Children's Home, Residential special school run by Hillcrest Children’s Services Ltd in West Sussex

Inspection report children’s home: SC482300 1 SC482300 Registered provider: Hillcrest Children’s 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

The privately owned children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to twenty young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The company also provides an on-site education provision.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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inadequate

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and/or the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 18 January 2017

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None Inspection report children’s home: SC482300 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home is inadequate because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 The staff are having difficulty managing the young people’s challenging behaviour.  The high turnover of staff has led to inconsistent relationships between staff and the young people.  The young people are regularly placing themselves at risk by climbing onto the rooves of the children’s home campus.  There has been a worrying increase in the number of significant events involving young people reported to Ofsted.  The physical environment is not currently appealing to the young people due to damage.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Some young people have progressed to semi-independent living with the assistance of the staff.  The staff respond thoroughly and effectively to incidents of young people going missing.  There is a new registered manager in post, who has put a thoughtful development plan in place to improve the service.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/01/2017 Full Good 01/06/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 11/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 15/10/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC482300 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to 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 person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

6. The quality and purpose of care standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard, the registered person must ensure that (2)(c) the premise used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to (i) meet the needs of the child (Regulation 6(2)(c)(i)). 05/12/2017

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the positive relationship standard, the registered person must ensure that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on (a) mutual respect and trust (b) an understanding about acceptable behaviour (c) positive responses to other children and adults (Regulation 11(1)(a)(b)(c)). 05/12/2017

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered person must ensure that staff (2)(a)(i) 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 (ii) help each child to understand how to keep safe (iii) have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm (iv) manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other (Regulation 12(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)). 05/12/2017

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Requirement Due date

13. The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard, the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that (1)(a) helps children aspire to fulfil their potential 05/12/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC482300 4 (2)(c) ensure that staff have experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child (Regulation 13(1)(a)(2)(c)).

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Recommendations

 All children’s care records must be kept up to date. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3) Inspection report children’s home: SC482300 5

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Ineffective behavioural management plans implemented by the staff have a severe impact on the overall experiences and progress of the young people. The young people have had mixed experiences and have made variable progress over the last year. The placements of a number of young people have ended due to concerns. Some of these young people have lived in the home for a considerable amount of time with no agreed long-term goals in place.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Inconsistent relationships exist between the staff and young people due to a high turnover of staff working across the three houses. Young people experience inconsistent boundaries, guidance and structure. The majority do not respect the staff and frequently challenge their authority.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Key-working sessions take place regularly but they appear to be reactive to behaviours rather than proactive towards specified goals. The majority of records of key-worker sessions seen by inspectors consisted of the staff talking to young people rather than using creative methods to increase learning opportunities. This limited practice has contributed towards the young people not gaining a clear understanding of the issues being discussed and what needs to change.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

It was concerning that on the first day of the inspection only three out of eleven young people attended school. The behaviour of some young people is having a negative impact on their attendance due to late night and early morning incidents. The attendance and achievement of the young people varies. There are some good examples of young people improving their school attendance and engagement, but others refuse to attend.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Health needs are addressed in line with young people’s health assessments, and medication is safely stored and administered. The staff attend meetings with medical professionals and review the impact of medication on the young people. A valuable resource to address the emotional needs of the young people is no longer available; the psychologist has recently left and is no longer attached to the site.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Some of the young people are being taught age-appropriate independence skills, such as shopping, cooking and earning time without staff supervision in the community. Records reflect that for a large number of the young people this has not been successful, with frequent episodes of young people going missing or returning late. A small number of young people have successfully moved on to other settings, such as semi-independent living with staff assistance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The behaviour of the young people has affected the physical environment of the home, including damage that has yet to be repaired. Some bathrooms are unkempt and the telephone rooms used by the young people have no seating and are unappealing. A requirement of the previous inspection to make the games room more available to Inspection report children’s home: SC482300 6 young people has been met.

