Children's Home run by Hampshire County Council in Hampshire

Inspection report children’s home: 1257065 1 Registered provider: Hampshire 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 is owned and run by the local authority. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. Young people and staff relocated to a purpose-built new property because of the local authority’s revision of its residential care options across the county. This is the second inspection in the new location.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since June 2012.

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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: 21 December 2017

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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: 1257065 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/12/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: 1257065 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people make excellent progress while living in this home. Their self-regulation, social presentation, emotional well-being, independence, education, health and family relationships all improve. Young people make friends within the home and the wider community. They grow in confidence and are, for example, able to have a sleepover at a friend’s, an experience once thought impossible.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Gathering young people’s views, wishes and feelings is a strength of this home. A member of staff responsible for this quality standard uses innovative and creative practice to seek young people’s views. Young people feel confident and safe to share their worries and concerns as well as their dreams and desires. The member of staff informs the key worker, who explores the young person’s views with them and follows up on any issues. The model works extremely well. As a result, one young person has been able to get involved in online gaming and another young person has been able to catch the bus independently to go to school. Young people do not routinely feel the need to resort to the formal complaints procedure. However, if they do, the registered manager takes them seriously, investigates the complaint and provides a written response to the young person.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people demonstrate a sense of ownership and responsibility. For example, they bake and sell cakes to help raise money to put towards buying an expensive item of their choice. They have an empathy and care for the wider world, for example raising money for a national charity fundraising day.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people are positive about their home. They speak of staff as family and the other young people as brothers and sisters. Young people who have left stay in contact, often ringing up for a chat, popping in for a drink or to share a meal. Staff provide care, acceptance and support to young people long after young people have left this home. The strong and positive attachments between the staff and the young people are obvious. Staff provide poetry, letters, photos and positive affirmations in an album to young people who leave the home. A young person said, ‘There is nothing better than here.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff help young people to see those individuals who are important to them, especially their family and friends. Young people have regular contact, including overnight stays. Staff are adept at managing difficult and complex parental relationships to make such visits as positive as possible.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

A well-established therapeutic model of care underpins the practice in the home. Staff understand it extremely well and apply the principles in practice. They are supported and guided by a clinical psychologist who visits the home monthly to discuss the young people. Excellent care planning in line with the therapeutic model results in clear agreed strategies of care that staff consistently apply. Inspection report children’s home: 1257065 4 Staff support young people to attend all routine and specialist appointments. They advocate for other assessments, such as with a forensic psychologist. Young people are committed to keeping themselves in good health, for example by engaging in healthy exercise and losing weight. All young people are in education, and are making excellent progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people enjoy a range of activities within the home and in the wider community. Staff support them to follow their interests, for example by supplying horse-riding equipment, or supporting them to see their pop idols in concert.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The home is of exceptional quality. It is not only well designed but well maintained. Young people do not damage their warm, comfortable, safe haven.

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

Young people say that they feel happy and safe. They demonstrate that they have formed warm and trusting relationships with staff, confident that staff listen to their concerns and worries. Staff exhibit a thorough understanding of safeguarding practice. They follow due process, working with other safeguarding professionals, to ensure young people’s safety. Young people develop emotional resilience, and this results in, for example, less self-injurious behaviour.

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

Staff have done excellent work with young people who persist in exhibiting high-risk behaviours. A professional said, ‘Staff should not underestimate how effective their work has been with this young person. [Name of young person] has not managed to keep a placement outside of a secure environment for this long in several years, which is a testament to the home.’ A young person said, ‘It is the best placement I have had. I realise I put myself at risk.’ A placing social worker said, ‘They managed an extremely high-risk young person exceptionally well.’

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

Staff are highly competent at defusing incidents. They manage high-risk situations through distracting and negotiating with young people to encourage them to make the right choice. They are meticulous at recording incidents to inform the debrief, reflective discussion and thinking to prevent recurrence.

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

Staff follow agreed protocols and statutory guidance on incidents of going missing to try and keep young people with complex needs as safe as possible. Staff are resolute in their efforts to understand and prevent missing behaviour.

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

The staff team’s approach to risk management and behavioural support strategies is exemplary. They ensure that risk assessments are comprehensive, up to date and include clear control measures. Staff engage other professionals, such as education staff, to apply the strategies, thereby keeping young people as safe as possible. Likewise, staff ensure that behaviour support plans clearly describe strategies to defuse behaviour, to manage incidents if they occur and the strategies for staff to implement following an incident. They have an immediate debrief, as well as a team debrief, in consultation with Inspection report children’s home: 1257065 5 the clinical psychologist to understand the underlying psychological reasons for behaviour. They amend existing strategies and apply new ones to minimise the possibility of a repeat incident. They utilise other agencies, such as the police talking to young people, to emphasise the potential outcome of poor behaviour.

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

Staff use praise points rather than sanctions to promote good behaviour as an alternative to penalising poor behaviour. Young people speak proudly of their achievements and what they are working towards. Consequently, the need to physically intervene to manage behaviour is infrequent. If any physical intervention is necessary, details of the intervention are thoroughly recorded.

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

Staff keep young people as safe as possible in the cyber world. Young people demonstrate maturity about how they keep themselves safe when using smart devices and freely show staff their activity on the internet.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The well-trained and supported staff team has a history of long service with the local authority. Its members enjoy their roles and are highly committed to meeting the needs of the young people. Morale is high. Staff are positive about each other and their managers. This is a team that is cohesive, professional, competent and that works together to achieve the best possible outcomes for the young people in their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is an exceptional leader who is supported by an equally impressive deputy manager. The registered manager has been successful in advising and guiding another home in a different local authority on their improvement journey. The registered manager is effective at delegation. Individual members of staff champion a quality standard, striving for continuous improvement and to make this a standard of excellence.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager gives careful consideration to referrals. His well thought-out plans assess the impact of potential admissions on the young people currently living in the home. It is noteworthy that the registered manager includes young people in the decision-making process. Young people have telephone contact with others who may come to live in their home as well as meeting them, for example, over a teatime visit. Both the young person currently living in the home as well as the new young person can discuss their fears and hopes about the potential move. Young people start to build positive relationships with others even before they are living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Placement planning is outstanding. Key staff ensure that plans contain all the necessary information, are succinct and clearly describe how to meet the individual needs of each young person. The staff team regularly discusses the current and ongoing needs of each young person and consults regularly with the home’s psychologist. One successful approach was using visual communication with a young person to help them communicate their feelings. The young person responded, ‘Thank you for helping me with my anger. I feel so much better now.’ The precise and meticulous approach to care Inspection report children’s home: 1257065 6 planning means that young people have every possible opportunity to meet all their goals and improve their chance of a successful adult life. A professional said, ‘It is the perfect place for [name of young person].’ Staff successfully advocate for the young people in their care and work well with other professionals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is not complacent. He has a clear development plan that demonstrates a commitment to maintaining and improving standards.

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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: 1257065 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hampshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3rd Floor, Elizabeth II Court North, The Castle, Winchester, Hampshire SO23 8UG

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Inspector

Keith Riley, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1257065 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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