Benecare Children’s Services
‘Providing care without compromise’
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE FOR MADISON HOUSE, SC465579
CONTENTS PAGE NO 1
Introduction - Statement as to whom the Provision is for 3
Philosophy of Care and Ethos of Madison House 5
· Safety
· Trust
· Behaviour Modification
· Individual Placement Plans
· Our Commitment
Facilities 7
Services 8
The Registered Provider and Responsible Individual 8
The Registered Manager 9
Registered Provider Profile 9
Registered Manager Profile 9
Staffing 10
Supervision, Training and Development 10
Organisational Structure 11
Details of Accommodated Children 12
Admission Criteria 12
Health Promotion and Protection 13
· On arrival
· Awareness
Educational Promotion 15
Recreational, Sporting and Cultural/Social Support 15
Consultation with Children 16
Arrangements for the Control, Restraint and Discipline of Children 16
Child Protection/Safeguarding Children 17
Countering Bullying 18
Dealing with Complaints 19
Missing from Care 20
Locality Risk Assessment 20
Electronic and Mechanical Means of Surveillance 21
Fire Precautions and Emergency Procedures 21
Religious and Cultural Observance 21
Contact 22
Arrangements for Vetting Visitors 22
Reviewing Placement Plans 23
Accommodation 23
Therapy/Counselling 23
Anti-Discriminatory Practice/Respect of Children and Children’s Rights 23
Appendix 1 – Staff Profiles 25
Appendix 2 – Control, Restraint and Discipline of Children 26
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE FOR MADISON HOUSE, SC465579
INTRODUCTION - STATEMENT AS TO WHOM THE PROVISION IS FOR
Madison House is a medium sized residential home situated in a quiet cul-de-sac, and was established to ensure a safe and supportive environment for those young people who have experienced the emotions related to family breakdowns. It provides intensive support for young people offering high staff to child ratios. The staff to child ratio will be in accordance with the personalised care plan. There are two staff members available during the night and one of the staff members takes the role of Resident Sleep Residential Support Worker, who sleeps in Sunday to Thursday night to maintain consistency and security for the young people.
Madison House can accommodate three children of either gender, aged from eight years old up to their 18th Birthday on a medium to long-term basis. We have the capability of keeping young people beyond their 18th birthday under specific terms. There is the possibility for respite care if there are vacancies within the home at the time of enquiry.
We recognise that many of the children we care for will have suffered multiple rejections and will be displaying behaviours which are symptomatic of neglect, emotional, physical and/or sexual abuse.
We have experience of those challenging young people that have broken previous placements and we have been highly successful in achieving their outcomes within our organisation. We offer placements to young people who are experiencing, or have a history of, disruptive attachment difficulties, previous offending behaviour, sexualised behaviour, and provide flexible and adaptable support packages for high quality, individual tailored care.
The service provided is also aimed at children with challenging behaviours which includes, (but is not necessarily confined to), those children categorised with; emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), children with learning difficulties and those within the autistic spectrum (including aspergers syndrome).
Mental impairment is also one of the challenging behaviours, taking into account children whose learning disabilities (LD) have had a substantial and long-term adverse effect on the young person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. We recognise that these children can often have communication difficulties, so aids such as Makaton and the picture exchange communication system (PECS) are often utilised in order to overcome these potential barriers and to give children as many opportunities as possible.
The home does not provide a therapist on site or within the team. This resource can always be ‘brokered’ as appropriate in partnership and agreement with the placing authority.
We believe that the creation and maintenance of a comfortable, safe and nurturing home environment is, in itself, of significant therapeutic value.
All new placements will be assessed using a proforma that will identify behaviours and concerns, and match these with the young people already in placement. This system has proved to be highly successful whilst assisting young people during the transition procedure. We offer an array of communicative tools and methods of communicating should support be required for the young person. Madison House sets out a consistent support structure for young people in a positive and progressive manner. We provide clear consistent boundaries whilst providing appropriate care throughout their placement. We always strive to achieve every relevant outcome for the young people and support them through their transition into adult life.
We recognise that many of the children we care for will have experienced elements of attachment disorder and multiple rejections, we recognise and understand the lifelong effects of such and will endeavour to support and encourage the children to develop and maintain all relationships relative to the their development where feasible. We are experienced in the exposure of negative behaviours which are symptomatic of neglect, emotional, physical and sexual abuse.
Whilst acknowledging that the presenting behaviours and concerns of the children and young people placed in our care environment will not always be socially acceptable, they will be addressed with immediacy and professionalism while respecting individual levels of understanding. We also believe that educational requirements should not be overlooked or discounted. For this reason we have an experienced member of staff from a teaching background who is part of the staff team, and is available to provide an education programme which is based on the curriculum of main stream schools. They will support staff with education based activities and learning outcomes which will be tailored to the identified needs of the young person,, where necessary, in order to secure appropriate educational opportunities within local resources for the children and young people placed at Madison house. This will also support the opportunity for individuals to re-integrate back into main stream education when the time comes. This is a matter of practice and policy for the entire staff group.
At Madison House we understand that for any child, not being able to live at home with their family can be one of the most traumatic periods of their lives, therefore we aim to secure a safe nurturing environment, which is as homely as possible. Madison House is a home where a child will receive constant personalised care, where they will be valued for who they are and where they come from, and a place where they can make a fresh start and feel valued. Staff and residents will have available to them the services of a professional counsellor if required, who will be available for care work input and advice.
