Children's Home run by Crusoe Care Limited 06843979 in East Sussex

Inspection report for children’s home: SC484302 1 SC484302 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 home is registered to provide care for up to two children with social, emotional and mental health difficulties. It is owned and run by a private organisation. At the time of the inspection, there was one child was living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since April 2015.

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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: 13 December 2022

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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: SC484302 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/12/2022 Full Good 25/05/2021 Full Good 19/02/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 17/04/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC484302 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child speaks warmly of their relationships with staff. They spoke enthusiastically about the different attributes and skills that they liked about different people, such as who was the best cook.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress in relation to their starting points. They are cared for by staff who are committed to helping them to make good progress. Staff are guided by clear and relevant plans that enable them to provide good-quality care. These are reviewed regularly and reflect the current needs of each child. As a result, the child has been able to have positive contact with their family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff focus on supporting children to be independent and take responsibility for helping around the home. This is supported using incentives, which children respond well to. The child takes pride in helping to maintain a nice, homely environment. Children are encouraged to have their say about how the home should be decorated and have been involved in choosing how to redecorate their bedrooms.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child said that they feel listened to. They state that they are confident in speaking to staff and are confident that they will be helped. The child’s independent reviewing officer stated that, recently, the child had chaired their own meeting and had the confidence to do so. This is a good achievement for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals report that there are positive relationships with managers and staff. They said that appropriate professional challenge is used where needed and have confidence in managers to respond to feedback. One professional stated that the child’s key worker ‘is magnificent and is so focused on making sure that they get a good education’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend school regularly. They are supported in the home with their learning through help with homework and other learning opportunities, such as money management.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to explore activities and interests in their communities, such as youth groups, to enable them to have fun and develop social skills. Staff also support children to engage with activities that enable them to live healthy lifestyles, such as going to the gym or cycling.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to have good contact with family where this is possible. They support children to understand and explore their life journey and think about their identity in a way that is nurturing and sensitive to the background of each child.

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

The child reports that they feel that staff keep them safe. They can identify staff who they trust and can speak to if they had any concerns. Inspection report for children’s home: SC484302 4 Children are encouraged to behave positively, and staff are proactive in supporting this. The use of incentive charts ensures that there is less reliance on the use of sanctions.

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

Staff are skilled in managing incidents of challenging behaviour. Most staff have had a good level of training to enable them to support children to be safe. When physical restraint is used, it is proportionate to the behaviour and is only used for the minimal time needed to keep children and staff safe. During incidents, staff use nurturing, supportive language to help children to understand their behaviours and make choices to be safe.

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

Children who go missing from the home usually experience well-coordinated responses from staff. During one isolated incident, the police were not contacted within the agreed timeframes. However, managers identified this and took effective action to retrain staff on expectations.

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

Staff have a good understanding of risks and take effective action to keep children safe. Concerns are reported in a timely manner and relevant plans and assessments are regularly updated, with practice changing and adapting as a result. Managers and staff work with social workers and seek advice from mental health services to ensure that children get the support and care that they need.

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good

Managers have worked hard to improve the fabric of the home and ensure that it is able to support the needs of children. However, managers have not completed all necessary actions within the agreed timeframes from the fire risk assessment for the home. There are some plans in place for managers to address this.

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good

Managers have improved their recruitment processes. However, there have been times when not all relevant checks have been completed for staff before they started working in the home. As an example, managers were unaware of how to complete overseas police checks where relevant, and the need for these. Managers intend to address this immediately following the inspection.

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good

Managers do not effectively use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. For example, the manager has not undertaken a quality of care review, nor have they taken action to review the home’s statement of purpose, as identified at the previous inspection. Currently, this has not had a negative impact on the quality of care that children receive.

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good

Most staff have had appropriate training to enable them to support the needs of each child effectively. However, managers do not always undertake the training needed to enable them to support the needs of children effectively. For example, physical restraint training has not been completed by managers. Despite this, there Inspection report for children’s home: SC484302 5 have been occasions where managers have observed incidents or have been lone working. Although no incidents have occurred on these occasions, managers had not fully considered this.

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good

Staff are supported to be successful in their roles through improved, regular supervision processes. These enable staff to reflect on their practice, explore their development, and think about safeguarding in the home.

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good

Managers have a clear and ambitious vision for the home. They have high expectations of children and ensure that staff share in this view. Managers have a good understanding of the progress of children and of the barriers to potential further progress. Inspection report for children’s home: SC484302 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 registered person must keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)) 22 November 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must undertake such continuing professional development as is necessary to ensure that the registered manager has the skills needed for managing the home. (Regulation 29 (4)) 22 November 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (3)(c)(d)) 22 November 2023

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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. (Regulation 45 (1)) 22 November 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they take all necessary actions against recommendations made by a competent person as part of the fire risk assessment for the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report for children’s home: SC484302 7

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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: SC484302 8

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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: Crusoe Care Limited of 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

Jay Shekleton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC484302 9 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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