Children's Home run by Crystal Care Solutions Limited in Shropshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2748579 1 Registered provider: Crystal Care Solutions Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home provides care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted on 11 December 2023. The registered manager resigned in July 2025, and the post is currently vacant.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, two children were living at the home. Both were spoken to by the inspector during the visit.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2748579 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/07/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2748579 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make and sustain positive progress from their individual starting points. Both children living in the home at the time of the inspection demonstrate strong engagement in education and maintain consistent attendance at their respective provisions. One parent said: ‘I am absolutely amazed by the care my son is receiving. My child has not raised a single concern with me and always seems happy.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, two children have moved out of the home. Although both moves occurred earlier than originally planned, the decisions were made in response to emerging risks to children’s safety. Before the moves took place, leaders thoroughly explored all available support options to minimise any negative impact on the children. Staff worked effectively and collaboratively with both placing authorities to ensure that each child experienced a carefully planned move from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff demonstrate a thorough understanding of children’s health needs. These needs are clearly identified and well documented within children’s individual care plans. Staff work proactively with children to promote their understanding of the importance of attending health appointments and engaging with health professionals. Since moving into the home, one child has made exceptional progress in their personal care, as evidenced by a significant reduction in incidents of enuresis and encopresis.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to increase their independence skills. Children work towards age and risk-appropriate independence targets. When children achieve these targets, staff are creative in the ways they celebrate this, ensuring that children experience recognition of their progress and take pride in sharing their achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is decorated to a high standard, and children are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms to reflect their individual interests. Children’s views are regularly sought in respect of how they feel about their home environment. The communal areas in the home provide welcoming spaces for children to relax, interact with their peers and staff, and enjoy a range of activities inside and outside.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support and facilitate children to keep in touch with their family and friends. Staff are aware of the importance of helping children to maintain relationships with people who are important to them.

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

Staff understand the actions to take to safeguard children. Managers provide staff with clear plans to follow, which are understood and implemented effectively. For example, if children go missing from home, staff consistently apply the missing-from-home protocol in practice, in accordance with each child’s specific risk assessment. For one child who was increasingly at risk of going missing, leaders took a proactive and creative approach, Inspection report for children’s home: 2748579 4 mapping the child’s known associates and locations of interest. This approach directly contributed to the child being located and safely returned home on multiple occasions.

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

Staff help children to manage their emotions and feelings. They take the time to get to know each child and understand which strategies work best for them. Support plans are developed, regularly updated and shared effectively with the team to ensure that staff provide consistent boundaries and support.

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

Staff take effective action to promote positive behaviours and de-escalate unwanted behaviours. Physical intervention is used as a last resort to keep children safe from harm. Incidents, however, are not consistently appropriately recorded by staff. Children and staff are not consistently spoken to promptly to reflect on their experience and to ensure that children’s rights are upheld. This shortfall limits opportunities for learning and improvement and may reduce the effectiveness of safeguarding practices and emotional support for children following incidents.

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

Children are encouraged to take age-appropriate and balanced risks that promote their independence and personal development. Staff regularly undertake direct work with children to help them understand and identify risk. However, one child experienced inconsistency in the guidance provided by leaders regarding their access to the internet. On a separate occasion, a child was able to disable a safety device that had been temporarily relocated to a communal area. This resulted in a delay in staff being alerted to the child’s access to inappropriate online content. Leaders have since implemented measures to ensure that children’s internet use is consistently managed in line with guidance set out in their individual risk assessments.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The oversight and practice from the previous management team were not consistently effective. Internal auditing and review systems did not consistently identify gaps in the implementation of agreed actions to raise the quality of care provided by the staffing team. As a result, opportunities were missed to ensure that staff received timely access to appropriate support and guidance from the leadership team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

While the registered manager’s post remains vacant, leaders have demonstrated efforts to recruit into the role. During this period, effective interim management arrangements have been in place. The staff team has been supported by an interim manager who is child focused and advocates passionately for the children under her care. The interim manager demonstrates creativity in developing staff practice, introducing innovative approaches to enhance staff skills and support children in achieving their full potential.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff have access to a good training programme and complete additional training based on each child’s individual needs. This reflects the understanding of the leadership team to continually review the training offer for staff to ensure it represents the current presenting needs of children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2748579 5 Staff report feeling well supported. Despite changes in leadership, support from leaders has remained consistent, enabling staff to fulfil their roles effectively. Staff receive regular supervision and appraisal, during which development is discussed. Shortfalls in supervision practice under previous management have been identified by the new leadership, and improvements have been implemented.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There are effective working relationships between staff and professionals who support the children. Professionals have commented on how well the team communicates with them and that they feel confident they have the most up-to-date information about the children, enabling them to provide the right care and support. Inspection report for children’s home: 2748579 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

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

This specifically relates to the registered person maintaining good oversight to ensure that there are effective monitoring and review system in place to improve practice, particularly around staff training and development. 12 December

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration; 12 December Inspection report for children’s home: 2748579 7 details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to offering the appropriate support and guidance following the use of physical intervention.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that when children have access to the internet, staff should continually review how they can support the child to access the internet safely. This is specifically related to staff and leaders understanding what access children have to the internet and what measures are in place to monitor and review its safe use. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standard’, page 29, paragraph 5.19)

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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: 2748579 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Crystal Care Solutions Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Charlotte Tippett, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2748579 9 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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