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

Inspection report children’s home: SC398482 1 SC398482 Registered provider: Hillcrest Children’s Services (2) 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

The home is registered to provide care for up to four children. It is part of a large social care company. The home provides therapeutic care and education for children who may have experienced neglect, abuse or trauma.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager of the home registered with Ofsted in May 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 outstanding

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good

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

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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: SC398482 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/08/2018 Full Good 14/03/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 15/05/2017 Full Good 08/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC398482 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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (a)(b)) 26/06/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)) 24/04/2020

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Recommendations

 Staff should provide a nurturing and supportive environment that is homely. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  Staff should be able to recognise and address bullying in day-to-day relationships in the home. Registered persons must ensure that staff intervene, protect and address bullying behaviours effectively. (See regulation 34(3) on the policy for the prevention of bullying.) (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.16)  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24) Inspection report children’s home: SC398482 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from a high standard of care from staff who meet their needs. The overall experiences of children are positive. They develop trusting relationships with staff, forged through open and honest communication. This is the cornerstone of how they make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of education for children. Children’s attendance at school is good. When accessing education is an issue, or a child refuses to attend, staff prioritise identifying an alternative, such as home tutoring. Staff encourage children to reach their educational potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to see their families and friends regularly. Staff have good relationships with children’s families. Families feel valued and involved in the children’s lives. One child’s father said, ‘The staff are amazing. They bring my son to see me and keep me informed about everything. I don’t think there is anything that they could do better.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to express their views and opinions freely through regular conversations with staff, weekly house meetings and more focused one-to-one meetings. Children’s voices are heard, and they are involved in making decisions about their care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The organisation has introduced a new system for considering children’s suitability before they move into the home. This assessment tool was not effective in evaluating the compatibility of one child with the home and the staff team. Although the child had many positive experiences in the month they lived at the home, their experiences of arriving at and moving out of the home were not positive. The registered manager has evaluated this assessment tool and made improvements to ensure that compatibility assessments are now more comprehensive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is in a rural setting. It has recently been extended to have an additional bedroom and communal area. It is well decorated throughout, and the children can decorate their rooms as they wish. However, there are parts of the original building that look tired. For example, the external fascia boards are worn and there are missing slabs and flaked paint on the garden walls. This detracts from what is otherwise a welcoming and nurturing home.

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

Staff de-escalate unwanted and difficult behaviours quickly and to good effect. Positive incentives and rewards are used significantly more than negative sanctions.

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

There are clear processes for staff to follow if children go missing from the home or leave without permission. Staff are proactive in looking for children and encouraging them to return home. There are good relationships between staff and local police who Inspection report children’s home: SC398482 5 visit the home regularly to speak with children. Children have positive relationships with the police.

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

Children know how to make a complaint if they are unhappy. The manager takes all complaints seriously and responds appropriately after investigating by writing to the complainant. However, an allegation a child made against a member of staff was treated as a complaint. Although it was dealt with effectively, and the safeguarding policy was followed, Ofsted was not notified. Failure to notify Ofsted of allegations against staff makes monitoring of the home difficult.

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

Staff are well trained in safeguarding and are clear about their responsibilities. However, when one child was aggressive towards another it was not treated as bullying. Although this was an isolated incident, failure to identify such behaviour as bullying can leave children feeling vulnerable.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since May 2018. She is well established in her role. The manager has the support of a deputy manager. Both lead by example, are inspirational, confident and ambitious, and have the skills and experience to run the home effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager values the benefits of therapeutic approaches and research in optimising children’s experiences and progress. The whole staff group has high ambitions for the home and high aspirations for the children who live there.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers have high expectations of the staff. Staff are positive and value the support and leadership that they receive from the home’s management. Staff and managers put children at the forefront of everything that they do, and want the best for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff team is stable. All staff who should be, are qualified to the necessary level 3 qualification or above. Staff benefit from a broad range of training to support them in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff value and appreciate the formal supervisions that they receive from managers. High-quality supervision helps to ensure that staff practice remains at an excellent level and that training and development needs are identified and met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers consistently look for ways to improve practice and to improve outcomes for children. They engage in effective review, monitoring and evaluation of the home, both internally and with other professionals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers and staff have positive dealings with other agencies that ensure the best possible care and experiences for children. These highly effective relationships include challenge and questioning. Managers escalate any issues quickly if they feel that children’s needs are not being met. Staff make good use of the knowledge and expertise Inspection report children’s home: SC398482 6 of external professionals who work with the children. Feedback from external professionals was overwhelmingly positive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

An independent visitor visits the home every month and produces a report. Recent reports have not stated whether children are being safeguarded effectively and that their well-being is being promoted. The reports rarely contain the opinions of families and do not report on all areas of safeguarding, such as bullying. This makes monitoring the home by Ofsted more difficult.

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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: SC398482 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hillcrest Children’s Services (2) 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: Samantha Millward

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Inspector

Ricky D’Arcy, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC398482 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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