We provide high quality, flexible responsive residential care and support in the North and South to children and young people with complex medical or mental health needs and associated self-harm responses.
For children with complex medical needs and sensory impairment to thrive, they need sensory stimulation and encouragement to achieve this. At Courtyard Care, we believe children and young people with complex mental health histories require nurturing and therapy in equal parts.
Our aim is to provide outcome-based support in a safe, welcoming, homely and stimulating environment for children and young people with complex and additional needs. We believe that the environment is crucial in enabling stability and security for all the children and young people during their stay with us.
We provide this high level of care and accommodation at Courtyard Care, by ensuring that all services and accommodation matches, as near as possible, that of a normal domestic home, whilst considering the needs of each child/young person.
We also aim to assist children/young people to lead fulfilling and enriched lives, by enabling them to take part in a variety of social activities. Ensuring each child can follow their preferred social activities with the support of our dedicated and professional residential teams.
Our service is managed and supported by a dedicated team of qualified and experienced professionals, including social workers, residential support workers, psychologists and Practice Educators. All our residential support workers are specially selected for their experience and ‘value base’. They are trained to a minimum of Diploma L3/ NVQ L3 – Children and Young People and all Registered Managers hold or are working towards Diploma L5/ equivalent in Leadership and Management. This enables us to offer a high level of person-centred care within a dedicated, stimulating, homely and positive environment.
The service was founded on the belief that therapeutic interventions, residential provision and young people’s views should not be perceived as being in isolation of each other, but rather as a dynamic combination of factors and often traumatic life experiences.
Therefore, we focus on supporting young people who are either awaiting discharge from a Tier 4 Inpatient CAMHs ward or who are deemed at risk of being admitted to a ward and are using self-harm behaviour as a coping strategy. We provide a real alternative to hospital settings which operate as secure or semi secure facilities.
At Courtyard Care we provide a full person centred residential based Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHs) service for young people experiencing difficulties with complex and often multiple needs which may include:
Emerging personality disorders
Psychosis
Paranoia
Post-Traumatic stress conditions
Attachment disorders
Other associated conditions
Given the belief above, we began to explore the possibility of providing a service that can both meet the needs of the young people who use it and the commissioners who purchase it. We found that the young people who present with high-risk behaviours are often being offered traditional options of low – medium secure hospital placements which offer little, if any preparation to move onto community lifestyles.
Therefore, we focus our energy on enabling young people to express their emotions whilst having regard for their life experiences. We believe that for young people to be able to move on and find alternatives to their current coping strategies, they need support which allows them to explore different ways of coping and not simply stopping them using their current coping strategies. In other words, we aim not to ‘rescue’ young people from themselves. We feel that these young people would be able to live fulfilling lives whilst in a supportive nurturing, and safe placement with boundaries.
The team consists of experienced residential support workers and mental health professionals.
Courtyard Care is seen as a provider who goes the ‘extra mile’ in supporting young people with extremely complex backgrounds and behaviours, and as such our risk management and tolerance is higher than most providers. This strategy is underpinned by the therapeutic model of PACE and supported by our Psychology Service. This service works with the residential team in providing real guidance and advice on practical approaches as well as reflective practice sessions to understand how their own behaviour impacts upon the young person.
We all work together seamlessly to provide a coherent, well planned, energetic and robust service which endeavours to deliver timely, consistent, person specific care and support to enable the young people in and around Warrington, to develop, grow, build resilience and move towards independence at an appropriate level.
Ultimately, we see our service as offering a ‘real alternative’ to secure hospital admissions and as a positive route to permanent community living.
Courtyard Care Limited provides residential care and support to children and young people who are described as having complex medical/clinical and additional needs. Sometimes these are part of a wider definition under the NHS term “Continuing Care”.
Continuing Care support will be required when a child or young person has needs arising from disability, accident or illness that cannot be met by existing universal or specialist services alone. This means that a wide range of agencies are likely to be involved in the case of a child or young person with continuing care needs. Children and young people’s continuing care needs are best addressed holistically by all the agencies that are involved in providing them with public services or care, predominantly: health, social care and education. It is likely that a continuing care package will include a range of services commissioned by PCTs, local authority children’s services and sometimes others.
At Courtyard Care we specialise in supporting children and young people with a wide range of needs ranging from:
Long term ventilation
Cerebral palsy
Mobility difficulties
Sensory impairments
We have a dedicated Practice Educator and Adviser specialist responsible for assessment and review of needs, training and signing off all support workers.
Our residential children’s homes can provide full time (24/7) care and support or indeed Respite or Short Break placements to children/young people dependent upon suitable vacancies. We believe and live this in our everyday work, that all children have the right to a full and enjoyable life irrespective of their needs or abilities. We are known for going the ‘extra mile’.
Courtyard Care aims to provide needs led support to children and young people with a diagnosis of a learning disability and associated additional complex needs. We recognise and celebrate the uniqueness of every individual by ensuring a person-centred approach is adopted. We are committed to enabling personal growth now and for the future, giving each young person the strongest voice with regards to decision making and lifestyle choices. Our range of supportive services and environments will encourage each individual to fulfil their personal dreams and aspirations.
Our aim and purpose at Courtyard Care is to provide a safe, warm and nurturing environment with a high standard of accommodation and care for children and young people within a framework of promoting children’s rights.
The philosophy of care at Courtyard Care is based on guidance laid out in the Children Act 1989, Volume Six Children with Disabilities. This states that children and young people should be provided with services which are designed to minimise the effects of their disability and are given the opportunities to lead lives that are as normal as possible.
Courtyard Care provides 24/7 care 52 weeks per year. Children and young people are referred to Courtyard Care from Social Care Services or other Health Professionals. The starting point to a successful outcome is our comprehensive needs led assessment, which follows a referral and ensures that we understand each individual’s needs and aspirations.
Following the assessment, we work in close partnership with the child’s Social Worker, transition team and their families or other representatives to develop a Person-Centred Plan.
Every young person is different, and their transition reflects this in terms of timescales, visits, building relationships, overnight stays and the final move-in date. Working with all parties, we ensure that it is a well-planned and managed process.