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

Inspection report children’s home: SC063498 1 SC063498 Registered provider: Crossway Services 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

The home is owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for one young person who may have social and/or emotional difficulties. The current manager was registered with Ofsted in September 2017. She also manages another one-bedded home for the organisation.

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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 February 2019

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Good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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Good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC063498 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 17/05/2018 Full Good 09/01/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 23/05/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: SC063498 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. 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; take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(v)(vi)) In particular, ensure that there is robust recording around any safeguarding concerns, including complaints, and the action taken to support the young person. 31/07/2019

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(d)(h)) In particular, ensure that staff have all the necessary training to meet the diverse needs of the young person. 31/07/2019

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Recommendations

 Expectations of standards of behaviour should be high for all staff and children in the home. These standards should be clear and unambiguous. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph Inspection report children’s home: SC063498 4 8.11) In particular, ensure that the behaviour support plan is reflective of the young person’s needs and the action needed to support them.  Staff should have the skills to respond to each child’s individual behaviour. When necessary they should manage conflict, maintain constructive dialogues and react appropriately if challenged by a child in their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.14)  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, Schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should detail the process and timescales for supervision of practice

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Recommendations

(see regulation 33 (4)(b)) and keep appropriate records for staff in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  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. The home’s records on each child should represent a significant contribution to their life history. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraphs 14.4, 14.5)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person enjoys a trusting, caring and nurturing relationship with the staff. He enjoys spending time with the staff, going to the park, and watching his favourite DVDs or television programmes together. The staff know the young person well, they listen to him and invest considerable time in him. Staff understand how the young person’s early experiences and trauma affect his emotional development, relationships and behaviour. Staff provide the young person with the warm, reliable adult relationships and routines that he needs in order to feel safe and to recover. Staff continually encourage and support the young person with his education. The young person has continued to achieve 100% attendance at school, which is a significant achievement. However, the young person’s actual engagement in education while at school can be problematic. Staff work closely with the school to support him and, as a

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

result, the young person is starting to make better choices in school. The manager and staff promote good health and well-being for the young person. He attends routine health and development appointments, such as the dentist and optician, to ensure that his health needs are met. The manager and staff help and encourage the young person to eat healthily and to adopt a healthy and active lifestyle. Healthcare plans demonstrate that staff have a secure understanding of the individual health and developmental needs of the young person. Inspection report children’s home: SC063498 5 The young person is encouraged to be as independent as possible, given his age. He enjoys creating his plans for the week, including his activities and the menu. He is getting better at keeping his room tidy and bringing down his laundry. The registered manager is not afraid to challenge professionals when she feels that they

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

are not acting in the best interests of the young person. She is a strong advocate for him. She ensures all professionals are fully appraised of any situations that may affect the young person’s emotional health and well-being. Keeping in touch with family members is actively promoted and maintained in a way that meets the young person’s best interests. For example, the registered manager and staff drove a considerable way to collect family members from home. This was because they knew it was vital for the young person to see them. As a result, the young person maintains links and develops relationships with those who are significant to him. Relationships between the staff and family members are good.

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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 young person knows that they can talk to staff if they have any concerns or worries and would be listened to and supported. Staff understand their responsibilities in keeping the young person safe and know how to do this. There has recently been a safeguarding concern. The manager has been proactive and has advocated well on behalf of the young person, updating his risk assessments and ensuring that the relevant people are notified. A team manager for the placing authority commended the manager’s action. However, records relating to other safeguarding concerns are not always consistently recorded to a good standard. This means that information is open to interpretation and staff’s opinions are threaded throughout the recording. This does not reflect the positive action taken by the manager and staff to keep the young person safe. The young person loves to spend time with the staff. He has very recently started to

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

play outdoors with other young people he has met in the local area. However, this has been difficult for him, as he struggles to make friends and maintain safe boundaries. Staff are working closely with the young person to address this with mixed results. There have been some complaints made to the home linked to the young person’s behaviour while in the community. While these concerns are documented, there are several entries that are poorly recorded and which apportion blame to the young person without seeking his views about the incident first. This is not a proportionate view and is hindered by a lack of clarity in his behaviour support plan regarding how staff should manage such situations. The young person has an emerging understanding of keeping himself safe while online. He enjoys playing against his friends on his Xbox and knows who he can accept as friends online. The young person has successfully completed an online safety course

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

with the staff. However, the staff carefully monitor his access to online activities. There are very few incidents of the young person being missing from the home. On the Inspection report children’s home: SC063498 6 small number of occasions that this has occurred, staff have actively searched for him prior to calling the police for assistance. This proactive approach by staff means that they can keep the young person in their sight and the young person quickly tires of the ‘game’ and comes back to the staff. The home is showing signs of wear and tear. The manager is fully aware of this and plans are underway to renovate the home. A new kitchen has been installed and is awaiting the finishing touches. The young person has been asked his opinion about the internal decoration for the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A competent and committed registered manager leads the home. An experienced deputy supports her. Staff said that they are well supported by the manager, especially with the issues that have arisen in the last few weeks. The registered manager is aware of the home’s strengths and areas for development, for example the issues with record-keeping. Several records, including the consultation and incident records, are poorly written and contain potentially inflammatory comments. The registered manager has begun to address this with the staff and is considering additional training opportunities for them. Records do not yet consistently tell the story of the young person’s time in the home. Monitoring by the registered manager is improving and her monitoring reports are now sent to Ofsted at six-monthly intervals. However, the registered manager is not yet effectively evaluating the care planning, risk assessments and behaviour management

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

plan regularly in order to demonstrate the impact that the home is having in improving outcomes for the young person. Monitoring by the independent person is thorough and has assisted the registered manager in identifying shortfalls in record-keeping. Staff are provided with good levels of individual support and practice-based supervision. Supervision records would benefit from more information as to the effectiveness of the training provided to staff. Staff are complimentary about the recent trauma and attachment training. They said that this had given them a greater insight into the needs of the young person. Staff value highly the information provided by the psychologist, which they say helps them to support the young person more effectively. Team meetings are used to discuss a variety of topics, such as child criminal exploitation, and to reflect on the care and support provided to young people and how

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC063498 7 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: SC063498 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

Chris Scully, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC063498 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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