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

Inspection report children’s home: SC482303 1 SC482303 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

This is a privately owned children’s home providing care and accommodation for up to eight girls and young women who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is one of a number of children’s homes owned by this organisation. The home has a self- contained flat used to help a young person to experience semi-independent living.

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Information about this children’s home

The organisation has a school that provides education for many of the children placed in the provider’s local homes.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC482303 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home is outstanding because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people make substantial progress across a range of development areas, with exceptional improvements in their ability to manage emotions.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people’s ability to keep themselves safe is enhanced by a wide range of interventions, including the involvement of the police community support officer, safeguarding workshops and the introduction of a child sexual exploitation screening tool that young people complete themselves.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The manager and staff have excellent relationships with other professionals. Their involvement in providing therapy and support in the home is seamless, so that young people’s take up of services is high. By consulting with these professionals, staff enhance their skills, helping to create an environment that is extraordinarily rich in restorative experiences.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The home’s innovative work on child sexual exploitation has been showcased at a national conference.

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Key findings from this inspection

 There is a strong focus on supporting young people’s education, which results in significant improvements in attendance and academic and vocational achievements, compared to the position prior to admission.

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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

 Recording is generally thorough but there was no account of the events of an unplanned move. Documentation is not consistently shared with all young people, and authors of entries are not always identified.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people voice dissatisfaction if and when they are unhappy with their experience but are very reluctant to make a complaint as they see it as ‘too big an issue’, even when it would be justified.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/03/2017 Full Outstanding 05/05/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 26/11/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness 16/07/2015 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC482303 3

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Recommendations

 Children should be encouraged by staff to see the home’s records as ‘living documents’, supporting children to view and contribute to the record in a way that reflects their voice on a regular basis. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.19)

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Recommendations

 Case records must be kept up to date, signed, and dated by the author of each entry. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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Recommendations

 Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) In particular, ensure that staff document moves from the home so that the young person and others can read about the event later, if they request to do so.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The home lays great store in harnessing group dynamics to help everyone to grow together. This is extremely effective in helping young people become aware of issues that have an impact on them, to manage emotions, to develop understanding of other people’s points of view and to create a learning environment in the home. Staff achieve this through informal occasions, such as mealtimes, and in organised activities, including the Sunday morning breakfast club, which involves reading the papers and discussing current affairs, a weekly art therapy session, community meetings and a homework club.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

One young person said, ‘Workshops are really helpful; I have a fuller understanding about online safety, healthy relationships and have learnt about drugs.’ Another said that they are ‘very important and helpful’, citing one on child sexual exploitation as particularly beneficial, although she and others thought that they could be repetitive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

This community approach is complemented by the ‘young person-centred’ work also practised. Almost all young people thought that relationships with staff had been instrumental in helping them to make progress. This includes overcoming anxieties, attaining better results at school and successfully managing conflict. One young person said that the home ‘has made me mature and I now think of others more’. She gave the example of noticing a peer becoming agitated, saying, ‘I knew she would kick off, so I took her away to another room,’ acting in the way that staff would previously have done for her. This illustrates the remarkable growth that young people make in the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC482303 4 Young people commented on things that have been done for them by staff that made them feel valued, such as a member of the staff team finding out about things that a young person likes and then the young person discovering that their room had been

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

decorated in their favourite colours, or that something had been put in there that reflected their interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

An innovative example of this personalised approach includes a ‘reparations book’. This includes comments from all who live and work in the home about behaviour that might be particularly upsetting. It also includes suggestions for what helps them to see that someone genuinely wants to make amends. This has helped several young people to understand the importance of other people’s feelings and acknowledge when they themselves have been hurt.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

For most young people, the balance between activities that involve everyone, and more individual pursuits and help, is struck well. They spoke of the family feeling that this engenders, with one young person commenting, ‘I treat the girls as my sisters,’ adding, ‘doing things as a whole house is nice.’ A minority of young people thought that the emphasis on learning and doing things together did not take account of their own preferences. One young person explained, ‘There is a lot of pressure to grow up quickly and no time just to be a child. There is always something happening.’ Staff and young people were uncertain, or had differences of opinion, about the degree of choice that young people had over attending community activities. The lack of clarity has contributed to this dissatisfaction.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

All young people have made significant progress following admission, some remarkably so. In particular, their ability to manage strong feelings and their consequent behaviour is very impressive. This means that young people are able to access education and participate in social situations much more successfully, increasing their self-esteem. A professional described how one young person is ‘developing a friendship circle, is putting a lot into schoolwork and works hard’. The professional went on, ‘She was not focused when she first came but is now, so is likely to get a range of GCSE passes.’ When young people do not make expected improvements, staff will promptly involve tutors and organisations, such as child and adolescent mental health services, to address the problems.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people’s life chances are far greater than they might otherwise have been if they had not had the kind of support offered in this home. One young person said, ‘I will be a different person when I leave here, a better person. I can see improvement in myself and can leave in a positive frame of mind.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Moves to and from the home are carefully managed, with as much preparation given to young people as possible. Even when admissions have been made in an emergency, the manager and staff have made time to visit young people, taking photographs and other information so that young people have an idea of where they are going. As they get older, young people have the opportunity to move into a self-contained flat to enhance independence skills. Inspection report children’s home: SC482303 5

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

Young people reported that they feel safe in the home and that staff help them keep safe in the community. Although there is bickering, young people said that there is no bullying. Staff help them to manage conflict, and one young person described how ‘if I fall out with one of the others, I sit down with them and a staff member to think about what has happened. We talk about how we feel and why. I don’t get in your face and react badly now.’

