Children's home run by Horton Establishments Ltd in Kingston upon Hull, City of

Inspection report children's home: SC413678 1 SC413678 Registered provider: Horton Establishments Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company owns the home. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to two young people who have learning disabilities and/or emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The registered provider also runs a special school that young people can attend. At the time of inspection, both girls living at the home attended other schools.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 7 November 2016

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Declined in effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection

None Inspection report children's home: SC413678 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 The girls benefit from a good quality of care, enjoy positive experiences and make good progress.  There is a strong focus and good success in promoting the girls’ emotional well- being.  Risks management is effective and allows the girls to develop their independence in a safe and supportive way.  The girls are rarely missing from home. Staff take effective action, when they are missing, to achieve their safe return home.  There is strong management of the home with comprehensive procedures for monitoring the girls’ progress and the quality of care.  Partnership working with other agencies contributes to keeping the girls safe and promoting their welfare.  The manager and staff listen to the girls’ views and advocate strongly for them.  Staff are supported by the manager through regular supervision and team meetings. There is a good training programme that promotes their professional development.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/11/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness 09/05/2016 Full Good 08/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 13/10/2015 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC413678 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement ("the statement of purpose") which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1 (Regulation 16 (1)). 30/06/2017

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4.) In particular, records of counselling, therapy and key working should be maintained in a way that is informative to children, their parents and staff. There should be a clear audit trail of any action required as a result of any discussion with children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The girls benefit from a nurturing environment, created by staff who are welcoming and supportive. The staff genuinely care about and value each girl as an individual. One of the girls commented that one of the best things is, ‘The staff, they are really helpful and they respect you.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The physical environment is, as far as possible, maintained in a homely and domestic style. Both from the outside and within it looks like a normal family home. The girls like living here and have scooters, bicycles and a trampoline to play on. They have a say in the decor of the home and the style and design of their bedrooms reflect their individuality.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The girls have developed good relationships with staff. The strength of these relationships empowers the girls to feel safe and build secure, trusting attachments towards the staff. The promotion of the girls’ positive emotional well-being is a result of Inspection report children's home: SC413678 4 ongoing counselling and the commitment and skills of staff. It is safe for the girls to talk about their past experiences and the staff support them to learn about the reasons that they are in care. They experience a strong degree of empathy from staff and consequently become more emotionally resilient and mature.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The girls value their individual identities, particularly in relation to family contact. Staff work closely with the placing authority, ensuring that contact with parents, siblings and extended family takes place regularly. Staff take a lead role in organising contact for the girls’ benefit and help them to understand the reasons for any restrictions. Relatives are welcome to visit the home and some parents come on a regular basis and cook tea with their daughter. These arrangements help to promote the girls’ culture through maintaining important family relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff make sure that the girls’ cultural needs are further promoted. Both girls have a strong interest in the local rugby league team. The girls attend regular matches, home and away, and have started their own fantasy league teams with staff. One of the girls has taken this interest further with cheerleading and rugby training. Positive incentives and rewards for good behaviour include expensive items of team kit. Rugby league is a large part of the local culture. Not only do the girls enjoy taking part, they are maintaining their identities and chosen lifestyles.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The girls benefit from the high levels of consideration that the manager and staff give to their wishes and feelings. This is in relation to diet, activities, personal items and choices about day-to-day arrangements for their care. For example, staff recently amended the evening routine in response to a request from one of the girls. This change is also promoting her independence and allows her to be more responsible. The girls choose the activities that they want and one is encouraged to plan all her weekends as part of her independence plan. One of them commented, ‘It’s great, you get to do what you want.’ They enjoy their individual interests, such as horse riding, swimming, going to the cinema, youth clubs, shopping and getting their nails done. Staff help each of them to try new things and pursue their own choices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage the girls to attend school regularly and achieve well. They are thoughtful and sensitive about transport arrangements so it is not obvious to others that the girls are in care. This reduces the risks of feeling stigmatised. The girls have very high attendance levels and make good progress. The ethos and culture about education is such that one of the girls attended all her recent extra revision sessions during the school holidays. This strong commitment was in preparation for her upcoming exams. The girls receive good support with the transition from primary to secondary school and when older, entry into college.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide the girls with an environment that promotes their physical, mental and emotional health. The girls live a healthy lifestyle free from smoking, alcohol and substance use. Staff make sure that they attend regular health checks and appointments. The girls eat a healthy diet and are physically active unless prevented by injury. Inspection report children's home: SC413678 5 The girls make good progress in becoming more independent and taking on responsibility for their own needs. They make decisions about their care plans, use public transport, shop, cook and complete other household tasks. One of the girls got a job of her own accord. Staff regularly review the girls’ competencies over a range of different areas and where appropriate link this to individual pathway plans for leaving care. The level of support from the staff helps the girls to prepare well for future adulthood.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The girls feel safe and the staff are helping them to become safer. The staff team is fully aware of the individual risks to each girl and implements effective holistic strategies on a day-to-day basis to protect the girls from harm. The staff are active in regularly assessing risks and work closely with the placing authority, police, schools and other agencies to fully safeguard the girls. The safeguarding lead from another agency commented, ‘The quality of partnership work is good and staff are proactive in their approach.’

