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

Inspection report for children's home: SC398480 1 SC398480 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 children’s home is owned by a private company. This company operates a number of children’s homes across the country. The home provides short- and long- term care for children who have faced adverse childhood experiences.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 29 November 2022. She is working towards her level 5 equivalent qualification in leadership and management in health and care services.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC398480 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/06/2021 Full Good 29/10/2019 Full Good 16/04/2018 Full Good 30/11/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: SC398480 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Five children lived in this home at the time of this inspection. Care and attention are taken to ensure that the home has a family feel. The children’s bedrooms are personalised to their tastes. Communal areas have photos showing the children having fun, and the home is being developed in line with children’s interests and personalities. Children say they like living in the home. They describe a relaxed and fun atmosphere. Children are very settled and enjoy a stable home life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported well by staff when they move in or out of the home. The manager works proactively and creatively to ensure that these transitions meet the needs of children. Children are supported to build strong and positive relationships with staff. This provides a foundation to support children to make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children’s education. Three children are successfully attending school, and two children complete educational activities at home. One child finds it difficult to engage consistently in educational work at home, and the child’s overall well- being is well considered when balanced with their education plans. The manager is taking steps to ensure that all children are engaged in education as a priority.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s health and well-being. All children are registered with health providers and attend appointments. A joined-up approach between the therapist and staff enables them to deliver care that is underpinned by the home’s therapeutic ethos. The therapist works closely with staff to help them understand children’s complex backgrounds and needs. This approach helps staff to provide an individualised response to children and help them make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy spending time with their friends, and families and staff are proactive in helping children to sustain relationships with the people that are most important to them. One parent said, ‘I can’t fault the home. She couldn’t be in a better place. She is flourishing. It’s the place she needed to be.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of social and community-based activities. This has included trips to fun parks, being members of football clubs and enjoying extracurricular activities in line with their interests. The registered manager and staff understand the importance of giving children valuable and memorable experiences. Last summer, staff took two of the children to a theme park in Paris. Other children enjoyed activities such as camping. Such activities and experiences help to boost children’s confidence and self-esteem while having fun and building positive memories. Inspection report for children's home: SC398480 4

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

Children have trusted relationships with the manager and staff. Staff manage children’s behaviour using positive reinforcement to promote positive behaviour. In times of distress, children can rely on staff to support them with empathy, patience and reassurance. Children know they are not alone at their most vulnerable moments. This has helped children to feel safe and protected from harm.

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

Children and staff know how to report concerns. Concerns and allegations are taken seriously, and immediate action is taken to address them and safeguard children and staff. When the local authority designated officer advises that internal investigations are to be undertaken, these are thorough and detailed. Follow-up actions demonstrate that the manager learns from the incidents and implements various measures to prevent a reoccurrence and improve staff practice.

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

Staff have been proactive about completing direct work with children around risk, including online safety. These sessions give children the knowledge and understanding to help keep themselves safer now and in the future.

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

The number of incidents in the home is low. This is because staff build excellent relationships with children. This has helped children to feel safe to talk about their feelings. When incidents do arise, staff generally manage them well, and physical intervention is rarely used. However, on one occasion, two children at risk of self- harm were left unsupervised overnight when they used furniture to barricade themselves into a bedroom. Although no harm came to the children, staff could have done more to intervene. The manager did not pick this up in her oversight of the incident. This has prevented learning from taking place with the staff team.

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

When children do go missing, staff respond proactively and work collaboratively with safeguarding agencies. They have positive working relationships with children’s families, which helps them locate children quickly. However, on one occasion, there were not enough staff on duty to enable them to look for children when staff became aware of their location. This resulted in children being absent from the home overnight unnecessarily.

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

Overall, children’s risks and behaviours are well understood and managed well by staff. Risk management plans generally support staff to understand and respond to children’s risks. However, after an isolated but significant incident in the home, risk management plans were not sufficiently updated. In addition, not all activities are risk assessed, and decisions are not always made in partnership with children’s social workers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A motivated and aspirational manager leads the home. She has high expectations of staff and wants the best for the children in her care. The registered manager has a clear vision for the home and has created an environment where staff are continually supported to learn and develop. Inspection report for children's home: SC398480 5 The manager is a good advocate for children, and this has been echoed by a number of professionals and parents. Children say that they feel listened to. When they do make complaints, children receive a personalised and timely response.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A stable staff team provides children with continuity of care, consistency and stability in their lives. Staff enjoy working at the home and communicate a high level of job satisfaction. Changes to the staff team are managed carefully, and staff work overtime to cover shifts so that agency staff are not used. This is because they know consistency is important for children. This helps children to feel safe and secure.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has ensured that processes are in place to monitor the progress made by children. She creatively ensures that children are involved and have opportunities to reflect on the progress they make. Children’s achievements and successes are shared with families and social workers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and staff receive regular training and effective supervision. Supervision sessions are also supplemented with upskilling meetings and debriefs. These focus on identifying good practice and how staff make use of models of practice to improve the care given to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Overall, feedback from external stakeholders was very positive. One independent reviewing officer said, ‘They [the staff] were curious, professional, proficient and positively challenging.’ A teacher said, ‘Things have been dealt with extremely quickly to help find a resolution for all parties.’ In contrast, feedback from one child’s school and social worker highlighted issues with regards to information-sharing, communication and effective responses. The manager plans to explore this further to ensure effective working relationships with all external stakeholders.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff do not always complete records to a good quality. At the time of the inspection, the manager had identified this and was already working with staff to improve the quality of their recording. A recommendation is made to ensure that this work continues.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers failed to notify Ofsted of all significant incidents involving children. Although there was no negative impact on the children, this prevents the regulator from having initial oversight of what action staff take to keep children safe. Inspection report for children's home: SC398480 6

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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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that up-to-date risk assessments are in place and that staff understand the action they need to take to safeguard children when they are at risk of harm. 13 April 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home that the registered person considers to be serious (40 (4)(e)). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10) Inspection report for children's home: SC398480 7

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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 for children's home: SC398480 8

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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: Bryn Melyn Care Limited, Atria, Spa Road, Bolton, Greater Manchester BL1 4AG

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Inspector

Natasha Skinner, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC398480 9 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 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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