Chrysalis Assessment and Support Centre

Inspection report for residential family centre: Chrysalis Assessment and Support Centre 1 Chrysalis Assessment and Support Centre Dragonfly Childrens Services Limited 12 Tennyson Avenue, Bridlington, North Humberside YO15 2EP Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this residential family centre

This is a privately run residential family centre. The primary purpose of the centre is to support local authorities in completing robust, fair and evidence-based assessments of parenting capacity and skills.

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Information about this residential family centre

The centre is registered to accommodate four families. The families have their own bedrooms and share the communal rooms. The communal space includes a kitchen/dining room, play room, a living room and bathroom with a shower. There is a storage area for prams and a garden.

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Information about this residential family centre

The manager is experienced and has been registered for this residential family centre since 2013.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and parents, taking into account outstanding

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and parents are helped and protected good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The residential family centre provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the residential family centre contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and parents.

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Overall experiences and progress of

Date of previous inspection: 17 January 2017

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Overall experiences and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for residential family centre: Chrysalis Assessment and Support Centre 2

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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, Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Statutory requirements

Requirement Due date If, in relation to a residential family centre, any of the events listed in column 1 of the table in Schedule 5 takes place, the registered person shall without delay notify the persons indicated in respect of the event in column 2 of the table (Regulation 26 (1)). In particular, the provider must send in notifications without delay. 28/07/2019

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Recommendations

 Staff have access to support and advice (including from external specialists) to provide a comprehensive service for parents and their children (NMS 17.4). In particular, ensure that staff meetings take place on a regular basis.  The centre provides a comfortable and homely environment and is well maintained and decorated (NMS 11.2). In particular, ensure that all facilities and equipment are in good working order, and that any worn furnishings and decor are addressed. Inspection report for residential family centre: Chrysalis Assessment and Support Centre 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

The robust, evaluative, thorough and analytical parenting assessments clearly demonstrate the parents’ ability to safely care for their children. The assessments appropriately focus on the child’s needs, each parent’s strengths and their capacity to change. The parenting assessments and final reports are consistently of a high standard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

Consultation with parents is a great strength of the service. Immediate feedback informs parents about how they are doing and what changes still need to be made, if any. Time for reflection is built into the programme, enabling parents to better understand their parenting capacity and ability to change.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

A care professional stated, ‘I definitely recommend this centre, a very vital resource. The staff provided me with regular updates throughout the assessment. Communication was very good. The assessment was comprehensive. This informed the court’s decision-making.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

The staff immediately work to establish positive relationships with the parents and children. The parents said that the staff are understanding and fair. This helps them to build strong and trusting relationships. The parents emphasised the fact that staff do ‘listen’ to them. This embedded ethos has a very constructive impact on the assessment process and experience of the parents and children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

A parent said, ‘I travelled a long way before getting here. I was worried and did have a wobble. The staff were really helpful and reassuring. All the workers are approachable. This has helped me a lot.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

The staff know each family extremely well. The staff achieve this with understanding and sensitivity and consider each family’s circumstances. The families are provided with highly individualised support, guidance and clear direction. The staff strongly maintain an elevated focus to promote good parenting.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

A parent said, ‘I don’t feel judged. The assessment here is independent. I have a fair chance to prove that I can parent my child safely.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

The parents are involved in planning the weekly diary, assessment sessions and appointments. Child-focused activities include observations of parenting tasks and daily sessions which help the parents respond to areas where change is required.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

The parents benefit greatly from accredited group sessions and link worker sessions. From these, they learn the importance of attachment, bonding, nutrition, emotional warmth, basic childcare and development. The staff help parents immensely to Inspection report for residential family centre: Chrysalis Assessment and Support Centre 4 develop a positive identity. Over time, the parents learn to explore their feelings and life experience. This assists them to better understand themselves and their ability to parent their children well and to make the necessary changes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

The children and parents are treated with dignity and respect. They benefit from a service that is sensitive to their age, ethnicity, disability, faith and core beliefs. One parent has recently been helped to find a church and enjoys attending weekly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

The families have good and easy access to local health services. The prompt registration at the nearby medical centre ensures that any health and medical issues can be addressed quickly. Routine visits to the health visitor and supporting clinic mean that child development issues are also prioritised and understood. Parents who may have substance misuse problems access local drug and alcohol programmes to support their specialist health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

There are regular opportunities for parents to engage in a range of social and recreational activities in the centre and in the local community. These include accessing an array of sessions delivered through the children’s centre, for example baby massage, feeding friends sessions, talk time and play groups. Parents visit local parks, and some go swimming. Since the last inspection, parents can now attain recognised ASDAN qualifications that will help them to access training and employment in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: outstanding

