safeguard young people. This includes Inspection report children‟s home: SC480594 6 making sure that the staff who are employed at the home are safe to work with young people. The acting manager has encouraged young people to get involved in the recruitment of new staff by setting up a young people‟s interview panel.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The acting manager has been in post for two weeks. She was previously employed as the deputy manager at this home. Her established relationships with staff and young people have enabled her to provide consistency through this period of management change.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The acting manager and staff have developed strong relationships with other professionals. This means that young people receive coordinated care. One teacher told the inspector, „They are always on the end of the phone and are always very supportive of what we are trying to do. As a representative of the corporate parent, I speak very highly of them.‟

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The acting manager recognises the importance of consultation with stakeholders to support service development. For example, she has introduced a consultation system to provide her with regular feedback from professionals and parents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have not made sure that staff have received training to reflect the individual needs of young people. For example, less than half of the staff have training in caring for young people who have autistic spectrum disorder or caring for young people who have mental health needs. This means that some staff do not have the specialist knowledge to manage the complex needs of some young people living at the home.

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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 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.

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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‟.

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Children’s home details

Inspection report children‟s home: SC480594 7 Unique reference number: SC480594

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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

Tracey Coglan Greig, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC480594 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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