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

Inspection report for children’s home: SC386810 1 SC386810 Registered provider: Crossway Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This privately run children’s home provides care for one child who may have social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2022.

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 requires improvement to be 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: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC386810 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/08/2022 Full Good 28/03/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 08/09/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 12/03/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC386810 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is one child currently living in the home. The child has lived in the home for over 12 months. The inspector observed that the child has positive relationships with staff, who are committed to providing the child with good-quality care. The child’s social worker said, ‘[Name of child] needs adults she can trust. Her progress is a testament to the staff working with her.’

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child attends an education provision. The manager has ensured that appropriate college placements and courses are available for the child. Her aspirations for the future are encouraged and supported by the manager and staff team. This has enabled the child to engage with staff and make progress from her starting point.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to maintain a healthy lifestyle. They help her to increase her independence skills and she is now able to manage her own health appointments. The child also receives support from the company therapist. This support helps the child’s emotional well-being. The child has successfully quit smoking and vaping, with the support of the staff. The manager was proactive in reporting retail premises that illegally sold cigarettes and vapes.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to maintain relationships with those people who are important to her, including family and friends. Staff encourage safe and appropriate relationships with peers. The staff actively promote and encourage the child’s individual identity needs.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child accesses a variety of activities based on her interests, including singing lessons, swimming, going to the park, ice skating and baking. Staff actively support the child’s confidence and self-esteem by engaging in discussions, offering praise and providing appropriate rewards. The continuous support from staff meant that the child felt confident enough to audition for a talent show.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is furnished to meet the needs of the child. The child has personalised her bedroom and the living areas in the home. The child and staff have planted flowers in the small yard to make this a nice space to relax. There are areas of the home that need repainting where the paint has come off. Advisory notes on the door detract from the overall homely environment, although the manager removed these during the inspection.

p.3

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

Staff understand the child’s vulnerabilities and know how to keep her safe. The arrangements for the child’s everyday care support her to stay safe. Positive multi-agency working ensures risks are identified and managed effectively. Staff actively engage in discussions with the child and provide relevant resources to Inspection report for children’s home: SC386810 4 ensure she understands risks. This ensures the child has the knowledge and skills to make informed decisions.

p.3

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

There have been no incidents of the child going missing from the home. There are procedures in place for staff to follow in the event of this happening. Staff spoken to know what to do if the child does go missing from home.

p.4

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

Incidents of self-injurious behaviour are managed well by staff, who understand the child’s needs. Staff offer nurturing care and support. As a result, incidents of self- injurious behaviour have reduced.

p.4

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

Staff conduct room searches in a responsible manner to ensure the safety of the child. However, the current recording does not include all details, as the record does not state if the child was present during the search or if staff obtained her consent.

p.4

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

The child has clear risk assessments, safety plans and behaviour support plans that provide guidance and strategies for staff to follow. However, the manager has failed to implement a risk assessment for a specific identified risk. Additionally, there are instances when the manager has not updated certain information in another risk assessment. This could undermine the effectiveness of safety plans and could result in staff being unable to consistently manage specific risks.

p.4

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

Staff are trained to administer medication and do so appropriately. However, the manager decided to make changes to the child’s medication without medical advice. This decision could negatively impact on the child’s health. The manager did not prioritise timely communication with the GP to ensure any adjustments to medication dosages were made in line with advice from a medical professional.

p.4

good

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2022 and is suitably qualified and experienced. The manager and staff have a good understanding of the child’s needs and want the best for her. There is a stable staff team in place who are committed to meeting the child’s needs and helping her to progress.

p.4

good

The manager is a strong advocate for the child and demonstrates a proactive approach to maintain a supportive and safe environment for the child. The manager took appropriate action to address a complaint made by the child about a member of staff. The manager resolved the matter efficiently, and the child was happy with the outcome.

p.4

good

Staff feel supported by the manager. Supervision and team meetings offer opportunities for staff to consider the child’s needs, along with any areas for improvement. The manager ensures that staff’s practice is appraised, which provides opportunities to reflect on good practice and areas for development. Inspection report for children’s home: SC386810 5 Staff receive training that is specific to the child’s needs. However, two members of staff have not completed an update to their mandatory safeguarding training. This could result in staff not having up-to-date knowledge and skills to protect children. The records of staff training do not provide the manager with effective oversight, nor do they clearly record the training that has been completed by staff. This shortfall means that the manager cannot monitor staff training effectively to ensure that staff continue to develop the necessary skills to care for the child.

p.4

good

Staff rosters do not include the actual hours that the manager is working in the home. There is no evidence of the time spent in the home by the manager. This makes it difficult to fully understand if her management oversight is sufficient to have effective oversight of the home and staff practice.

p.5

good

Records of visitors to the home are kept, however, they do not include the reasons for the visits. This prevents the manager from having a clear understanding of why people are visiting the home.

p.5

good

The manager has identified areas for improvement in the home, including improved recording and monitoring systems. However, at the time of the inspection, these were not in place and systems for the manager’s oversight were not robust. Inspection report for children’s home: SC386810 6

p.5

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The 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.6

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

p.6

Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(b))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that risk assessments are relevant and up to date. 24 July 2023

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

p.6

Requirement Due date

medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(b)(c)) 24 July 2023

p.6

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 —

p.6

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and 24 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC386810 7 promotes their welfare.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

p.7

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

p.7

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

p.7

Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

p.7

Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

p.7

Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

p.7

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)(a)(b)(c)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

p.7

Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

p.7

Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

p.7

Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

retain the records for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c))

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that a record is kept of visitors to the home, including the reason for their 24 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC386810 8 visit. The registered person must ensure that staff rotas include the hours worked in the home by the manager.

p.7

Recommendations

 Usually, rooms should only be searched if the child has been informed or asked for their permission. Immediate searching may be necessary where there are reasonable grounds for believing that there is a risk to the child’s or another person’s safety or well-being. The registered person should ensure that this is clearly recorded in the child’s records. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.20)  For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. The registered person must ensure that the home maintains a homely feel by ensuring paintwork is touched up in a timely way and that there are no signs displayed in the home that detract from the homely environment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’,

p.8

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: SC386810 9

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Crossway Services Limited

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 The Calls, Leeds LS2 7JU

p.9

Inspector

Jenni Gadsby, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC386810 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.

p.9

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 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.10

Inspector

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

p.10

Inspector

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

p.10