Children's home run by HAVEN CARE GROUP LIMITED

Inspection report children’s home: 1244350 1 Registered provider: Holly Lodge Home 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 privately run children’s home was newly registered in November 2016. It is registered to provide care for up to three children and young people aged between 7 and 17 years who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: Not applicable

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None Inspection report children’s home: 1244350 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people enjoy a welcoming and comfortable home where they can relax and focus on their own needs.  Young people form warm and trusting relationships with committed, child- focused staff who provide consistent care.  Young people feel that staff listen to them and take their concerns seriously.  Enthusiastic staff encourage young people to have fun and to engage in stimulating activities which support their physical, social and emotional development.  Young people make progress in their education, independence skills, behaviour and confidence.  The diverse staff team strongly supports young people’s diversity and identity needs.  Young people feel safe, and highly trained staff help them to understand how to keep themselves safe.  When young people go missing, staff respond quickly and appropriately.  The registered manager has created a child-focused culture that is in keeping with the home’s statement of purpose.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager ensures that the home is well organised and provides staff with the training and supervision that they require.  Staff work in close collaboration with a range of other professionals in order to meet the needs of the young people. Inspection report children’s home: 1244350 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people said that they like living in the home, which is comfortable and welcoming. They personalise their rooms and can relax in the living room, games room and garden. The sunny conservatory forms the hub of the home where staff and young people sit to eat and chat together.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from warm and trusting relationships with sensitive and committed staff who help them to focus on their own needs. One young person commented that he is very happy and that staff help him to become independent and support his education. He said that staff offer him activities that he likes. He is particularly looking forward to attending a seminar on autism with staff, which is of great interest to him and will support his identity needs. Another young person confirmed that staff listen to her.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people know how to complain and are confident to express their views, wishes and feelings to staff and other professionals. The social worker for one young person, who has now left the home, said, ‘She absolutely loved it here and felt safer than she had anywhere else. She settled and achieved stability here.’ This young person had been in a number of placements, with none lasting longer than two weeks. Despite significant and challenging emotional and behavioural difficulties, staff enabled her to sustain her placement at this home for six months.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide young people with consistent care that enables them to make progress in their education, emotional development, stability, independence, social skills, confidence and health. Staff actively encourage them to engage in a range of stimulating activities, and young people join youth clubs, cadets and the local gym, and enjoy swimming. Their physical and emotional development also benefit from activities in the home with staff, including making music and using the games room for physical training.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff make young people’s meetings fun and interesting by introducing discussions about diversity, different cultures, politics and food. Staff provide young people with printed recipes that they can keep and cook for themselves when they move to independence.

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

Young people feel safe. Skilled and perceptive staff work with them to understand how to keep themselves safe. Key-work sessions address child sexual exploitation, internet safety and relationships. Staff explore the links between anxiety and behaviour with young people, which helps them to reduce challenging behaviours. Young people have an internet safety briefing when they arrive, and they have recently had a young people’s meeting where staff gave feedback about training that they had received on radicalisation. One young person said that although he did not like it when staff checked his phone, he knew that they did this in order to keep him safe. Inspection report children’s home: 1244350 4 There have been safeguarding challenges with regard to one young person in particular, who had significant emotional and behavioural issues, which staff struggled to manage. The registered manager and staff recognised that they were unable to keep her safe and

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

were proactive in liaising with the placing authority in order to identify an alternative placement for her. Staff were then able to ensure that they could meet the safeguarding needs of all of the other young people in the home.

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

Physical interventions have been decreasing due to young people becoming better at managing their own behaviour. Young people are included in discussions about their behaviour support plans and risk assessments and can suggest strategies to help them manage their anxiety and behaviour.

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

When young people go missing, highly trained staff follow clear procedures. They search for young people and contact relevant agencies and family members to inform them and exchange information to help find and protect the young people. Staff are well trained in child protection, anti-bullying, child sexual exploitation, self-harm, recognising the risks of radicalisation, and internet safety. Safeguarding records are clear and detailed and enable staff and managers to quickly and easily identify issues and inform the actions of staff. The social worker for one young person commented that the home writes the best risk assessments that she has ever seen. The registered manager ensures that risk assessments and behaviour support plans are regularly updated and reviewed.

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

Staff recruitment is safe. There is an effective locality risk assessment, which was written in close collaboration with the police, who continue to update the home regarding any significant incidents in the area.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has several years’ experience of working in the care sector with children and young people, three years of which were in a managerial position. She holds a level 5 diploma in leadership and management. Staff are either suitably qualified or are working towards their level 3 diploma. All staff hold first aid qualifications.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has ensured that this newly registered home is efficiently run and highly organised. Records are detailed and methodical, and information about young people, policies and procedures is readily available to support staff practice. Social workers praised the quality of the feedback that they receive about young people and how quickly staff inform them about incidents. Complaints are dealt with appropriately, and the registered manager involves young people in the process, updating them and providing written responses. She sends young people a written invitation to appeal if they are unhappy with the outcome.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The hands-on registered manager is child focused. One social worker commented that the manager ‘likes to know how a young person ticks’. Another social worker said, ‘Staff go above and beyond to help young people.’ Since the home opened, the staff have been forming a cohesive team to support each other and the young people. The Inspection report children’s home: 1244350 5 registered manager covers shifts and stays for tea to help her get to know the staff and young people. Professionals, young people and parents provided very positive feedback about the leadership and management of the home. The registered manager has a good knowledge of the team’s strengths and weaknesses and clear plans about the future development of the staff and service. She has created a culture which has ensured that the experiences and progress of young people have been very positive and that staff have met their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager provides staff with guidance, relevant and up-to-date training and induction that prepares them for their roles in meeting the needs of young people. Staff have regular supervision which is supportive and encourages reflective practice. Regular team meetings and staff supervision support and promote practice and enable staff to express their ideas about how they work with young people. Proactive staff work confidently and closely with a range of professionals, including education, child and adolescent mental health services, therapists, social workers, police, the youth offending service and health professionals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The initial months of this service have been challenging for the registered manager and staff but they have made a very good start. The registered manager has development plans for driving up standards in the service for young people. She is clearly relishing her work and the learning experiences afforded to her and her staff.

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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 differences 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 whom 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: 1244350 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Holly Lodge Home Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 29 Anglesey Business Centre, Anglesey Rad, Branston, Burton On Trent DE14 3NT

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Inspector

Louise Whittle, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1244350 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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