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

Good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.2

The children’s home provision is good because:

 Young people have made good progress from their starting points since arriving at the home.  Staff support and encourage young people to attend and engage in full-time education, and all young people are making good progress.  Staff support and encourage young people to develop social and personal skills by completing basic household chores and taking part in activities.  Each young person is being supported to address their physical and emotional health.  Young people are involved in decisions made in the home. Staff consult young people daily when planning meals and activities. Each child has personalised their bedroom and chosen how to decorate it.  Staff offer a wide variety of adventurous activities to young people.  Young people have been supported to seek part-time employment.  The home has two flats which provide opportunities to promote the development of independence and life skills for those approaching adulthood

p.3

The children’s home provision is good because:

and moving on from the home.  Young people are developing strategies which assist them to self-regulate and moderate their behaviour and emotions. Staff also utilise other services and provisions that promote children’s emotional well-being.  The home is homely and well cared for by young people and staff. It has good facilities and a variety of different areas for young people to relax and be involved in activities.  Young people have good relationships with staff. Each has a key adult whom they can trust and confide in.  Leaders and managers have positive relationships with external agencies and others outside of the home. This supports joint decision-making effectively to successfully manage risk.  Staff receive regular and effective supervision and appraisal of their practice. Staff access a wide variety of training, which is specific to their roles.  Leaders and managers have good systems in place to promote positive

p.3

The children’s home provision is good because:

transitions into and on from the home.  Staff have given young people sanctions which have been extended. Evidence in the home is lacking to show clear reason and rationale for this.  Staff who have worked in the home for over two years do not yet possess the required qualification.

p.3

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person(s) meet(s) 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.

p.5

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard The registered person must: ensure that staff 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; help each child to understand how to keep safe; manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other. (Regulation 12(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iv)) 01/03/2017

p.5

Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard The registered person must: demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking account of and acting on feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received. (Regulation 13(2)(g)(ii)) 01/03/2017

p.5

Requirement Due date

Behaviour management and discipline The following measures may not be used to discipline any child: any restriction, other than one imposed by a court or in accordance with regulation 22 on a child’s contact with parents, relatives or friends. (Regulation 19(2)(c)(i)) 01/03/2017

p.5

Requirement Due date

Fitness of workers: An individual who works in the home in a care role must have attained the level 3 diploma for residential childcare (England) (or a qualification which the registered person considers to be 01/03/2017 equivalent to it) two years after the date on which the individual started working in the home. (Regulation 32(4)(a))

p.5

Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:

p.6

Recommendations

 Staff should have the skills and confidence to communicate easily and understand the importance of listening to, involving and responding to the children they care for. Staff should understand that they have a responsibility to observe, notice and respond to children who are expressing their views, acknowledging that it is not the sole responsibility of the child to ‘tell’. They should also understand how children might communicate their feelings through their behaviour, or non-verbally especially when the child has a disability which does not allow them to communicate as others might. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.10)  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. They should be skilled in anticipating difficulties

p.6

Recommendations

and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice, specifically in terms of complaints. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  Any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)

p.6

Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to six young people who have emotional and behavioural difficulties. Young people are supported towards independence through utilising the two self-contained flats on the premises.

p.7

Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

p.7

Recent inspection history

18/05/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

p.7

Recent inspection history

28/04/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

p.7

Good

Young people make good progress following their arrival at the home. They are learning positive ways to manage their behaviour and emotions. Each is building beneficial trusting relationships with staff. Staff are open and honest with young people about how their behaviour makes them feel and what they need to do to improve their behaviour. Young people are learning positive strategies to regulate their behaviours and emotions through the use of physical activity and calming strategies. Detailed care plans provide clarity about routines and needs. Plans thoroughly explore education, health and therapy needs. Other specific information includes details about their likes and dislikes. Children have clear aims and objectives with individual targets set. These are regularly reviewed with young people in monthly meetings. Each young person is engaged in full-time education or a work-based learning programme. Each is making good academic progress within their individual

p.8

Good

capabilities. Those who have not previously attended education are now attending daily. There are positive relationships between home and school which promote consistency in their respective approaches. Staff facilitate and support young people to explore, investigate and seek work experience opportunities. Young people have undertaken part-time employment and work experience. Staff assist those in transition to consider all of the opportunities prior to decision-making about next steps. Staff support young people to attend to all of their physical and emotional health needs. They support them to address long-standing health issues, which is having a positive impact on their physical and emotional well-being. Young people engage in a variety of services, and staff refer to specialist services when required. Staff have positive links with specialist in-house therapy services. This positively shapes the approach and insight which staff have into the needs of the young people.

