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

Inspection report children’s home: SC482293 1 SC482293 Registered provider: Hillcrest Children’s Services Ltd

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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 privately owned children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to seven young males with complex social, emotional and behavioural difficulties, who may have also suffered other traumas such as physical, emotional and sexual abuse and/or neglect. Young people are supported towards independence by using the two self- contained flats on the premises.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted on 27 November 2013

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 19 to 20 September 2018

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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 good

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC482293 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/08/2017 Full Outstanding 12/12/2016 Full Good 18/05/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 12/11/2015 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC482293 3

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Recommendations

 Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where 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) In particular, risk assessments should be recorded with sufficient detail to demonstrate that potential risks have been considered and suitably evaluated, and that measures to reduce them are clearly identified.

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Recommendations

 The registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1) In particular, when considering the appointment of new staff reasonable checks should be made to find out if organisations, such as Interpol or national embassies, are able to provide pertinent information about people who have lived or worked abroad.

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Recommendations

 Case records must be kept up to date, signed, and dated by the author of each entry. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The manager and staff go to great lengths to support young people who have experienced significant trauma and, very often, frequent placement breakdowns before coming to the home. Here, staff give them stability, understanding and the confidence to achieve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

All young people have made progress, much of which has been across the spectrum. Improvement in school attendance and attainment has been remarkable, as has young people’s ability to understand and manage their emotions. For many of the young people, their health has greatly improved as they have come to understand the importance of healthy eating and exercise.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Some young people find the rules and boundaries to be tiresome. One said: ‘You always have to do exercise before you can play on your computer – it’s the same every day.’ However, they also see that the routines have helped them. Young people could identify Inspection report children’s home: SC482293 4 ways that their lives had improved after coming to the home, some after only a short time, and they see the work of staff as central to this. A typical comment was: ‘Staff want to work with you… to listen and help you. They are thoughtful and help you learn to socialise.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people come to see that they can affect their own futures. One said: ‘With good effort, you get good results.’ A parent commented that her son now ‘has aspirations and passions’, building on his success in education, independence and improved relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The home’s independence work supports young people to gain the practical skills they will need later in life and embeds this in an overall approach that centres on personal goals. Staff help each young person to see what they have done already to achieve their goals, and to recognise the next steps they need to take.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Such aspirations often come out of the extraordinary range of experiences that young people have had while at the home. Young people are encouraged to try lots of new activities, many of which include the possibility of obtaining a certificate or accreditation at the end of them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The home has extensive facilities, including a gym, a music and arts room and, outside, a well-designed ‘chill-out’ area that doubles as a performance space. These all enhance the experiences of young people and provide a range of opportunities for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff show extraordinary tenacity to help young people through difficult times, coming up with new ways of supporting them. One professional, impressed with the care and thought shown to a young person, described how the young person was ‘at the centre of it all’, and that this was producing encouraging outcomes.

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

Young people say that they are safe in the home and that staff intervene effectively if there is any conflict between them. Staff help young people to see how their behaviour affects others and how, for example, ‘being mean’ can lead to bullying.

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

There is a strong emphasis on helping young people to repair relationships and to accept responsibility for conduct without experiencing this as shameful. Staff encourage young people to engage in a reparation exercise that achieves this very successfully. Staff reward positive behaviour through a points system, frequent praise and individual treats. Young people come to understand expectations, and endeavour to improve their behaviour.

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

There have been two lapses regarding safeguarding, which is otherwise strong. One was a delay in the staff raising with the manager a concern about an incident outside of the home, and the second was an error in the administration of medication. The manager has addressed both lapses effectively through helping those involved to reflect on their practice, to improve their competence, and by instigating changes to procedures in order to avoid similar incidents occurring again. This has been a robust response. Inspection report children’s home: SC482293 5 Staff spoken to know what their responsibilities would be if they were to become aware of a safeguarding issue, and who they could go to outside the organisation if they did not believe that necessary action was being taken. Young people understand how and why staff act if they share concerns, and they feel protected by this.

