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

Inspection report for children’s home: SC063498 1 SC063498 Registered provider: Crossway Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run children’s home provides care for one child. The provider states in its statement of purpose that it provides care for children who may have social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2017. She also manages another home run by the organisation.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

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

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/03/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 13/12/2021 Full Good 19/06/2019 Full Good 28/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC063498 3

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improvement to be good

There is one child living in the home, who has lived there for 10 months. The child says he likes the home and has positive relationships with the staff. The child feels listened to and has open conversations with staff about a variety of subjects. The inspector observed positive interactions between the child and staff.

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improvement to be good

The child has individual plans that include relevant information and help the staff manage his daily needs. However, specific therapeutic support for the child is not recorded in his plans. This means that staff do not have clear therapeutic strategies and guidance to follow. A requirement in relation to this is repeated.

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improvement to be good

There has been a significant delay in staff finding specialised support to help the child with his emotional well-being and sensory needs. The manager has challenged the placing authority regarding this shortfall. However, this has not been promptly escalated and there was a significant delay in the child receiving the necessary support.

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improvement to be good

The child enjoys different activities with staff, based on his interests. These include visits to the cinema and funfair and going to the park on his scooter. However, the child does not enjoy any activities with his peers. Staff are not proactive in finding clubs or groups to help the child engage with his peers and develop his social skills.

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improvement to be good

Staff support the child to spend time with his family, in line with his plans. Staff communicate well with the child’s social worker to ensure that time with his family continues to meet his needs. Staff offer nurturing care and support to the child to help him manage any difficulties in his life.

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improvement to be good

The current arrangements for the child’s education are not adequate. Staff do not ensure that relevant educational assessments are taking place to support his learning. The manager has challenged the placing authority regarding the lack of assessments, plans and education provision for the child. However, this has not been escalated to senior managers to ensure a robust response and the creation of a plan for the child.

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improvement to be good

The child has a say in the look of the home. He is involved in choosing the furnishing and decor of the home and the environment is homely and welcoming. However, the child does not have sufficient storage in his bedroom, which means that many of his belongings are in a pile on the floor. A requirement is made to address this shortfall. Inspection report for children’s home: SC063498 4

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improvement to be good

The child says that he has staff that he can talk to. Staff help him to share his thoughts and feelings. There are detailed written plans and assessments that provide guidance and strategies for staff to follow to ensure the child’s safety and well-being.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand the child’s vulnerabilities and associated risks. However, specific training relating to his needs has not been completed by all staff, including on knife crime, self-injurious behaviour and autistic spectrum disorder. This could mean that staff do not have the knowledge or skills to protect the child.

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improvement to be good

Staff follow clear procedures when the child is missing from home. They are proactive in carrying out checks and searches. Staff liaise with external agencies to ensure his safety. However, staff do not consistently include all relevant information in the child’s records. This means that staff do not have a full account of the incident. Staff do not ensure that the child has independent return home interviews. This means the child does not have an opportunity to speak to someone independent of the staff team about the incident.

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improvement to be good

Staff work well with external professionals to ensure the child’s safety in relation to self-injurious behaviour. Staff help the child talk about his feelings. However, on one occasion, staff did not meet the child’s needs because they were not therapeutic in their approach, which could have had a detrimental impact on the child’s well-being. The manager addressed this.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not ensure that the child has specialised help to support his mental and emotional well-being. This is an area that needs to improve so that the child can develop strategies to keep himself safe and understand his feelings, with the support of a specialised professional.

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improvement to be good

There has been one allegation against a member of staff. This has been managed appropriately. Staff understand their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding children and they talk with confidence about the home’s child protection policies and procedures.

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improvement to be good

Staff are appropriately trained in safe medication practice and administration. However, staff do not accurately record when the child takes his medication. This limits the manager’s oversight of medication practices. There has been one occasion when staff did not provide medication as required to the child. This was recognised and addressed by the manager.

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improvement to be good

Staff ensure that the child has access to age-appropriate games for his consoles. However, staff do not consider potential risks associated with the child watching a specific TV programme. Inspection report for children’s home: SC063498 5 The child receives regular rewards that are relevant to his positive choices and behaviour. However, staff do not record consequences for behaviour, which limits the manager’s oversight of whether they are proportionate and effective.

