Children's Home run by Hillcrest Children‟s Services (2) Limited in Staffordshire

Requires improvement

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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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

 Managers allow young people to be admitted without careful assessment and planning.

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

 Staff do not provide enough support to young people that have difficulties with school attendance.

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

 Young people do not always receive all the support they need to address their health needs.

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

 Staff are inconsistent in using existing reward structures to promote positive behaviours.

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

 Staff do not fully understand the principle of restorative justice.

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

 Staff have been unable to maintain young people’s involvement in positive activities, resulting in some young people missing the opportunity to engage in positive social and recreational activities.

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

 Staff do not fully support young people to express their views and opinions regarding the quality of care that they receive.

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

 The standard of furniture and décor is not kept to a high standard to create a homely environment for young people.

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

 The registered manager does not ensure that young people have placement plans that are individualised to their needs, which has an impact on the personalised care that staff provide.

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

 The registered manager does not review incidents of physical restraint effectively to ensure that their use is proportionate and appropriate. As a result, young people are subject to physical restraint when less punitive measures may be more effective.

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

 Staff retention difficulties have meant that young people have experienced an unstable staff team, which has included the use of temporary and agency staff.

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

 Safeguarding practice does not extend to young people’s safe use of the internet.

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The children’s home strengths

 The new registered manager is enthusiastic, committed and child focussed.  The registered manager has a good understanding of the weaknesses of the home and is able to identify strategies to address these.  A new staff team demonstrate a positive and motivated attitude. Staff are eager to develop their practice and endeavour to provide young people with good quality individualised care.  Staff are effective at promoting contact between a young person and their family.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person meets 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

6: The quality and purpose of care standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard, with particular reference to ensuring that the home provides children and young people with a pleasant domestic environment in which to reside, the registered provider must ensure that staff:

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Requirement Due date

(6)(2)(c) ensure that the premises used for the purpose of the home are designed and furnished so as to–

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Requirement Due date

(i) Meet the needs of each child. 28/10/2016

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Requirement Due date

8: The education standard In order to meet the education standard, with particular reference to ensuring that all children and young people access a minimum of 25 hours of education a week, the registered provider must ensure that staff: (8)(2)(a) (i) Help each child achieve the child’s education and training 28/10/2016 targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans; (iii) Understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers; (iv) Help each child understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment; (vi) 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

10: The health and well-being standard In order to meet the health and well-being standard the registered person must ensure that: (1)(a) the health and well-being needs of children are met; (1)(b) children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and (1)(c) children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. (2)(a) (i) Staff help each child to achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans; (ii) Staff help each child to understand the child’s health and well- being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding. 28/10/2016

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Requirement Due date

11: The positive relationships standard In order to meet the positive relationships standard, with specific reference to ensuring effective behaviour management systems are in place, the registered person must ensure: (2)(a) that staff— (v) Communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding. (vi) Help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate 28/10/2016 according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful; (vii) Help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship; (viii) Strive to gain each child’s respect and trust.

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered person must ensure:

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Requirement Due date

(i) Assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; (ii) Help each child to understand how to keep safe; (iii) Have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm.

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Requirement Due date

(b) That the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. 28/10/2016

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard In order to meet the leadership and management standard the registered person must: (2)(b) Ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; (c) Ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; (f) 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; (g) (ii) Demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and 28/10/2016 improved by taking into account and acting on feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; (h) Use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that 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 the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. (Regulation 35(3)(b)(vii)) 28/10/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) for each child which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child and are kept up to date. (Regulation 36(1)(a)(b)) 28/10/2016

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Information about this children’s home

This home is part of a large private children’s care organisation and is registered to provide care and accommodation to up to three children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

09/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

05/02/2015 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Requires improvement

Poor staff retention has an effect on young people’s ability to develop trusted and secure relationships with staff. The quality of relationships influences staff members’ capacity to implement boundaries and routines. Consequently, staff struggle to promote positive behaviour, address barriers to young people’s educational engagement and support young people to develop self-care skills. Subsequently, staff do not support young people to develop the skills they need in order to make positive progress.