p.8

Good

Young people have positive experiences of arriving in and moving on from the home. Young people are fully involved in making decisions about moving into the home. They make contact with the manager to say if they would like to move to the home. Those moving on from the home are fully involved in the process of preparing for and exploring the options for life after the home. Staff support young people to learn life skills, including budgeting and basic household chores. Staff arrange a wide variety of adventurous activities and holidays for young people. Young people have attempted each of the activities offered, which has impacted positively on their self-esteem and confidence. Young people enjoy sharing stories about the activities and adventures that they have experienced. Young people are supported to follow their interests and hobbies and have a busy schedule of daily activities in the home. Staff encourage all young people to engage

p.8

Good

in daily physical activity, and this promotes their physical and emotional well-being. Young people assist with basic chores in the home. They clear the table, assist with meal preparation and help with the washing up after the main meal. Each young person has learned new skills while living at the home and they are becoming more independent. The voice of young people is apparent in all areas of the home. They are consulted daily at the tea meetings. They are involved in choosing menus and activities. Staff engage and encourage young people to contribute to reviews of care. The daily tea meeting also provides an opportunity to review the day, discuss any house issues and feelings and plan the evening’s activities. Staff record the discussion at these meetings, but records lack evidence to show outcomes and actions following issues being raised. Regular one-to-one sessions allow opportunities for young people to talk through

p.9

Good

individual challenges, develop relationships and build trust. Staff have provided essential information and education to young people, which has helped them to explore the consequences of engaging in risk-taking behaviours. Staff follow detailed contact plans, which ensure that contact between young people and families is managed well for all parties. Staff advocate for young people and request reviews if they consider that plans do not accurately address young people’s needs.

p.9

Requires improvement

Young people report feeling safe and having an adult whom they can trust and confide in. They seek support and guidance from known staff when they are anxious or worried. Staff assist young people to explore ways to manage their emotions and to develop strategies and skills to enable them to work through the challenges that they face. Staff follow detailed risk assessments, which explore all known risk factors. Staff have assessed risk associated with child sexual exploitation, but they have not routinely reviewed these assessments to ensure that they provide an updated view of risk. Staff manage episodes of young people going missing with prompt reporting, thorough recording and referral to other agencies, in line with individual plans. Staff have followed the plans, including actively seeking young people in the area and using a variety of strategies to de-escalate situations. Staff meet with young

p.9

Requires improvement

people to debrief after incidents and discuss with them what caused them to go missing. Staff did not review and update one young person’s plan following a recent episode which highlighted new risks. Staff complete a wide variety of risk assessments. These explore risk-taking behaviours, activities and living in the semi-independent flat. Staff have not updated all risk management plans to reflect new risks once they have been identified. Staff have not updated risk assessments following the occurrence of significant incidents. The home’s location risk assessment details many of the risk factors in the local area, but it lacks evidence that it has been completed in consultation with statutory organisations. Staff are trained in the home’s preferred method of behaviour management. Each young person has a behaviour management plan which details their triggers and behaviours and the actions required to support the young person, clearly

p.10

Requires improvement

identifying the methods of intervention to be used. Incidents have been managed well, and staff follow each young person’s behaviour support plan. Staff have minimised the use of physical intervention. When physical intervention has been used, it has been in its least restrictive form for the shortest time possible. Records detail antecedents, behaviours and interventions used. However, staff have not recorded all significant and serious incidents that have occurred in the home. Young people are always offered the opportunity to review and comment on an incident and intervention. Staff offer young people an opportunity to review an incident through a ‘re-attunement’ conversation. This enables young people to gain an understanding of how their behaviour has affected others. On occasions, the language used by staff in these conversations has been negative and overbearing in relation to the emotions and feelings of staff and has not considered the

