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

Inspection report children’s home: SC480854 1 SC480854 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 home is owned and managed by a private provider. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to six children or young people.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered at the home since May 2019.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 10 to 12 December 2019

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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: 4 September 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC480854 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/09/2018 Full Outstanding 30/08/2017 Full Outstanding 15/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 24/01/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC480854 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, the 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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(2)(a)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that young people are encouraged to express their wishes and feelings openly with all staff and that they are recorded and acted upon. 20/03/2020

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Recommendations

 The policy should address general principles for behaviour management in children’s homes which include: treating each child with understanding, dignity, kindness and respect; building, protecting and preserving positive relationships between each child and the adults caring for them; understanding each child’s behaviour to allow their needs, aspirations, experiences and strengths to be recognised and their quality of life to be enhanced; involving children and relevant others wherever practical in behaviour management; supporting each child to balance safety from injury (harm) with making appropriate choices; making sure the child’s rights are upheld. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.35)  Expectations of standards of behaviour should be high for all staff and children in the home. These standards should be clear and unambiguous. Children should

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Recommendations

be supported to develop understanding and empathy towards each other. Positive behaviour and relationships should be reinforced, praised and Inspection report children’s home: SC480854 4 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)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people make progress in all areas of their lives because they experience a high level of individualised care and support which enables young people to feel safe, secure and achieve stability leading to improved outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two of the young people have lived at the home for over two years and they have made progress in that time. They are now able to make better decisions, become safer and are more resilient. One young person is preparing to transition to supported living in the near future, knowing they will continue to access support from key staff at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the young people to build and keep positive relationships with them, and with professionals and the young people’s families. The staff help the young people to develop a sense of belonging in the home by providing a caring, nurturing and homely environment which enables the young people to thrive and make positive progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and the staff place a high value on education. The staff work in partnership with schools, colleges, the virtual schools and other professionals to put in place education plans which enable young people to access education and begin to improve their attendance and improve their attainment. One young person, who had not been in education for two years, was due to start at his new school. He received focused key work and developed an incentive plan. The staff held meetings and visits to the school to ensure that he would be effectively supported. A key person was identified at the school to provide support during a phased admission.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have planned transitions into the home after the manager completes robust impact assessments to ensure that the matching is in the best interests of all the young people. Difficult decisions are made to safeguard the young people to achieve the right placement for them. When necessary, young people are supported to move on due to their needs not being met in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and the staff ensure that young people have memorable opportunities, such as going on holidays, attending school proms and support to pursue their hobbies and interests. All of these enable them to develop positive friends and relationships within the wider community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have access to direct work which enables them to understand risks and Inspection report children’s home: SC480854 5 develop strategies to help them manage their emotions. The young people also develop a positive sense of themselves by building their confidence and beginning to achieve success as the staff focus on positive praise, which encourages the young people to achieve in all their environments.

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

The young people said they feel safe, listened to and able to access support from the manager, staff, and independent advocacy. When they require this support, they are helped to access it. The manager and staff work effectively in partnership with professionals and other agencies to manage risk and develop individual behaviour management plans to safeguard the young people.

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

Missing-from-home incidents have reduced. The number of physical interventions has significantly reduced as a result of embedding a model of restorative practice. This practice is enabling the young people to develop coping strategies and begin to manage their emotional and behavioural needs.

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

Staff access training to help them understand and manage the issues that affect the young people in their care, and when the young people’s needs evolve, specialist training is put in place to support the staff in safeguarding the young people. This enables the young people to develop a sense of security.

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

Young people are safeguarded by the staff, who have a good understanding of risks. This view was supported by other professionals. The staff go over and above, and work in partnership, to ensure that robust risk assessments are in place to safeguard the young people.

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

The staff team has a good understanding of risky behaviours and can respond effectively to support the young people. The staff have a good understanding of the triggers and behaviours which could lead to a young person presenting with risk-taking behaviours. They communicate effectively with partner agencies, families and professionals and provide clear and concise information to help support planning and safeguarding.

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

The manager works in partnership with the police and other agencies and continually reviews the location risk assessment, which was updated following recent incidents when there were concerns about young people in the wider community.

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

There are concerns relating to the management of one young person’s ability to fully self-regulate, as there continue to be incidents of self-harm. On one occasion, the staff were not aware an incident had taken place and were told days later, following the young person disclosing the incident at college.

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

There have been incidents when young people’s behaviours have not been managed, which have led to significant damage in the home, injury to a staff member, and an effect from these behaviours on the other young people in the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC480854 6 There have been concerns in respect of one member of staff’s conduct. Although policy and procedures have been followed, it is worrying that there has been more than one concern in respect of this member of staff which can impact on the consistency of care afforded to the young people.

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

There have been changes in the staff team, since the last inspection, and this has affected the consistency of care for young people. This has led to young people being unable to express themselves positively. The manager has worked to build greater consistency in the staff team, and this has made a positive difference to young people’s behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is aspirational for the young people and is able to challenge professionals and local authorities to ensure that the young people in her care have the support that they need. She has systems in place to track and monitor the young people’s progress and make relevant referrals for specialist support when young people present with additional needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that staff have access to regular monthly supervisions, which take place fortnightly for new staff. There is a comprehensive induction, training and development programme in place to support the staff to develop and meet the evolving needs of the young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has an excellent understanding of the strengths of the home and areas for development. The manager has an action plan to help improve the home environment and develop the service provided to the young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager demonstrates positive leadership. She is ambitious and strives to ensure that the team delivers high standards of individualised care. The manager has developed effective relationships with professionals to ensure that young people’s plans are progressed and that they have positive outcomes now and in the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The young people have an active voice in the running of their home, they have regular meetings where they are consulted about activities, menus and have discussion about focused topics, such as the environment and recycling. This enables them to have a wider understanding of issues in the world and how they can make small changes in their lives to help.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has significantly progressed the use of restorative practice, which is enabling the young people to make better choices about their behaviours and actions, and they are becoming more resilient and able to manage their emotional and behavioural needs. Inspection report children’s home: SC480854 7

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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: SC480854 8

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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: 1 Tustin Court, Port Way, Ashton-On-Ribble, Preston, Lancashire PR2 2YQ

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Inspector(s)

Noel Cooper, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC480854 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(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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