Children's home run by Sheffield City Council in Sheffield

Inspection report for children’s home: SC036026 1 Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The children’s home is owned and run by a private company. It is registered to provide care for one child who may have social, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home offers short- and medium-term care for children, irrespective of gender.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there was one child living at the home. Five children have lived at the home since the last inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered since November 2021.

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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: SC036026 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/05/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC036026 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well furnished and modern. There are photos on the walls in the living room, which provides personalisation for the child. The property feels like a family home. The child’s bedroom is furnished in line with their wishes. The child takes pride in their room and was pleased to show it to visitors.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the child’s background and needs. They know how to communicate with them. The staff and child have created a close and trusting relationship. The child can speak to staff about how they feel, and they also share their views in ‘weekly chats’. The child’s views help to shape the care they receive. The child is happy living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has fun living at the home. They participate in activities, sports and army cadets. They go on holiday and spend time with staff. These activities are recorded in memory books that are well presented and help the child to remember their positive experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s education needs are met. Staff ensure that the child accesses suitable education that is appropriate for their needs and ability. When classroom education has not been suitable, the staff ensure that learning is part of the child’s day-to-day routine. The manager maintains links with the virtual school and education department to ensure that the child receives suitable education. The manager escalates their concerns if there is a delay in the appropriate provision being provided.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide one-to-ones to the child to help them learn and support their well- being. One-to-ones cover a range of subjects such as independence, keeping safe, emotional well-being and health matters. Sessions are recorded, and the child’s voice is captured well. Staff have supported children with complex needs. One-to- one sessions have helped children to discuss and better understand their feelings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s health needs are met. Staff ensure that they attend appointments and that treatment is accessed. The home’s therapist is involved in the assessment of the child’s emotional and mental health needs. They also provide therapy to help the child process and manage their past experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Family time is supported. Staff travel long distances to help the child maintain their family relationships. Families have good relationships with staff and are kept updated about their child. This helps children to maintain their social network, which may support them when they reach adulthood. Inspection report for children’s home: SC036026 4

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

Children are safe living at the home. Staff understand the risks posed to children when they move in and ensure that there are clear risk assessments in place to safeguard them. The risks posed to children have reduced significantly since living at the home. This is attributed to the staff’s care of the children. Good risk planning was undertaken around a child’s self-injurious behaviour and included input from the home’s therapist and outcomes from learning sessions between staff and the therapist. This helped staff to have a greater understanding of why the child hurt themselves and how best to manage it.

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

Staff work hard to keep children safe. They understand the risks of child exploitation. Staff undertake daily searches for children when they are missing from home. This often involves travelling long distances and staying away overnight in other parts of the country. There is good multi-agency working between the staff and professionals when children are missing from home to ensure a joined-up approach. However, there has been one instance of a missing-from-home protocol not being followed. On this occasion, the police were not contacted in line with the protocol.

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

Staff are trained in line with the home’s behaviour management approach to help them prevent and manage challenging behaviour. Physical interventions are only used as a last resort when strategies to de-escalate situations are not effective. The holds are recorded clearly and show proportionality. Debriefs with the child and staff are held within the required timescales. The therapist is also involved and facilitates these debriefs with the child to help them describe and understand the incident. Clear management oversight and evaluation support learning for the manager and staff.

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

Consequences are used effectively to promote positive behaviour. Room searches take place when risks are identified. The child is involved in the process, and their views and reflections are recorded. Good management oversight and evaluation shown in these records enable better learning for all.

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

Risks in the community are well understood by the staff. Good liaison with the police helps staff and the manager to better understand the nature of risk and the people who pose this. Clear plans and risk assessments to safeguard children when they are away from the home help to mitigate these risks. Staff undertake one-to-one work with children to help them understand the risks from people in the community and how to keep themselves safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported. Managers are approachable and understand the staff team’s practice and personal needs. Staff are happy working at the home, which they attribute to the supportive culture. Supervisions are undertaken monthly, and children are discussed as well as personal issues. Actions are set and training is Inspection report for children’s home: SC036026 5 identified. Staff receive appraisals that help them understand their strengths and areas of development. Team meetings are also held monthly. They are well attended, and staff share their views about the children and the functioning of the home. Joint team meetings are also held with sister homes, which enables ideas to be shared on how best to meet children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is clear planning around children’s admission into the home. All the necessary information is obtained, and a clear assessment is made about whether the staff can meet the children’s needs. Moves in and on from the home are planned. This usually involves meeting with the children beforehand and allowing them to visit if possible. Staff maintain contact with the children after they have moved on from the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff misconduct is dealt with promptly by managers. Fact finding meetings are initiated and detailed to help provide a quick outcome. Complaints are also investigated thoroughly and have clear manager oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Safer recruitment practice ensures that staff are suitable to work with children. Staff receive an induction and mandatory training to ensure that they have the right knowledge and skills to work with children. Training around specific issues such as self-injurious behaviour and exploitation helps the staff to develop their knowledge and skills so that they respond to children appropriately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses effective auditing tools to ensure that case files are up to date and actions are completed. The manager’s reviews of care are also detailed and evaluative. This helps the manager to understand the impact of the care provided. However, the manager’s safeguarding notifications have often lacked detail, meaning that an inspector follow-up has been needed to ensure that the child is safe and all necessary actions have been taken. Inspection report for children’s home: SC036026 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person 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

In particular, staff must contact the police in line with the missing-from-home protocol when children are missing from home. 30 March 2024

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Recommendation

 The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. Notifications must include details of the action taken by the home’s staff in response to the event. In particular, the registered person should ensure that safeguarding notifications contain sufficient detail about the incident and actions taken so the severity of the incident is clear. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13)

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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) Inspection report for children’s home: SC036026 7 Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: SC036026 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 1 Tustin Court, Riversway, Preston, Lancashire PR2 2YQ

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Inspectors

Ed McCallum, Social Care Inspector Rachel Walker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC036026 9 regulates and inspects 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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