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

Inspection report children’s home: 1259508 1 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 home. It provides care for up to eight children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The organisation also runs a registered school that children living in the home may attend.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 26 to 27 February 2018

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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 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: This is the home’s first inspection.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Not applicable.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people are all attending and engaging well in their school and college provisions. This is a significant achievement for all the young people.  The manager has a clear vision of how she wants the home to operate; this is reflected in the child-centred approach achieved by her and the staff team.  Young people thrive in the relaxed and therapeutic environment created by staff. Young people feel it is their home and that staff genuinely care for them. Inspection report children’s home: 1259508 2  Some young people are now able to reflect on their behaviours and, through the therapy being offered, can now regulate their own emotions.  Young people are afforded a high level of individualised care from a passionate and committed staff team.  The management team is constantly looking for innovative ways to further improve the experiences for young people.  Staff fulfil their safeguarding responsibilities and as a result young people feel

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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

 Young people’s risk assessments are not consistently comprehensive, and in some cases information in referral paperwork has not been risk assessed to enable strategies to be put into place.  Staff would benefit from having additional training in specific areas of safeguarding.  Young people’s individual protocols in relation to missing from care are not sufficiently detailed to give staff clear guidance and direction.  The impact risk assessments do not, in all cases, demonstrate clear decision making at the point of placement.

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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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— 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. (Regulation 12(2)(a)(i)) This specifically relates to ensuring all information relating to children’s individual vulnerabilities is comprehensively risk assessed. 30/04/2018 Inspection report children’s home: 1259508 3

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Recommendations

 Ensure all staff have the knowledge and skills to recognise and be alert for any signs that might indicate a child is in any way at risk of harm. The registered person should ensure that skills in safeguarding are gained, refreshed and recorded in the home’s workforce plan. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12) Specifically, access training around county lines and gang culture.

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the procedures to be followed when a child is missing from care or away from the home without permission are clear and individualised to each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.28)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the registered person only accepts placements for children whose assessed needs they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively, and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the group of children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4) Specifically, carry out comprehensive impact risk assessments to determine the suitability of placements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The aim of the staff at this children’s home is to ‘help young people build a resilience to cope with challenges and difficulties and to help them reach their full potential’. It is evident that in the short space of time since the home opened this is occurring in practice. Staff offer a welcoming environment where young people are learning to accept the boundaries in place and understand the reasons for their placement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This children’s home has been in operation for four months. The majority of the young people moved with staff from another home in the organisation. Those new to the company are beginning to form attachments with staff but are still settling into the home. Staff reinforce the expectations to these newer young people and progress has been made in a number of areas, although at times there is some resistance. Young people are able learn from their behaviours in a safe environment. There have been two admissions to the home in recent weeks. Impact risk assessments were completed at the time of the referrals. However, each did not take into account the other new admission. This did not fully demonstrate the decision-making process with regard to certain behaviours such as missing from care, even though the two young people presented similar risks in this area. Young people are supported to build positive relationships with the staff, and speak

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

positively about them. For some of the young people, these attachments are particularly strong due to the length of time they have known the staff. Young people are confident Inspection report children’s home: 1259508 4 in the staff’s ability and know staff will invest quality time with them. Staff are attentive to young people’s needs and are consistently looking at how to promote their welfare. Through these trusting relationships, young people have been able to address their problems and are beginning to explore and reflect on their pasts. There are lots of examples of how this takes place: through the regular key-worker sessions, therapy and staff always making themselves available. The staff are successful in creating a nurturing and therapeutic environment. Staff have also developed close working relationships with parents and carers. Some young people aim to return home, and these relationships

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some of the young people have made exceptional progress given their starting points into the organisation. This has been seen through the reduction of aggressive behaviours, and young people becoming able to form attachments and live in a group environment. Progress in these young people’s emotional and psychological well-being is evident from their starting points. There have been improvements made because of the actions of the staff in the home and the caring ways they work. The passion and care seen by staff was good and contributes to the overall progress and experiences for these young people. For other young people who are new into placement, the impact of the support and approach of staff has yet to fully emerge.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are involved in decisions in the home and are generally aware of why at times some of their requests cannot be met. The young people who are newer into placement are developing an awareness of the boundaries and how to respect them. Other young people who have been within the organisation for a while accept these boundaries and have progressed as a result.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the young people in placement attend full-time education and for some this has been a huge improvement. The staff work very closely with education staff in the organisation’s school and within the local colleges. Some of the young people have not only attended but also excelled in education, achieving exam results beyond what was previously thought possible.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A range of activities are available to young people; these are adapted to meet young people’s interests and to motivate them to try new opportunities. These experiences enable young people to make friendships outside of the home. The home also encourages community involvement, and young people are involved in a range of volunteering work. This enables young people to gain a sense of achievement and increase their confidence; they are able to see the impact of their achievements on others.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are supported to be as independent as possible. Staff assess when young people may use the independence flat. This is regularly reviewed with the young person to ensure that they are ready and that they can provide what additional support may be required to succeed.

