Children's Home run by Horizon Care and Education Group Limited in Bradford

Inspection report children's home: 1245572 1 Registered provider: Horizon Care And Education Group 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

This home is privately owned and run. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account inadequate

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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Overall experiences and progress of

There are serious failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: Not applicable

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home is inadequate because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people’s life chances and educational progress are undermined because Inspection report children's home: 1245572 2 they have no access to education.  Staff do not successfully engage with young people or develop trusting relationships with them. As a result, young people continue to engage in behaviours and activities that pose a risk to their welfare and safety.  The actions of staff have, on occasion, compromised the safety of young people.  The manager and staff have not acted on the recommended actions from safeguarding meetings. Opportunities to engage young people and evaluate behaviours and risks have been missed.  Managerial oversight of staff practice and the progress that the young person is making is weak. Information between staff is not shared or communicated.  Managers have not taken decisive action to review young people’s placements when there have been prolonged and continuous concerns over young people’s

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Key findings from this inspection

welfare. Inspection report children's home: 1245572 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

5. In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff- (c) if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relations to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. 04/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

8. The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff- (iii) understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child overcome such barriers; (iv) help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment (viii) help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible.* 04/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

13. – (1) The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s homes that- (a) helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and (b) promotes their welfare. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to- (a) lead and manage the home that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose (c) ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child (f) understand the impact that the quality of care provided in 04/08/2017 Inspection report children's home: 1245572 4 the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home (h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.*

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Requirement Due date

14. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure- (b) that arrangements are in place to- (ii) manage and review the placement of each child in the home 04/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

11. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure- (a) that staff- (vi) help each child to understand, in a way appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful; (vii) help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship; (viii) strive to gain each child’s respect and trust. 04/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33(4)) 04/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

12(2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure- (b) that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm.* 04/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 04/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the privacy of children is appropriately protected. (Regulation 21 (a)) 04/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Young people make no educational progress at this home. Educational provision has not been arranged for the young person currently in placement. The provider has failed to effectively challenge or escalate this with the placing authority. This undermines her life chances and potential to achieve qualifications. A young person who recently left the home did not engage in education as he was missing for the majority of the time. Inspection report children's home: 1245572 5 Staff have continued to offer opportunities to the young person to engage with activities that could have an educational purpose. However, these attempts have not been successful. The manager has not evaluated the efficacy of the approaches taken by staff in light of the young person’s resistance to engaging with them. This means that the young person does not experience or participate in any positive social, recreational or educational activities that might enhance her life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff have been unable to forge trusting relationships with the young person. As a result, the young person refuses to take the advice and support that staff offer in relation to her safety, sexual health and emotional welfare. Her engagement with health services is minimal and inconsistent, and the monitoring of health issues is compromised.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff make limited progress in negotiating with the young person to reduce her night- time access to social media sites. This allows unknown associates to continue to negatively influence the young person’s outlook and behaviours.

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

There is an ineffective managerial response to safeguarding young people when there are prolonged and persistent incidents of missing from home. For example, a young person recently accommodated at the home spent more days missing than in the home. Staff did not actively search for him, and the manager did not request an early care- planning review when these incidents escalated.

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

Missing-from-home incidents for the young person currently in placement have reduced. However, contact with unknown people via social media and incidents of sexually exploitative relationships have not diminished. This is because the actions of staff to reduce or prevent the young person’s exposure to harmful relationships have not been effective. Although incidents are appropriately notified, the young person’s associates and friends remain largely unknown to the staff.

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

There is a lack of focus and planning in the work with young people, and an absence of well-developed strategies. This is further undermined because the majority of staff have not received child sexual exploitation training.

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

The manager and staff have not followed through the actions agreed at safeguarding meetings. Opportunities to better record and evaluate safeguarding incidents have been missed and the gathering and sharing of information, as requested by other agencies, has not taken place.

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

Notifications of serious incidents are not made in a timely manner, and this reduces the regulatory body’s oversight of the home. In addition, the recording of searches of young people’s rooms does not offer clear reasons as to why these need to take place, and whether young people had been informed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Inspection report children's home: 1245572 6 The manager has been registered to manage the home since February 2017, and is suitably qualified and experienced.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leadership and management is ineffective. The support given to staff by the manager has not followed company guidelines or policies, leaving weaknesses in the supervisory process. This has not provided a suitable and stable environment for staff to work in. In addition, the training and support given to staff is not reflective of the needs that young people present.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Effective communication between staff and the manager is weak, and key information about young people is not shared or discussed. The manager’s oversight of staff record- keeping is not detailed enough to ensure that she is fully aware of the outcomes of meetings, and that the actions of staff are effective. There is a lack of evaluation and detailed analysis of the work that is attempted with the young person. As a result, the young person is making little or no progress in her life.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

An early misunderstanding between the placing authority and the management team has resulted in the young person being placed at the home without any educational input. Challenges presented to other agencies by the manager, in attempts to secure tuition, have not been effective. Managerial plans to secure educational resources for staff to make use of in the home with the young person have not been implemented.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is no systematic oversight regarding young people’s placements. The manager has not sought early reviews of placements in order to ensure that young people’s continued placement at the home meets their needs. This has resulted in some young people, previously living at the home, being absent and missing for long periods of time, with their whereabouts unknown.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Support from the therapeutic clinical team to the staff is neither timely nor consistent. As a result, staff do not benefit from clinical insight that would assist their work.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff have not received appropriate supervision and guidance in line with company timescales and policy. Large gaps in the supervisory processes have weakened managerial oversight and guidance given to staff. On one occasion, this contributed to inappropriate staff responses to a missing-from-home incident, thus compromising the safety of the young person.

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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 differences 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 whom it is trying to help, protect and look Inspection report children's home: 1245572 7 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: 1245572 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Horizon Care And Education Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Venture House, Unit 12, Prospect Business Park, Longford Road, Cannock WS11 0LG

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Inspector

Pauline Yates, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: 1245572 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

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Inspector

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Inspector

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