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Requires improvement

Despite this, the new registered manager and staff are working hard get to know the young people. One social worker said, ‘they all appear to be knowledgeable about [the young person], and not just in a way that suggests they have read lots of things about him, but that they have spent time with him and observed him, trying to figure out how he ticks. This is especially important with [the young person] who will not openly talk about himself or his past.’ This is beginning to help to strengthen relationships to enable young people to make progress that is more meaningful.

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Requires improvement

Staff members’ responses to the barriers faced by young people in accessing education are variable. As a result, not all young people are accessing full-time education. Some young people make meaningful progress because staff support daily attendance. A social worker said, ‘the home have maintained his placement at school despite there being a long journey as this is what [he] wanted’. However, other young people continue to struggle. Staff compromise young people’s educational progress, as they do not adapt the support offered to young people to reflect the changes in care planning. Therefore, staff do little to remove barriers that influence young people’s attainment.

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Requires improvement

Staff do not always ensure that young people attend health care appointments. For example, staff failed to ensure that one young person attended a required X-ray or to have a review of their medication. This leaves young people without the access to specialist health care to safeguard their physical and emotional well-being.

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Requires improvement

Staff’s ability to engage young people in a range of social, educational and recreational opportunities both in and outside the home is inconsistent. When a young person is self-motivated to engage in such activities, staff are proactive in encouraging and supporting this. This enables some young people to explore their interests and become positively involved in activities in the local community. However, when there are barriers to young people engaging, staff are ineffective at addressing them. As a result, young people’s experiences are variable. This means that not all young people are given the opportunity to develop their social, behavioural and emotional skills.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager has not made plans to deliver, or ensured that staff deliver, care to meet the individual needs of young people. For example, staff do not recognise the significance of young people’s ethnicity, race and family history. As a result, staff have not taken into consideration the impact that this has on young people’s health, behaviour and emotional development.

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Requires improvement

Staff provide young people with opportunities to share their views and wishes, through young people’s meetings and key-work sessions. However, staff and managers do not always respond or act on the information they are given. For example, when a young person made a complaint about bullying, there were missed opportunities to complete key-work sessions with young people to address the underlying reasons for this bullying behaviour. This means that young people do not contribute meaningfully to the care they receive.

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Requires improvement

Staff have not made sure that young people are provided with a comfortable, welcoming and homely environment in which to live. The house is clean, but requires refurbishment as the decor is tired and in need of repair. There are some photographs of young people in communal areas, but staff have not encouraged young people to personalise their bedrooms. This has an impact on young people’s sense of belonging.

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Requires improvement

Staff understand the importance of young people maintaining contact with their family. Staff support contact by facilitating transport or ensuring that telephone contact can take place. This means that young people are able to have appropriate levels of contact with their family, helping them to deal with the separation.

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Requires improvement

Staff are inconsistent in managing young people’s behaviour. Staff are not familiar with existing reward and incentive structures. This has an effect on young people’s motivation to engage in recreational activities, develop independence skills or treat staff and peers with respect. Similarly, young people do not see consequences to their actions. When staff identify a sanction, it is not always applied. Staff do not adopt the principles of restorative justice in the management of young people’s behaviour. As a result, staff do not support young people to understand the impact of their behaviour for themselves and others. There are early indicators that physical interventions with young people are reducing. A social worker said, ‘they have listened, observed this for themselves and have figured out another way of working. This is incredibly positive for [the young person] as he hates restraint, so preventing a situation escalating means he

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Requires improvement

has not needed to be restrained.’ However, the registered manager’s failure to evaluate staff’s use of restraint measures means that the reasons for this reduction are not fully understood. The registered manager and staff do not reflect and learn from incidents of physical restraint. Consequently, staff do not develop individualised behaviour management plans to support young people to be better able to regulate their emotions and understand what socially acceptable behaviour is.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager has not made sure that staff fully assess and understand risk. The risks associated with self-harm, online safety and exploitation are not fully considered by staff. For example, staff often allow young people unrestricted access to the internet. This leaves no safeguards that take into account their age, maturity or levels of vulnerability. Furthermore, staff do not use key-work sessions to increase young people’s understanding and awareness of such risks. Consequently, staff do not take adequate action to promote e-safety in the home.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager has not fully assess the appropriateness of new admissions, with particular reference to the location of the home. For example, the admission impact assessment fails to take full account of peers’ relationships. This weakness in planning has resulted in one new admission becoming involved in risk taking behaviour including being influenced by peers to go missing.