Madison House is a home where young people can develop their independence and experience, and have their needs addressed in a positive and progressive manner whilst living within a framework of clear boundaries. We aim to promote a sense of pride in the young person, in their culture, their home, their neighbourhood and in all aspects in order to enrich their lives and enable a smooth supportive transition into adulthood.
At all times an individual placement plan governs our work. This plan will be developed from the aims and objectives set out by the placing authority in conjunction with the young person and the home manager, to identify each young person’s needs which will then be agreed and implemented into the care plan. These aims may include re-integration into the family, moving on to other services such as fostering or adoption, working towards an independent living programme or other requirements identified by the young person’s placing authority, for example, assessment work.
The placement plan provides a clear foundation for our work in partnership with an individual child, the family and the placing social worker. On this foundation we seek to promote the individual’s agreed best interest in keeping with medium to long term plans developed by the relevant authority.
Staff relationships are based upon an honest, caring and enabling approach, the key role of which is communication and openness, while embracing a realistic outlook to problem solving and an expectation of behaviour that is respectful of and fair to others. We believe for a child to feel safe and cared for they need to be able to understand boundaries. Therefore we work within a very clear framework of what a child can do and how they behave without putting themselves or others at risk. Destructive and abusive behaviour from any young person is always addressed in a calm but clear manner. The young person is supported to take responsibility, create change, develop remorse and be accountable for their choices and actions with ongoing support from the team.
We recognise that some young people have communication difficulties and therefore require information to be conveyed in various forms. We understand that communication aids such as Makaton and PEC’s may be utilised to suit one’s own style and promote growth.
PHILOSOPHY OF CARE AND ETHOS OF MADSION HOUSE
Madison House has been established to offer children and young people a fresh start. We aim to offer a home where a child is able to grow, develop and mature into a responsible, respectful and caring individual. We seek to enable solutions to problems by dealing with the emotional voids often displayed by children who have had no previous opportunity to integrate with an ordinary family setting.
The essence of our work is a genuine commitment to all our children and young people as we aim to foster healthy independence and responsibility in line with therapeutic principles.
Safety
Some of our residents are particularly vulnerable, often suffering from Learning Difficulties. We aim to establish a safe and secure environment where a child can develop their individual identity and understanding whilst having their needs met in an honest, positive and above all consistent and professional manner.
We aim to provide an atmosphere of ordinary family life within a small residential children’s home, where young people are supported and provided with the required information to develop and understand structure and routine on a par with a regular family setting.
Trust
We aim to establish and maintain a trusting relationship with the children and young people to create a secure base where they can begin to address their challenging behaviour in order to eventually assume some control over, and take responsibility for, making positive choices in their lives. We hope this will help them to identify and modify their behaviour, which will enable them to reintegrate back into their own family, substitute family or to live independently and thrive in the community. Our staff group believe in the principle of frank, open, non-judgemental genuine discussions. We emphasise the personal worth of the young person with positive individual responsibility.
Behaviour modification
The approach we adopt is essentially non-punitive, employing rewards rather than sanctions. We employ a behaviour modification programme where loss of rewards is given for misdemeanours, in an effort to avoid the imposition of major sanctions. Initially we build on social and relationship skills within the home and beyond for each and every young person and endeavour to promote a sense of pride in them, their home, their culture and their neighbourhood.
Individual placement plans
An Individual placement plan is completed for each young person following a placement meeting on or no later than 72 hours after their placement. The plan provides objectives and aims as set out by the placing authority and agreed by the Registered Manager and the young person’s key worker. The plan may well look at the young person moving on to fostering, re-integration to their own family or relatives, adoption, or working towards independence or other specific requirements as identified by the young person’s placing authority. The plan will always lay out realistic age appropriate goals for the child or young person to achieve during their placement.
Our Commitment
· Relationships with staff are based on a caring, honest and embracing approach, which will lead to reciprocal trust. We encourage a questioning and open culture.
· We aim to help the young person to empower their own lives with an expectation that unacceptable behaviour towards others is challenged, and that the young person is supported to modify their own behaviour.
· The young person will always be encouraged to build upon his or her own self–esteem and to gradually reduce dependency on the care system.
· We will work towards the young person leaving Madison House with hope, good memories and the skills that will enable them to take their place in the community as a valuable member of society.
· We strive to unconditionally accept each young person whatever his or her previous or presenting behaviour.
· We actively encourage the development, personal growth, maturity and education of each young person, encouraging self-confidence and independence.
· We emphasise care whilst enabling individuals to understand that actions have consequences, and that they are ultimately responsible for their own behaviour.
· Staff in the home will endeavour to create and maintain an environment which is free from discrimination in any form regardless of race, culture, disability, social status, age, sexuality or any other factor, which may expose them to disadvantage, or discrimination.
· The Registered Manager and staff at Madison House champion and adopt an anti-bullying culture where complaints of all forma will be fully investigated, promoting an open and transparent ethos.
· Staff will encourage young people to recognise their rights and to value the rights of others. We acknowledge that certain things are theirs by right; we believe equally that rights carry responsibility.
· Whilst respecting a young person’s rights we also expect young people to accept their responsibilities and to respect the rights of others.
· We strive to ensure that a person’s disability is not the main focus, but encourage their capability while ensuring that they receive the level of support required.
· We fully recognise that children have their own views, wishes and feelings, and that we must promote each child’s right to have a say. Children’s views, wishes and feelings will be sought in all aspects of their planning and day to day care. No child is assumed unable to communicate their views; therefore appropriate methods for gaining views will be sought and provided.