Chrysalis Assessment and Support Centre

Inspection report for residential family centre: Chrysalis Assessment and Support Centre 1 Chrysalis Assessment and Support Centre

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this residential family centre

This is a privately run residential family centre. The centre is registered to accommodate four families.

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Information about this residential family centre

At the time of the inspection, two families were in residence, undertaking their parenting assessments. The inspectors spoke to both families at this inspection.

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Information about this residential family centre

This manager registered with Ofsted in August 2020.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and parents, taking into account inadequate

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and parents are helped and protected inadequate

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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Overall experiences and progress of

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and parents are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded, and the care and experiences of children and parents are poor.

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Overall experiences and progress of

Date of previous inspection: 26 July 2023

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Overall experiences and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for residential family centre: Chrysalis Assessment and Support Centre 2

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Summary of findings

Serious and widespread shortfalls in safeguarding practice, staffing arrangements and management oversight mean that children and families do not receive safe and effective care. Leaders and managers have failed to provide effective oversight of practice or implement a culture where safeguarding responsibilities are understood and consistently implemented. This has resulted in poor practice not being addressed promptly.

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Overall

The significant shortfalls in the safeguarding practices, leadership and management of the residential family centre, impact on the overall experience and progress of children and parents.

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Overall

Ongoing staffing challenges within the centre have affected the support families receive. As a result, parents experience delays and inconsistencies in parenting key- work sessions and planned support. Parents said that they cannot always go out due to limited staff availability and would like more staff to support them at times. This reduces families’ opportunities to access activities and impacts on their overall experience.

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Overall

Assessment plans for parents are not always completed, and letters of instruction are not always obtained from the local authorities. Families are formally assessed in their parenting by a qualified social worker in a timely way. However, there is no oversight or monitoring of these assessments through a robust quality assurance process. This reduces assurances that assessments fully meet the requirements of the court.

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Overall

The centre has had some recent improvements to the garden area to enhance the outdoor space available to families. The communal areas of the home are generally well maintained. However, there are areas of the home that are worn and could be improved, such as flooring and blinds in the communal areas. Standards are not consistently maintained in family bedrooms, with hazards left near a children’s sleeping area and bathrooms left in an unhygienic condition.

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Overall

Parents develop positive relationships with staff. Families said that they feel listened to by staff and that they receive a quick response when they ask for changes to be made. This helps parents to build trusting relationships with staff, enabling them to talk openly about any issues they may be experiencing.

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Overall

Children and parents have access to a range of activities and groups provided by the centre. These are tailored to the age of babies and families at the centre. Parents are encouraged to participate in these activities and groups, helping them to deepen Inspection report for residential family centre: Chrysalis Assessment and Support Centre 3 connections with their children and support their development in a positive way. Parents said that they find the sessions helpful and enjoy attending them.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: inadequate

Risk assessments are not consistently clear or detailed enough to guide staff in managing identified risks. Staff do not consistently follow agreed risk assessments, and, in some cases, risk assessments are only updated after incidents have occurred rather than in response to known concerns. As a result, staff do not have clear guidance to safeguard children effectively.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: inadequate

Pre-admission risk assessments are not consistently comprehensive. In one example, the assessment focused on the risks that a new family might present to existing residents but did not consider the potential risks to that family from others living in the centre, despite the parent being under 18. This means that staff do not always have a full understanding of all relevant risks before families move into the centre.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: inadequate

When there are concerns about staff practice, this is not always followed up. For example, a concern that a staff member left the building during a difficult situation, reducing supervision of families, was not fully investigated or recorded. This allows poor practice to go unchallenged and impacts on the consistency of care families receive.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: inadequate

CCTV is only used to monitor families when necessary. Agreements for monitoring parents and their children are regularly reviewed and amended in line with any known risk. On arrival at the centre, staff help parents understand the purpose of CCTV and how it is used. The staff monitor families and use the information to inform their assessments.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: inadequate