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good

The home is run by a registered and suitably qualified manager, who is also registered for another of the company’s homes. There are shortfalls in the manager’s overall leadership at this home and this has had an impact on the child’s overall progress and experiences.

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good

There have been staff changes since the last inspection. However, several consistent permanent staff members have supported the child. This has provided continuity of care for the child.

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good

Staff rosters do not include the actual hours that the manager is working in the home. It is not clear how often the manager is in the home.

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good

Managers know the child well. They advocate for the child and communicate well with external professionals to meet the child’s needs. The child has access to an independent advocate. However, the manager has not escalated concerns with the placing authority’s senior managers to ensure the child’s needs are met in a timely way. This has impacted on the child’s overall progress and safety.

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good

Staff say they are supported by managers. Supervision and team meetings take place regularly and provide the opportunity for staff to consider the child’s needs, along with their training and development.

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good

Annual appraisals are not completed for all staff. A requirement in relation to this is repeated from the two previous inspections.

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good

The manager ensures that external monitoring takes place each month. However, the independent visitor does not routinely seek feedback from children, staff or key stakeholders to reach an impartial judgement about the home.

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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.

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good

The manager has identified some areas for improvement regarding her overall review and monitoring of the home. However, these systems were not in place at the time of the inspection.

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good

The manager has not taken sufficient action to meet requirements from previous inspections. A requirement under regulation 13, the leadership and management standard, is restated. Inspection report for children’s home: SC063498 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, 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.

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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

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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

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

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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;

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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)(a)(b)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff receive training specific to the needs of the children, including self-injurious behaviour, knife crime and learning disabilities.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that there are effective monitoring systems in place to enable oversight of all aspects of the day-to-day running of the home, including staff training records. 15 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC063498 7 The registered person must ensure that any relevant therapeutic input is clearly recorded in the child’s plans, as per the home’s statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the two last inspections and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement;

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Requirement Due date

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible; 15 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC063498 8 help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans; (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(x))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the child is receiving appropriate education provision to meet his needs.

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that identified support is offered to children in a timely way. When there is a delay in securing the input and services required, the registered person must escalate this in a timely manner to the most appropriate person, for example, the director of children’s services for the local authority. 15 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that staff help each child to— 15 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC063498 9 develop the child’s interests and hobbies;

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Requirement Due date

participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child’s interests and preferences; and

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Requirement Due date

make a positive contribution to the home and the wider community; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to a range of activities that enable the child to pursue the child’s interests and hobbies. (Regulation 9 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that opportunities to develop interests and activities with peers are promoted and that staff actively seek out appropriate clubs and activities to support the child’s social skills and relationships with peers. The registered person should make use of the local authority local offer, along with other resources.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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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

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

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;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children personal items that are appropriate for their age and understanding; and 15 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC063498 10 make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home.and (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iv)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children have appropriate storage for their belongings and that staff support children to keep their bedroom clean and tidy. Decisions regarding children’s bedding need to be assessed, clearly recorded and reviewed regularly to ensure they are appropriate to meet the child’s needs.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff’s performance is appraised annually.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the last two inspections and is restated. 15 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure the records are complete and include relevant and up-to-date information. Medication records must clearly state reasons why medication has not been administered. Missing documents, such as education, 15 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC063498 11 health and care plans, should be obtained and placed on the child’s file to support care plans and care for the child.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the last inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date; and

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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))

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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 visit. The registered person must ensure that staff rotas include the hours worked in the home by the manager. 15 August 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person, alongside the child’s social worker, should make an informed professional judgement regarding the age ratings on television programmes that the child can access. They should consider the child’s specific needs and developmental stage when making such decisions. The decision and reasons for this should be clearly recorded and reviewed as necessary. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.7)  The registered person should ensure that the responsible local authority provides children with the opportunity for an independent return home interview after they have been missing from care. The registered person should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address behaviour are recorded clearly and that the manager has oversight of these to ensure they are proportionate and appropriate. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38) Inspection report for children’s home: SC063498 12  The registered person should support the independent visitor to obtain feedback from children, their parents, relatives, key stakeholders and people working at the home to enable them to assess all relevant information and form an impartial judgement about the quality of care the home provides. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.8)

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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: SC063498 13

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Crossway Services Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Jenni Gadsby, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC063498 14 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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