Children's Home run by Hillcrest Children's Services (2) Limited in Telford and Wrekin

Inspection report children’s home: SC398386 1 SC398386 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 four children whose adverse childhood experiences and trauma can lead to complex behaviours. A large national provider operates the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since March 2016. She holds a leadership and management qualification at level 5.

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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: 22 September 2021

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: SC398386 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/09/2021 Full Good 07/01/2020 Full Outstanding 13/11/2018 Full Outstanding 14/08/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC398386 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, four children were living at the home. Since the last inspection, one child has moved out of the home in a planned way. They were prepared and supported by staff to move to another home within the company. This child went on to make a positive transition to live with family members in accordance with their care plan. Another child has moved into the home. This move was planned and managed well. As a result, the child has had a positive experience that allowed the child to feel safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The physical environment of the home is welcoming, comfortable and nurturing. Children take pride in their bedrooms and are encouraged to personalise them with different themes to suit their wishes and interests. Children’s photos and achievements are proudly displayed throughout the home, which creates a homely atmosphere. Some minor improvements are needed. For example, a child’s shower unit requires maintenance work and the bathroom does not have window blinds for privacy. The registered manager has a plan to address these issues.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children well to maintain important and positive relationships with family members. They communicate with social workers to review the arrangements for children to spend time with their families. For example, staff support travel arrangements to ensure that children see family members who live a considerable distance away. Staff show a good understanding of the importance of children spending meaningful time with their families. As a result, children benefit from this care and understanding to maintain a sense of belonging and identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most staff have healthy and positive relationships with children and know them well. These members of staff have a good understanding of the children’s complex behaviours and vulnerabilities and respond to their needs. Staff show patience and resilience, which helps children to begin to develop trusting relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work closely alongside the in-house therapist to provide children with specialist and well-informed care. For example, staff receive bespoke training on the therapeutic model, which helps them provide good care to meet children’s emotional needs. This approach is embedded in staff practice, and strategies used help children to make progress. As a result, children are better able to manage their emotions and reflect on their behaviours and choices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are consistently met to a good standard. Staff ensure that children’s health needs are monitored, and individual health assessments are in place. Recommendations from health plans are acted on. Children attend regular appointments with the dentist, general practitioner, optician and specialist services. As a result, children’s health needs are consistently promoted. Inspection report children’s home: SC398386 4 Most children have very good school attendance and are doing well at school. Staff have realistic and high expectations for children making progress in their learning and education. They support children by attending statutory meetings and keeping in close communication with teachers. If children struggle to engage with learning, staff take appropriate action to help them overcome barriers to learning and support children who are not in full-time education. As a result, children continue to make

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff create an environment that is child centred, where humour and laughter are common. Children enjoy a range of social and leisure activities, including going on holiday, swimming, football, cheerleading and gymnastics. Also, staff support children to develop their social skills and networks. For example, two children play for their local football teams and another child is a member of a cheerleading team. These activities provide children with the opportunity to develop friendships, build confidence, social awareness and expand their life opportunities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are good and creative at capturing children’s experiences, wishes and feelings. For example, when children have not attended statutory meetings, staff have supported them to communicate their wishes and feelings through video presentations. This enables children’s voices to be heard and considered by professionals when decisions are made about their care plans. In addition, staff use their imagination to create meaningful and personalised memory books for each child. This promotes children’s self-worth and shows them how much staff care about them.

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

The registered manager and staff have continued to ensure that they assess risk and impact when new children move into the home. Staff ensure that all known risks are identified, and they consider the impact of the risks in relation to the location of the home. When matching, the registered manager considers the impact of children on one another. This level of scrutiny has resulted in a positive experience for children who have moved into the home.

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

Staff now show more professional curiosity and vigilance to keep children safe. For example, staff ensure that they carry out routine checks to monitor children’s electronic devices when there is a potential risk of exploitation. This practice reduces the potential risk of vulnerable children being harmed.

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

Risk to children reduces over time, which is helped by the approach and care they receive from staff. Children rarely go missing from home. When they do, staff respond quickly to the associated risk and know how to follow children’s missing- from-care protocols. They escalate concerns by working in partnership with the local authority, local services and the police to ensure that children return home as soon as possible.

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

Children raise concerns or make complaints with the registered manager and staff without fear of any adverse consequences. For example, one child complained about Inspection report children’s home: SC398386 5 the impact another child’s behaviour was having on their experience in the home. Another child complained about a staff member. On both occasions, the registered manager was responsive and thorough throughout the complaints process and provided feedback to the children. As a result, children felt listened to and saw that appropriate action was taken.

