Children's home run by Hygge Care Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2503076 1 Registered provider: Hygge Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. It provides care for up to three children who have experienced childhood trauma, with a view to them moving on to a foster home. At the time of this inspection, three children were living in the home. All children were spoken with during the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

A suitably qualified and experienced manager is in post.

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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: 2503076 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/10/2023 Full Good 06/06/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 26/01/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 25/02/2020 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 2503076 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a welcoming place for children to spend time in and has a family atmosphere. Children’s belongings fill the home, and their photos and achievements are on display. Books and games are easily accessible, helping to create a nurturing environment. Children personalise their bedrooms, which reflect their interests and tastes. This allows children to take a sense of pride in their home and promotes their well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive high-quality care that makes them feel valued and secure. Staff have a therapeutic and nurturing approach towards children. Other professionals are extremely positive about the care the children receive. A professional from the children’s school said, ‘I feel privileged to have seen the children grow because of the stable base the home provides.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and the clinical team discuss children’s progress in regular meetings. They jointly track children’s progress in key areas such as education, social skills and relationships with peers. Clinicians support staff with strategies to manage children’s emotions and complex behaviours. This joined-up approach is extremely effective and highlights the positive progress children make from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make significant progress from their starting points. For example, a child who was not attending school is now attending full time with 100% attendance. When children’s needs are not being met, the manager advocates for children, and appropriately challenges professionals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s moves in and out of the home are centred around the child. They can meet staff, go on day trips with them and visit before they move in. One child has moved into the home since the last inspection. They were involved in the planning at each stage of their move. This helped the child to settle in and form trusting relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved out in a planned way. The child continues to stay in touch. They have attended celebrations such as another child’s birthday party and a recent Halloween party. This ensures that they continue to feel loved and supported and shows them they have adults in their life who care about them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children participate in a variety of activities that improve their self-esteem and confidence. For example, they enjoy bike rides, trips to the park, trampolining and attending Guides. Participating in hobbies and interests builds positive memories for children and adds to their life stories. Inspection report for children’s home: 2503076 4

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

Children feel safe and can identify adults they trust and would talk to if they were worried or upset. Children know how to make a complaint, but due to the number of ways in which they can shape the care they receive, they rarely do. Since the previous inspection, only one child has made a complaint, about another child in the home. The complaint was taken seriously, and work was completed with both children to improve their relationship.

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

Children feel safe and listened to. Therefore, they rarely go missing from the home. Since the last inspection, there has only been one occasion of a child going missing. Staff followed the child’s safety plan and worked in partnership with safeguarding authorities to keep the child safe. Following the incident, staff worked with the child to understand what had happened, and to help them make safer choices in the future.

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

Staff physically intervene when children show behaviours that place themselves or others at risk of harm. Staff understand why children behave that way and provide good support to children afterwards. This helps children to move on from the incident. Managers scrutinise these incidents to ensure that the use of physical intervention is fair and proportionate, and that children’s behaviours are fully understood. Learning from the use of physical intervention is recorded in an action plan, and this has resulted in a clear reduction in the number of times a child has had to be physically held in the last three months.

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

Staff understand their responsibilities to keep children safe. When incidents occur, staff follow children’s plans. Yet, risk management plans are not always updated, and do not always provide staff with clear plans on how to keep children safe. One child was at risk of harm from jumping on a banister at the top of the stairs on three occasions. The child’s risk assessment did not reflect this, nor provide a clear plan for staff to follow to keep the child safe in the future. Although this has not resulted in harm to the child, it reduces staff’s ability to keep the child safe.

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

Processes are in place to ensure that children are kept safe online. Managers have ensured that the necessary age-related restrictions are on all devices. Staff have discussions with children about the dangers presented online, which are educational and informative.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is dedicated to his role and keeps children at the heart of decision- making. He is ambitious for the children living at the home, and for his staff team. He has a good understanding of what he and his staff do well, and the areas of development. Areas for development are quickly addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has created a positive culture in the home, resulting in staff feeling supported. Staff say they feel like a family. They value the high level of support, Inspection report for children’s home: 2503076 5 teamwork and communication that the manager encourages. One member of staff described the manager as, ‘One of the best managers I’ve worked with, he is very approachable.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has formed positive relationships with a range of agencies, including education departments, medical professionals and clinical professionals. This helps the manager to have a coordinated approach so that the children’s needs are met. Education professionals and clinicians are extremely positive about the care the children receive. They say that communication from the manager and staff about incidents, as well as positive updates about activities and progress the children make, is excellent.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager advocates for children and appropriately challenges professionals when he does not think plans are right for children. For one child, this resulted in a positive and planned move to a permanent home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff receive regular supervision sessions. This means that they are being provided with regular opportunities to receive feedback on their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that children are protected by the organisation’s recruitment practices. Staff are vetted and assessed as suitable before any appointment is confirmed. These procedures promote the safety of children by preventing unsuitable adults from working with them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager accepted one child into the home when the expectations about how long they would live at the home were unclear. The manager is now working with the child’s social worker to address this. However, the manager should ensure that they understand what will be required of them before they accept responsibility for a child’s placement, to avoid disruption and instability for the child in the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Similarly, the statement of purpose for the home sets out that it provides medium-term therapeutic residential placements. The manager has not clearly defined what is meant by medium term, which is likely to have contributed to delays in children moving to their permanent homes. Inspection report for children’s home: 2503076 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff’s safeguarding skills should include being able to identify signs that children may be at risk and supporting children in strategies to manage and reduce any risks. In particular, the manager should ensure that risk assessments accurately reflect the level of risk and provide clear guidance on how those risks should be managed. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.10)  The registered person should ensure that they understand what will be required of them before they accept responsibility for a child’s placement, to avoid disruption and instability for the child in the future and for other children in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.5)

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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: 2503076 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Grosvenor House, 11 St Pauls Square, Birmingham, West Midlands B3 1RB

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Inspector

John Tomlinson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2503076 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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