Hillfields Therapeutic Children’s Home was opened in April 2015 and is designed to provide secondary care provision through comprehensive individual assessments of needs, emotional treatment programmes, and pathway plans leading to independent living.
Like its sister home Westfields, Hillfields is available for those young people who have experienced break down in their own family, considerable disruptions to their lives, whose needs have not been met in alternative care settings. It is specifically geared to young people who require a slightly less structured and ordered home environment than that of Springfields, who benefit from living with an older peer group, but need ongoing therapeutic support and practical ‘firm but fair’ guidance to move towards adulthood and independent living (or fostering where this is achievable and appropriate).
Hillfields is located on the northern side of the city centre in a popular district of the city. The locality comprises predominantly larger and high value houses set within good sized plots. This is one of the most high value residential districts in the city. A popular shopping and cultural district lies just over half a mile to the south, and the city centre and seafront are 1.25 miles south. A mainline railway station is conveniently accessible and the A27 and A23 are also easily accessible by road. Hillfields is located within the catchment areas of several secondary main-stream schools, colleges, and the nearby Universities of Sussex and Brighton.
The house presents as a good sized semi-detached Edwardian house dating from around 1910 and of traditional appearance and construction methods for the period. The front elevation is rendered at first floor level. The roof space has been converted into living accommodation through timber framed dormers in the front and rear roof slopes. PVCU double glazed replacement windows are in place and there are 2 pairs of PVCU double glazed patio doors to the rear. Theses lead on to a moderately sized walled rear garden which is predominantly laid to lawn, with a patio area.
There is a semi-detached single garage accessed from the adjacent road, and a front parking area with an in/out driveway and parking for 2–3 cars surrounded by boarders filled with mature shrubs and trees.
It has five single bedrooms of varying sizes to suit the individual needs of the five young people living at Hillfields. There is also a large and spacious entrance hall that is used as a relaxed area for those living anmd working in the home to meet, sleeping-in room for the adults, managers’ office, an adult’s study / work area, a main lounge, a very large kitchen with laundry facilities and that also includes the main dining area, a modern bathroom, a modern shower room, storage areas, meetings room / dedicated study area for the young people, and off course numerous communal toilets!
We believe Hillfields offers young people an exceptional quality of care and provides them with the type of experience every young person deserves.
What we offer….
Therapeutic Residential Care
- A comfortable & welcoming ‘family-like’ home
- A positive and rewarding and ‘good-enough’ care experience where children can make real progress towards achieving their goals
- Psychodynamic Practice
- A Therapeutic Community Approach
- A strong commitment to Safeguarding and protecting the welfare and well-being of the child
- A commitment to providing each child with their own Independent Advocate
- Collaborative working partnership between the child, their placing authority, and The Lioncare Group, ensures the child remains at the center of all we do.
- Regular Permanency Planning meetings to ensure the child’s Care Plan is realised
Commitment to Education, Training, Employment & Life Long Learning
- A positive and rewarding education, training and learning experience
- Special SEBD / SEMH provision
- Through The Lioncare School, a skills-based curriculum that defines the core skills we feel will best advantage our children when they move on from us. Curriculum 2020 has been designed to acknowledge the unique profiles of the children placed at the Lioncare School, characterised by;
- disrupted early learning experiences
- interrupted formal schooling
- disengagement from formal settings
- distrust of adult and professional input
- continuous high levels of anxiety and emotional arousal due to trauma
- the resultant cognitive, sensory and social impairment.
- Supported reintegration to a mainstream school or college where appropriate
- Supported transition to college and further education / training / employment
- Collaborative working partnership between the child, their education authority, and The Lioncare School and/or the College Placement that delivers progress and supports achievement.
- ASDAN courses at all levels.
- New Horizons and Transition Challenge are available in all key stages
- Short Courses are offered as pre-GCSE programmes as appropriate in key stages 3 and 4.
- Functional Skills at Entry Level, Level One and Two are offered via NCFE, either as an alternative to GCSE or as stepping stones toward it.
- A GCSE curriculum is available in English and Mathematics with other subjects on offer where appropriate. The Lioncare School facilitates this with partner schools and the Cambridge Examinations Board.
Preparation for Fostering or Interdependent Living
- Laying the foundations for sustainable foster placements where this is the permanency plan set out in the child’s Care Plan.
- Working closely with the child’s placing authority and social worker and other professionals through regular Permanency Planning meetings (scheduled for every 2 months) for the purpose of monitoring and promoting progress towards a positive transition from Hillfields (either to a foster placement or interdependent living).
- Assisting and supporting the child, their social worker, and their placing authority in determining the right foster carers able to meet the child’s needs, or the right semi-independence accommodation and provision that allows the young adult to continue to grow and flourish and achieve.
- Pathway planning
- Unique “Learning to Look After Me” practical training programme
- Employment guidance and support
- Laying the foundations for successful & effective interdependence
Outreach & After-Care Support Package
- Planned & effective support through transitions and beyond, including the provision of an 18+ Supported Accommodation programme through The Lioncare Group.
- Being and remaining a ‘Secure Base’ for the child / young adult long after they have left Hillfields, for those times when they might be in need of a little support, advice, or simply need the comfort and reassurance of a familiar and friendly face.
Statement of Purpose: