Children's Home run by Hillcrest Children‟s Services (2) Limited in Staffordshire

SC398482 Registered provider: Hillcrest Children’s Services (2) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care for up to three young people who display a combination of emotional difficulties, associated challenging behaviours and educational underachievement, and require intensive support. The home is privately owned and forms part of a large social care organisation which offers an education service and therapeutic support. The registered manager was registered with Ofsted in May 2018, and is appropriately experienced and qualified to manage a children’s home.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/03/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 15/05/2017 Full Good 08/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 22/08/2016 Full Requires improvement

p.2

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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so. In particular, the standard requires the registered person to ensure that staff— understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers; and help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment. (Regulation 8 (1) (2) (iii) (iv)) 31/10/2018

p.3

Recommendations

 Keep all children’s case records up to date. This is with regard to young people’s missing from care protocols. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make good progress and greatly value the trusting relationships that they have with staff. They live in a home that is safe and they experience nurture and grow in confidence, as staff have high levels of respect for young people’s individuality.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One young person says that he loves all the staff for different reasons and he knows they love him back. Other young people’s comments include, ‘They stood by me. I’m getting to know everybody. Staff are good at making relationships. I trust them and they never gave up trying to get to know me’ and ‘The staff are nice. My key worker is [name of staff] and I love her. I can talk to her and she listens. All the staff do really.’ Young people thrive because staff understand and use the individuality of each young person to inform their practice and provide meaningful support for young people. Staff have an in-depth knowledge of young people’s backgrounds and their childhood trauma. This excellent insight gives staff a sensitive understanding into the triggers for behaviour and gives them the ability to adapt their practice to meaningfully support young people.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Timely intervention, sensitive discussions and positive reinforcement minimise young people’s need to present challenging behaviours. Young people learn from their experiences and improve their emotional resilience as they receive compassionate, proportionate and warm responses from staff.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Meaningful one-to-one key-working sessions, day-to-day discussions and young people’s meetings help young people to explore their behaviours, emotions and the tensions that can arise from group living. Thoughtful matching of new young people coming to the home and close staff supervision ensure that there are no concerns about bullying.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s physical and emotional health improves because of living at the home. Young people enjoy good health, with balanced meals and encouragement to exercise. Staff have a good insight into young people’s mental and emotional health. One young person now manages better his anxiety, without medication, due to support from staff and liaison with specialist agencies. Good-quality, child-centred key working combined with access to regular therapy promote all young people’s well-being.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy a range of activities and are encouraged to follow their chosen hobbies and interests. One young person enjoys pampering evenings with the staff and this helps him to follow his chosen career in hair and beauty. Another young person can express his interest in music and is the proud owner of his own disc jockey equipment. The third young person has his own pets and this helps to reinforce his enthusiasm to study and work in animal care. All young people enjoy going to the gym, swimming and outdoor activities such as camping. These activities support their good health and provide meaningful one-to-one time with staff.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people live in a comfortable and well-maintained home. They fully appreciate staff efforts to make the house homely and are extremely pleased with the newly refurbished kitchen. Young people also enjoy the privacy of their own bedrooms, which are highly personalised.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education outcomes are mixed for young people. One consistent factor is that all young people attend the organisation’s education provision and do not like school. The registered manager has consistently worked in partnership with social workers and the school to improve education engagement and outcomes for young people. Additionally, staff make every effort to support young people’s attendance, including joining young people in the classroom and sharing behaviour management strategies. One young person says that he is adamant that he is not going to go to school, but he always ends up there because of staff support.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One young person acknowledges some improvement in his behaviour at school and looks forward to completing his GCSE options. However, some young people have missed education due to being sent home with no formal exclusion procedure. This has been challenged by a placing authority and the registered manager. One young person is significantly underachieving at school despite the registered manager’s partnership working to improve strategies to support this young person’s attendance and achievement. While this is an area for improvement, the young person’s emotional support from staff has enabled him to make progress across all other aspects of his life.

p.4

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

The care planning framework is comprehensive, child-centred and covers all aspects of young people’s needs. Consistently implemented strategies ensure that young people remain safe and feel well cared for. Most importantly, all young people develop a greater awareness about how to manage their behaviour, experience positive relationships and keep themselves safe.

