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

Inspection report children’s home: SC411054 1 SC411054 Registered provider: Horizon Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care for two children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home forms part of a large social care company.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

p.1

Key findings from this inspection

 Staff show care and attention to young people’s welfare, education and experiences. Inspection report children’s home: SC411054 2  Staff understand the importance of young people’s family and friends, and help them to maintain regular contact.  Young people have good care from staff who understand their emotional problems and work hard to improve their confidence and self-esteem.  Staff are committed to young people’s learning and support their education well.  Staff and the manager ensure that young people are well prepared for, and have good help with, moving into and out of the home.  Staff promote a healthy and active lifestyle for every young person.  Staff listen to young people and have a proportionate approach to managing their risk-taking behaviour.  Young people feel safe and do not run away from home.  The manager leads the team in an organised and insightful way, so that the staff team works well to provide consistent care to each young person.

p.1

Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development:

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

 Occasionally, staff and the manager do not use monitoring systems effectively to identify when their practice needs to improve.  A few members of staff’s training and annual appraisals have not been completed within the required period.  Occasionally, staff do not identify and take responsibility for repairing their relationships with young people after staff intervention has escalated a situation.

p.2

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 07/12/2016 Full Good 24/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 21/12/2015 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC411054 3

p.2

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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

Ensure that individuals who work in a care role have the appropriate qualification for their work two years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home. (Regulation 32(5)(a)) 28/02/2018

p.3

Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1),(2)(h))

p.3

Requirement Due date

This is with particular reference to ensuring that the work done following all incidents is recorded in all the places required by the home’s systems, and reviewed by the manager to help to identify when practice worked well and when it was less successful. 28/02/2018

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33(4)(c)) 28/02/2018

p.3

Recommendations

 Staff should be skilled in understanding the range of influences that friendships can have and should encourage those with a positive impact and discourage those with a negative impact. Homes that care for children who have, or are likely to sexually offend, should establish the extent to which friendships can be supported, in line with the child’s relevant plans and subject to the safety of all concerned. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 38, paragraph 8.8) This is with particular reference to staff giving young people advice and coming Inspection report children’s home: SC411054 4 to a clear assessment and view about when and what levels of freedom are safe for young people in their friendships.  Staff should have the skills and confidence to communicate easily and understand the importance of listening to, involving and responding to the children they care

p.3

Recommendations

for. Staff should understand that they have a responsibility to observe, notice and respond to children who are expressing their views, acknowledging that it is not the sole responsibility of the child to ‘tell’. They should also understand how children might communicate their feelings through their behaviour, or non- verbally especially where the child has a disability which does not allow them to communicate as others might. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.10) This is with particular reference to staff identifying and taking responsibility for repairing their relationships with young people after staff interventions that frustrated and escalated a situation.  The registered person should oversee 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

p.4

Recommendations

protection of each child including their social worker, Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO), teachers, clinicians and other health professionals etc. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54 and 55, paragraph 10.23) This is with particular respect to the manager capturing messages from consultations and acting on them to improve the quality of care provided.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide good-quality care and support to young people. They actively show them warm care and attention, as good parents do. One young person has lived here for over two years now. He is progressing well in school, because staff and the manager are committed to young people’s learning and support their education well. He enjoys playing hockey in a local club, after being introduced to the sport by a member of staff who coaches and plays hockey regularly.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and the manager ensure that young people are well prepared for and have good help with moves out of the home. After 18 months here, one young person moved to a different home. Staff and the manager did all that they could to help the young person with his move. They worked carefully together with the young person’s placing social worker to revise his care plan. All staff prepared the young person carefully for his move and provided a warm celebration in the house on his last day. Some staff went with him to his new home and continued to work with him for some weeks.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff find out what is important to young people, and make sure that they understand and meet these needs. For example, staff understand when young people are anxious Inspection report children’s home: SC411054 5 about the welfare of their family members. Staff make sure that young people can see their relatives and talk to them as much as they need to and can reassure themselves, even when they are living a long way from them.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff show good insight into young people’s emotional problems and work hard to improve their confidence and self-esteem. They write positive comments each day in a diary for each young person and encourage the young person to read this. They help young people to collect memories of their time here and put together photo albums with them.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise when lack of confidence is a barrier to young people’s engagement in education. For one young person, they planned and are now providing careful, nurturing in-house learning. This is enabling him to gradually gain the confidence to participate in home study and educational trips with a school tutor and a member of staff.

p.5

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Occasionally, staff do not give young people all the necessary advice and help that they need. For example, staff are not confident enough to work with one young person in the areas where he needs advice and careful assessment before decisions can be made about the extent to which his friendships can be supported.

p.5

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

Young people behave well and take pride in their home. Staff work consistently well, creating a purposeful, peaceful atmosphere where physical interventions have not been used for several months. Young people feel valued and listened to, so they do not complain or lose their tempers. They keep calm because they know what is happening, what is expected of them and how they will obtain the things that they want.

p.5

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

Young people feel safe here and do not run away from home. Staff know the area well and are sensible about the activities and trips that they take young people on. Staff listen to young people when they say what makes them feel like running away or lashing out. One young person’s social worker said, ‘The fact that he has remained and not run is massive.’

p.5

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

On one occasion, a young person was angry and upset when a member of staff ended a phone call that he was making to his mother. Another member of staff talked the incident through with the young person and the difficulty was resolved. However, the member of staff concerned and the young person still have a poor relationship. The member of staff and manager have not reviewed the incident or identified that restorative work is needed to repair this relationship.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Overall, the leadership and management of the home have been good since the last inspection. The registered manager stepped down from her position in October 2017, but retains a senior staff position at the home. A new manager has been promoted from within the organisation. She has the support and confidence of all the staff team. She is Inspection report children’s home: SC411054 6 in the process of applying for registration with Ofsted. The new manager is well organised and effective. Young people like her. They are pleased that the previous manager is still there for them and now has more time to spend with them directly.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a clear understanding of each young person’s progress and the plan for them. She works well with the staff team to plan the delivery of care, making sure that young people know who is caring for them and that staff are well briefed for each shift.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has high expectations of staff and communicates all information to them through regular meetings, written communications and supervision. As a result, all staff work well together and give good support to young people. However, the manager has not captured messages from consultation with children, relatives and other professional stakeholders. She has not used these messages to plan improvements to the home. In addition, she has not identified occasions when systems to record incidents and behaviour management practice have not been used correctly. She has therefore failed to review a few incidents to identify what practice worked well and what did not.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that staff are supported to access all the in-service and professional training that they require. However, a few staff, including herself, have not had an annual staff appraisal. In addition, a few staff have not finished the required professional qualification within set timescales. Having made considerable efforts to resolve the qualifications issues informally, the manager is now working with the organisation’s human resources team to use performance management procedures. These shortfalls have not affected the good-quality care that young people receive.

p.6

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.

p.6

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: SC411054 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Horizon Care Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

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

p.7

Inspector

Rachel Britten, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC411054 8 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.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, 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, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

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

p.8

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8