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

Inspection report children’s home: SC480240 1 SC480240 Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is one of a number of children’s homes operated by a private company. It provides care and accommodation for up to six children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home may only provide care and accommodation for single gender occupancy.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 29 to 30 November 2017

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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 outstanding

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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: 9 February 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None Inspection report children’s home: SC480240 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children enjoy a range of hobbies and activities, such as attending youth clubs, football and taking part in charity events.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children are engaged effectively in regular group work that helps them learn new skills and knowledge to help promote their safety and well-being.

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Key findings from this inspection

 There is a stable staff team which provides stability and support for young people who have experienced multiple disruptions in their lives.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The home works with a wide range of professionals from different agencies to provide support and care to young people to help meet their needs.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Management arrangements are effective; managers are ambitious for the home and for young people.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Internal and external monitoring arrangements for the home are excellent and help focus and promote improvement.

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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

 Consequences to improve behaviour are not always recorded in line with regulation. This limits the ability to monitor effectiveness and ensure that strategies are working to improve behaviour.

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Key findings from this inspection

 All plans for young people need to be clearly recorded to reflect the most current strategies to manage behaviour and keep young people safe.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 08/06/2016 Full Good 17/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 27/05/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC480240 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

The registered person must ensure that– within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made.

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Requirement Due date

This is with particular reference to consequences imposed by the home

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Recommendations

 Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. When there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day to day basis. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most young people are making excellent progress since moving into this home, they regularly attend school or education. One young person is enjoying the course of his choice, which includes football-coaching skills. He also has the opportunity to play football for the college team. This has helped him to improve his self-esteem and social skills. His fitness and health have also improved as a result of this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Another young person is hoping to go into catering when he leaves school; the home supports him in his interests and he regularly helps plan menus and cook meals in the home with staff. When young people are excluded from school, the home has very clear boundaries and expectations; young people are expected to catch up with any work they have missed and the staff emphasise the importance of education and preparing for the Inspection report children’s home: SC480240 4 future. To further promote positive behaviour, the home has reward schemes that reward both short-term and long-term achievements and positive behaviour. Each week the home has an award for the young person who has made the most progress. For example, one young person received this award as he had got a job delivering local papers. This helps to keep young people motivated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home provides a range of activities and experiences for young people. They are regularly attending a local youth club, have opportunities to go to the cinema, paint- balling and theme parks. Following a recent visit to a Halloween-themed event, one young person said ‘thanks for the best night’. The staff are skilled in ensuring that the young people are offered opportunities, so that they will enjoy new experiences and have fun, balanced with activities that improve their self-esteem and provide them with new knowledge and skills. For example, young people are particularly proud of their recent achievement of climbing Ben Nevis and taking part in a charity bike-ride. Another activity included going to a local fire station and taking part in firefighting activities with the service. The staff capture the young people’s memories with lots of photographs and are in the process of creating memory boxes for the young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A key strength of the home is the group work that is facilitated. In addition to regular young people meetings, the home invites specialists, such as the children looked after nurse and the youth offending team, to hold workshops where information is shared with young people. This helps to promote their safety and improve their well-being. The staff team also joins in with these sessions, which means that they learn together with young people. Sessions include awareness of knife crime, dental hygiene and drugs awareness. They are interactive and interesting, which means that young people regularly attend and participate in the sessions. This work is then further promoted in individual key-work sessions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are being prepared for independent living. Throughout their time at the home they complete workbooks that are appropriate for their level of need. This work is going to be further enhanced by the development of an independence flat as part of accommodation at the home. The young people are going to be able to ‘practice’ independent living in their own self-contained flat while still being supported by the home. One social worker commented, ‘This level of forward planning is not done elsewhere, and the standard is very good.’ Young people are looking forward to being able to use this resource and this is further motivating them to engage with the stages of independence preparation.

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

The managers and staff at the home work effectively with professionals and other agencies to identify and manage risks to young people. All young people have risk management plans, and when there are concerns of high risk the home has developed multi-agency risk-reduction plans. However, despite these efforts, some young people are still demonstrating behaviours that pose a risk to their safety and well-being.

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

Some young people continue to engage in criminal behaviour, cannabis use and missing Inspection report children’s home: SC480240 5 from home incidents, despite work undertaken by the staff to help young people recognise risks and help them to keep themselves safe. These areas of concern have led to the breakdown of placements when the home feels that it can no longer keep young people safe. Since the last inspection, six young people have left the home and six young people have moved into the home. While the home recognises and takes action when the staff feel that they can no longer meet a young person’s needs, these negative behaviours have an effect on the young people who are more settled at the home. For instance, one young person was assaulted by another young person from the home and his friends while out in the community. Another young person was exposed to cannabis by older young people living in the home.