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

The high number of incidents involving young people climbing onto the roof of the children’s home is a significant concern. This has periodically been an issue at the home. Previously the manager and staff have taken effective action to deter them. However, young people are increasingly accessing the rooves, both in frequency and number of different young people involved. The manager acknowledges that this is a worrying trend but his efforts to intervene and ensure the safety and well-being of the young people have been unsuccessful. For example, three young people accessed the roof during the inspection.

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

There have been significant shortfalls pertaining to the staff approach to managing the behaviour of the young people. Some behavioural management support plans contain out-of-date information and generic language suggesting that information had been copied across from other young people’s records. A member of staff was observed failing to properly intervene when two young people were involved in a conflict that could have escalated. Several members of staff expressed their frustration about the difficulties they have encountered in managing the young people.

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

Some young people have mimicked the actions of those considered to be most difficult, prompting a significant rise in challenging behaviour incidents. One example involved a group of young people causing considerable disruption around the campus for several hours. They were reported to be physically and verbally aggressive towards the staff while breaking into the houses and other structures on campus, resulting in the need to involve the local police to help to restore order within the home.

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

Allegations against staff prompt timely and appropriate action by managers. The manager demonstrated that, in response to an allegation, he had implemented a plan of action that kept the young person safe. The staff member subject to the allegation remained off-site while awaiting a decision from the designated officer.

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

The number of episodes of young people going missing from care is a chronic issue for the children’s home. The number of young people reported missing to the police has dramatically increased over the past year, with many young people doing so repeatedly. The staff have responded professionally to these incidents; they often attempt to ascertain the whereabouts of the young people by following them or making contact with them through mobile phones, friends and family. The staff follow their ‘missing’ procedures and engage well with external professionals, such as police and social workers.

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

Safe recruitment practices are in place that assist the organisation in employing new staff. Background information is reviewed and any potentially concerning information is assessed prior to an offer of employment.

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

A good working partnership exists with the local police, and managers have established Inspection report children’s home: SC482300 7 effective links with the designated officer and placing authorities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Key changes and losses within the management team have adversely influenced the service delivery to the young people. A new, experienced registered manager has been in post since March. In January, a house manager was promoted to the head of care role with a senior taking over her previous role. The remaining two house managers’ posts have only recently been filled.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has concentrated on becoming acquainted with the children’s home. The combination of monthly reporting from the independent visitor and his annual report set out how weaknesses will be addressed. Some areas identified have shown a marked improvement while others are still a work in progress. An ongoing area for development is the need to implement a system to monitor the progress of the young people; this is planned to be rolled out in the near future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has attempted to manage risk by keeping the number of residents to a reasonable number, by not taking inappropriate young people and through ending placements if the young people are deemed to be unsuitable. A recent recruitment drive to address the shortage of house managers and the staff has yet to have a measurable impact.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Supervision for the staff has improved and does occur regularly for some, although practice concerns are not always fully addressed or resolved. A number of agency staff working in the home lack knowledge of the young people. Staff training is monitored and tracked, promoting compliance with regulations. Some staff said that positive changes have occurred, such as improvements in communication from the manager and all staff team meetings being scheduled in the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Good engagement with professionals to improve outcomes for young people is evident. For example, the manager has engaged with the host authority, resulting in a new placement being made after a considerable lapse in referrals. Managers appropriately challenge placing authorities when information is not provided for the young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The statement of purpose has recently been updated, along with the children’s guide; these provide current information to young people and all those who enquire into the service. The home’s ethos is outlined and reflects the recent changes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager submits and provides additional information upon request when submitting notifications to Ofsted, promoting transparency with the regulatory body.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC482300 8 and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. 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.

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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: SC482300 9

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hillcrest Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Turnpike Gate House, Alcester Heath, Alcester, Warwickshire B49 5JG

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Inspectors

James Harmon, social care inspector Janet Fraser, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC482300 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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