Children's Home run by Horizon Care Limited in Staffordshire

Unique reference number SC062406 Inspection date 05/02/2014 Inspector David Morgan Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 26/09/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This children's home is operated by a private company. It accommodates up to three young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Good progress The children’s home has demonstrated continued improvement in quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the large majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Satisfactory progress The children’s home has maintained quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Inadequate progress The children’s home has failed to address one or more requirements and/or has not met the majority of recommendations and/or the quality of care and outcomes for children and young people have declined since the last full inspection.

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Progress

Since their previous inspection the service is judged to be making good progress .

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Progress

The service was good at its last inspection in September 2013 and good progress has been sustained. At that inspection one requirement and three recommendations were made, which have been addressed thoroughly. As a result, facilities are now in place to allow young people who self-medicate to do so safely. Extensive consultation has occurred around the use of alarms in the house at night. It has been confirmed that these are not needed for the surveillance of young people. However, it was agreed to maintain the practice as it provided a degree of security from intruders. The manager is keeping this matter under review so that young people's privacy is not breached and so there are as few institutional features as possible. Fire safety has also been improved through closer attention to the policy. For fire drills, the bells are now sounded on an unannounced basis and staff and young people now leave by the nearest exits. This serves to make the events more

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Progress

realistic and provides a higher level of understanding and therefore safety. Further improvements are planned. The manager has verified the current professional accreditation of the therapist who works with the young people. This serves to confirm that only suitably qualified and supported professionals work with the young people. The manager was registered in September 2013 and is systematically addressing and recording progress made with the targets in the development plan. Staff members are developing their skills and there is regular consultation about the quality of the service. In addition, new initiatives are being implemented, which include recording increased instances of group activities. This was identified as a shortfall in the home and the improvement has benefits for all the young people. Young people continue to make individual progress too. Highly effective and supportive transition work has

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Progress

been underway for some time. Young people make successful moves to adulthood and keep in touch with staff. Excellent academic results have also been achieved recently. Those that have left give very positive messages about their experiences in the home. One said, ‘You taught me a lot and pulled me through and changed me for the best.’ Young people also benefit from high levels of safeguarding based in particular on their positive relationships with staff; instances of them going missing are almost nil as are instances of bullying and physical interventions. Staff are highly effective role models for young people.

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Progress

All the young people feel positive about the home and its rural location is not an obstacle to their development. The house itself is well presented. Newly admitted young people say the care is better than other homes they have lived in. They feel that the rules are fair. Young people feel empowered to make complaints and to involve external agencies such as the police if necessary. This is a positive reflection on the training they have received from staff about their rights. However, not all such complaints are recorded. This means that monitoring is less effective and young people do not get the feedback they require. In other regards, the monitoring is thorough and the manager is developing additional ways of identifying patterns and trends so that the service can continue to improve.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 ensure children receive prompt feedback on any concerns or complaints raised and are kept informed of progress. (NMS 1.6)

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About this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards.

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About this inspection

The report details the progress made by the provider since the last full inspection, identifies any further strengths, any areas for improvement and makes judgements as outlined in the Inspection of children’s homes – framework for inspection.

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