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Inspection report children’s home: SC482299 1 SC482299 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 is a privately owned children’s home that provides care and accommodation for up to 10 children who may have social, emotional and mental health needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since September 2018.

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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 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: 29 November 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC482299 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/11/2018 Full Good 02/03/2017 Full Good 04/10/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness 02/03/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC482299 3

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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; help each child to understand how to keep safe; have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, risk management plans should be reviewed following on from serious incidents in the home. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)) 30/11/2019

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Requirement Due date

If the registered person considers it to be necessary for the purpose of safeguarding or promoting the welfare of a child, the registered person may impose conditions, prohibitions or restrictions upon a child’s— contact with parents, friends or relatives.

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Requirement Due date

No measure may be imposed by the registered person under paragraph (5) unless— the child’s placing authority consents to the imposition of the measure.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, consultation should take place with placing authorities when behaviour support strategies may have an impact on free movement. (Regulation 22 (5)(a(6)(a)) 30/11/2019

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must— take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children’s home; 30/11/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC482299 4 provide adequate means of escape from the home in the event of fire.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person and staff should ensure that all corridors are clear and free from obstruction, that storage fire doors remain closed, and that archiving paperwork does not pose a fire risk. (Regulation 25 (1)(a)(b))

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

In particular, progress must be made with improvement plans for the home as specified in the 2018-19 service development plan.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress in areas such as health, education and positive behaviour. Social workers and families all give positive feedback about the quality of care provided.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to generate a positive atmosphere. Children play together and there is a lot of laughter. Staff speak to children respectfully. They demonstrate skill at enabling children to reflect on their behaviours and how these behaviours impact on others.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are in stable educational placements. For some this is their first positive experience of education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has a vibrant activity programme. Children have opportunities to travel and engage in new experiences. Children take part in local activities including karate, cadets, community events and fairs. They also regularly access a range of nearby leisure facilities. Children can express their views and preferences. Staff try hard to accommodate the wishes of all children. When children make requests that are not achievable, staff explain patiently why and suggest alternatives to meet their needs. Inspection report children’s home: SC482299 5 All children and staff have access to therapeutic support. Staff say this supports their practice and enables them to develop their insight into children’s history and behaviour.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff demonstrate a range of ways in which they involve children in consultation. Children contribute to the service development plan, risk management plans and internal monitoring of the home, along with regular community meetings. Staff have reviewed and enhanced the children’s guide with the support of children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is in reasonable condition but has some elements that create an institutionalised feel. The registered manager has plans to address this. She is also taking steps to increase available access to the internet for education, social and leisure time. There is also a new sensory space under development. These are encouraging developments but they are not yet in place.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The upper floors have storage spaces which are currently used for archiving. This is causing some issues such as obstructed fire exit routes and fire doors that cannot be closed properly. This was resolved during the inspection, but would have been prevented if staff had followed the home’s fire safety procedures and carried out checks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All staff share high aspirations for children and provide thoughtful support to help them make positive transitions. As a result of this, many of the children are able to return to their family home or move on to appropriate foster placements. Staff strongly advocate for children to ensure that they move on to suitable placements that promote ongoing stability.

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

Staff have a well-developed understanding of the risks presented by the children in their care. They also demonstrate effective and competent risk management practice. However, there is a failure to use learning from incidents to formulate risk assessments. In one case, a child made several statements about self-harm. This was managed safely at the time, however the child’s risk assessment record was not updated in response to these concerns.

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

The home has a separate annex which can be operated independently of the rest of the building. The whole team raised questions about whether this set-up works well for children. One of the current residents of the annex described feeling isolated from the group. While this is not the intention, it is important for staff to consider the implications of this for children’s sense of self. It is also important for staff to consult with the relevant placing authority, before separating children from their peers in the home. Staff maintain high-quality records of missing episodes, incidents and safeguarding. They demonstrate skill in supporting children to keep themselves safe.

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

Staff do employ physical restraint, but always as a last resort. All members of the team reflect carefully on the use of such interventions. A current risk management review across the organisation aims to reduce the use of physical intervention and to promote Inspection report children’s home: SC482299 6 more creative ways of managing behaviour. Staff use restorative justice techniques to support children to think about the consequences and impact of their behaviours. Staff can identify positive examples where this has generated excellent results.

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

Staff speak confidently about their internal safeguarding policy and procedures. They also demonstrate a clear understanding of where their duty lies within wider external safeguarding structures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Senior staff have very high ambitions for the children in their care and have aspirational plans for their futures. The warm and empathic approach of staff creates a positive experience of care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a good understanding of the individual needs of children and communicates this well to the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported by senior staff and speak highly of them. Morale is high. Staff value the variety of good-quality supervision, but some staff felt that the high levels of informal support sometimes take precedence over regular formal supervision. Staff also talk about their colleagues with respect and affection. They described the ‘open-door’ style of managers and team leaders.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager makes good use of internal monitoring systems in order to develop clear aims and objectives for the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that staff have access to good-quality training and, for the most part, training is refreshed in accordance with agreed timescales. Staff have completed all required mandatory training. All new starters gain access to core mandatory training as part of their induction prior to coming on site.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff, professionals and relatives gave a consistent message: that the home’s registered manager inspires confidence.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Several commented on the home’s focus on strong advocacy for children. The registered manager is recognised as someone who will fight hard for the children in her care. She role-models this to staff who also demonstrate these characteristics.

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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. Inspection report children’s home: SC482299 7 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: SC482299 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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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Rodrigo Ferreira

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Inspector

Peter Jackson, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC482299 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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