Children's home run by Hexagon Care Services Limited in Preston

Inspection report children’s home: 1212704 1 Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home may provide care and accommodation for up to four females aged 11 to 17 with a range of needs who require a medium- to long-term placement.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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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: 17 October 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/10/2017 Full Good 22/02/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: 1212704 2

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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; have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other; take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies; and that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) and (2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(vi)(vii)(b)) 21/12/2018

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Recommendations

 Expectations of standards of behaviour should be high for all staff and children in the home. These standards should be clear, consistent and unambiguous. Children should be supported to develop understanding and empathy towards each other. Positive behaviour and relationships should be reinforced, praised and encouraged; poor behaviour should be challenged and discussed. The development of safe, stable and secure relationships with staff in the home should be central to the ethos of the home and support the development of secure attachments that, where appropriate, persist over time. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.11)  The registered person should develop and implement an internal quality assurance monitoring and reviewing system to ensure that practice is consistently good and ensure the continuous improvement of practice. (‘Guide to the

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Recommendations

children’s homes regulations including the quality standards, page 55, paragraph 10.54) Inspection report children’s home: 1212704 3  Ensure any sanction used to address poor behaviour is restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  Ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person must specify the procedures to be followed and the roles and responsibilities of staff when a child is missing from care or away from the

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Recommendations

home without permission. The home’s procedures must take into account the views of appropriate local services and have regard to police and local authority protocols for responding to missing person’s incidents in the area where the home is located. When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraphs 9.28, 9.29 and 9.30)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The quality of practice is good, and children and young people make good progress living here. When children and young people arrive, they settle well, and risk-taking behaviours reduce considerably.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people benefit from living in a caring and nurturing environment. The home has a lovely atmosphere and is very homely. Children and young people quickly establish trusting relationships with staff. However, children and young people say that staff are not always consistent. Furthermore, they say that sanctions are not always fair and are not restorative.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s and young people’s records are maintained to a good standard. They are child-focused and the reader has a good insight into the child’s journey. However, they sometimes miss information that is pertinent to keeping the child or young person safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people establish and maintain positive relationships with their friends and family. Children and young people meet new friends and staff support them to take age-appropriate risks. This enables children to explore risks in a safe way. This increases their confidence and they learn to make good independent decisions. Inspection report children’s home: 1212704 4 When children and young people arrive, they are not meaningfully engaged in education. Children and young people quickly establish a good educational routine and start to enjoy learning again. They gain qualifications, secure part-time jobs and are very proud of their achievements. Children and young people enjoy a variety of activities and they have the opportunity to experience new things.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When young people move on to independence, they do so in a planned way. Young people speak positively about this transition and the support and help that they have received, and continue to receive.

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improvement to be good

Children’s and young people’s risk assessments and plans do not reflect all their risk- taking behaviours. Some significant risks are not assessed, planned and monitored effectively. Consequently, strategies are not routinely in place to keep children and young people safe from potential harm.

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improvement to be good

When staff understand the risks to young people, they manage these well. They work with partner agencies and plans are clear. As a result, children and young people reduce their risk-taking behaviour and their outcomes improve.

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improvement to be good

The missing from care policies and procedures are not followed in their entirety. Missing from care assessments and plans are not individual to the child or young person. Furthermore, they do not consider the local authorities’ policies and procedures. Consequently, is it not clear what the risks are and how staff should manage these.

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improvement to be good

Placement matching has improved. However, there have been two significant placement breakdowns since the last inspection. In these instances, staff have worked in partnership with the local authorities to ensure that the transition plans are in place.

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improvement to be good

Managers and staff respond to child protection matters in a sensitive and supportive way. They put all the required safeguards in place and ensure that children and young people feel safe and secure.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The current manager was registered with Ofsted on 1 May 2018 and holds a relevant qualification. The manager is seamless in her approach. Her engagement skills are excellent, and she treats everyone with respect.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team members are passionate and committed to delivering a high standard of care and support. They lead by example and show good leadership and management knowledge and skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff empower children and young people to believe in themselves. They Inspection report children’s home: 1212704 5 recognise that each child is different, and they support children to achieve their goals, however small. As a result, children and young people grow in confidence and make excellent progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals speak highly of the home and the progress that children make. Managers and staff recognise the value in working in a multi-agency way. They will seek out support and guidance from others to ensure that children achieve the very best outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are complimentary of their managers. They feel supported and valued. They benefit from regular supervision and day-to-day support is good.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive effective training that enhances their practice. The training helps staff to have a good insight into children’s needs. This provides staff with the confidence that they need to understand complex behaviours. As a result, they are able to help children and young people to work through these.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and deputy manager monitor practice. However, the system that they use does not routinely explore the quality of practice and thus they miss shortfalls in practice.

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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: 1212704 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hexagon Care, 1 Tustin Court Port Way, Ashton-on- Ribble, Preston, Lancashire PR2 2YQ

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Jacqueline Titterington

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Inspector

Lisa Gregoire-Parker: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1212704 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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