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

Some young people have had periods of being very unsettled and have put themselves in danger by going missing and/or self-harming. The manager and staff have responded appropriately on each occasion, following established protocols and endeavouring to make the young person safe as soon as possible. They work extremely hard to help the young person to know that they are accepted and cared for. Staff use return to care interviews and key-work sessions to establish what went wrong and what might help put things right. If this is unsuccessful, the home engages with the placing authority to consider the care plan, in line with statutory guidance.

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

Key-work sessions, planned or otherwise, are productive meetings that most young people value and actively seek. Staff record them exceptionally well, listing issues brought by the young person and/or the member of staff, and these records have a narrative that includes the young person’s view and indicates the actions both may take to progress matters. Young people are able to comment and sign the records online through their own accounts. However, most do not take the opportunity, and at least one young person has not been able to get access for a number of months. This means that they do not see what staff have written about them and are unable to contribute to the record themselves.

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

Staff update placement plans following each young person’s statutory reviews and then draw up placement plan actions. This ensures that there is a clear link to care plans and a focus on areas identified as needing to be addressed.

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

Staff are aware of their responsibilities if they have safeguarding concerns. In conversations with the inspector, they demonstrated that they would act promptly to ensure that young people were safe and would persist in their endeavours to secure this if they believed that others in the organisation were not taking appropriate action.

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

The provider follows safer recruitment procedures when employing staff The qualifications, professional body registration and the disclosure and barring service status of therapists and other professionals who are brought in shows that their suitability is thoroughly checked.

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

Staff facilitate visits to and from family members, where this is in young people’s best interests, and help to make them successful occasions. One young person noted how it helped to know that support was only a phone call away if things became difficult. A parent praised staff for the way that they made a trip with her daughter ‘one of the best days I’ve ever had with her’.

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

The manager and staff seek young people’s views on a host of issues that have an Inspection report children’s home: SC482303 6 impact on them. The range of means to achieve this is myriad: a suggestion box; booking a surgery with the manager; various consultation exercises; community meetings, including ones run by an outside professional so that young people can talk without staff present; key-work sessions; and advocates. In addition, a telephone with pre-set numbers for organisations such as Childline and the Children’s Commissioner is available to young people. Despite this, young people are reluctant to make formal complaints, even when it would be justified.

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

Staff take action in response to suggestions made, and this has included the purchase of exercise equipment in the garden. A number of young people had requested gym sessions, and so passes were obtained for them. However, attendance was infrequent, so, rather than let the opportunity pass, staff have begun to timetable group sessions into the weekly programme of activities. This exemplifies the way that staff think creatively and look for alternative ways to achieve goals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers have high expectations of the provision for young people, and high aspirations for what they can achieve. This is realised through a strong ethos conveyed through the acronym ‘IN SYNC’, which stands for inclusive, nurturing, supportive, young-person-centred, non-judgemental and community. It is central to the rhythm of life in the home, through interactions between young people and staff, community meetings and joint activities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager, who is relatively new in post but was an influential member of the leadership team before her promotion, is instrumental in embedding this culture. Her influence is illustrated by the comment of one young person that ‘she keeps the place together: we would all be lost without her’. Nevertheless, senior members of the staff team and others spoken with during the inspection are enthusiastic in their application of the principles of this ethos and are proud of the contribution that they make to the lives of young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Placement plans, risk assessments and individual behaviour support plans are of the highest quality, so that staff can read a clear picture of each young person’s background, current circumstances, and strategies in place to assist them. Young people’s views are incorporated, where appropriate. These are ‘live’ documents with updates appended by hand that are dated and initialled. However, most documents do not identify the author and are not signed by the appropriate people, meaning that accountability and agreement with the content cannot readily be established.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

All members of staff have a detailed understanding of each young person. One professional said that she could ‘talk to any member of staff and they will know about my child’, and family members commented on how welcoming and approachable the staff are. This means that young people experience structure and boundaries combined with understanding and warmth very successfully.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Most staff members have been employed for less than two years, but have had a Inspection report children’s home: SC482303 7 thorough induction, training that equips them for the work and excellent managerial and practice support through individual and group supervision. Those in posts for over two years have achieved the QCF level 3 award: most others have been, or are about to be, enrolled. However, managers have not put forward bank workers for the course.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The provider has developed training to diploma level in therapeutic childcare, which it is rolling out across the organisation. The manager has undertaken the course, and team managers and residential care workers will follow. This training prompted a review of behaviour management policy, and the provider has created an accredited approach that better fits the organisation’s ethos. This demonstrates an exemplary focus on continually improving the service for young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home’s excellent work on child sexual exploitation, assisting young people to build their own resilience, has had national recognition, with the manager addressing a National Working Group conference. This led to an invitation to visit a specialist home in the Netherlands. What was learned there is being incorporated into the home’s practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager attaches great importance to obtaining the views of others to inform practice. An example is the home’s location review, for which the manager gathers information from local organisations and obtains young people’s thoughts on what makes them safe or unsafe, using a simple worksheet. The resulting review has given rise to the production of a map of the local town showing areas where young people are likely to be safer and those to avoid. This flow through from consultation to assessment to practice development is exemplary.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The high level of consultation with other agencies is possible because of the enormous effort that the manager and staff put into building effective channels of communication with them. The police community support officer commented that the relationship forged with them is ‘viewed by the force as the gold standard for looked after children’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager effectively promotes equality and diversity, as demonstrated by young people’s recent suggestions for workshop topics, which include transgender issues, human rights, and the cultural background of everyone living and working in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The impact of leaders and managers is well summed up by a professional who stated, ‘This is a really nice home; they have the right staff who are positive and upbeat. This is the best children’s home I’ve ever been to because they invest in the staff, the home and in the children.’

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC482303 8 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: SC482303 9

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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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Inspector(s)

Chris Peel, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC482303 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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