As the name suggests, Quality Protects Children Ltd (QPC) approach starts with a commitment to quality, providing good and outstanding homes. Quality Protects Children Ltd, has been working for over 19 years providing residential childcare within the North West region, specialising in providing a range of services to support young people, who present with complex needs and trauma-related behaviours.
Our homes provide safe, consistent and therapeutic environments built on on an evidence-based approach. Our staff teams are considerably experienced and possess nationally accredited qualifications. We make investing in our staff teams a high priority through training and retention, for example, our management team has an average length of service of 11 years.
We have an excellent track record of supporting young people in mental distress, with poor impulse control and trauma-related behaviour including:
- Adolescent mental health
- Self-harm and suicidality
- Emotional difficulties
- High-risk behaviours
- Learning difficulty and autistic spectrum
We are however more than a children’s home provider, we recognise that for the young people we care for their life experiences can be traumatic and difficult. At QPC we believe it is important in facilitating and evoking change. We do this by identifying problems early on through robust assessments and qualitative observation and evaluation. Our multi-disciplinary team have the confidence and skills complete those assessments and to support young people in making those changes that will improve resilience and confidence.
In following the government’s Vision for Change (DoH, 2016) we believe in the investment in our people and leadership within QPC. So we have a skilled and knowledgeable workforce – we draw on a range of professional staff covering clinical, care, education, social work and youth work, all working to keep our young people safe and working towards change.
Practice and systems.
A system can either harness the talents of those working in it or stifle them. Too often the social care system has stifled them. Professor Munro in her review of Child Protection (DfE, 2011) described a system within which the actions of social workers have become driven by a pressure to comply with process. The review found a system that was doing things right rather than doing the right thing. At QPC we accept this challenge and always work towards the best possible outcomes, which is child-focussed, ensuing the paramountcy principle is not lost; after all, we are fundamentally acting as a good parent should (Children Act, 1989).
Doing the right thing
QPC has a proven track record of doing what is right for children, we recognise that although our young people can present with complex needs and challenges, the solutions are stability and permanency, built on real opportunities for nurturing attachment. It is in having resilience as an organisation to facilitate permanency, which we believe is our strength (see testimonials).
Governance and Accountability
Finally, we invest in our governance and accountability – we are a dynamic organisation with a vision for our children which will not accept second best, but by working together confronting the challenges and empowering our young people we can give them the outcomes that every child deserves. We work at giving them their childhood back.