Children's Home run by Hillcrest Children‟s Services (2) Limited in Staffordshire

Inspection report children’s home: 1275966 1 Registered provider: Hillcrest Children’s Services (2) Ltd

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home is registered to accommodate up to six young people who have social and/or emotional difficulties. The registered manager left in June 2019. An interim manager was in post in July 2019 but left in November 2019. The current interim manager took up post in late November 2019.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1275966 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/08/2019 Full Inadequate 05/03/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 1275966 3

p.2

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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

p.3

Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

p.3

Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (b)(c)) 09/01/2020

p.3

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.3

Requirement Due date

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;

p.3

Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

p.3

Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)) 09/01/2020

p.3

Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 09/01/2020 Inspection report children’s home: 1275966 4 understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home.

p.3

Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(b)(2)(f)(h)) The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement ("the statement of purpose") which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

p.4

Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1)(3)(a)(b)) 09/01/2020

p.4

Recommendations

 Children must be consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Due consideration should be given to the child’s cognitive ability in the development and implementation of any consultation processes. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11) This is in relation to ensuring that the registered manager consults children before changes take place in the home.  A record of supervision should be kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33 (4)(b). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3) This is in relation to ensuring that

p.4

Recommendations

the registered manager makes sure that all new staff receive regular supervision during their probationary period.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is currently one young person living in the home. Since the last inspection, improvements have been made to the home’s environment. The home is now welcoming and comfortable and has a homely atmosphere. The young person is settled and has developed trusting and positive relationships with the staff. The staff have a better understanding of the young person’s needs and Inspection report children’s home: 1275966 5 manage his vulnerabilities well. Staff support and help the young person to develop his independence skills. This ensures that the young person is well prepared for his next steps of adolescence. Staff promote the young person’s health needs. For instance, staff support the young person to attend all routine medical appointments. The young person has recently made good progress in his education and school attendance. However, there has not been a coordinated response from staff to escalate

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

concerns over a delay in bringing the young person’s educational, health and care plan up to date . As a result, it is unclear what educational support the young person needs. Managers ensure that the young person can maintain important and positive relationships with his family. This has provided positive and memorable experiences for the young person and his family. The young person has regular meetings with staff to discuss his care. However, staff do not always take the opportunity to consult with the young person about the home. For example, staff did not seek his views when they made improvements to the premises. This left the young person feeling his views are not valued.

p.5

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

Managers and staff understand the risks that the young person faces and keep detailed records of how they safeguard him in the home and in the community. Staff do not always pick up on conflicting information in the young person’s risk assessments. This means that staff are not always following the correct advice and guidance to help them to manage the young person’s vulnerabilities. Also, managers do not assess the staff’s practice of using bedroom door alarms against the needs of individual young people. This practice places unnecessary restrictions on young people. The young person benefits from regular key-work sessions, which help him to feel safe. Staff provide valuable learning to help the young person to understand the risks of stranger danger from social media. Since the last inspection, there have been no physical interventions. Staff have developed a better understanding of how to manage young people’s challenging

p.5

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

behaviours. There have been no incidents of the young person going missing from the home. Staff provide a good balance between incentives and rewards in response to the young person’s behaviours. This helps the young person to take age-appropriate responsibility for his actions.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers have acted sufficiently to address shortfalls identified in the previous inspection. However, the management structure has changed again since the monitoring inspection on 23 September 2019, and this change has created some instability for the young person. The manager has only been in post for one week and has not had enough Inspection report children’s home: 1275966 6 time to drive improvement. Staff receive good-quality and regular practice-related supervision. However, this is not always consistent. For example, one new member of staff did not receive regular supervision during their probationary period. As a result, the member of staff did not have the opportunity to have their practice reviewed or discuss their early performance and learning needs. Managers do not always use their monitoring systems well enough to help their oversight of the home. For example, the statement of purpose needs to be brought up

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

to date to reflect changes in the staffing and leadership structures. Managers are occasionally too slow to ensure that fire safety is maintained. For instance, staff had not checked that a self-closing fire door was working correctly.

p.6

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.

p.6

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: 1275966 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hillcrest Children’s Services (2) Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hillcrest Children’s Services (2) Ltd, Turnpike Gate House, Alcester Heath, Alcester, Warwickshire B49 5JG

p.7

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Samantha Millward

p.7

Inspector

Patrick McIntosh, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1275966 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.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8