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

Inspection report children’s home: 1259508 5 The relationships young people are developing with the staff mean they are beginning to feel able to talk to staff should they feel worried or upset. Opportunities are regularly given for young people to discuss ways to keep themselves safe. Staff have received training in safeguarding and demonstrate a good understanding of when to report any concerns. Staff awareness of how to keep young people safe is good, and staff are clear on the advice they give to young people. However, staff have not had training around areas such as county lines, gang culture or knife crime. This would be timely to ensure that all staff are aware and recognise any areas of concern in these areas.

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

The response to young people going missing is well coordinated, and staff fully explore and consider how instances of going missing can be reduced in the future. For example, staff explore triggers in key-worker time and also together as a team. Strategies including ‘smoking reduction plans’ are then put in place, and staff work closely with professionals to implement these strategies. However, young people’s individual protocols could be strengthened with clear timeframes on when and if police should be called and more specific detail: currently these are generic plans that do not fully consider young people’s individual vulnerabilities. There have been two recent incidents where two young people have gone missing together, and risk assessments have been updated to implement strategies to reduce the likelihood of this behaviour reoccurring.

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

There has been a very little use of restraint since the home opened, and when this has occurred it has been proportionate. Staff are good at de-escalating a situation without the need to physically intervene. When restraint is used there is very good oversight by the manager to ensure consistency in how staff are working and to analyse trends or patterns. Staff do not use police to manage behaviour and police assistance is used only as a last resort, with only one such occurrence. Boundaries are clear and consistent; young people know what is acceptable. Staff have not used any sanctions and instead there is a focus on rewarding positive behaviours and enabling young people to take responsibility for behaviours and to understand the implications. Staff use imaginative ways to promote positive behaviour, which young people respond well to. This includes the use of marble jars and ‘worry monsters’. Staff use realistic goals to ensure that

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

young people achieve rather than fail. This has had a positive influence on increasing young people’s confidence.

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

There are a range of risk assessments in place for each young person, which are regularly reviewed. However, known vulnerabilities identified in referral paperwork are not risk assessed to enable strategies to be put in place. In addition, some known risks are not fully explored due to a lack of staff awareness in certain safeguarding areas as identified above.

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

Young people reported that they feel safe. It was evident that they are beginning on the journey in recognising that at times some of their behaviours aren’t safe and that staff need to step in to ensure that they are helped. There is a consistent and therapeutic approach to care with effective role modelling by staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Inspection report children’s home: 1259508 6 There is a strong management team led effectively by the registered manager. The manager has been registered with Ofsted for a number of years within the organisation prior to moving over to this new registration. The whole management team is inspirational in how they work. The team fully embraces a therapeutic way of working and is influential in ensuring that staff work to the same ethos. Due to this positive and very child-centred way of working, young people progress and the managers can show how this has been achieved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager has created excellent working relationships and has ensured that staff have also been fully involved in the journey of this home. This has resulted in a strong and effective team. Managers are constantly looking for creative ideas to inform practice and they use research to aid developments. This is fed back to the staff team to aid their learning and to ensure that young people’s needs are fully met. Managers have high expectations and ensure that the staff team does too. The passion was evident in both managers and the staff team wanting the best for the young people. They are all committed and do achieve a successful child-centred approach.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff team works together to support the young people and ensure that the home is properly staffed and resourced. The managers have employed bank workers to ensure that a high-quality and consistent level of service is delivered to all the young people, and this means no of agency workers are used. The registered manager also works on shift and provides effective role modelling.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The management team is very aware of the strengths and weaknesses in the home, and the registered manager is constantly reviewing areas that she feels need further strengthening. Thorough monitoring takes place, which identifies any areas for improvement. This enables the home to reflect on its current practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers challenge other professionals to ensure that young people receive the appropriate services, and they have developed strong links with other agencies. They liaise well with all these partner agencies. Social workers spoken to during this inspection were very positive about the placements, communication and information sharing. They did not hesitate in saying they would definitely recommend the children’s home to others.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The determination to ensure that the home’s aim, ‘to provide a stable and nurturing environment to give a child the opportunity to heal and to experience or rediscover a sense of their own self-worth’, is implemented is clearly evident in how this home operates. This view is consistently reinforced by the whole management team. The team aspires to achieve the best it can for the young people.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young Inspection report children’s home: 1259508 7 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: 1259508 8

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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

Emeline Evans, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1259508 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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