Rosalind House: statement of purpose

Rosalind Children’s Home blends into the heart of Tiverton and is within walking distance to the town, local supermarket, schools and parks. Rosalind is a large, detached house, set back from the road with ample parking at the front of the property, and a good size garden to the rear. Our home is registered with Ofsted to support up to four children and provides a home for children aged between 6 to 17 years of age.

Currently Rosalind is split into 2 separate types of accommodation:

• Three-bedroom main house. The main house has a lounge, kitchen, diner, with a separate ‘snug’ second lounge. Each bedroom has its own ensuite, and we have an additional accessible toilet downstairs.
• One-bedroom self-contained flat which has its own lounge, kitchen/diner and garden, which has its own entrance.

Children and young people benefit from amenities that are accessible locally such as cinemas, eating out, canal walks, swimming and there is the opportunity to join the gym. Further afield we have access to local beaches, countryside, sporting activities, amusement parks and more, giving great opportunities to children to socialise and exercise. Rosalind has two vehicles to support exploring the beautiful surroundings. Transport links can be accessed within the area and on the outskirts of the town.

Tiverton has access to a wide variety of places of worship catering to many faiths within a 30-minute journey. We will support children’s religious and cultural needs at all times, working within the local community where appropriate, to ensure all children’s needs are met.

We support children and young people with emotional and behavioural needs and carefully consider matching as we work through the assessment process before children move into the home.

In the main house, the bedrooms all have en-suites and there is also a separate bathroom with a bathtub. Within the flat, there is one bedroom with an ensuite, a separate lounge and kitchen, as well as a separate toilet and shower room.

Children and young people have access to the shared areas of the home. There are built in appliances in the kitchen and is where we have the facilities to teach home-based skills. The grounds wrap around the home and children benefit from the space which promotes a variety of activities. We also encourage eating outside in warmer weather.

The children and young people who live at Rosalind will be supported to attend school, and if safe to do will be supported to visit their families if this is deemed appropriate. Bespoke packages can be delivered where education outcomes are agreed and provided in the home, however we will work closely with educational professionals in order to ensure the educational needs of the young people are met. We meet with parents, carers, providers, and schools where applicable. When required we will meet with other professionals involved in the child’s care to aid the completion of assessments, making certain we can meet the child’s needs.

The children and young people are introduced to the home at a pace that suits them, starting with pen portraits of the staff, activities outside of the home, teams meetings or short intro videos, we then move into short visits to the home to meet the team, have tea and spend time getting used to the home wherever possible.

We can support emergency placements to support the needs of families, however this is on a case-by-case basis and involves careful assessment and planning. Emergency admissions are usually restricted to children who are known to DCC, these admissions may not follow the usual settling process however the principles of planning and introduction still apply. Other children may be admitted in very exceptional circumstances to avoid family breakdown and will be agreed by  the home manager or on-call manager and RI, along with the Head of Service.

We will seek children and young people’s views, wishes and feelings from the first contact made and use these to tailor the introduction to the home and support planning.

The children and young people are encouraged to share their views and wishes. All of these views and wishes are listened to and responded to. The team support the children in being able to express their views using their preferred method of communication.

The children and young people are encouraged to share their ideas. This includes making choices and contributing to the menus, helping to decide on activities and trips out and the decoration of their bedroom and the home.

If a child or young person has any concerns they are encouraged to communicate this to the team or other relevant professionals where applicable. We will support the child to work out the best solution and work to the best possible outcome.

We are actively involved in supporting children and young people to thrive and achieve educationally. We attend
annual education healthcare plan reviews, multi-agency meetings and communicate with teachers regularly to
promote consistent approaches and maximise positive educational outcomes for children. Staff visit schools during assessment processes and maintain those links throughout the child’s or young person’s journey with us. We communicate well with schools by email, phone and through children’s home/school books, sharing information and achievements and ensuring each child is central to working practices.

We are able to provide a suitable environment for study and to help children and young people with homework or school projects. We incorporate natural learning in all our activities, embedding essential life skills to promote independence for children and young people.

In situations where the child or young person is unable to attend their school to receive education, we will work with the team around the child to support an agreed plan to give the child the support they need in order to return to a suitable educational setting.

Children and young people are supported to be aspirational, enabling young people to have quality access to activities that enable them to thrive and grow. Activities and opportunities are identified and sourced based on the individual interests of the child or young person for example; Horse Riding and Kayaking or local walks and bike rides.

We communicate with children and young people as well as the people around them to identify ambitious outcomes, taking small steps along the way to work towards achieving the more ambitious goal.

We engage in informal education and moral philosophy through creative challenge and conversation, we are interested in the children that live in the home and strive for them to enjoy experiences, learn new skills and gain confidence. As a team, we ensure that activity planning is a well-thought through process to support the young people with their interests.

