By Sharon Woolhouse

Published 18th Oct 2023, 05:45 BST

During this time I was inspired by the amazing work these homes do to achieve better outcomes for children, and with more than 10 years experience of previously working directly with children, I felt I had more to give, and decided I wanted to return to children’s residential care, specifically working with children with learning disabilities.

I started looking for a Registered Manager’s position in the area and came across Happy Futures Support Specialists.

Happy Futures Support Specialists in Scarborough supports individuals who live with learning disabilities, mental health, and complex care needs. After doing my research I found out that Happy Futures has for several years, supported adults and children who live with a learning disability and/or autism.

So, in February 2022 I applied for their Children’s Registered Manager position, was successful at the interview and in May 2022 my journey with them to register our first children’s home began.

When doing my research, I found what stood out about Happy Futures Support Specialists was their passion to achieve good outcomes for those living with learning disabilities and/or autism, and that they wanted to do the same for children and

young people.

Their next venture to branch out into children’s services and become registered with Ofsted with their first children's home was an exciting opportunity for me.

When I joined the registration process had already started, and they had suitable accommodation which was then converted into a bespoke single occupancy home for a young person living with autism and learning disabilities. To achieve this we worked in partnership with the local authority, professionals and family, and we submitted the required paperwork to Ofsted in June 2022.

There were months of back and forth in providing the necessary information, including a statement of purpose, bespoke young persons’ guide and location risk assessment to show the home was safe and suitable. We considered crime stats for

the area, potential for exploitation, risks of living by the coast, provisions for schools to meet the educational needs of a child with a learning disability, and that there were local amenities and health services to ensure a young person would thrive and prosper.

To alleviate any concerns while we were waiting for official registration, we continued to communicate and work in partnership with the authorities and professionals.

The process of registering the home started when the home opened in March 2022, and from then continuous hard work has gone into employing and training a whole new staff team. In February 2023 we were informed that fit person interviews need to be completed with myself and the possible individual, and there was a couple of weeks of nervous waiting, but we were overjoyed when registration was awarded in April 2023.

Looking to the future any young person who lives in the home can do so until they are 18, and if they wish to stay in the home past the age of 18 and into adulthood, we would then register the home with the CQC.

Sharon Woolhouse is a children’s home manager for Happy Futures

Registering our first children’s home took more than a year: Sharon Woolhouse