Hazeldene

Inspection report for residential family centre: Hazeldene 1 Hazeldene Registered provider: Break

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20 Corton Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR32 4PL Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this residential family centre

The centre, which is owned by a registered charity, is registered to provide care and accommodation and residential parenting assessments for up to four families. The centre can provide Parent Assessment Manual (PAMS) assessments. Parenting assessments take 12 weeks.

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Information about this residential family centre

The registered manager is a qualified social worker and has been in post since September 2021.

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Information about this residential family centre

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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Information about this residential family centre

We last visited this setting on 26 February 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and parents, taking into account

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good

How well children and parents are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The residential family centre provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of previous inspection: 8 August 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for residential family centre: Hazeldene 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

At the time of the inspection, there were four families undergoing parenting assessments. Assessments are carried out by the staff team and overseen by an assessment lead. The staff share the weekly outcomes and provide parents with regular review points. Parents are supported and encouraged to read their weekly reports and fully understand the assessment process.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

The staff use referral information to create a family placement plan. This includes court instructions or objectives from the local authority, depending on the child’s legal status. However, the manager has not obtained a letter of instruction from the court for two of the families. Without a letter of instruction, the placement plans may not capture the specific court instructions. This could lead to unclear aims and objectives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

The large, detached house provides good-sized family bedrooms. The seafront proximity provides parents with nice walks and pleasant surroundings. The house and garden are extremely well kept. New carpets and an exceptional standard of housekeeping make this a comfortable and pleasant space for babies and toddlers to develop and play. Individual kitchens and two communal living rooms provide ample space for families to cook and relax.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

The staff team works hard to reduce the risks of COVID-19. Any positive cases have been managed well. Families are able to maintain a low profile and socially distance. Stringent and established hygiene procedures have left families feeling confident and protected from the pandemic. This is reassuring for families with new-born babies who are sharing communal spaces.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Surveillance is minimal and kept to small audiovisual devices placed on children’s cots. The size and layout of the property supports unobtrusive surveillance that balances parents’ privacy and dignity with children’s safety.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

The staff provide a number of support sessions each week. These include mindfulness sessions. The staff also provide a varied range of sessions that are tailored to parents’ learning needs and encourage self-care.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

The staff focus on children’s safety and welfare throughout the assessment process. The staff team regularly raises any concerns with parents in regard to daily observations. The staff raise concerns quickly and transparently. This ensures that parents are made aware of anything that places children at risk or could potentially influence the outcome of the assessment. This transparent approach gives parents the chance to understand safeguarding concerns and improve their parenting capacity. Inspection report for residential family centre: Hazeldene 3 The manager assesses each new family’s vulnerabilities and associated risks by obtaining a wide range of information prior to the family’s arrival. The management team uses this information to assess any known risks and ensure that families are compatible and safe to live communally.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

The manager’s investigations into allegations and concerns about staff practice have improved. These include referrals made in good time, a review of the allegation and the outcome of any investigation. The investigations link to actions, training and support for the staff. This supports practice in which staff are encouraged to reflect and learn. This provides families with staff who are good role models.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

The nature of the assessment process can cause parents to feel anxious. This is not always helped by some of the staff interactions. The staff obtain a wide range of information about families during the referral process. This information could be used to provide a better guide for staff in influencing their responses and understanding of each parent’s communication needs.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

The fire drills are minimally recorded and fail to reflect the detailed fire evacuation procedure displayed in the office. The fire drill records do not differentiate between families and staff. Additionally, there is no evaluation of evacuation times. For families coming down from the second floor, this fails to identify any potential evacuation issues.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The new manager is a qualified social worker and is experienced and measured in overseeing parenting assessments. She has been promoted from her previous role of deputy manager. The internal promotion has enabled a seamless management change.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has introduced a number of new initiatives. She demonstrates a realistic understanding of the areas that need to improve. The pandemic has brought challenges, with several of the staff being off with COVID-19. The staff have worked hard to increase in-house groups and activities at a time when a number of community resources have been unavailable. Combined with COVID-19-related staff absences, this has left some staff working extra hours and some management tasks overdue.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Most staff are positive about the management support. However, the manager has failed to provide all the staff with regular supervision meetings. This means that some staff do not have enough opportunity for managerial guidance and reflection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent monitoring is variable. Several visits have been conducted remotely due to the pandemic. The external feedback gathered by the independent person is minimal. Recently, the independent person’s reports have been more detailed and include professional feedback; however, these are the minority. The last two reports have not been sent to Ofsted or the manager within the required timescales. Inspection report for residential family centre: Hazeldene 4 Therefore, any actions from the visit may be delayed. The manager has started the internal management report on the quality of care. The report is unfinished and the submission to Ofsted is overdue. These delays reduce Ofsted’s oversight and therefore reduce the extra safeguard intended by the reports.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff meet regularly and discuss the ongoing parenting assessments, their approaches as a team and what is working well. Daily handovers are extremely comprehensive, with a focus on safeguarding children and providing parents with consistent feedback.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The training opportunities offered by the organisation do not reflect the aims of the service and are not all suitable for the staff’s roles. This fails to ensure that staff have the relevant and up-to-date training that would enhance their existing skills and benefit their practice. Inspection report for residential family centre: Hazeldene 5

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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, Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall establish and maintain a system for—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided at the residential family centre.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall supply to the Chief Inspector a report in respect of any review conducted by him for the purposes of paragraph (1), and make a copy of the report available to residents. (Regulation 23 (1)(a)(b) (2)) 29 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider shall supply a copy of the report required to be made under paragraph (4)(c) to—

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Requirement Due date

the registered manager. (Regulation 25 (5)(a)(b)) 29 April 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when parents are being supported to develop parenting skills, they are enabled to build and sustain constructive relationships with staff so that, when possible, they are able to resolve conflicts themselves in a positive manner. In particular, ensure that staff take account of the detailed placement information and use this to inform their responses. (Residential family centre NMS 4.3)  The registered person should ensure that the placement plan incorporates the requirements of any referring agency and, when applicable, the court. Ensure that when required, a letter of instruction from court is used to inform family placement planning. (Residential family centre NMS 9.3) Inspection report for residential family centre: Hazeldene 6  The registered person should ensure that all staff, parents and children are familiar with the emergency escape plan and have practised so that they know

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Recommendations

what to do in an emergency. (Residential family centre NMS 11.6)  The registered person should ensure that there are good-quality training opportunities to enhance individual skills and to keep staff up to date with professional and legal developments. (Residential family centre NMS 16.2)  The registered person should ensure that all staff are provided with regular supervision by appropriately qualified and experienced staff. (Residential family centre NMS 17.4)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and parents 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 Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for residential family centre: Hazeldene 7

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider address: Schofield House, 1 Spar Road, Norwich, Norfolk NR6 6BX

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Residential family centre details

Responsible individual: Joanne Russell-Wells

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Residential family centre details

Email address: joanne.russell-wells@break-charity.org

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Inspector

Deirdra Keating, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for residential family centre: Hazeldene 8 to 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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