The team work alongside the children and young people, other professionals and their families where appropriate to ensure the child’s or young person’s health needs are met during stays. This includes training in clinical skills and administering medications prescribed to children or young person. We will communicate with local GPs and pharmacies to acquire required medications for children.

Staff may contact 111 or emergency services the event of ill health or a medical emergency. Consent to medical treatment in such circumstances is sought prior to a child’s or young person’s initial admission to the home and is reaffirmed annually. Staff would be expected to attend general health appointments, after agreement with families and carers where relevant. We liaise with a wide range of health professionals to maintain the health and well-being of children living in our home.

Rosalind adheres to Devon County Council’s policies regarding food hygiene, follows the Food Standards Agency Registration and Compliance, and follows the District Council’s ‘Better standards, safer food’ policies. The meals prepared take into account the individual needs of the children accessing the home. The home supports the team in accessing basic food hygiene training and relevant training in areas such as health and safety and infection control.

Rosalind is a non-smoking site. Smoking is not permitted anywhere on the site by the children, staff, or visitors.

The team access training relating to PACE (Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, Empathy) training which is a
dialectic model of interaction and are implementing DDP (Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy) informed practice in the home.

The children and young people that live at Rosalind may have experienced an adverse childhood experience (ACE’s). We have a strong focus on the need to build a relationship with the child and create attachments that last. We do that by showing unconditional positive regard.

We record positive moments which demonstrates we notice when young people are making progress, we work
with children and young people to create outcomes which we give relevant support for the children and young people to work towards. We are supporting the children and young people, journeying with them to help them understand their own feelings and emotions. We will do this by listening to them and showing them that they are worthy of love, care and attention. We will provide a stable home built on love, care and respect. We as people will be resilient, open, honest and available, through that modelling the children will also learn that adults can be trusted and that they have found a place of safety.

We are aware that, at times, children and young people may present behaviours of concern. This may be due to environmental factors, other medical conditions, or as part of growing up and their experiences. We support children with behaviours of concern using the positive behaviour management ethos and PACE. The valuing of individual rights, opinions and wishes of children and working in partnership with them and those around them is seen as paramount.

It is the aim of the home to ensure that children and young people feel relaxed and safe at all times. Safeguarding disclosures are treated sensitively and supportively, as per our children’s homes policies and procedures in line with the local authority procedures. All disclosures are treated seriously and are reported immediately to the child’s or young person’s social work team or the emergency duty team should it be out of hours.

All those involved with the provision of services for children and young people in the children’s home settings must be alert to the possibility of abuse by other children, visitors and members of staff. Our staff attend relevant training provided and have access to appropriate supervision. All the home staff have access to training and information of the most current safeguarding policies and procedures.

The home promotes an atmosphere where bullying is not acceptable. If bullying is found to occur, effective strategies will be implemented to counter it. The service is committed to quality care and anti-discriminatory practice, fully embracing the principles of the Children Act 1989, as laid out in the Bill of Rights for Children and Every Child Matters 2004, Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and 2005 and Equality Act 2010.

Our staff are aware that children and young people need privacy; however this must be balanced with issues of protection and safety. The privacy and dignity of the children are respected at all times, where appropriate. Any boundaries or barriers regarding the child’s privacy and confidentiality will be discussed with their parents/carers (where appropriate), social worker and other relevant professionals and the home manager. This will be recorded in their care plan and/or risk assessment. This includes the use of monitoring devices in the home to counter identified risks to children when no other alternative is possible. Access into the building is restricted by use of a key fob main entrances. Visitors must provide identification and records of visitors are kept.

At times children and young people present behaviour that is challenging. If this becomes dangerous for either themselves or others, staff may need to intervene to maintain the safety of the child, any use of intervention by our trained staff will follow the guidelines set by Devon County Council and the Department of Health. This is used only as a last resort and reflects the presenting behaviour and associated risk. All children and young people that use our service will have a care plan which includes a risk assessment and a positive behaviour support plan. Staff attend positive behaviour support training. Interventions are supported with positive strategies, we use PACE and our DDP training to interact, listen and diffuse. Details of any physical restraint and/or intervention will be recorded and shared with those that have parental responsibility and relevant professionals. Records are reviewed regularly with the staff team and steps taken to minimise incidents wherever possible. Current legislation always underpins and support good practice.

Details on how to make a complaint are shared as part of the information given to children and their families at the first point of contact with the home. The home also provides a child’s handbook which includes how to access an advocate and how to raise any concerns or compliments. The complaints policy can be accessed at any time by contacting the home to make a request.

Children, their parents/carers, members of the public, agencies or professionals can all raise compliments or concerns to staff, lead professionals, or go directly to Devon Children’s Homes or Ofsted. Children who make a complaint will be protected from any reprisal for doing so and are supported to understand their rights.