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

Despite the risks posed by some young people, the staff work effectively to identify, monitor and reduce risks. For example, one young person was having a high level of staff support in a previous placement. Since coming to this home the level of supervision has reduced and he is becoming more independent. Another young person’s plans are regularly updated in line with his changing behaviour and strategies are regularly adapted in order to keep him safe. He says, ‘I understand why, to keep me safe.’ His social worker commented, ‘Staff are great, really committed, I can sleep at night knowing he is being looked after.’ However, because of the regular updates, not all written plans for young people reflect the most up-to-date strategies and day-to-day needs of young people. Regular updates have also meant that some records are difficult to read. Despite this, the staff are aware of plans for young people and respond

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

appropriately to keep them safe. They also regularly communicate with other professionals so that they are aware of the current plans for young people.

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

The home has experienced a high level of young people going missing from care, but staff respond to incidents effectively. There are clear procedures that staff follow; this includes going out looking for young people, contacting relevant professionals and making enquiries in the local community to locate young people. Furthermore, the manager requests relevant meetings when needed to help respond to and minimise any known risks.

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

Although some young people have very challenging and difficult behaviour, physical intervention in the home is rarely used. The staff have good relationships with young people and are effective in de-escalating and defusing incidents in the home. When physical intervention is used, incidents are clearly recorded and reviewed by the registered manager to ensure that they are appropriately carried out. Work is undertaken with young people and staff after physical intervention to look at how this can be avoided in future.

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

The staff are clear about appropriate standards of behaviour expected in the home, with agreements in place to help young people understand what is expected and what they can expect from staff in return. However, when these sanctions are put in place, they are not always recorded in line with regulation and the policy of the home. This means that the manager cannot always review how effective these consequences are and monitor patterns and trends to improve behaviour. Inspection report children’s home: SC480240 6 The recruitment of staff is a process that takes account of safer recruitment practices. Staff receive a full induction before they start work with young people, including an introduction to residential services. This promotes the safety of young people and prevents unsafe adults from working at the home.

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

The physical environment of the home is safe and secure and protects young people from hazards. The home is undergoing a period of refurbishment and this will further improve the security and safety for young people, while also improving the living environment. Where the work is complete, it is to a good standard.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The current registered manager has been in post for three years, and has continually made progress during his time at the home. He is suitably qualified and experienced in working with young people who have emotional and/or behavioural needs. An equally committed and enthusiastic deputy manager supports the manager. The deputy manager has been instrumental in the work to prepare the independence unit ready for young people. They are very clear about the vision for the home and the standards of care and support they expect for young people. In particular, the manager’s passion for high-quality care has created a culture of warm and caring practice. A social worker commented, ‘If I could, I would like to put another two young people in here.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff confirm that the manager is very supportive, and any changes are communicated to the staff team and its opinion is sought. Staff share the high aspirations to improve outcomes for young people and talk positively about the work they do and also about what continued progress they want to make to young people’s lives. One member of staff said, ‘The home has changed massively, for the better, and keeps improving.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff have regular supervisions, team meetings and appraisals to ensure that they deliver a good quality of care to young people. The staff are suitably qualified or working towards a recognised qualification. There are sufficient numbers of staff members working at the home. This provides stability for young people. One member of staff commented that the consistency of staffing and quality of handovers has improved practice in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Detailed and structured systems are in place to provide an overview of care practice. The manager identifies and promptly addresses any weaknesses identified and continually updates and reflects on the development plan for the home to focus on areas of priority. Independent monitoring is also robust and in order to learn and improve, the manager welcomes any actions from this visit, responding to any concerns raised and addressing them promptly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

A key strength of the management of the home is the multi-agency working. The manager works hard to involve professionals in the home to help support young people. The manager has excellent relationships with local agencies and is highly regarded by professionals. When other professionals or agencies fall short of their statutory duty the registered manager addresses this appropriately and through the proper channels to Inspection report children’s home: SC480240 7 ensure that young people get the service they need. For example, concern over the lack of return interviews by one local authority when a young person has been missing from the home is being escalated.

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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: SC480240 8

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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: Hexagon Care, 1 Tustin Court Port Way, Ashton-on- Ribble, Preston, Lancashire PR2 2YQ

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Inspector

Jessica Forshaw, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC480240 9 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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