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The manager ensures that decisions about risk taking are informed and based on professional judgements about the girls’ individual needs, progress and development. For example, having a mobile telephone, travelling independently, self-medicating and having a job. The risk management approach helps the girls to become more independent and responsible in a safe way.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The staff are knowledgeable about safeguarding issues, such as child sexual exploitation and radicalisation. They use their skills, experience and training to help the girls to learn about such risks and how to keep themselves safe. There are regular conversations between staff and the girls about relationships and friends and the difference between a good friend and a bad friend. Staff help the girls to access additional support from different agencies that specialise in subjects about exploitation or mental health issues.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The number of times that the girls are missing from the home is very low. These incidents are quite short with the girls returning or staff finding them quickly. Staff practice is good at safeguarding the girls when such an incident does occur. There are up-to-date risk assessments in place and clear procedures that staff follow. The manager has been proactive in restarting meetings between local children’s homes’ managers and the police authority. This will help to share good practice and information to further safeguard the girls.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Any allegations or complaints from the girls are promptly acted upon. The manager ensures that appropriate partner agencies are informed and that necessary action is taken to keep the girls safe.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The girls benefit from the consistent care, clear boundaries and expectations given by staff that help them to cope with difficult feelings. Emotional support for the girls is based on research, good practice and the training that staff receive from specialist professionals. This is complemented with a strong emphasis on rewarding positive Inspection report children's home: SC413678 6 behaviour, with incentives for girls to improve and achieve. There are times when the staff need to physically intervene to prevent the girls from harming themselves or anyone else. The manager reviews all such incidents to make sure that this practice is safe and appropriate.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The girls respond well to the emotional support that they experience and the behaviour management strategies used. The placing authority is included in agreeing behaviour support plans and the manager consults the girls so that their wishes are included in new approaches.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been in post since the end of 2015. He has relevant experience and an appropriate level 5 qualification. His management style focuses on the experiences and achievements of the girls. He is developing his aspirations and vision both for the girls to succeed and to improve the quality and effectiveness of the home. The aims and objectives set out in the home’s statement of purpose are met. The section required by regulation about the promotion of education is missing from this document. This is not impacting on the girls’ progress but it is important to include for interested parties and placing authorities to refer to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is clear about the home’s strengths and weaknesses. He has taken on board differences in practice from a visit to an ‘outstanding’ home and there is greater challenge from the new independent visitor. The manager has written a comprehensive development plan and made considerable progress in making improvements. All the requirements from the last inspection are met. Consequently, there is better management of the home, the girls are safer and care practice meets their needs holistically.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is positive, thinks that the home has changed for the better and feels supported by the manager. As a result, the girls benefit as their needs, welfare and development are at the heart of the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are very knowledgeable about the individual needs of the girls and there is a good training programme in place, ensuring that the girls experience care from skilled staff. Specific therapeutic approaches are shared with school settings through joint training to enhance the consistency of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager pays frequent attention to the progress that the girls make. He regularly reviews their support plans and targets in consultation with the girls and other agencies. He shares their progress reports with the placing authority and ensures that the staff contribute positively to multi-agency meetings and reviews.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff team work diligently in partnership with the girls’ relatives, social workers, the police, schools, health services and the local authority safeguarding officer. There is frequent communication through email, telephone and written updates about the girls’ needs. The strong partnership working that exists contributes to the positive Inspection report children's home: SC413678 7 experiences and good outcomes for the girls.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Robust monitoring gives the manager a good oversight of the girls’ experiences, staff practice and record keeping. He undertakes monthly audits in a number of areas and will challenge any poor practice and gaps in records. Records of counselling sessions and direct work undertaken with the girls in key working sessions and the systems for recording their wishes and feelings need to improve. The level of detail and action planning are not good enough and this could compromise future outcomes for the girls. Feedback from other professionals, relatives and the girls indicates that this is not having a current impact.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and 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.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children's home: SC413678 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Horton Establishments Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 372 Chanterlands Avenue, Hull HU5 4ED

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Inspector(s)

Simon Morley: social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC413678 9 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, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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