Children's home run by Hertfordshire County Council in Dacorum

Inspection report children’s home: SC422231 1 SC422231 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

This home aims to provide high-quality care to children that helps them feel loved, happy, healthy, and enables them to keep safe from harm, thrive, develop and fulfil their potential. The manager has been registered since 2017 and holds a level 7 management 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: 13 February 2018

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC422231 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 14/06/2017 Full Good 17/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 11/05/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC422231 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The home continues to offer a highly successful programme that works with children and their families over a period of six to eight weeks. A therapeutic model that considers the trauma experienced by the children prior to their arrival underpins the programme. The children receive a bespoke package of care that is developed and modified in conjunction with the child and their family. To maintain their relationships, the children have regular visits and overnight stays with their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Since the last inspection, 23 children have moved in and 22 have moved out. The majority of the children have returned home. The team feels that it is imperative that the child and their family continue to receive support via the outreach service. This ongoing source of support ensures that the children and their families are settled back into a routine at home before the support is gradually withdrawn.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Despite the children’s initial reluctance to commence the programme, they demonstrate their commitment by participating in the individual and family therapy sessions. The children use the sessions to examine the issues behind their often negative and challenging behaviours. The staff are excellent at engaging with the children and their families. A social worker described the change in one child and their family as ‘transformational’. She said, ‘[The child] is like a different child.’ The social worker went on to say how amazed she was that the staff had managed, in such a short time, to engage with a very reluctant parent.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The families meet on a weekly basis with all of the relevant professionals to address any areas of concern. This unified approach prevents any miscommunication and ensures that everyone, including the children, knows what is expected of them. During the programme, the children often continue to attend their existing schools. The staff liaise closely with the virtual school to ensure that they quickly establish an education routine for those children who are excluded or are school refusers. This proactive planning and persistence help to get many of the children back into education provisions and to improve their levels of attendance and participation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The overall effect of the children’s time living at the home and interacting with the staff is immensely positive. The children confidently describe the improvements in their behaviour since moving in. The staff help the children and their families to identify and use various coping strategies. Families said that these strategies are helping them to become better at communicating. A parent said that the service has helped them to see ‘light at the end of the tunnel’. A child’s sibling said that participating in the programme has ‘given me my brother back’. This sibling was equally as positive about the difference that they could see and feel in the interactions between themselves and their family during the family sessions. This improved communication reduces the level of arguments and disagreements in households and enables the children and their families to address issues. Inspection report children’s home: SC422231 4

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

The children arrive presenting a range of behaviours such as self-harming and going missing from home and/or school. The dynamic combination of the input of the staff, close monitoring, boundaries and the individual and family sessions result in these behaviours significantly reducing in frequency and duration. The staff are confident and not afraid to help the children to develop a sense of, and take, acceptable risks. This ensures that the children are not over protected.

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

The children become increasingly able to vocalise their issues and problems to the staff and, when appropriate, their families. These positive changes enable the children and their families to recognise and mirror the successful approaches used by the staff.

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

The children work closely with the staff and are soon able to discuss matters that they have previously struggled to raise with their families. Activities and discussions help to identify underlying issues that have led to some of the challenges that the child has been facing, and how these have manifested in their behaviour. These creative approaches to highlighting and resolving concerns enable the children and their family members to appreciate each other’s views and perspectives and, ultimately, to reach positions of compromise. The children leave with an improved sense of self-worth and awareness of how to keep themselves safe.

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

Staff ensure that, in working with the children and their families, all children in the household benefit from the intervention and are safeguarded. This inclusive approach has led to the team extending the programme to provide the children’s siblings with support via outreach sessions and individual and group sessions. This resource-intensive approach ensures that the whole family is safe. The staff are effective in highlighting concerns as they arise. Some recent cases have highlighted concerns relating to county lines and child sexual exploitation. The staff work closely with the designated officer and local police to ensure that they share information and have responded appropriately to the concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The dynamic leadership offered by the managers reflects their drive, positivity and enthusiasm. This is also evident in all of the staff. The managers continually review and revise the programme to ensure that the children and their families receive the best possible service. This responsive approach enables families to work with the staff without feeling judged. No managers were available during this inspection, yet all the staff spoken with showed that they have in-depth knowledge of each child, their progress and the plans for their future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The managers provide positive role models that the staff describe as supportive. The managers lead by example and use supervision, ongoing training and case discussions to develop the team. The home has offered shadowing experiences for staff from across the service to see how the therapeutic model is embedded in practice. The sharing of this knowledge and learning is helping to improve standards across the local authority. Inspection report children’s home: SC422231 5 The children’s plans follow the core format of the programme but are individualised, revised and extended as required, to ensure that each child has a bespoke experience. The weekly network meetings are pivotal to the weekly plans. This responsive approach to family work ensures that the family meets with all the relevant professionals in one setting and avoids the families being confused or receiving mixed messages about what needs to be achieved and what each week entails.

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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: SC422231 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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Inspector

Sonia Hay: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC422231 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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