Children's home run by Hertfordshire County Council in Dacorum

Inspection report for children’s home: SC382138 1 SC382138 Registered provider: Hertfordshire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority home provides care for up to five children. The aim of the home is to make children feel safe and nurtured.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2019.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 12 October 2022

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC382138 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/10/2022 Full Outstanding 15/12/2021 Full Good 06/08/2019 Full Good 21/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC382138 3

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outstanding

Five children were living at the home at the time of this inspection. Two children have moved out and two children have moved in since the last inspection. Children make significant progress from their starting points. They benefit from a high level of care from staff who provide warmth and nurture that support children to excel.

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outstanding

Children have highly valued relationships with staff. Children speak warmly of staff. They recognise that the support that staff give them has helped them in many ways to live happily at this home. Children benefit from these trusted relationships and have developed a sense of belonging. A child said, ‘We are like a big family. We all care for each other no matter what goes on in the house.’

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outstanding

Children’s moves into and out of the home are comprehensively planned by staff to prepare children for changes. When children move out of the home, staff continue to stay in touch with them. Children are invited back to the home for special events. One child remains in regular contact with the home more than two years after they moved on. Children who have moved on feel valued and have an unmistakeable sense of belonging because of the relationships with, and support provided by, the staff when the children lived at the home.

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outstanding

Children receive tenacious support to help them meet their education goals. When children are faced with educational challenges, staff advocate for services to meet their needs. Consequently, children receive bespoke packages of support to enable them to continue to make educational progress. The manager works closely with the head of the virtual school and social workers. A virtual school specialist adviser said:

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outstanding

‘This home is consistently, and continues to be, a wonderful home for our children. The education-focused staff support attendance and engagement. Every child has an education provision and every child is supported to engage and attend.’

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outstanding

Some children’s health and well-being needs are complex. Staff are attuned to children’s vulnerabilities and children receive sensitive and well-coordinated responses from staff at times of distress. Children are helped to understand their health needs. Staff work well with the looked after children’s nursing team to ensure that children receive dedicated advice and guidance. This has helped children to be well informed about their health needs and choices.

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outstanding

Children have a variety of fun and thoughtful experiences both at and outside the home. Children participate in activities they enjoy. They spend regular one-to-one time with staff to focus on building relationships. Children said that they value this special protected time. Children have enjoyed exciting activities, including trips to theme parks, zoo visits and multiple holidays abroad. Children have benefited from these enriching new life experiences. Inspection report for children’s home: SC382138 4 Staff listen to children. They consider children’s views in children’s meetings and make changes to suit children’s wishes. When changes cannot be made, the reasons are clearly communicated to children to help them to understand why their views cannot be supported. This helps children to feel listened to.

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outstanding

Children’s presence is evident throughout the home. There are photos, posters and artwork and murals created by children throughout the home. There are creative symbolic gestures made when children leave the home to help children feel part of and still connected to the home.

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outstanding

Children who live at this home often have complex emotional and behavioural needs. Some children have needed additional mental health support and have needed further support in hospital. Despite the serious nature of incidents that staff are dealing with, the support that they provide to children at times of high risk is exceptional.

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outstanding

Staff have an excellent understanding of children’s needs. Staff are innovative, curious and vigilant in their responses to children when they go missing from the home or have additional vulnerabilities when out in their local community. Staff are proactive and consistent in their responses to children. Over time, this is helping children to be safer and to settle at the home. Children who have lived at the home for longer periods of time are less likely to go missing from the home and are less likely to be vulnerable in their community.

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outstanding

Staff are helping children to understand their behaviours. Staff talk to children about difficult situations in sensitive and caring ways. Children said that staff have helped them to get the right support at the right time. Children have seen the value in staff advocating for their mental health needs. A child said how grateful they are for their relationships with staff. They said, ‘Staff have been there to support me through all of it.’

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outstanding

Some children have experienced a lot of distress and have needed to be restrained to keep themselves safe. Staff intervene only when it is necessary, and the interventions are proportionate. There is effective oversight of these events from leaders and managers. Staff always help children to understand what happened after they have been held.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

A well-established registered manager and deputy manage the home. Both the manager and deputy have a relevant level 5 qualification. Both champion children’s best interests and have high aspirations for all the children who live at the home. The managers lead by example and provide clear and consistent oversight for the staff. This helps staff to aspire to achieve the best outcomes for children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC382138 5 Social workers, nurses and mental health professionals all spoke highly of the management and staff team. A social worker said, ‘They go above and beyond for the children at the home. I have nothing bad to say about them. The managers are exceptional, the staff are brilliant.’ A mental health professional said, ‘I think my experience of the home has been the most positive of any residential placement that I have ever worked with. It has been a privilege to work with them.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager confidently challenges other professionals and he consistently advocates for the best interests of children. This helps children to receive the right support at the right time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The model of care used by the manager is clearly embedded in the work of the staff team. The application of the model is evident through the dedication and commitment that staff show to children at times of extreme distress. Staff explained examples to demonstrate the effectiveness of the model of care and how it helps children to make progress and to become safer living at the home. The manager is continually striving for therapeutic practice in all the ways in which staff communicate with children. A professional said, ‘The staff are excellent at looking at young people through a trauma lens. They are approachable and knowledgeable about the children.’ The support that staff provide to children is exceptional.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff receive regular and effective supervision. Supervision records are detailed and the manager ensures that additional supervisions take place after difficult incidents. Alongside supervision sessions, staff have monthly discussions with an external therapeutic professional. Staff said that they find these sessions extremely helpful and informative. This helps to ensure that children receive excellent care from staff who fully understand their changing needs. In addition, these therapeutic discussions are used by staff to regularly inform children’s care plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

All staff are up to date with the organisation’s mandatory training and all staff have received additional training around the home’s model of care. New staff are supported to learn through a bespoke training package over a period of six months. This gives staff a wide range of experience and skills at the beginning of their time working with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff team has remained consistent since the last inspection. Staff feel valued by the manager. Minimal changes to the staff team provide children with continuity of care. As a result, children have excellent relationships with staff. Inspection report for children’s home: SC382138 6

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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: SC382138 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hertfordshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Farnham House, Six Hills Way, Stevenage SG1 2ST

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Inspector

Rebecca Hannell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC382138 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 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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