Hexagon Care Services propose new Hartburn children's home

Hexagon Care Services has asked Stockton Council for a certificate of lawfulness to change the use of a house on Hartburn Lane into an Ofsted-registered two-bedroom children’s home.

It will accommodate up to two children with a manager and up to two residential carers at a time providing a “warm and nurturing family-style environment” under the plans.

It is proposed to use the six-bedroom detached property as a “small specialist care home for up to two children, who will either have been diagnosed with learning disabilities and/or emotional and/or behavioural difficulties”.

The plans say children would live there long-term, “hopefully for many years”, and it would run like a family home helping them to lead normal lives.

“The children will be those needing therapeutic care helping them deal with past trauma which will be undertaken by a trained phycologist,” says a planning statement from Rose Consulting Planning & Regeneration, the applicant’s agent.

It says children would undergo stringent risk assessments before coming to the home, “to ensure they integrate with the local community”.

“This is not a halfway house or emergency housing for children,” it says. The applicant says there is little difference between the proposed use of the home and its current use so planning permission is not required.

The statement continues: “The home will aim to provide a smooth transition for children, who will come to live there through careful planning and consideration. It will primarily serve medium to long-term placements to minimise disruption to residents.

“The purpose of the home would be to support the children to build their confidence, regulate their behaviour and emotions, help them in developing life skills and prepare them for life when they leave the home to fend for themselves.”

This helps children “who often, through no fault of their own, have not had good parenting in their early years or who have had adverse childhood experiences. These are not children with special or additional needs.”

“The children would be taken to and brought home from school each day, plus be taken to out-of-school activities.

Their carers would interact with the property and the residence in a way that is very similar to an adult resident, parent or guardian.”

It says the children, who would often have missed an extensive proportion of their education, could be tutored from home at first: “They may then progress to a specialist unit (smaller class sizes), then hopefully on to mainstream.”

It says there will be no external changes to the building or surroundings. Up to two children would live at the house and six carers would work a 24-hour shift pattern, with two working 48 hours and staying overnight, and a manager visiting on weekdays.

There would be visits from social services every four to six weeks and an annual Ofsted visit. Family members and friends may visit but these “are no more frequent than those to a typical family”, with little difference in comings and goings to its current use as a home and no visual difference to other houses, says the statement.