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

Inspection report children’s home: SC437128 1 SC437128 Registered provider: Hillcrest Children’s Services (2) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to three children whose adverse childhood experiences and trauma can lead to them exhibiting complex behaviours. A large national provider operates this home. This home currently has two registered managers as one manager has been on maternity leave and has recently returned to the home. She holds a level 4 qualification in leadership and management and was registered with Ofsted in December 2014. The second manager is undertaking her level 5 qualification in leadership and management and was registered with Ofsted in November 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: 27 February 2019

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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: SC437128 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/02/2019 Full Outstanding 13/11/2017 Full Outstanding 18/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 11/07/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC437128 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(h)) 28/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. (Regulation 23 (1)) 28/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children and the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(d)) 28/02/2020

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress in all areas of their lives as a result of the bespoke care that they receive from highly skilled, knowledgeable and passionate staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy and content in their home. They benefit from spontaneous, affectionate care from staff who genuinely care about them. Children enjoy spending quality time with members of staff. They benefit from an activity programme that reflects their individual interests and encourages them to lead an active and healthy life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff are creative and hold regular celebration nights. Such occasions celebrate diversity and provide children with positive and happy memories. Staff create beautiful memory books for children. These books are filled with photographs of their time in the home, providing children with a valuable record of their childhood. Inspection report children’s home: SC437128 4 Care provided to children is flexible and centres around each child’s identified needs. Staff deliver bespoke care packages and successfully support children’s emotional development by delivering care based on a secure attachment model. Daily routines are led by children’s needs for support at certain times of the day (such as when they return from school and bedtime). Consequently, children realise that they are the focus of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children attend education. When children require additional assistance, managers ensure that this is made available. This extra support means that children are given every opportunity to learn and achieve their individual potential. A headteacher told the inspector, ‘I truly believe that [name of child] has a very bright future ahead of him and this is attributable to the joined-up work from the home, the school and the clinical team.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children’s health needs are fully understood and met. In recent months, one child has been able to reduce the medication he takes. This is due to the significant progress that he has made in being able to manage his emotions and learn to better self-regulate. Another child has lost almost two stone in weight through support from staff to improve her self-esteem, eat healthy meals and exercise. As a result, she feels more confident and her social skills are also improving.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are central to the running of the home. Staff consult children in all aspects of their care and support them to take increasing control of the decisions that affect them. One child said, ‘We are asked about home improvements and we make suggestions. I asked for a trampoline and now we have a new one.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff enable children to become more independent. This support enables children to flourish and supports the achievement of their future aspirations. However, bedroom door alarms have been used for one child who is very settled in the home and where there are no identified associated risks. It is unclear why door alarms are in use or how they are helping him to develop his independence. Managers are making arrangements to ensure that the alarm is removed from his bedroom door.

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

Children are kept safe because of the excellent practice and understanding of staff. Staff understand that when children display challenging behaviours, these are symptomatic of children’s frustrations, anxieties and previous experiences.

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

Staff are encouraged to reflect on children’s behaviour, with support from the therapeutic team. As a result, staff are skilled in looking beyond the immediate situation to identify specific risk factors and antecedents that may result in children harming themselves or others. This approach helps staff to devise highly effective behaviour management plans. These highlight children’s individual risks and provide staff with detailed strategies for managing them. Consequently, staff manage risk exceptionally well. They offer children the right support at the right time and in the right way. This promotes children’s safety Inspection report children’s home: SC437128 5 and protects them from harm.

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

Children very rarely go missing. Staff have excellent relationships with local police services, the placing authority and other professionals. This helps them to identify any potential risks for children and to minimise them.

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

Despite facing significant challenges, children’s self-belief and confidence improve significantly. Consequently, they make excellent progress socially and emotionally. Staff provide children with structure and routine, and staff strike a good balance between enforcing boundaries and rewarding positive behaviour. This child-focused practice has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of incidents that occur.

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

Managers oversee the recruitment of new members of staff. They ensure that only people who are safe to work with children are employed to work in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, a new manager was appointed and registered with Ofsted. She has provided cover while the other registered manager has been away from the home for a period of time. At the point of this inspection, two registered managers are in post.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers maintain an admirable overview of children’s behaviours and risks. They continually consider these against their individual progress and achievements and the wider objectives of the children’s placing authorities. Managers place considerable emphasis on the importance of listening to children and take their views and opinions seriously. They use children’s comments to review and appraise the quality of care that children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

In the vast majority of circumstances, managers make good and effective use of a range of systems to maintain their oversight of the home. On one specific occasion, they failed to identify a medication error. This error was identified by the independent visitor to the home. Although this error is a rare occurrence in this home, it resulted in one child receiving the wrong dose of medication. Managers have since undertaken additional supervision with all staff as well as implementing new checks to prevent further errors.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team has a comprehensive development plan. This plan considers how to improve children’s experiences and how the service can be developed. There are a number of home improvements planned for the forthcoming months, including a new kitchen and some redecoration. The manager has supported children to apply for funding to improve the home and to purchase things that they consider important. Last year, children were successful in their bid and purchased a summer house. This year, children have again been successful and have been awarded money to build an outdoor kitchen, including a barbecue and a pizza oven.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers challenge other professionals to provide the best support for young people, raising concerns to placing authorities when necessary. This results in improved outcomes for young people. Inspection report children’s home: SC437128 6 Staff are suitably qualified and well trained. This ensures that they have the knowledge, skills and expertise to meet the children’s individual and diverse needs. The staff are enthusiastic about their work and demonstrate an excellent knowledge of each child’s care plan. Staff encourage and support children to be happy, to enjoy new experiences and to make progress in all aspects of their lives. Children are clearly at the heart of this home, and their measurable progress, in all aspects of their lives, is testament to this.

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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: SC437128 7

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Children’s home details

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

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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: Samantha Millward

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Children’s home details

Registered managers: Laura Duckers and Ruth Harvey

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Inspector

Annemarie Parker: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC437128 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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