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

Overall, physical intervention is managed well. Staff are skilled in supporting children with their behaviours and know how to de-escalate any behaviour which may become challenging. The registered manager reviews all physical interventions, using records that contain all the relevant information. Restraints are used proportionately when there is a risk or serious concern for children or staff. However, due to senior management changing the way that staff deliver physical intervention techniques, the use of restraints has occasionally become ineffective for one child. For example, during incidents, staff have lost their balance and fallen to the floor with the child. Both the registered manager and responsible individual have been proactive in escalating their concerns with senior management.

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

Staff ensure that individualised risk assessments are detailed and include guidance about how to manage and reduce children’s risks. However, staff do not always ensure that risk assessments accurately reflect the correct information. For example, one child’s risk assessment has not been updated in relation to electronic monitoring and surveillance. This has the potential to leave staff without the relevant information about children in their care.

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

Overall, staff continue to do good work in helping children to understand their behaviour and how this may impact on others and to learn better coping strategies. However, there are examples where staff have not always been consistent in their approach to address poor behaviour of children towards others. In addition, follow- up work is not consistent to help children to develop their understanding of important issues.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has positive relationships with children and staff. Through her enthusiasm and innovation, she has had a positive impact on the lives of children and staff. Staff feel emboldened by this ethos, and children show appropriate physical affection because of the home’s family-oriented culture . Staff told the inspector that the manager’s support is ‘immeasurable’. Staff look forward and are excited to come to work. The registered manager listens to staff and encourages them in their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff show a genuine passion about children in their care. They have individually and collectively participated in ongoing reflective discussions and conversations about their practice and the progress of children. They have regular clinical team meetings to develop an in-depth understanding of the different practice approaches to improve the quality of care children receive. Inspection report children’s home: SC398386 6 The registered manager has worked hard to ensure that staff engage with specific training to support children effectively. This has recently included training to improve staff’s understanding of ligature awareness and de-escalation techniques. This provides staff with additional knowledge and skills in how to keep children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager rigorously challenges other professionals to ensure that children receive the support that they need. For example, the registered manager met with professionals and advocated on behalf of a child regarding an educational assessment. She has been influential in the child receiving a targeted service. This tenacious and child-centred approach makes children feel valued.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager uses a range of internal audits to monitor and track children’s progress. These help to identify strengths and areas for development. The registered manager closely scrutinises patterns of behaviour and evaluates these to improve the quality of care that children receive. These consistent monitoring systems mean that the quality of children’s care is improving.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Partnership working is good. The registered manager recognises the importance of maintaining strong relationships with partner agencies. She attends regular meetings with in-house therapists, teachers and social workers to closely scrutinise children’s progress. Also, she uses this learning to continually evolve children’s care and generate creative ideas. Feedback from professionals is highly complimentary. An independent reviewing officer told the inspector that staff are attentive to children’s needs, positive in their parenting, and they provide children with the most secure and stable environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from an environment that encourages learning and development. Most discussions in supervision sessions and staff meetings strike a healthy balance between effective challenge and support. Although staff receive regular supervision to help them understand their roles and responsibilities and to develop their practice to safeguard children, this is not always consistent. For example, not all supervision sessions are practice related and reflective. This means that staff’s progress and professional development are not always monitored effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager uses the independent person to audit various aspects of children’s care. For example, auditors regularly carry out unannounced visits to the home to assess the presentation of the environment. However, there are occasions when these audits do not contain the feedback from children. This means that the independent person assessment is not as rigorous as it should be.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Not all staff have achieved the level 3 qualification in caring for children within the required time frame. For example, two members of staff are yet to achieve this qualification, despite working in residential childcare for some time. The registered manager has a plan to address this shortfall. Inspection report children’s home: SC398386 7

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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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(v))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that staff support children to explore their emotions and build positive relationships. 30 December

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma. 30 December Inspection report children’s home: SC398386 8 The relevant date is—

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager ensuring that all staff have completed the relevant qualification in residential childcare within the required time frame.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that all staff receive reflective supervision. 30 December2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them, (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that the independent person makes a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)  The registered person should ensure that the behaviour management strategy is kept under review and revised where appropriate. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.34) Inspection report children’s home: SC398386 9

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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: SC398386 10

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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: Atria, Spa Road, Bolton BL1 4AG

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Inspector

Patrick McIntosh, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC398386 11 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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