Children's home run by Hexagon Care Services Limited in Preston

Inspection report children’s home: SC484247 1 SC484247 Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is operated by a private company. It provides care for up to six children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties aged 11 to17 years.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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Good

How well children and young people are helped and protected Good

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Good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers Good

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Good

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

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Good

Date of last inspection: 17 November 2016

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Good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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Good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people are cared for by staff who know them well and value them as individuals.  Young people are encouraged to contribute their views in order to inform and Inspection report children’s home: SC484247 2 support continued improvement in the quality of care.  Staff do their best to help young people understand the risks and dangers involved with going missing from home.  Leadership and management is strong. The new manager has solid plans in place to further enhance staff skills and so improve young people's care.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development

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Key findings from this inspection

 Managers need to work in partnership with other agencies to find creative solutions to engage young people in education.  Staff should encourage young people to keep appropriate memorabilia of their time spent living at the home, and help them to record significant life events.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/11/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 21/06/2016 Full Good 25/01/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 28/04/2015 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC484247 3

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Recommendations

 When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have a return home interview. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30). Specifically, challenge local authorities to offer interviews to young people on their return after episodes of missing from home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The quality of individual care is good. Young people enjoy warm relationships with staff, who guide and support them in making positive life choices. Young people’s needs are central to practice at the home. One member of staff commented: ‘I get great satisfaction seeing young people learning and developing. Everyone here is so passionate about the young people.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people actively participate in decisions about the care that they receive. They enjoy weekly young people's meetings where a range of topics are covered. These include conversations about their own particular needs, such as relationships with staff members, personal hygiene and the effects of substance misuse.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff use every opportunity to educate young people about the risks of substance misuse, and encourage and support young people to make positive choices. Young people are assisted by an independent organisation who specialise in educating young people about drug misuse, and who undertake weekly group sessions with young people at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from frequent individual sessions with staff. For example, one young person’s query about sexual health received a frank and informative response. This is contributing to him keeping himself healthy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Attendance in education is sporadic for some of the young people. Staff liaise closely with schools in an effort to re-engage young people. However, other young people are progressing well and have high attendance rates.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people who are new to the setting are warmly welcomed. Staff are quick to build a rapport with them. One new resident is already seeking out members of staff when he needs comfort and reassurance after only a couple of weeks at the home. These successful transitions are underpinned by clear impact assessments and considered matching. Inspection report children’s home: SC484247 4 Young people are treated with dignity and respect. Although their behaviour is at times challenging, staff continue to demonstrate that an understanding of young people’s experiences and stages of development can influence their behaviour. This results in young people feeling accepted and seeing the home as a safe place to be.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Young people say that they can talk to any of the staff. They feel that they are listened to and know that they will receive a calm and supportive response. Young people view the home as a place of safety.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Risks to the young people are understood by staff, and clear individual risk assessments and procedures inform practice. There is effective partnership working with the police and other agencies when young people go missing from the home. However, young people are not always offered return home interviews by their placing local authorities. This omission is not escalated to an appropriate level of concern with the relevant local authority staff.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Positive behaviour is promoted by a consistent, non-judgemental response from staff. A recommendation to use a more restorative approach to behaviour management is met. This approach helps young people to recognise the impact of their behaviour on others and contribute to making amends. For example, one young person wrote a letter of apology to a neighbour, reflecting on how he would feel if someone had behaved that way towards his grandmother.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and deputy manager both hold level five management qualifications. They are both new to their roles. However, in the few months that they have been in position, they have been effective in identifying areas to improve practice. This includes creating opportunities for staff to act as ‘champions’ and lead developments in areas such as restorative practice and training. This creates a shared sense of responsibility, and improves staff skills in working with young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision, which both supports and challenges them. Staff feel that the emotional impact of their role is well recognised by the manager. They feel supported and empowered to develop their own professional skills. The manager commented that: ‘Staff need the opportunity to grow, develop and gain confidence. We should learn from mistakes. Everything is a learning experience.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is pro-active in working with other agencies and professionals. He actively drives the achievement of important milestones for young people, such as gaining qualifications and making a smooth transition to adulthood. When the manager feels that a young person’s needs are not being met, he actively challenges other professionals. Inspection report children’s home: SC484247 5 The statement of purpose states that ‘The primary aim is to create an environment of consistent warmth, predictability and responsiveness to need, with the opportunity for young people to experience new relationships through positive adult/child and peer group interactions.’ This is achieved and reflected in the strength of the relationships between management, the staff team and young people, despite some young people presenting very challenging behaviour.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and 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.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, 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’. Inspection report children’s home: SC484247 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Tustin Court, Port Way, Ashton-on-Ribble, Preston PR2 2YQ

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Inspector

Janet Black, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC484247 7 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, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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