Children's home run by Horizon Care Limited

Inspection report children’s home: SC068223 1 SC068223 Registered provider: Horizon Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean young people are not protected and their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home is inadequate because  Risk management arrangements are poor and do not safeguard children.  The lack of evaluation of new admissions poses a risk to the existing young people in the home.  Poor leadership and management oversight of the service have failed to identify and address areas of concerns, which has placed young people at risk of harm.  Serious incidents and allegations have not been consistently reported in line with safeguarding procedures.  The manager failed to report an allegation that was made by a young person in relation to a professional to the designated officer in a timely way. Inspection report children’s home: SC068223 2  The manager did not challenge a placing authority about their negative response to her request for a strategy meeting to consider the risks posed to a young person in relation to ‘missing’ episodes. She also failed to escalate this to a higher

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Key findings from this inspection

level.  The organisation has failed to provide the manager with regular professional supervision. The last recorded supervision was in January 2017. This does not provide her with the support to reflect on and review her performance.  The quality of care review lacks feedback from social workers, young people and parents. These shortfalls restrict the manager in identifying whether the care that the home provides is effective.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff work with young people to help them to develop practical skills that will help them become successful adults.  Staff develop positive relationships with young people and have a good understanding how young people’s life experiences can impact on their behaviour.  Staff support young people to attend their educational provision, which has resulted in young people passing their GCSE exams.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/03/2017 Full Good 06/07/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 19/01/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 09/09/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC068223 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff: (b) seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs (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 relation 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 01/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard the registered person must ensure: (2)(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. 01/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard the registered person is required to: (2)(a) Lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (2)(f) Understand the impact that the quality of care provided in 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. 01/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the care planning standard, the registered provider must ensure: (1) The care planning standard is that children (a) Receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home (2)(b) manage and review the placement of each child in the home. 01/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

(4)(e) 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. 01/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review, the registered person 01/09/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC068223 4 must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating: (a) the quality of care provided for children. (b) the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it. (5) The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Since the last inspection, the registered manager has admitted one young person to the home. The evaluation of the potential impact on the other young people in the home following the admission of the new young person was not rigorous. This led to all the young people going missing from the home and being at serious risk of harm from child sexual exploitation. The decision destabilised young people who were settled at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The registered manager does not ensure that young people receive well-planned care. Risk assessments are poor and they lack detail about young people’s behaviour. This makes it difficult to assess the impact that they may have on the other vulnerable young people who live in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff value young people’s educational attendance and achievement. Young people, who did not attend school prior to living at this home, now make good progress in their education provision. Staff work with education staff to provide consistent care in managing behaviour and emotions. This has resulted in a significant increase in education attendance. Some young people have gained GCSE exams and some have gained a childcare qualification. Staff are supporting young people to prepare for college, working with education staff and placing social workers to identify a suitable college. A social worker said, ‘(Name) didn’t enjoy her education at first but staff supported her to attend and she’s done very well.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff make positive relationships with young people. Young people develop practical skills, such as cooking and self-care tasks, in preparation for independence. Staff encourage young people to engage in recreational and social activities outside the home, such as horse riding and holidays. Young people keep souvenirs and photographs in a memory box so that they can remember their time spent at the home. A young person said: ‘I’ve been on holiday to Spain and I have learned how to do my washing and use the bus. I help out with preparing meals and I like baking.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff promote young people’s contact with their families where that has been risk assessed. The manager and staff are able to identify when contact is unsafe, and raise Inspection report children’s home: SC068223 5 concerns with placing authorities so that young people have safe and meaningful contact. As a result, young people develop and sustain a sense of identity and belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The requirement made at the last inspection has been addressed. The manager has put arrangements in place to avoid the potholes until the driveway is resurfaced. The home removed the large ivy plant that covered the garage to ensure that this structure is safe. A speed limit sign is in place to ensure that young people and staff are safe from oncoming traffic at the home.

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

The safety of young people has declined since the last inspection. There has been a significant increase in ‘missing episodes’, placing them at considerable risk when they go missing from the home. Staff search for young people and follow missing from home procedures. They contact the police and local authority, and attempt to maintain contact with young people and their families. The manager consistently ensures that independent return home interviews are undertaken. Staff have a good opportunity to understand and evaluate any issues or concerns that young people may have when they are missing from the home.

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

There has been one allegation made by a young person against a professional, and that was not referred to the designated officer. The home’s records reveal serious incidents about young people’s self-harmful behaviour, one of which required staff to support a young person to seek medical attention. The manager failed to notify Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of these incidents within the required timescales. This delays the opportunity for the inspector to track patterns or trends and does not contribute to the safeguarding of young people.

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

Staff make every attempt to support young people to develop skills and strategies to manage their own conflicts. Clear consistent boundaries and positive relationships have been nurtured so that physical intervention has not been necessary. Staff understand how the young people’s experiences and current emotions can be communicated through their behaviour. Staff provide opportunities for young people to talk about what causes anxiety and frustration, and devise strategies for them to manage these in a calmer way. Staff use a reward system to encourage positive behaviour. Young people choose rewards such as horse riding, which encourages self-esteem and self-confidence.

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

The home identifies areas within its vicinity, which hold potential risks for young people. Other agencies complete the location risk assessment, such as local police. This provides a sound reference for staff to use to educate young people on the areas to avoid. For example, the registered manager is aware that the bus line that runs next to the home may pose a risk to young people through their gaining access to a city.

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

Staff employed at the home are subject to vetting procedures. They do not start work in the home until all appropriate checks are complete. All fire, gas and electrical equipment is serviced to ensure it is in good working order. This ensures that the environment is Inspection report children’s home: SC068223 6 safe and that young people are protected from external risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The permanent registered manager has the necessary experience and qualifications to manage the home. She has been in post since October 2013 and holds a level 5 diploma in leadership and management. She ensures that the home is suitably staffed by a consistent and stable staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Since the last inspection, the registered manager has failed to prioritise young people in the home by not evaluating sufficiently the information and risks when admitting new young people into the home. The registered manager does not make child-centred decisions about young people coming to the home. This has resulted in a change of placement plan for some young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has failed to secure a local authority strategy meeting to address the serious risks associated with high levels of ‘missing’ episodes. This proved to have an impact on the young person’s care and support, because staff were unsure how best to manage the young person’s behaviour. The manager did not escalate the inadequate response by a placing authority to her request. This resulted in young people continuing to be at risk of serious harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The organisation has failed to support the manager, as she has not had formal supervision for the last six months. This lack of support has led to a decline in the effectiveness and quality of the service and in her ability to reflect on the impact of an admission. In addition, it prevents the quality of care from improving.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

By contrast, the staff team is consistent and well established, and staff supervision and appraisals are up to date. Supervision and appraisal records are clear and show that staff have the opportunity to discuss their work, development and learning. Mandatory training is up to date. Staff have completed other learning, such as attachment theory, for children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff report that the last few months have been a difficult and challenging time. They welcome the opportunity to talk about this as a team and with their manager. A staff member said, ‘I feel that I am well supported by the manager and any training I identify I can ask the manager and she will look into it. It has been a very tiring and chaotic time lately and we need to talk about it as a team.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager is open and honest, and is able to identify the strengths and shortfalls of the home. She acknowledges that staff have not safeguarded young people and that more careful consideration should be given to measuring the impact of admissions to the home on the existing young people. The manager completes a six- monthly report following a review of the quality of care afforded to the young people. This report lacks a system for establishing and reflecting on the views of the young people, parents, placing authorities and staff. Inspection report children’s home: SC068223 7

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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 whom 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: SC068223 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Horizon Care Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector(s)

Jo Hornby, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC068223 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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