p.10

Requires improvement

cognitive ability and understanding of young people. Staff give young people rewards which celebrate their achievements. These have included financial rewards, trips out and certificates of achievement. Staff also use sanctions when young people exhibit negative behaviours. These are on occasions linked to the trigger or cause. Staff do not evidence how the consequences or actions that young people are requested to complete will repair situations. Over recent months, the manager has introduced a consequence framework to guide staff about sanctions and to promote fairness and consistency. It was suggested to a young person on one occasion that he would not be able to have contact with his family if his poor behaviour persisted. On another occasion, a sanction was extended from 48 hours to five days without a clear rationale. Nor was there any evidence that this had been explained to the young person. Young people have

p.10

Requires improvement

been given restrictions which staff have not recorded as sanctions, for example not being able to attend a group activity due to poor behaviour. The evaluation and monitoring of sanctions have not been sufficiently robust. There have been no allegations made since the last inspection. Staff have a good understanding of the home’s policy, procedure and actions required, should the need arise. Staff have supported young people to make complaints. They have recorded the detail of complaints made. One complaint was retracted by a young person, but the records lack evidence to inform why this was not pursued. Complaints from others have been recorded, but without detail about the response given to the complainant. The home is well maintained and presented, and all young people and staff invest in their home. Damage rarely occurs, but when it does staff swiftly respond and repair it. Staff complete a wide variety of environmental checks in the home to

p.11

Requires improvement

ensure that it is safe. Recruitment processes are thorough and comply with safer recruitment practice and guidance.

p.11

Good

The home is managed by an appropriately qualified manager, who is supported by an experienced team of staff. There are a variety of systems in place to evaluate the quality of care provided in the home. This detail then links into the home’s development and business plan. The plan states what is to be achieved, but it does not clearly state by when. The manager has a system for monitoring what has been achieved and what is outstanding. Young people and staff have been involved in the development plan, contributing their views and wishes for areas of improvement in the home. The impact of the young people’s voices is apparent in changes which have been made in the home. Staff have high aspirations for the young people who are placed in the home. Staff focus on providing opportunities, including adventurous activities, which have positively contributed to young people becoming confident and making good

p.11

Good

progress in their development. An independent visitor attends the home each month, providing an additional layer of scrutiny. The reports lack robust analysis and challenge and did not explore staff response to a complaint made by a young person or the actions completed following this. Staff receive regular effective supervision, and their practice is appraised at least annually. Staff have access to support services to assist them with the challenges they experience professionally and personally. Staff engage in a full programme of training and development opportunities specific to their roles. Staff are enrolled in the required qualification, but not all staff have achieved this in the required timescale. Leaders and managers are changing the approach used by staff to manage behaviour. Due to this, they are in a transition period as staff wait to receive training in the new approach. There are plans to fulfil this in the coming months.

p.12

Good

Leaders and managers have acted on the recommendations and requirements of the previous inspection. Staff have supported young people through challenging behaviour since the last inspection. Staff have struggled to remain positive in their responses to situations. Managers gained support with this for staff once they identified the challenges that staff faced. The support provided by the home’s therapy services had a positive impact on staff practice and responses. The challenges began to occur several months prior to the intervention being provided. A more robust approach to monitoring and review may have identified these issues sooner. Leaders and managers complete pre-admission risk assessments and impact risk assessments exploring all factors prior to admission. Staff consider whether a prospective young person’s needs can be met in the home. Managers have carefully planned and considered how to support a young person to transition into

p.12

Good

the home. They explore all young people’s risk factors, but do not evidence whether young people are compatible with other young people already placed in the home. Managers do not record who has made the decision regarding admissions to the home.

p.12

What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors 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’.

p.13

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, 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 ensure that their welfare is 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

p.13

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.

p.13

Information about this inspection

Inspectors 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 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 whom 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

p.14

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 .

p.14

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,

p.15

Information about this inspection

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

p.15

Information about this inspection

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

p.15

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

p.15