Children's home run by Hillcrest Children’s Services Ltd in Havant

The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

children and young people since the most recent full inspection. This home was judged good at the full inspection. At this interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has sustained effectiveness . Young people continue to make good progress since their arrival at the home. They are learning positive ways to self-regulate their behaviours, feelings and emotions. Staff are providing good-quality care and support, which is enabling young people to develop positive life, personal and social skills. Robust support plans address young people’s needs thoroughly and provide clarity regarding how to meet them. Staff share all initial plans with young people, providing them with regular opportunities to contribute their views and opinions about the care that they receive. Staff have not routinely shared the updated plans with young people once changes are made. Young people are in full-time education or have plans detailing daily routines of

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

stimulating activities. Staff support young people to address their basic health needs. Staff refer to other specialist services to address needs that are more complex. Young people are beginning to engage in services, which they had not previously done. A good variety of activities is available to young people. They access the local community as well as venturing further away from the home for more specific activities. Young people have been fishing, camping and recently went to an indoor sky dive centre. The activities offer young people new opportunities and experiences. Young people are also encouraged to have key interests and hobbies. They recently completed some voluntary gardening work at a local community service. Young people’s views are regularly sought in the house meetings, with them being fully involved in menu planning, activity planning and making choices about decor in the home. Young people were involved in choosing the colour scheme and style

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

of the communal lounge area. Staff keep scrapbooks and photo journals to show a visual story of a young person’s time at the home. There are also photographs around the home of key events and activities that have taken place. Regular key work sessions promote positive relationships between staff and young people. They also provide regular opportunities to talk through key topics and worries that a young person may have. Discussion and education about key topics have occurred including sexual health. The manager has plans to provide detailed education regarding key risky behaviours, which young people engage in. Staff support young people to develop their independence skills by encouraging them to complete basic household tasks. These include laundry, washing up and basic cooking. The home environment has improved, creating homely communal areas for young people. There continue to be aspects of low-level damage and repair that are

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

required. The home has plans in place to address these issues. Staff have arranged activities, to which they invite local residents and others linked to the home. This has promoted positive relationships with those outside of the home. The home’s coffee morning and barbecue were particularly memorable events for all. Episodes of going missing are well managed through a coordinated approach applied. Plans provide detail and clarity informing staff of actions required. Staff have amended policies and procedures to reflect the new process followed by staff ensuring that sufficient staff are available if required during an episode of going missing. There have been no safeguarding concerns or issues raised since the last inspection. There have been no allegations against staff. Staff have investigated complaints with records evidencing that the complainant was provided with an outcome and written response to the complaint.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

Staff are trained in the home’s preferred method of behaviour management. Each young person has a behaviour management plan detailing triggers, behaviours and actions required to support the young person. Plans clearly identify methods of intervention to be used. Incidents have been well managed, with staff following each young person’s behaviour support plan. Staff have avoided the use of physical intervention. When physical intervention has been used it has been in its lowest form for the shortest time possible. Records detail antecedents, behaviours and interventions used. The records are not accurate, with errors in date entry and dates on which specific aspects of follow up with the young person occurred. Young people’s comments and review of incidents has not been routinely sought. When it does occur, staff have not explored with a young person what they could do differently to self-regulate their behaviour.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

Sanctions applied are linked to a trigger or cause. Staff use known sanctions which are effective for individual young people. The records are not always precise and clear. Staff have not always sought young people’s comments and views following a sanction being implemented. Leaders and managers complete pre-admission risk assessments and impact risk assessments exploring all risk factors prior to an admission. Staff consider if need can be met and if a young person is compatible with the young people already placed in the home. Risk assessments detail and consider known risk factors. When new risks have been identified, plans have not been updated. Staff have not updated a going missing plan to reflect new known risk factors. During the inspection, fire doors were propped open and the emergency door release mechanism had been removed. Staff now complete health questionnaires as part of the recruitment process. The

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

home’s policy and procedure do not reflect the changes to procedure. Leaders and managers have acted on the requirements, which were previously set. Managers have advocated on behalf of young people, achieving good outcomes for them. A recent request from a professional outside of the home had a negative impact on a young person. Managers have reflected on this and have concluded that on occasions their challenge needs to be more robust to achieve the best outcome for young people.

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Information about this children's home

The home is privately owned providing care and accommodation for up to six young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home is registered for young people irrespective of gender. Currently, only boys are accommodated. It is one of three homes in the local area, owned by the same organisation.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

24/08/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Statutory requirements

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

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Requirement Due date

Behaviour management policies and records The registered person must ensure that within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(c)) 01/11/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  For children's homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children's homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene, fire precautions and so on). However, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than institutional impression (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9).  Children's home staff should act as effective advocates for or on behalf of a child who may be experiencing difficulties with education or training matters including, but not limited to, attainment, admissions, attendance or behaviour, as a good parent would do (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality

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Recommendations

standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.12).  Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.95).  Records of restraint must be kept and should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure it meets the needs of each child (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59).

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What the inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspection 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

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 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 focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

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 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, workbased learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children 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

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Information about this inspection

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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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