Children's Home run by Hertfordshire County Council in Hertfordshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC444176 1 SC444176 Registered provider: Hertfordshire County Council

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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 home provides a flexible, responsive service that consists of outreach, assessment and short-break weekend stays to prevent family breakdowns.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has two registered managers. One has been registered since 2016 and has a level 4 qualification. The other has been registered since 2017 and has a level 5 qualification.

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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

Date of last inspection: 8 September 2017

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC444176 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/09/2017 Full Outstanding 20/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 02/09/2016 Full Good 18/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC444176 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

An attachment model that recognises the children’s prior experiences and trauma underpins the team’s highly effective work with the children and their families. The impact of the service is to keep children together with their families, preventing the need for admission to long-term care. Children who are vulnerable, at significant risk of harm to themselves or others and who struggle to maintain good familial relationships benefit from excellent care that increases their life chances and promotes social and familial inclusion.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children and their families agree to work with the team on a residential and outreach basis. The children have a series of stays over a number of weekends. If required, the programme can be extended prior to outreach to ensure that the child and their family are ready for a step-down level of support. The children are supported at the home, during their stays, and in their own family home. This joint approach successfully enhances the work that is being done with the child and their family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The weekend stays provide a combination of therapeutic games and activities and sessions that take account of the children’s preferences. The activities address aspects of the child’s development, such as social and emotional growth. The children and their families establish better relationships with each other because of these interventions. The children develop an enhanced sense of self-worth and self-esteem. These positive changes help the children to self-regulate their emotions, and this minimises any negative behaviours.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The introduction of equine therapy as a regular activity is enabling children to conquer their fears of animals. The children learn the intricacies of caring for an animal and supporting one another. A parent spoke proudly of how her son actively participates in the therapy, despite being scared of horses.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

An enthusiastic team thoroughly enjoys its work with the children. This enthusiasm enables the staff to quickly and expertly establish a rapport with the children and their families. A parent described how the warm, welcoming staff and the comfortable homely decor of the house immediately allayed their child’s initial reservations. Following this child’s first stay, the parent said that he is already implementing strategies that the staff have identified. The professionals and other parents spoken to speak with unreserved positivity about the staff, the quality of the interactions and their responsive approach to any incidents and communication.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

A children’s meeting occurs at the start of each stay. The staff use the views gained in these meetings to shape and organise the children’s current and future stays. This places children central to their care and successfully boosts the children’s participation levels. Inspection report children’s home: SC444176 4

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

The staff provide highly effective support to enable children to address behaviours that have a negative impact on their family life. The children have comprehensively detailed risk assessments that easily identify the areas of work that will be the focus of the intervention with the child and/or their family. A child who was the victim of child exploitation commenced stays at a time of significant vulnerability. The child’s exposure to these risks has significantly decreased as the team has worked with them to ensure that they have a healthier approach to relationships. The child now shares information with the staff that enables them and their family to help the child and others to stay safe.

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

Missing from home episodes are rare. A recent episode in which three children left the home together was managed effectively and reviewed to ensure that any lessons learned are incorporated into future planning. The children no longer have stays at the same time to reduce potential risks of a repeat.

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

The children are able to reflect on negative behaviour and identify how it can be addressed, such as by a letter of apology. Identifying these solutions enables the children to develop strategies that will help them in the future. The staff address incidents of bullying with the children through direct sessions. These sessions ensure that children recognise the negative aspects of their behaviour and the potential effect that their behaviour has on others.

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

Equality and diversity are interwoven through all aspects of the work carried out with the children. Any inappropriate comments and views are addressed with the children and when applicable dealt with as bullying. When incidents occur, these are followed up with the children, their families and professionals to ensure that the children receive a coordinated response. This can include cessation of stays or adjusting the stays, such as in the case of one child staying with younger children as this deters his negative behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager and deputy have created an environment for highly effective practice to flourish at the home. They have a clear understanding of the progress that the children are making in respect of their plans, and take effective action to ensure that all of the children experience highly positive outcomes. The excellent leadership sets a clear direction for the staff, so that the culture and ethos of the home permeate the staff team. The managers provide an environment that empowers the staff and enables them to reach their potential. Managers have enabled staff to work alongside the management team to embed use of the therapeutic model.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home currently has two managers. One of the managers has been registered since 2017 and he is liked and respected by his team. They describe him as firm but fair, willing to do any tasks and leading by example. Inspection report children’s home: SC444176 5 Leaders and managers know and understand the service and are continually identifying ways to improve the service offered to the children and their families. Leaders and managers have enhanced their links with the police and specialist services to encourage information sharing. The approach enables cohesive working with the families and reduces risk. The managers audit the content and feedback from the individual and family sessions, and encourage the staff and the children to be reflective. Children are more able to vocalise how they feel and begin to make links to their behaviours and life experiences. A recent example is a child who identified that his behaviours changed because of the

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

impact of his grandad’s death on his life. The managers actively challenge inappropriate and unhelpful decisions to ensure that the children receive the best responses from all parties. The staff regularly receive positive feedback from the children, their families and other professionals, complimenting them on the way that the staff team works with them. This feedback reflects the pride that the staff have in their work and in seeing the children making progress.

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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: SC444176 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hertfordshire County Council, Apsley One, Brindley Way, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire HP3 9BF

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Children’s home details

Registered managers: Veronica Bennett and Neil Sutherland

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Inspector

Sonia Hay: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC444176 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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