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

Inspection report children’s home: SC367551 1 SC367551 Registered provider: Crystal Care Solutions Limited

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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 operated by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three children whose adverse childhood experiences have resulted in their exhibiting complex behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager holds a level 5 qualification in leadership and management. He has been registered with Ofsted since February 2016. He is also the registered manager for another home in the same area that is owned by the company.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 10 to 11 September 2018

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 19 September 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Inspection report children’s home: SC367551 2 19/09/2017 Full Good 19/12/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 27/04/2016 Full Good 10/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC367551 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 health and well-being standard is that the health and well- being needs of children are met; children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff help each child to achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 10(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(i)) 02/10/2018

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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 staff understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(v)) 02/10/2018

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to: ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child and ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(c)(e)) 02/10/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or if an individual is employed by a person 02/10/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC367551 4 other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

The requirements are that: full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32(1)(2)(a)(b)(3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)((b)(c)) 02/10/2018

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Requirement Due date

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendations:

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff have the skills and confidence to communicate easily and understand the importance of listening to, involving and responding to the children they care for. Staff should understand that they have a responsibility to observe, notice and respond to children who are expressing their views, acknowledging that it is not the sole responsibility of the child to ‘tell’. They should also understand how children might communicate their feelings through their behaviour, or non-verbally, especially where the child has a disability which does not allow them to communicate as others might. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.10)  Ensure that as part of reviewing and revising the statement of purpose (regulation 16(3)(a)), the registered person reviews and updates the children’s guide as necessary and makes sure that children are given an explanation of any

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Recommendations

changes. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.23)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s outcomes improve because they are living at the home. Young people recognise their own positive progress. One young person told the inspector: ‘If it wasn’t for the staff here I would be in a secure unit or dead.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that young people moving into and out of the home are well supported. Inspection report children’s home: SC367551 5 One social worker told the inspector that staff ‘went over and above’ in their support of a young person who moved to live back with his family. This attention to detail means that the young person benefited from a positive and well-planned move.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to attend school or college. One teacher told the inspector that the willingness of staff to take a young person to and from school daily ‘has been instrumental in the success of [the young person’s] school placement’. This proactive approach helps young people to achieve improved education outcomes and aspire in their future goals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff do not always demonstrate that they follow young people’s health plans. For example, one young person who requires encouragement to eat healthily was able to eat unhealthy food four times in one week. This poor oversight means that young people are not encouraged to lead healthy lifestyles.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff do not ensure that young people have the opportunity to engage in regular key- work discussions. This lack of consultation resulted in one young person experiencing a significant change in their daily reward system without any prior discussion, and meant that the young person did not feel that their opinions are valued.

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

Staff implement clear behaviour management plans which detail the strategies to be used to support young people to achieve positive behaviour. The use of physical intervention is considered a last-resort measure. As a result, incidents that require staff to physically intervene are low in number.

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

Staff complete detailed individual risk assessments that support them in their understanding of how to keep young people safe. However, staff do not always record when they have read updated versions of these risk assessments.

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

Staff respond quickly when young people go missing from the home. Staff follow agreed protocols to help to keep young people safe. One social worker described the staff response in this area as ‘excellent’. She told the inspector: ‘It’s one of the best residential placements I’ve worked with.’ This proactive approach has led to one young person significantly reducing the number of times that they are reported missing.

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

The registered manager ensures that the home is well maintained. Staff complete regular health and safety checks to ensure that young people live in an environment that is safe and homely.

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

The registered manager has not ensured that when the home uses agency members of staff that the actual agency has completed all safe-recruitment checks in line with regulation. This means that the manager does not know whether all staff working at the home are safe to do so. Inspection report children’s home: SC367551 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, the regulator has received two complaints about this service. These complaints have been reviewed during this inspection. No regulatory shortfalls have been identified in relation to these matters.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have not ensured that young people living at the home receive consistent care. The frequency of staff changes in recent months has prevented staff from working together as one team. These changes undermine the positive progress that young people are making.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager has not ensured that staff receive regular supervision or receive annual appraisals. This reduces the opportunity for staff to review and develop their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager has developed strong links with social workers, virtual school heads, police and health services. The registered manager has used these professionals to improve his own and the staff’s knowledge about current local risk factors. However, the manager has not ensured that all staff have received training that reflects the needs of young people living at the home. For example, only one member of staff has completed training to enable them to support young people who have a history of substance misuse. This omission leaves some staff without the skills or knowledge they require to care for the young people who live at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager has implemented a young person’s guide for the home. However, this has not been updated to reflect the current staffing or inspection arrangements. This means that young people do not receive accurate information about 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 Inspection report children’s home: SC367551 7 children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: SC367551 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Crystal Care Solutions Limited

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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: SC367551 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 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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