Children's home run by Crystal Care Solutions Limited in Cheshire East

Inspection report children’s home: SC477209 1 SC477209 Registered provider: Crystal Care Solutions Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is registered to provide care for up to three young people. The home specialises in providing a therapeutic environment for young people who display sexually harmful behaviours. A private company manages this home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home has been without a registered manager since 17 May 2019. A new manager has been appointed to the home. He took up post on 3 June 2019. He holds a level 5 qualification in leadership and management. The new manager has applied to register with Ofsted and his application is currently being processed.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 24 to 25 September 2019

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

p.1

Enforcement action since last inspection:

Following the last full inspection, Ofsted issued two compliance notices. A monitoring inspection was conducted on 25 July 2019. This visit found that managers had not taken sufficient action to meet the compliance notices. As a result, the notices were reissued. This inspection found that both notices have now been met. Inspection report children’s home: SC477209 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/06/2019 Full Inadequate 07/11/2018 Full Good 08/11/2017 Full Good 22/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC477209 3

p.2

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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

p.3

Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

p.3

Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult.

p.3

Requirement Due date

(Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(vi)(vii)) 30/11/2019

p.3

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 the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers have secured greater consistency in the staff who work at the home. This has helped young people to be cared for by more familiar staff. This increased familiarity in staffing is helping young people to make good progress in all areas of their lives.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage young people to take part in a range of activities. Young people are helped to increase their social awareness through becoming involved in activities that Inspection report children’s home: SC477209 4 support different charities. This opportunity to support charity work has helped young people to develop their planning skills and to increase their self-esteem.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help young people to develop their life skills in readiness for adult life. For example, young people are encouraged to shop for their own food and to cook for themselves. However, this good work is not clearly captured in the records made by staff. This means that it is not always possible to identify young people’s strengths, or where they may need further support.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff regularly complete individual work with young people. Some sensitive work has been carried out by staff to help enable one young person to explore issues regarding their identity. This positive response has helped the young person to feel more accepted and supported by the staff.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are regularly consulted about how the home is run. Their opinions have resulted in changes being made to how positive behaviour is rewarded.

p.4

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

Staff ensure that each young person has a clearly written risk assessment. These are regularly reviewed and updated and provide staff with clear information about the individual risks that young people can face.

p.4

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

An increased link between the organisation’s therapeutic team and the staff is helping to improve the staff’s understanding and responses to young people’s presenting behaviours. This is helping to strengthen how the staff respond to incidents. Because of this increased coordinated response, the number of incidents in the home has reduced.

p.4

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

Managers have overseen improvements made to the physical environment in the home. Young people are encouraged to be involved in daily chores around the house and the gardens. This is helping young people to have an increased pride in their home.

p.4

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

Managers are diligent in overseeing safe recruitment checks for permanent and agency staff who work at the home. This helps to ensure that only staff who are safe to work with young people are employed at the home.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are now receiving good-quality training. Consequently, young people are now receiving care from staff who are well informed and can respond to their changing needs.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision. This ensures that they have regular opportunities to reflect on and to develop their practice.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have not ensured that all staff understand the organisational expectations in respect of record-keeping. For example, some young people’s records include Inspection report children’s home: SC477209 5 information that staff have cut and pasted from other documents. This means that records are not always reliable or an accurate reflection of events.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The acting manager has developed strong links with other professionals and is confident to challenge when he feels that people are not fulfilling their roles. This supports a collaborative approach to progressing young people’s care plans.

p.5

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.

p.5

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: SC477209 6

p.5

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Crystal Care Solutions Limited

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Bank House, Market Square, Congleton, Cheshire CW12 1ET

p.6

Inspector

Tracey Coglan Greig, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC477209 7 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.

p.6

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.7

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.7

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.7