Children's Home run by Crusoe Care Limited in East Sussex

Inspection report for children's home: SC434573 1 SC434573 Registered provider: Crusoe Care Limited 06843979 Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is registered to provide care for up to two children. The home is owned by a private company which operates another children’s home in the area.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since July 2011.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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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: 17 February 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC434573 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/02/2020 Full Good 21/01/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 14/06/2018 Full Good 27/02/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: SC434573 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience well-planned care from staff who are attentive and familiar with the children’s needs. Interactions between children and staff are warm and nurturing. This makes children feel secure and cared for, which enables them to make good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Before a child moves into the home, managers and staff consider the child’s needs alongside those of children who already live there. One of the staff members responsible for this area of practice was able to confidently describe to the inspector the careful planning and matching which take place. However, managers do not keep a record of their assessment of the likely impact of the child moving into the home on the children who already live there. This shortfall in recording undermines what is otherwise very good practice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Encouraging children to engage in education is a priority for staff. Children make good progress from their starting points. Managers and staff work collaboratively with education professionals. Children’s school attendance improves when they come to live at the home, which improves their life chances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to explore and develop a sense of their own identity. One child has been supported to join a local football club, which is helping him to make friendships outside the home. The social worker for the child told the inspector that this was a particularly significant achievement for the child. In another example, staff have provided sensitive and well-informed support to help a child feel safe to explore his sexual identity. Staff have created an environment which expands children’s interests and tells them that diversity is celebrated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are committed to helping children to learn how to live as independently as possible. Staff are adept at noticing and rewarding when children achieve something which may seem small but is significant for them. Each child’s individual targets are agreed in team meetings. Providing support to children to help them to achieve their targets is embedded into staff practice. Children make good progress towards goals which are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team went to great lengths during the periods of COVID-19 restrictions to ensure that there was no negative impact on children. Staff were creative, and they made sure that children continued to have access to education and to a range of recreational opportunities. Children thrive because of predictable structures and routines, and because of careful support from staff.

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

Children’s safety is a priority for staff. Staff are attuned and responsive to the risks that are present for children individually and when they are together. Inspection report for children's home: SC434573 4 Incidents where children are at risk of harm are rare. When they do occur, managers put strategies in place to reduce the risk of a similar incident happening again. In one recent example, a child placed himself at risk of harm when he was walking to school independently. When managers are confident that the child is ready to do so safely, he will be enabled to work towards having some carefully planned free time again. This demonstrates that managers recognise the importance of responding to incidents in a way which promotes learning for children.

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

There is a culture of openness which contributes to children’s safety and their sense of security. One example is in relation to the overall approach to helping children to stay safe while accessing online gaming. Children’s behaviour support plans clearly describe the level of internet access that the children can have. Staff respond swiftly to any concerns about children’s ability to stay safe online and educate the children about the risks associated with the use of online gaming. This approach has helped one child to trust that he can seek advice from staff if someone he meets online asks to be his friend. Children are learning essential skills about how to keep themselves safe, which are important now and will equip them for the future.

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

Staff are adept at noticing changes in children’s presentation and behaviour. They recognise that those changes may indicate that children are struggling and need additional support. Consequently, the use of physical intervention is avoided. Positive behaviour is noticed and rewarded. The use of sanctions is kept to a minimum and, overall, this approach supports children to have a positive experience of learning how to make amends for their mistakes. However, on one occasion during this inspection period, a sanction was applied which was not proportionate to the behaviour the child displayed.

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

Children’s social workers speak highly of the work carried out to help children become increasingly safe. One child has engaged in key-work sessions to address some specific vulnerabilities in relation to self-harm which exist for the child. The key-work sessions were carefully planned and sensitively delivered.

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

Staff create My Voice Matters reports with children and share these with other professionals prior to children’s review meetings. The reports provide a thorough overview of the progress children have made during the period being reviewed. Additionally, the reports describe any current concerns. As a result, managers and staff are making sure that all the professionals who are important to children have a shared view of any ongoing safeguarding concerns. Effective and open communication with other professionals further underpins the safeguarding culture and promotes children’s safety.

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good

During this inspection period, leaders have made changes to the staffing structure to ensure that staff roles are more clearly defined. The team leader is heavily involved, invested and clear about the progress children are making. He has high aspirations for what the children can achieve. However, the time and energy the registered Inspection report for children's home: SC434573 5 manager and responsible individual have invested into the restructure have had a negative impact on the quality of their management monitoring and oversight of the home.

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good

Behaviour management responses are scrutinised by managers to ensure that they are appropriate. However, discussions about sanctions are not reliably captured in records. As a result, managers are not demonstrating that they have oversight of the use of all sanctions to ensure that they are fair, effective and applied consistently.

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good

A further shortfall in the monitoring systems relates to managers not ensuring that the fire risk assessment has been updated in line with the organisation’s policy. As such, managers have not reviewed fire safety procedures to ensure that they continue to be effective.

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good

The registered manager does not regularly complete a review of the quality of care provided to children. This means that the registered manager does not have a well- rounded view of the experiences of the children and the impact the care is having on their outcomes.

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good

Two staff members do not have the necessary qualifications as required by the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations (2015). Managers have not demonstrated that they have thoroughly assessed whether these staff members hold a qualification which is equivalent to the level 3 diploma.

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good

Managers are in the process of updating the workforce plan to reflect the changes to the staffing structure. Currently, the workforce plan does not provide sufficient detail about the ongoing training needs of the staff team.

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good

Working in partnership with other professionals is given high priority by managers. They proactively challenge other professionals when they believe children are not receiving the support they need and when they feel that decisions made by other professionals are not in line with children’s best interests.

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good

During the inspection, the team leader demonstrated that he recognises criticisms and comments about the service as an opportunity to learn, reflect and improve. Inspection report for children's home: SC434573 6

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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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person should ensure that management monitoring systems provide effective oversight of sanctions and regular reviews of the fire risk assessment. 30 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) ("the Level 3 Diploma"); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or 30 April 2022 Inspection report for children's home: SC434573 7 in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may defer the relevant date if the individual—

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Requirement Due date

does not work, or has not worked, in a care role in a home for a prolonged period; or

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Requirement Due date

works, or has worked, in a care role in a home on a part- time basis. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b) (6)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review ("the quality of care review report").

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home. 30 April 2022 Inspection report for children's home: SC434573 8 The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records of sanctions demonstrate that their effectiveness is monitored. 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. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should have a workforce plan which should detail the experience and qualifications of staff currently working within the staffing structure and any further training required for those staff to enable the delivery of the home’s statement of purpose. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person should ensure that records demonstrate that they only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can

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Recommendations

respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs as recorded in the child’s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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 for children's home: SC434573 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Crusoe Care Limited 06843979

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 25 Clinton Place, Seaford, East Sussex BN25 1NP

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Timothy McIlwaine

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Inspector

Helen Simmons, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC434573 10 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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