The parents enhance their independent living skills through cooking, budgeting and debt management sessions. These give the parents new experiences and build on their parenting skills.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Strong safeguarding practices exist and are adhered to. All staff have training in safeguarding. They are clear about what action to take in response to any concerns that arise. The practice of debriefs and a ‘lessons learned’ approach provides clear evidence that learning from past incidents routinely takes place. This assists in keeping children safe from harm.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Parents receive written guidance about expectations and behaviour during their stay. The staff reiterate this and explain the importance of respecting others and the rules and boundaries that need to be adhered to during the placement and assessment process. As a result, parents have maintained positive and acceptable behaviour overall. The parents confirmed that the rules are ‘fair’ and that they are there to keep everyone safe.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Individualised risk assessments identify specific vulnerabilities which may have an impact on parenting capacity and the safety and well-being of children. These include mental health concerns, domestic violence and abuse, substance misuse, exploitation and alcohol dependency. The risk assessments are updated regularly and address all known and emerging risks effectively. General risk assessments are undertaken for Inspection report for residential family centre: Chrysalis Assessment and Support Centre 5 the home environment. This ensures that the manager and staff can respond effectively, using identified strategies to reduce and eliminate the risks.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

The parents know how to complain. Their complaints are treated seriously and are responded to promptly. Regularly held house meetings give further opportunities for the parents to discuss issues collectively. The staff resolve any conflicts between families quickly and effectively. This ensures that the atmosphere in the home remains calm, relaxed and settled.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

The home has effective arrangements in place for recruiting staff. Records demonstrate that the manager undertakes thorough recruitment and selection processes. All the appropriate checks and references are undertaken prior to the staff taking up employment. This means that, as far as possible, the children and parents are protected from contact with unsuitable adults.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

The home environment and facilities are satisfactory. Recently, the main lounge has been refurbished and decorated, and a new floor covering has been installed. This has positively transformed the room. However, some areas in the home are showing signs of wear and tear. These include the hall and stair carpet, the play room furnishings and kitchen unit doors.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager holds a social work degree and a level 5 diploma in leadership and management in health and social care. She has over 10 years’ experience working in the child protection arena.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The children and parents benefit from a stable and established management and core staff team. A detailed staff induction is built on with mandatory and specialist training. Most of the staff hold the level 3 diploma qualification. Mandatory training includes first aid, child development, attachment, food hygiene and medication. Specialist training areas now include sexual exploitation, domestic abuse, neglect, domestic violence, drugs awareness and self-harm. This provides the staff with a wealth of knowledge and skills. In turn, this ensures that the delivery of the best support to parents and the undertaking of a robust assessment that keeps children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Commissioning services and parents are well informed about the service provided to families through a detailed statement of purpose and parents’ handbook. These documents set out the ethos and objectives of the residential family centre to all those accessing it. The manager has established strong partnership working with all professionals, including social workers, solicitors and health visitors. This ensures that all the professionals work cohesively in the best interest of the children and parents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The previous requirement and recommendation have been implemented. Safe recruitment practices include the verification of the reasons why the employment or Inspection report for residential family centre: Chrysalis Assessment and Support Centre 6 position ended in cases where the person has previously worked with children or vulnerable adults. All documentation relating to complaints is now held together in one file. All parties involved are informed of the outcome, and there is clarity about whether they are satisfied with the outcome.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Safeguarding and child protection incidents have been dealt with appropriately in line with procedures. Most agencies have been promptly notified. However, there have been delays in reporting two notifications to Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff receive regular professional supervision from a line manager who has the relevant experience. The staff highlight the good support that they receive. Thorough records of daily handovers and staff meetings further support good communication. However, there have been periods when staff meetings have not been regularly held. This could have an impact on the consistency and quality of parenting assessments.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The quality of the internal and external monitoring of the service is robust. The senior team has designated service areas to audit on a regular basis. There is weekly oversight of the progress of each family’s assessments. In addition, monthly auditing is undertaken by the management team. An external independent monthly visitor monitors the service in detail. The deficits detected are quickly addressed by the provider. This assists enormously in the ongoing development and improvement of the quality of the service provided.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and parents. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and parents. They watched how professional staff work with children and parents and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and parents. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the residential family centre knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and parents 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 Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for residential family centre: Chrysalis Assessment and Support Centre 7

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider: Dragonfly Childrens Services Limited

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider address: 72 Lairgate, Beverley, East Yorkshire HU17 8EU

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Residential family centre details

Email address: Rachael@chrysalisassessmentcentre.co.uk

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Inspectors

Mrs Foster, social care inspector Cath Sikakana, social care inspector Inspection report for residential family centre: Chrysalis Assessment and Support Centre 8 to 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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