Fountain House
- Age Range: 6 - 12 on admission
- Capacity: Up to 5
- Gender: Male and female
- Length: Minimum of two-year placement
- Location: West Yorkshire
Fountain House provides care, education, and therapy, for up to five children and young people aged 6-12. The home prides themselves on their ability to never give up. The primary purpose of Fountain House is to work with young people who are unable to live in a family setting.
Fountain House seamlessly combines care, education, and therapy in an integrated, therapeutic approach, individually tailored to meet the needs of the children and young people, with the aim of preparing them (over a minimum two-year period) for a long term ‘forever family’ placement.
Fountain House works with children in a therapeutic manner, incorporating psychoeducation and milieu (planned environment) therapy. Adults recognise the difficulties that children and young people can experience when considering the current impact of:
- Early life trauma
- Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
- Disrupted attachments
The home develops and reviews clear and consistent behaviour management strategies, including the use of our calming sensory room, and therapy room when appropriate, created specifically to meet the needs of the children and young people.
“Children benefit from building trusting relationships with their carers, as well as receiving individualised care. This supports the outstanding progress that children are making in all areas since their admission” – Ofsted, 2020.
Everything that Fountain House does is focused on meeting the needs of their young people. Practice is child-centred, trauma-informed and therapeutic. The home’s interventions promote learning, growth, and development. It provides a safe and nurturing environment that is full of fun, love, and laughter, where both children and adults can feel valued.
“The children are at the very centre of practice and carers work hard at providing a homely and nurturing environment for children to relax in. The home provides a very child-friendly environment with communal spaces for children to play, be imaginative and explore. Individualised spaces, such as bedrooms, provide children an opportunity to reflect their individual likes and needs. They value their home and identify their home as a safe place to be” – Ofsted, 2020.
Adults at Fountain House have successfully worked with several young people who, on admission, displayed a high level of sexualised behaviour alongside extreme violence and aggression; these young people have previously experienced difficulties trusting adults and forming relationships with them. These young people had been out of education for a significant period and were living in a world of chaos with no routine or boundaries.
Through the implementation of the ATIC Model©, which was piloted and developed at Fountain House over a four-year period, children and young people have made successful, positive changes to their lives. They have developed new coping skills and started to understand their own past, emotions, and behaviour, attend education full time and have shown a significant reduction in incidents of violent, aggressive, and sexualised behaviours.
Key elements of the model are:
Outcomes for children placed at Fountain House include:
- Successful transition into foster care.
- Successful transition to mainstream education.
- Return home.
