Children's Home run by Hexagon Care Services Limited in Bradford

Good

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

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The children's home provision is good because:

 All young people make progress in their lives. They are supported in this by staff who are dedicated and committed to improving young people’s life chances.  Staff establish stable and nurturing relationships that young people respond to. As a result, young people increase their sense of self-worth and confidence.  Young people experience individualised care that attends to their emotional, educational and healthcare needs. Staff understand well young people’s starting points and offer care that is attuned to their particular areas of need and support.  Staff are led by a skilled and passionate management team. Listening, responding and wanting the best for young people are at the forefront of their work.  Good liaison with other agencies ensures that young people are given services in a timely manner and are kept safe and that their care plans remain well informed and holistic.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Staff should be familiar with the home's policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 62, paragraph 14.4)  For children's homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of children, they will in most cases be homely, domestic environments ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 15, paragraph 3.9.) This is with particular reference to the repair or replacement of the young people's bathroom and flooring, completion of re-tiling of the shower room, repainting of ceilings and repair to plasterwork, and repair and repainting of plasterwork to staff sleep-in room.  The importance of understanding who we are and where we come from is

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Recommendations

recognised in good social work practice, for example through undertaking life story work or other direct work. Staff in children's homes should play a full role in work of this kind. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 16, paragraph 3.14)  Children should have access to a computer and the internet to support their education and learning, unless there are specific safeguarding reasons why this would be inappropriate. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 29, paragraph 5.19)  The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 61, paragraph 13.2.) In

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Recommendations

particular, reference is made to supervision records being of a consistent quality and standard, clearly identifying any action and follow-up.

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Information about this children's home

The home is privately owned and run. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to eight 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

13/01/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Good

Young people make different levels of progress dependent upon their individual circumstances. Some make good progress in education, from starting points of non-school attendance. Staff work hard to identify alternative learning environments that better suit the needs of other young people who struggle in education. Alternatively, some young people have been successfully supported into work, and this has contributed to their sense of achievement.

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Good

Staff quickly establish trusting relationships with young people. For some young people, these relationships have developed over a number of years. There is warmth, trust and respect expressed by all young people towards staff. This is built through the dedication that staff demonstrate towards young people and is a particular strength of the home.

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Good

As a result, young people accept and apply the advice that is offered, and their lives change for the better. One young person commented: ‘I was taking drugs, staying on people’s sofas, taking [a] fair amount of drugs and robbing to pay for the drugs. Staff are helping me to turn my life around.’

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Good

Activities offered by staff build on young people’s strengths or expressed interests. Young people are given access to a range of fun and learning experiences that enrich their lives. Personal achievements and significant events, such as birthdays, are celebrated with the young people and they are made to feel special.

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Good

Boundaries and expectations of young people’s behaviour are clearly communicated by staff. Challenges that some behaviours may bring are met with consistency from staff, alongside a restorative approach that is being adopted. As a result, young people begin to recognise the effects that their behaviours have on others and learn to reflect and apologise.

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Good

Many young people experience improvement in their relationships with family and, as a result, have enjoyed increased contact, which supports their sense of identity. This, however, is not currently supported through focused life story work that would support and strengthen this progress.

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Good

Young people’s health improves through living at the home. Not only are their dietary needs met, but improvements are noted in necessary dental work and sexual health advice and screening.

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Good

Young people are supported to make successful transitions into adulthood. They learn basic and necessary skills of self-care, budgeting, cooking and negotiating public transport. They are equally emotionally supported to make a stepped transition from a group-living situation to one in which they spend a greater amount of time on their own.

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Good

The home is in need of refurbishment; in particular, the ceilings in the games room and kitchen are in need of repainting and plastering, and the fittings and flooring in the young people’s bathroom require refurbishment or refitting. Although staff have begun to re-tile the young people’s shower room, this has not been completed. This, therefore, needs professionally completing in a timely manner. In addition, the young people’s computer is currently not working, and they do not have access to the internet.

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Good

Young people’s individual vulnerabilities are understood well by staff. Through the consistent care that they receive, young people’s drug use significantly decreases. Young people, with support from staff, access specialist support services to address these issues.

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Good

When missing-from-home incidents occur, staff are active in securing young people’s safe return and liaising in a timely manner with other agencies. When concerns about young people’s safety escalate, staff appropriately arrange meetings with professionals in order to address the concerns.

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Good

Staff are quick to observe, understand and learn about the risks for young people who are new to the home. One youth offending worker said: ‘We are working so well with them. [X] is now aware we are working very closely and minimising any risks.’

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Good

Young people are supported to resolve differences positively, and staff take a more restorative approach to addressing issues with young people. There has been a significant decline in the use of sanctions since the last full inspection. Through this approach, young people learn to reflect on incidents and means of repairing relationships.

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Good

Complaints and allegations are responded to promptly and are shared with the appropriate agencies. Young people know how to make a complaint and they feel listened to. Judgement grade

p.7

Good

The manager is suitably qualified and experienced. She has been registered to manage the home since 2014. She is passionate about the care of young people and her presence is very much felt in the home. One social worker commented: ‘She runs a very tight ship.’ The manager is supported by a deputy and staff who are equally committed to the progress of young people. The dedication of the staff and management team ensures that the care offered to young people meets the statement of purpose.

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Good

The manager understands the backgrounds, progress and plans for each individual young person. She has a relationship with each of them. Her knowledge of young people supports her understanding of the care required and, in turn, her expectations of staff. She offers decisive and clear leadership.

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Good

Staff are diverse in terms of backgrounds, experiences, age, gender, ethnicity and religious beliefs. This offers young people a wide range of role models that they can identify with. The complementary skills and knowledge of staff enrich young people’s experiences of care.

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Good

The management team supports staff both informally and formally. The managers are accessible and visible to staff and young people. Supervision is held regularly; however, the recording of such is variable in quality. As supervision is shared among the management team and not fixed to one supervisor, this can lead to areas of development not being fully understood or action plans not being implemented.

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Good

The manager understands well the areas for improvement in the home and has developed plans to address these. These plans include proposed new lines of training in record-keeping and care planning. Although case records on the whole reflect young people’s progress, language used in some reports is not always professional, and some risk assessments are confusing.

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Good

When young people do not make the expected progress, and concerns continue to increase, the manager and staff are quick to address these in a multi-agency forum. Great effort is made by the staff to fully understand and stabilise any dip in young people’s progress. Clear and unambiguous assessment is given by the manager to local authorities, when it is considered that the home is unable to meet a young person’s needs. Equally effective challenge is offered by the management team when it is considered that services from other agencies are not effective.

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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 the ‘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 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

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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 0300 123 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 at http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Information about this inspection

T: 0300 123 1231 Text phone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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