Business for sale

Business description

This business was first established in 2000 to provide vulnerable and challenging children and young people with behavioural, emotional and mental health problems, with the best possible quality of life in community residential settings.

The company operates eight independent houses situated within close proximity of each other in a thriving Midlands city. All the houses are situated on regular residential roads close to local shopping and leisure facilities; in diverse, multicultural, urban areas; close to mainstream schools and colleges; with easy access by car and public transport. The resident young people regularly take part in various leisure and cultural pursuits, including trips to local restaurants, theatres, and cinemas, and activities such as bowling, climbing, ice-skating, horse riding, and indoor skiing.

The ethos of this business is a commitment to providing high-quality care in home-like environments maintained to the highest standards, with maximum opportunity for normalizing experiences and re-integration into the wider community. The primary aim is to provide safe, supportive, thoughtfully-created living environments that meet individual developmental, educational and therapeutic needs; promote personal responsibility, autonomy and independence; and safeguard both the young person and the community from harm.

The company provides residential accommodation to children and young people, both boys and girls, between the ages of 10 and 18 years, who require intensive supervision, support, and therapeutic help in the community, providing long-term placements, of several years' duration in some instances. Some of the company’s houses can accommodate 2 to 3 young people, whilst others cater for the needs of young people who are presently unable to share accommodation with others. Many of the resident children and young people placed with the company have a history of challenging, disruptive or aggressive behaviour. Crisis management and conflict resolution strategies therefore underpin the company’s work, with a view to anticipating, avoiding, de-escalating, and resolving incidents as quickly as possible.

Members of the company’s own residential care teams receive training in Positive Crisis Intervention. This is a system of incident management developed and designed to provide a graded response to challenging behaviour. The training teaches skills to establish and maintain appropriate behavioural boundaries; to challenge inappropriate behaviour; to de-escalate and defuse incidents. This training is consistent with the company’s organisational ethos that positive relationships with young people are essential and that staff have a duty to establish and maintain appropriate behavioural boundaries; and that positive methods (i.e. verbal encouragement, praise, rewards) are most effective in encouraging and maintaining desirable behaviour.

The company also places great emphasis on assisting children and young people to meet their full academic and educational potential and has successfully placed a number of young people in local mainstream or special educational provision, or alternatively arrangements are in place, when necessary, to provide education in-house, via a home tutor visiting the house on a regular basis.

The company enjoys well established links with local colleges and community based projects to facilitate educational and vocational opportunities, resulting in some residents securing long term employment.