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

Inspection report children’s home: SC479650 1 SC479650 Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Limited

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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 private children’s home is registered to provide care and accommodation for six children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home provides therapeutic input and support to young people via an external contracted service.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 12 to 14 December 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 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC479650 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/06/2017 Full Good 09/11/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness 26/04/2016 Full Requires improvement 24/02/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC479650 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people make exceptional progress in relation to their individual starting points. They benefit from well-planned, highly personalised care that promotes their needs effectively and contributes to significant change and improvement in their lives. An independent reviewing officer reported, ‘[The young person] is making excellent progress. He has clearly grown in confidence since being placed. The therapeutic input appears to be invaluable. He has developed good relationships with staff and peers.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people enjoy living at the home. They are kept safe and have a very strong sense of personal safety. They benefit from continuity of care and have consistency and stability in their lives. The home provides young people with a safe, caring, highly supportive and nurturing environment that supports their sustainable progress. Young people enjoy warm and secure relationships with staff and they sustain their positive attachments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

There have been no placement breakdowns or disruptions since the last inspection. Young people who have left the home have done so in a well-planned, controlled and positive way. Young people admitted to the home since the last inspection have settled in quickly and have been made to feel welcome by staff. A young person reported:

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

It feels like a family, in a way. It’s caring, kind and thoughtful. I wouldn’t change anything; it’s the best placement I’ve been in. At one point I didn’t feel like I had anything, but I have everything here.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people benefit from the arrangements that staff make to promote their positive health. They are registered with a doctor, dentist and optician and have access to these services when they need them. Young people are engaged in group work and one-to- one sessions with staff and have access to therapy. The home works proactively with therapists and other health professionals to ensure that young people’s specific health needs are consistently met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people attend the home’s own on-site school or other alternative educational provision regularly, with good support and encouragement from staff. The home works proactively with the providers of young people’s education to promote their progress, educational achievements and learning. Staff consistently have high aspirations for young people and support their career aspirations, training and educational goals. This includes developing young people’s life skills and promoting their independence and readiness for adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people are supported to take appropriate and well-managed risks to promote their growth and natural development. They are supported through Individual Community Opportunities Plan Experience programmes (ICOPE) that enable them to slowly progress from having strict adult supervision to having unsupervised or controlled free time in the community, in accordance with their specific risk assessments and safety Inspection report children’s home: SC479650 4 plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people benefit from a diverse range of activities, both at the home and in the wider community. Consequently, they develop their own specific interests and hobbies. Young people enjoy having music lessons, football, fishing, attending music concerts and other special events, such as watching live premiership and champion’s league football matches. Social workers reported, ‘Great staff, offering clear and appropriate boundaries whilst making the home feel warm and compassionate. The young people have good opportunities to engage in various activities and events.’

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

The safety of young people is consistently at the centre of staff’s practice, irrespective of the challenges this presents. Staff have an excellent understanding of young people’s specific needs and emerging vulnerabilities and take appropriate action to address them. Risks associated with, or presented by, young people are well known and understood by staff. The use of clear and robust risk assessments and safety plans, combined with effective safe working practice, ensure the safety of young people and others.

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

Young people are protected from abuse and all other forms of significant harm. Staff receive training on child protection, county lines, e-safety, child sexual exploitation and radicalisation. The whole staff group has an excellent understanding of the staff’s safeguarding roles and responsibilities. They know how to deal with any allegations and how to report suspected abuse and remain alert and vigilant to the risk of harm for young people.

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

Significant incidents are reported to the appropriate authorities to support and protect young people. Young people become increasingly safer because of the actions staff take to support and protect them. The practice of staff results in sustained improvement in the lives of young people where the risk of offending is significantly reduced. The home maintains strong partnerships with social workers, therapists and other professional agencies to ensure that young people benefit from the best possible help and wraparound support. A social worker reported, ‘The compassion shown by staff is second to none. The well-being of the children is their primary concern.’

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

Staff consistently have high expectations of young people’s behaviour. They apply the home’s rules and boundaries consistently to maintain a safe and harmonious environment for young people. They ensure that positive behaviours are praised, acknowledged and reinforced, and consequences used to address negative behaviour are proportionate, restorative and fair. Sanctions are kept to a minimum, and restraint, if used at all, is only ever used as a last resort to protect young people from harm.

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

Risk-taking behaviours, such as going missing from care for long periods, offending, drug misuse and self-harm, have reduced significantly, and young people are less likely to suffer actual harm. Most young people don’t go missing and the minority that do show a significant reduction in the frequency with which they are absent or go missing. Staff actively look for young people if they are missing and follow the home’s procedures Inspection report children’s home: SC479650 5 to secure their quick and safe return.

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

Young people know how to make a complaint and their complaints are addressed effectively. The home provides young people with a physically safe, appropriately secure, warm, comfortable and homely environment. Environmental safety is managed effectively, and health and safety checks are kept up to date by staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home benefits from a well-qualified and extremely experienced registered manager who demonstrates strong and effective leadership of the operation of the home. The registered manager has consistently high expectations of staff and high aspirations for young people. They prioritise the needs of young people and ensure that staff are professionally supervised, well managed and led. The registered manager stimulates staff’s enthusiasm and channels their efforts effectively. Staff reported, ‘It has a vibrant atmosphere and the children are happy in their placements. The staff team help support one another and the managers both support the staff team.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers provide staff with a clear sense of purpose and direction. They create a culture of positivity, which the staff team fully embraces. Staff have a positive work ethic and share and implement the home’s ethos, approach and philosophy in caring for young people. They meet the aims and objectives, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose, and can demonstrate the positive difference that they have made to the lives of young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The training needs of staff are clearly identified and met. Staff are extremely well trained, appropriately skilled and well qualified. They benefit from high-quality training and receive regular, practice-related supervision. There are good opportunities to promote staff’s learning, self-reflection, personal and professional development. Staff are trained in ‘RAID’ (Reinforce Appropriate, Implode Disruptive behaviour) and there is evidence that research-informed practice is making an exceptional difference to the lives and experiences of young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is visited each month by an independent professional who scrutinises the performance of the home and the arrangements it makes to safeguard young people and promote their safety and well-being. Following each monitoring visit, a report is prepared for the registered manager and the home. The reports are evaluative and identify areas for the home’s improvement. Prompt action is taken to address any shortfalls identified. The registered manager makes excellent use of the home’s internal and external monitoring activities, including stakeholder feedback, to secure continuing improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There are no breaches in regulation. Consequently, there are no requirements or recommendations made following this inspection. Inspection report children’s home: SC479650 6

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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: SC479650 7

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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: Unit 1 Tustin Court, Riversway, Preston, Lancashire PR2 2YQ

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Inspector

Anthony Kyem, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC479650 8 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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