Leaders and managers ensure that safer recruitment processes are followed. Staff are appropriately vetted prior to working with children and their families to assure leaders that they are safe to do so.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are significant deficiencies in the current system that leaders and managers use to monitor the service. The manager lacks effective oversight of incidents, safeguarding concerns and the quality of care provided to children and parents. This has impacted her ability to take prompt and effective action to ensure the safety and wellbeing of children and their families.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has not completed the required leadership and management qualification despite a significant delay in doing so. This limits the development of the knowledge and skills needed to make required improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staffing arrangements are not consistently sufficient to meet the needs of families in the centre. Ongoing staff shortages have resulted in the manager undertaking Inspection report for residential family centre: Chrysalis Assessment and Support Centre 4 additional shifts, and basic staffing levels have not always been maintained. This has impacted on the quality of care and oversight in the centre.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers fail to provide effective support for staff learning and development. Team meetings are inconsistent and do not sufficiently promote communication, reflective practice or shared learning. Lessons from safeguarding incidents are not used to drive improvement or embed learning across the staff team. Consequently, staff lack the understanding of the changes needed to improve practice, which leads to inconsistent care and safeguarding practice for children and their families.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff said they feel supported by the management team. However, there is little in the way of structure that evidences this support. There are significant gaps in some practice-related supervision sessions. When supervision does take place, this is not always reflective. This prevents staff from having the opportunity to develop their knowledge and skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager responds to complaints from families in a timely manner. Families receive feedback on the outcome, and she identifies learning from complaints and follows this up with individual staff to address practice. This helps to improve the quality of care provided to families.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers recognise the service’s shortfalls and understand the improvements required. Senior leaders provide support to the manager and are committed to strengthening staff practice and improving the quality of care and support provided by staff to parents and their children. Inspection report for residential family centre: Chrysalis Assessment and Support Centre 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person must take to meet The Care Standards Act 2000, The Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. The registered person must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

*The registered person shall prepare and implement a written child protection policy which—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard children accommodated in the residential family centre from abuse or neglect; and

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Requirement Due date

sets out the procedure to be followed in the event of any allegation of abuse or neglect. (Regulation 12 (1)(a)(b)) 30 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

*The registered person shall establish and maintain a system for—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided at the residential family centre. (Regulation 23 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must regularly monitor all records kept by the centre to ensure compliance with the centre’s policies, to identify any concerns about specific incidents, and to identify patterns and trends. Immediate action must be taken to address any issues raised by this monitoring. 30 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall ensure that there is, having regard to—

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Requirement Due date

the statement of purpose of the residential family centre, its size and the numbers and needs of its residents; and

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Requirement Due date

the need to safeguard and promote the health and welfare of residents, 13 September 2026 Inspection report for residential family centre: Chrysalis Assessment and Support Centre 6 a sufficient number of suitably qualified, competent and experienced persons working for the residential family centre. (Regulation (15)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall ensure that all persons employed by him—

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Requirement Due date

receive appropriate training, supervision and appraisal. (Regulation 17 (5)(a)) 30 October 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager shall undertake from time to time such training as is appropriate to ensure that he has the skills necessary for managing the residential family centre. (Regulation 8 (3)) 30 October 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that conclusions or recommendations are made as a result of the assessment or monitoring and that—

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Requirement Due date

such conclusions or recommendations are objective and based on verifiable evidence; and

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Requirement Due date

the evidence on which they are based is capable of being presented in a manner that is clear, accessible and appropriate to the persons who will need to consider them. (Regulation 13A (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there is an effective quality assurance process in place to ensure the quality of social work assessments completed by the assessing social worker. 30 October 2026

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure the centre provides a comfortable and homely environment and is well maintained and decorated, and that avoidable hazards are removed in a way that is consistent with a domestic setting. (NMS 11.2)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and parents, 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 Inspection report for residential family centre: Chrysalis Assessment and Support Centre 7 to consider how well it complies with The Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for residential family centre: Chrysalis Assessment and Support Centre 8

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider: Dragonfly Children’s Services Limited

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider address: 72 Lairgate, Beverley, East Yorkshire HU17 8EU

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Residential family centre details

Responsible individual: Rachael Thompson

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Residential family centre details

Email address: Rachael@chrysalisassessmentcentre.co.uk

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Inspectors

Natalie Clark, Social Care Inspector Lisa Richards, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for residential family centre: Chrysalis Assessment and Support Centre 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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