Compliments, concerns and complaints can be made to:

Glenn Lobb – Service Manager for Countywide Services
County Hall
Topsham Road
Exeter
EX2 4QD
Telephone: 07814 779948

Devon County Council Customer Relations
FREEPOST DCC CUSTOMER RELATIONS
Telephone: 0800 212783
Email: customer.relations@devon.gov.uk

Ofsted
Piccadilly Gate
Store Street
Manchester
M1 2WD
Telephone: 0300 123 1231
Email: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk

Children and young people are encouraged to be as involved in their care as they are able to. Children and young people can’t always tell us directly what their needs and wishes are. The staff team are very child-focused and the best wishes and expressed needs of the child are always at the forefront of decision making.

Staff use a wide range of strategies to help children and young people communicate and support their choices, to include them in making choices about their everyday care, and bigger life decisions. We gather feedback in ways tailored to individual’s communication abilities and preferences. This may take the form of a paper easy read sheet, communication mats, technological aids or verbal feedback. Feedback and reflection is used to shape
the way we deliver our services.

Positive outcomes for children and young people are always promoted. This includes outcomes relating to their health, safety and well-being, development, enjoyment, and experience. We do this by working together with other agencies to deliver individualised plans of care to children, incorporating therapeutic assessments and programs, delivering, and evaluating treatment plans, and gathering evidence to support children’s progression.

Safer Recruitment practice

Our staff are recruited according to Devon County Council recruitment policies and procedures, which follow safer recruitment principles and all staff meet the requirements of the Children’s Home Regulations 2015. All our staff have a
satisfactory enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check and work-related references including the most recent employer. Each staff member has an electronic staff file, which is kept secure at all times. The home is open for 52 weeks of the year, but may close on Christmas day, New Year’s Day and staff training days but only if the young person is staying at home and even then we would operate a standby system.

Mandatory training

All team members have completed mandatory training including areas such as induction, paediatric first aid, medicines management, safeguarding level 3, equality and diversity, fire safety, First Aid training, basic food hygiene,.

All team members complete PACE (Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, Empathy) training which is a dialectic model of interaction and are implementing DDP (Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy) informed practice in the home which we all receive training for either before the staff come into the home or within three months of starting. Staff training
is tailored and focused on the individual needs of the child accessing the home.

Additional training to support specific needs for an individual can be sourced as required. All of the above is in addition to NVQ Level 3 or equivalent (or working towards). At times, we require the use of agency staff to support the running of the home. The agency staffing are provided by the company Promoting Independent Care, and have worked within lots of our Children’s Homes. Currently, Rosalind has  three team leader vacancies, and eight Residential Support Worker vacancies. Recruitment is ongoing every month to recruit to these positions.

Staff development, supervisions and appraisals

All team members and take part in a monthly supervision, and an annual appraisal by a named supervisor within the home. These are designed to be reflective and restorative, we use restorative approach in our supervisions. Supervisions for all staff will include a discussion and or review of any safeguarding concerns, and a topic which changes each month. Support and specific supervision around safeguarding is available to the staff where required via safeguarding leads.

Rosalind is committed to the ongoing professional development of our workforce and providing tangible opportunities for all team members to reach their full potential. We use a robust recoding and monitoring system both organisationally and locally to monitor and ensure compliance with required training and development activities.

With excellent learning and development resources and opportunities, we offer and support the completion of a comprehensive mandatory training schedule to every new team member as part of the induction to the home This includes a range of mandatory training as well as training linked to specific needs of the children and homes. Due to having good links with other teams of professionals and by being creative we are able to use different forms of research and training to develop the teams knowledge and skills enabling development of practice and ability to meet the changing needs of our home.

At Rosalind we strongly believe in continued Learning and Development and in providing our teams the opportunity to develop existing skills as well as to gain new ones. We regularly review opportunities for succession planning for the team members giving them support to develop their knowledge and skilling leading to their development into different roles in the homes or services.

Opportunities to discuss, review and plan for development and learning is discussed regularly with the team in individual supervision sessions that occur monthly, in Annual appraisals and with the team in the team meeting to ensure we continue to meet the development needs or our workforce and the needs of the children that use the homes.

We operate an on call system where each member of the management team takes a week at a time able to respond 24 hours a day if needed. The number is available to all staff. That manager can make the necessary decisions, alter staffing as required and complete event forms and safeguarding forms.

The home complies with Devon County Council Human Resources policies and procedures. Devon County Council have Trade Union Representatives who are widely available to staff at any time for advice and support. Devon County Council also provide occupational health support for all staff and this is a confidential process where required.

For further information please contact:

Registered Manager: holly.wilscheregreen@devon.gov.uk