p.5

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

Staff are well trained and able to implement the home’s accessible and regularly updated safeguarding and child protection procedures. The manager and staff are approachable and skilled in building relationships with young people. This ensures that young people always have a trusted adult to speak with. Young people are safe because the staff and manager ensure that the smallest concern is referred, discussed and addressed with both social workers, safeguarding agencies and the young people.

p.5

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

Staff responses to young people going missing are good. Associated risks are clearly identified and practice is supported by agreed protocols and liaison with the police. However, one young person’s protocol was not up to date and did not reflect the excellent knowledge and practice of staff. This young person’s periods of going missing from the home are significantly reduced due to the excellent partnership working with the young person, family members and the social worker to arrange safe and agreed family contact.

p.5

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

Staff take their safeguarding and parenting roles very seriously. They consistently work in the best interests of the young people and are assertive in delivering difficult messages to young people when this is required. Messages and boundaries are clearly communicated. Young people fully understand how staff will continue to keep them and others safe. Positive behaviour is reinforced with a range of individualised incentives. Young people engage and feel confident as their efforts are consistently praised.

p.5

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

The exceptional strength of the staff team’s approach to behaviour management is demonstrated in the significant decrease in physical restraints for one specific young person. Physical intervention is seldom used and is closely monitored by the registered manager. Detailed records show that staff view the use of physical intervention as a last resort to keep young people and others safe.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager successfully manages a motivated and experienced staff team. She is aspirational for young people and sets high standards for the staff team. She is held in high regard by the young people, staff, families and professionals. Young people say that the manager is ‘awesome’. Staff comments include, ‘The manager is brilliant’ and ‘fantastic’. One social worker comments, ‘The manager is excellent. Her dedication is excellent.’

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

One family member describes the manager and communication with staff as ‘exceptional’. Families feel involved in all areas of their relative’s care. They believe that the progress that young people make is a direct result of the relationships that staff build and maintain with young people. Comments include, ‘They have stuck with him through [thick] and thin’ and ‘The home is top of the tree.’

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager keeps the home’s statement of purpose under review. Her highly effective management of the home’s admissions and matching process for young people has ensured that young people are compatible and that young people’s needs are expertly met by the staff’s skill set.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Young people are looked after by a core team of experienced and qualified staff. Agency staff are seldom used, and young people are familiar with (and like) the bank staff who sometimes come from other homes to cover shifts. These arrangements extend young people’s excellent sense of security and stability. One-to-one staffing ensures individual support for each young person and underpins the good progress that young people make.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff benefit from a seamless progression from induction, through their probation, and achieve an appropriate qualification for residential childcare. This process is supported by regular high-quality supervision. Staff development is a key focus and strength of the registered manager, who ensures that an organised and regularly refreshed training programme is available.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Young people’s concerns and complaints are managed very effectively. Excellent and trusting relationships between young people and staff mean that young people are confident in expressing their views and concerns. Open discussion leads to early resolution by the registered manager and gives young people a firm sense of empowerment in the running of the home and their future plans.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Consultation is strong and young people are fully involved in the running of the home. They feel empowered because the registered manager and staff listen to their ideas. For example, new education books help young people to reflect on how they have behaved and achieved at school. This was put in place as an alternative to consequences and negativity on their return to the home after a bad day at school. This has helped young people to manage their transition from home to school more positively.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager and staff are excellent advocates and consistently work in the best interests of the young people. One young person said, ‘[The registered manager] went to my review and it was the best ever. They really listened and told them what I wanted. I should have been gone by now, if the fostering had happened, but now I’m staying here and that is what I want.’ The registered manager has an excellent working knowledge of the regulatory and inspection framework. She is aware of her responsibilities for monitoring the quality of care provided and utilises creative and highly effective systems to support this, embracing feedback from independent monitoring reports, young people and social workers to continually drive improvement.

p.6

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.

p.7

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’.

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hillcrest Children’s Services (2) Limited

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hillcrest Children’s Services (2) Limited, Turnpike Gate House, Alcester Heath, Alcester, Warwickshire B49 5JG

p.8

Inspector

Elaine Cray: social care inspector 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9