Children's home run by Horizon Care Limited in Cannock Chase

Good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.2

The children’s home provision is good because:

 Young people know that staff really care about them, and are striving to provide good quality care.  Young people are safe and relaxed and know all the staff who look after them.  All staff provide each young person with well-planned and relevant key working sessions and targets that are clearly documented.  Staff organise each day carefully so that each young person’s needs are met well, and so that they receive individualised help to make good progress.  Young people have full, interesting lives and good help to develop safe and appropriate social lives with friends and family members.  Staff think about what help young people need and concentrate their efforts on how best to provide it.

p.3

The children’s home provision is good because:

 Staff are sensitive to young people’s difficulties. They are tactful but clear when they give them help and advice.

p.3

The children’s home provision is good because:

 Staff are clear, fair, kind and sensitive when boundaries and instructions are needed.  Staff provide good support and care that has helped young people to reduce significantly their previous unsafe behaviour that made them vulnerable to harm.  Staff work well with social workers, educators and others to equip young people with the emotional resilience and practical knowledge that they need for adult life.  There are a few care and leadership practices which require review to ensure that they fully benefit young people.

p.3

Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Ensure that the children’s home staff take reasonable precautions and make informed professional judgements based on the individual child’s needs and developmental stage about when to allow a child to take a particular risk or follow a particular course of action. Staff should discuss the decision with the child’s placing authority where appropriate. If a child makes a choice that would place them or another person at significant risk of harm, staff should assist them to understand the risks and manage their risk-taking behaviour to keep themselves and others safe. (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.7)

p.4

Recommendations

 Ensure that the registered person undertakes reviews that focus on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of children living there and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. Reviews should be underpinned by the quality standards as described in regulations 5 to 14. (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2)

p.4

Recommendations

 Ensure that the registered person oversees the welfare of the children in their care through observation and engagement with each child, the home’s staff, each child’s family/carers where appropriate and professionals involved in the care or protection of each child, including their social worker, independent reviewing officer (IRO), teachers, clinicians and other health professionals. This is with particular reference to using the messages from these engagements and consultations to inform the review of the quality of care and plan improvements. (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.23)

p.4

Recommendations

 Ensure that the registered person and their staff engage proactively with the placing authority to contribute fully to the relevant plans for the child’s care on an ongoing basis. (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.3)

p.4

Recommendations

 Ensure that children are encouraged by staff to see the home’s records as ‘living documents’ supporting them to view, and contribute to, the record in a way that reflects their voice on a regular basis. (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.19)

p.4

Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care for up to three children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is privately owned and forms part of a large social care company.

p.5

Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

p.5

Recent inspection history

24 March 2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

p.5

Recent inspection history

9 March 2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

p.5

Good

All staff provide each young person with well-planned, good quality care. They are making a good impact on the progress and experiences of all three young people. The young people are settled and enjoy the care, attention and positive approach of staff, who think about what help they need and how best to provide it. The care that young people receive meets the ethos of minimising and overcoming emotional and behavioural difficulties, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. Staff are sensitive to young people’s difficulties. They are tactful but clear when they give them help with healthy living, medical issues, practical independence skills and school studies. Staff research and obtain helpful information to help young people. Staff ‘earn the right’ to counsel and advise young people by demonstrating consistent care and positive regard to them. As a result, young people are making good choices to work harder at their school studies and aspire

p.6

Good

to future work and good lifestyles. One young person told a member of staff: ‘When I leave school I want to go to college and do health and social studies, then I would like to go to university and study psychology. I want to help people and understand them.’ Another young person is attending police cadets and doing weekend voluntary work with a view to a career in the police or to starting his own business. Staff help young people by using the positive relationships they develop to good effect. Staff spend as much time as they can with young people and show an interest in their friendships, relationships and hobbies. Staff talk to them while they cook, eat, shop, play games, or go out to football matches, to pamper days or to the gym. Staff are patient and look for ways to help and support young people. As a result, young people are relaxed in the home and will engage in talking to staff about their anger, worries and concerns, as well as using outside support from

p.6

Good

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. (CAMHS) and their social workers. Staff advocate for young people with respect to school, relationship and care plan issues. They also teach them appropriate ways to respond and to conduct their friendships and relationships with others. Young people’s time at the home is documented in numerous ways, including key working sessions, photo sheets celebrating events and outings, and monthly overviews and targets. Young people also have a praise book and a file where their individual achievements are set out each week. However, the value of all these documents is lost on young people. They rarely read them and do not keep them to look through again. Young people cannot remember the information, progress and praise that is given to them and they cannot look back at them when they are spending time on their own in their rooms. Young people are being well prepared for their futures while enjoying a secure

p.6

Good

base here. One young person wrote, ‘Now I still have help from others. Next year I will try to do the everyday things all by myself, such as cooking my own meals and helping others.’ Staff create a sense of group living while attending well to what each young person needs help with. This includes help with budgeting; self-care and confident self-image; using public transport; managing health needs; establishing good work, study and sleep patterns; minimising conflict through improved self-awareness and self-control and maintaining motivation. Evidence of young people’s progress is clear to see and is recorded. However, some of the young people’s short-term aims and targets are not followed up to best effect. This is because of the sheer volume of variously recorded plans, targets and evidence- gathering documents that are in use. There are occasional oversights as a result, such as staff not consulting social workers closely enough about the detail of how

p.7

Good

new family contact arrangements will be supported.