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Requires improvement

Young people do not frequently go missing or abscond from the home. However, when such incidents occur the staff’s response is not proactive, resulting in young people being at risk for longer than necessary. Staff do not take pre-emptive steps to prevent such situations from occurring. The registered manager has failed to ensure that staff have the equipment they need to keep themselves and young people safe when missing incidents occur. For example, staff do not have easy access to torches and high-visibility jackets, despite the geographical hazards, such as a busy road, canal and poor lighting in the area.

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Requires improvement

Staff have developed good links with the local police, with a police representative regularly visiting the home. One social worker said, ‘the home have one of the best relationships with local police and services that I have ever witnessed, and this results in not only a well-rounded team for the young person but also improves the young person’s view and opinions of services like the police’. However, formal documentation does not reflect what impact this has for young people’s outcomes. The links with the police are not fully utilised to address problematic behaviours, or to educate young people about the risks of exploitation and going missing from care. Judgement grade

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Requires improvement

The manager started in post in June 2016 and became the registered manager in August 2016. The manager is currently in the process of completing the level five diploma in leadership and management.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager is able to identify the weaknesses of the home, and is enthusiastic and motivated to deliver changes to improve outcomes for young people. The staff team share his passion and recognise the need for improvements. The registered manager is developing a supportive environment for new and existing staff. The registered manager ensures that staff receive regular monthly supervision. One member of staff said, ‘he is very helpful, I can go to him at any time’. Another member of staff said, ‘we all work together well, we just want the best for young people’.

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Requires improvement

The home has 12 staff, of whom four are qualified with the level three diploma in residential childcare. Three staff are in the process of completing this qualification, and are expected to have done this by September 2017, which is within two years of them taking up the relevant post. Five staff are currently in their probation period, and on completion of this will be enrolled on the course.

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Requires improvement

The manager ensures that only staff who are appropriately vetted get to work with young people. However, the staff team lack experience. Half the staff team, including the registered manager, have been in post for less than six months. This has contributed to the inconsistent quality of care provided to young people.

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Requires improvement

Induction programmes for new staff help them to acquire the skills and knowledge that they need to work with young people. For example, before a staff member starts in post, they are provided with off-site training to enable them to complete mandatory training in safeguarding, fire safety and child development, and they have the opportunity to read case files and shadow more experienced members of staff. However, the manager has not ensured that all staff have undertaken training in key areas including child sexual exploitation, bullying and behaviour management. This means that staff do not have the required knowledge to meet young people’s educational, health and behavioural development needs.

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Requires improvement

In line with the home’s statement of purpose, staff utilise a therapeutic approach to care for young people. Strong links between staff and the organisation’s clinical team mean that young people who refuse to engage with direct therapy are support by staff who adopt therapeutic-based strategies. However, formal documentation does not evidence the progress made by young people. As a result, the manager is not able to assess the effectiveness of the support offered to young people to meet their emotional health needs. The registered manager has developed good links with placing authorities and partner agencies. One social worker said, ‘they are excellent in terms of information sharing’. However, the registered manager does not always challenge placing authorities and partner agencies when they do not meet their responsibilities. Consequently, key statutory documentation is missing from young people’s files. As a result, staff do not have all required information to be able to

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Requires improvement

support young people to meet their educational and health needs.

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against ‘Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection’.

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What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children’s home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children’s home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children’s home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of children looked after is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place. However, the children’s home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children’s home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

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What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or that result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children’s home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference that adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children’s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This 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 Children’s

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Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. the guidance Raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for children looked after and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Information about this inspection

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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