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

Incidents of absconding or the need for physical intervention reduce over time as young people settle.

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

A small number of young people, when in a heightened state, make allegations against staff but withdraw them afterwards. Where witnesses can see that this is not related to what is happening at the time, staff follow a protocol that has been agreed with the designated officer of the local authority. This ensures that practice is safe and has a degree of oversight, but does not unnecessarily disrupt the life of the young person or the home. The manager explains this to the young people and puts it in writing to them.

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

A few individual risk assessments lack enough detail to show that risks had been thoroughly considered and, in one, the level of risk was miscalculated. Staff systematically evaluated young people’s vulnerability to child sexual exploitation but not the risk of criminal exploitation. Measures to reduce risks were not always clearly recorded in the assessments, but were contained in other documents and were known to staff.

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

Staff are imaginative in helping young people to become more responsible for themselves, while maintaining an oversight. A professional said of one young person: ‘Staff are robust in their plans; they allow him independence but know what triggers him.’ This ensures that young people continue to be safe.

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

The provider operates a safer recruitment policy and does this well, other than seeking intelligence from Interpol or national embassies when considering the appointment of someone who has worked or lived abroad.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers have developed a very successful approach to helping troubled young people. They have gathered a team of staff, including the administrator and professionals from outside the home, who support young people, and who are committed to putting the approach into practice and to developing it further. Each believes their opinions and contributions count, but say that the drive ‘all comes from the top’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff report that colleagues are highly supportive, and that the manager and his deputy are very committed to them and to the boys. Supervision, both individual and group sessions, addresses the needs of staff and helps them to meet the needs of the young people. Well-written records support this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff induction and ongoing staff development are well organised, and are relevant to roles and to the young people. The manager is quick to identify emerging needs and to source training to equip workers to meet them. All permanent staff achieve the required Inspection report children’s home: SC482293 6 level of training within regulatory timescales, and bank workers who have worked sufficient hours are assisted to undertake the course too.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

A clearly articulated framework underpins the work of the home. Staff have an excellent understanding of the chosen approach. They are helped by a diagrammatical representation and a handbook that is designed to convey how this works in the home, and by two well-chosen books that are provided for new staff. This leads to particularly well thought out and consistent practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff are constantly reflecting on their practice. Consultations with a clinical psychologist and the involvement of a play therapist greatly assist this process, giving insights into the impact of traumatic experiences, to understand behaviour and develop ways of working that address both past trauma and current behaviour. The result is a highly motivated, well-informed and resilient staff group that is admirably equipped for its roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager and staff have forged good relationships with other agencies, and with other parts of their own organisation, such as the school that many of the young people attend. However, as one parent said, staff will ‘push them when needed’. This parent was grateful that staff do what she would do if she was able to. Documentation is chased when it is late being sent but is not promptly escalated if it remains unforthcoming.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff advocate strongly for young people, as shown in a ‘boys’ voice’ folder that records issues raised and their outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Young people contribute to recently introduced ‘child-friendly’ placement plans and behaviour management plans, including what strategies they think work or don’t work. These are thorough documents that show a detailed understanding of each young person. There are explicit links to local authority care plans, including actions from reviews that key workers address.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Placement summaries, which are continually added to from the point of admission to the time young people leave, are carefully compiled records that allow the manager and staff to know the progress that young people make over time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager’s review of care includes how the home will respond to views expressed by young people and external agencies. The home’s detailed development plan specifies actions for the short-term alongside longer-term aspirations. This supports the continuing improvement of the home, for which leaders have a proven track record.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC482293 7 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: SC482293 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hillcrest Children’s Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Turnpike Gate House, Alcester Heath, Alcester, Warwickshire B49 5JG

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Inspectors

Chris Peel, social care inspector Anne-Marie Davies, social care inspector (shadowing) Inspection report children’s home: SC482293 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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