Children's Home run by Hillcrest Children's Services (2) Limited in Telford and Wrekin

Unique reference number SC398386 Inspector Jo Stephenson Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Registered person Young Options College Limited Registered person address Turnpike Gate House Alcester Heath Alcester Warwickshire B49 5JG Responsible individual Graham Baker Registered manager Joanne Louise Mansfield Date of last inspection 20/06/2014 2 of 5 Inspection date 18/02/2015

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Previous inspection adequate Enforcement action since last inspection none

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This inspection

This home was judged adequate at the last full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judge that it has improved effectiveness .

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This inspection

The home was last inspected in June 2014 and judged to be adequate. No requirements or recommendations were made at that time. At this inspection the home is judged to have improved effectiveness. This is because the service has continued to develop to ensure children and young people received personalise care that reflects their individual needs and vulnerabilities.

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This inspection

A new manager has been appointed to the home and is registered with Ofsted. The Registered Manager is implementing improvements to internal monitoring systems to better highlight the positive progress children and young people make. This ensures that children and young people remain the focus of the continued development of the home and that they receive care reflective of their individual needs. Children and young people achieve positive outcomes, because of this improvement.

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This inspection

Children and young people are safe in the home and say they feel safe. They enjoy positive relationships with the staff and each other. The home operates a robust complaints procedure. Since the last inspection there have been two complaints. These are recorded in detail and demonstrate the actions taken to resolve them. Children and young people receive written and verbal feedback on any concerns they raise. This promotes children and young people’s safety and welfare.

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This inspection

Since the last inspection incidents of risk taking behaviours have reduced. For example, missing for home episodes have declined. Children and young people have robust risk assessments in place that detail their individual vulnerabilities. These are supported by protocols with local police to ensure that children and young people experience an integrated approach to maintaining their safety. The use of physical restrain has reduced because behaviour management plans emphasis de-escalation and encourage children and young people to take responsibility for their own actions. When this measure of control has been used, records are completed in 3 of 5 detail and include the views and comments of children and young people. This allows the Registered Manager to evaluate the effectiveness of this intervention and this supports children and young people’s development and safety. Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding and child protection issues that impact on

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This inspection

children and young people's safety. They continue to work in partnership with the local safeguarding board, local police and designated officers from placing authorities. This further promotes children and young people's safety and well-being.

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This inspection

Children and young people enjoy living in the home. One young person said, ‘living here makes me happy, it is my home.’ Staff support children and young people to participate in a varied range of social activities in the local community. For example, children and young people are members of local football clubs. This encourages children and young people to expand their social circles, develop new friendships and learn new skills. This impacts positively on their self-esteem and confidence and supports their emotional progress.

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This inspection

Staff work in effective partnership with the organisations education provision to address any barriers to education that children and young people face. Children and young people’s school attendance and achievement is excellent and they make significant progress in this area of their development, taking account of their starting point. Communication between the home and the school is structured and professional. This ensures that children and young people experience integrated and comprehensive support that reflects their individual learning needs.

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This inspection

Children and young people benefit from an inclusive approach to meeting their physical and emotional health needs. For example, the organisation has an established multi-disciplinary team in place that provides children and young people with bespoke therapeutic interventions when required. These include play therapy and counselling sessions. Subsequently, children and young people do not experience any delay in accessing the services they need to make sense of their backgrounds and move forward in their lives. This further supports their self-esteem and they develop confidence in their skills and abilities.

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This inspection

Staff receive regular and effective supervision that evaluates their practice and performance. Training programmes are frequently reviewed to ensure that mandatory training is kept up-to-date and that additional courses reflect the needs of children and young people. This means that children and young people work with skilled and experienced staff who understand their individual needs and are able to respond to these appropriately. 4 of 5

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Information about this children’s home

This home is part of a range of children's services within a private care organisation. It is registered to accommodate three young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/06/2014 Full adequate 31/03/2014 Interim satisfactory progress 04/06/2013 Full good 13/09/2012 Interim good progress Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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What inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspections we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection.

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards.

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Information about this inspection

The report details the main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made against the framework of inspection for children's homes.

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