p.7

Good

Staff provide good support and care that has helped young people to reduce significantly the previous unsafe behaviour that made them vulnerable to harm. Young people are not going missing. They understand why staff need to know where they are and whether they are with safe and suitable friends, peers, adults or family members. Staff have taught them about safe and fair sexual relationships and social friendships. Staff have helped them to understand their own complex responses and needs so that they have gained in confidence and self-worth. Young people are now communicating appropriately with peers using social media, and keep in contact with staff when away on free time. This shows excellent progress for young people who have previously been vulnerable to exploitation and have misused drugs and alcohol. Young people’s behaviour difficulties are very well managed by staff. Staff are clear, fair, kind and sensitive when boundaries and instructions are needed. They

p.7

Good

stay alongside young people and help them with the issue, treating them maturely, as appropriate to their age, as a good parent would. This really helps young people to overcome their difficulties and defuses almost all situations where conflict is likely to arise. Young people feel safe and secure here and want to spend time here, both in their rooms and in the home’s communal spaces. All three young people are well matched. They attend different schools and have different interests and characters. They show some good regard and consideration for one another and their shared home. They each feel that they get enough good support and attention from staff. Staff and the manager demonstrate good skills in meeting the needs of each young person while creating a calm, homely environment. However, young people’s lengthy individual behaviour management plans and risk assessments do not reflect accurately how much reduced their risks

p.7

Good

are. In addition, various care practices around alarms, supervision and locking items away seem unnecessarily institutional. Staff are unsure why these practices are used and risk assessments about them have not been reviewed in the light of young people’s improved behaviour. Staff are methodical and well organised about domestic safety. They are alert to the dangers of fire, carbon monoxide poisoning, food hygiene, busy main road traffic, car maintenance and safe driving. They teach young people about these aspects of safety and how to minimise risks when using domestic appliances, spending time outside the home or living independently in the future.

p.8

Good

The new manager leads in a warm, friendly manner and young people find him approachable and trustworthy. He prioritises the needs of young people well by uses the skills of experienced staff. This in turn enhances young people’s experiences and progress. He has strong links with hosting and placing authorities, particularly in education, police and social work. A social worker commented that the new manager’s presence ‘has made a big difference. My young person is doing really well again.’ Another social worker said, ‘Staff and manager changes badly affected my young person, but now he is settled.’ Staff are confident in the manager and are enjoying the creative practice, initiative and challenge to other services that they are encouraged to show. This means that young people are benefiting from good quality care and are making good progress against their plans. The manager has been in post for four months and had completed the Ofsted

p.8

Good

registration process at the time of this inspection. He has experience both of starting new children’s homes and managing them, where the aim is to support children and young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. He feels well supported by the organisation’s senior leadership and is eager to maintain and improve on young people’s outcomes. The home is well resourced and is maintained to a good standard. The kitchen worktops were replaced for improved food hygiene reasons following the recent interim inspection requirement. Most staff are qualified. Those who are unqualified are within regulatory timescales at present to obtain their qualification within two years of starting work. The manager is aware of his own need to refresh and update his knowledge, because his management and care qualifications were obtained many years ago. He is therefore undertaking training, provided by the organisation, alongside the staff

p.9

Good

team. The manager knows that the strengths of the home lie in the staff team’s ability and commitment. He is focusing on developing its talent and career progression. He and the team have a good grasp of the quality standards and can evidence how their skilled inputs have made a difference to young people. However, the systems for consultation with young people, families and professionals do not work well. There are no clear messages about practice or improvement captured through consultation. Similarly, monitoring reports of the home contains insufficient identification and analysis of good and less good practice. This means that written reviews of the quality of care come up with few insights or ideas for improvement to help the manager and staff prioritise effectively. These shortfalls do not take away from the good quality practice of staff or the progress of young people. The manager is eager to rectify them as soon as possible.

p.9

What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against ‘Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection’.

p.10

What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children’s home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children’s home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children’s home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of looked after children is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place, however, the children’s home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children’s home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

p.10

What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

p.10

Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children’s home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children’s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This 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 Children’s

p.11

Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. the guidance ‘Raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.11

Information about this inspection

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

p.12

Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.12

Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.12

Information about this inspection

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

p.12