"Lovin' Care.
While the politicians and government officials are rearranging the sector, managers and staff are resolutely focused on making a difference to the children in their care. The ‘early plans’ of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care’s identified ‘love’ as ‘perhaps the most important foundation’ of a good childhood (IRCSC, March 2021). This has prompted many children’s homes to really consider how to create environments where love between staff and children can safely flourish".
Children's Homes Quality
About Safe Haven ACG
Safe Haven Adolescent Care Group is a family run company providing specialist residential care since 2020. Our small children’s homes offer care for children who are unable to live with their families, including those who may find a larger home difficult.
We offer short-term, long-term and transitional placements, with support planned around each child’s needs.
As children grow, we help them understand and express their feelings, build healthy relationships and develop confidence in themselves. Alongside this, we support the practical skills they will need as they move towards adulthood, at a pace that makes sense for them.
Lovin’ Care is part of everyday life in our homes: making time for a conversation, noticing when something is wrong, sharing a meal and being there when a child needs us.
Our Ethos
Our Lovin’ Care Approach
At Safe Haven ACG, we believe every child deserves to feel loved, wherever they live. For us, that means adults who take an interest, listen properly, keep their promises and remain alongside children when things are difficult.
Our Lovin’ Care approach brings warmth and affection together with clear boundaries and safe, consistent care. Protecting children and helping them feel loved go hand in hand.
Some children find it difficult to trust adults or accept support. We take time to get to know them, understand their experiences and learn what helps them feel comfortable. We don’t expect trust to happen straight away.
We listen without judgement and treat children with respect, even when their behaviour is challenging. We can address behaviour while making it clear that we still care about the child. A difficult day should never leave them feeling that they matter any less.
Care Shaped Around Each Child
Every child arrives with their own experiences, interests, strengths and needs. We plan their care around these and adapt our support as we get to know them and their circumstances change.
Children have a say in everyday life and in decisions about their care. We help them understand their choices, share their views and raise concerns. We also explain decisions openly, including when we cannot agree to something they want.
We work with families, social workers, schools and other professionals to provide continuity in children’s relationships, education and health. Care plans are reviewed regularly, with the child’s views central to those discussions.
Our Values
Trauma Informed
We believe that a trauma informed approach with our children not only helps the children, but the adults who care for them. Providing the relevant training for the adults around trauma helps them to recognise trauma, understand how it affects a child’s brain and everyday functioning, how it presents in the behaviours and gives them insight into the underlying reasons of the behaviour. This leads to the adults taking a non-judgemental approach, giving the children the nurture and support they require to feel safe and loved to process the trauma experiences and thrive moving forwards.
Attachment Aware
Having an understanding of the different attachment styles that children have and their particular attachment style not only increases the awareness of this but gives adults the tools to provide the care that supports the attachment style and understands it. This provides the adults a fantastic base to build the best relationships with the children we care for as ultimately the relationships give the ability for a child to feel safe and settled and secure in their home.
Therapeutic Care
Each of the homes at our Company are homely and family orientated, therapeutic environments with calm and relaxing atmospheres. The relationships are therapeutic, built on trust and care and understanding of the child’s needs to respond to these in the best way possible. The language used in our homes is non-institutionalised, providing a more family and fostering approach to those used in most homes for children. The recording of the language we use is non-judgemental, always providing the reasons behind any difficulties and reduction in negative connotations and labels.
All our adults are trained in the areas of Trauma, Attachment, Therapeutic Environments, Therapeutic Relationships Trauma Informed and Therapeutic Recording and Staying Safe. The company also have support from external agencies and highly reputable therapeutic professionals to embed this into the day to day practices.
“Children say that they settle in the home because the staff make them feel loved, cared for and safe.”
Extract from Ofsted report on our Outstanding Children’s Home
