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

Inspection report children‟s home: 1258434 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 owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children and young people, aged from seven to 18 years old, who have social and/or emotional difficulties. The home offers medium- and long- term placements for young people irrespective of gender.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered on 20 December 2017. The home is led by a registered manager who has a level 5 qualification in leadership and management.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

On 5 February 2018, a monitoring visit was undertaken in response to Ofsted receiving information, which raised concerns about the care and safety of children. As a result of the monitoring inspection, a restriction of accommodation notice was issued. A further monitoring visit on 19 March 2018 found that significant progress had been made. The restriction of accommodation was subsequently lifted. Inspection report children‟s home: 1258434 2

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Recent inspection history

This is the home‟s first full inspection since registration in December 2017. Inspection report children‟s home: 1258434 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff— raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child‟s education or training provider and the child‟s placing authority; 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. (Regulation 8 (1)(2)(a)(vii)(viii)) 30/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— within 48 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)— has spoken to the user about the measure; has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) 30/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there; or there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. A notification made under this regulation— must include details of the matter; the other persons, bodies or organisations (if any) who or which have been notified; and 30/09/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: 1258434 4 any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(c)(e)(5)(a)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Recommendations

 For children‟s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments; however, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than „institutional‟ impression. („Guide to the children‟s home‟s regulations including the quality standards‟, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children build trusting relationships with staff. Staff know children well and promote their welfare. They provide children with clear and consistent boundaries. This means that children feel cared for and are provided with a sense of belonging. A child told the inspector, „It‟s good; I like the staff, they are just kind.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A clinical team enables staff to use a therapeutic approach when caring for children. Advice from the clinical team helps the staff to understand and meet each child‟s needs well. Specialist support and committed staff ensure that children have positive experiences and make progress in different aspects of their development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. They encourage children to attend routine medical appointments. Children engage in a range of activities, which promotes their good health, broadens their experiences and helps them to invest in their local community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some aspects of the home and garden require improvement. Plans are in place for this work to be carried out. This means that managers are committed to maintaining a comfortable and homely environment for children to live in. A recommendation is made to ensure that planned improvement work is completed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Partnership working arrangements between the registered manager, placing authorities and other external agencies are generally positive. As a result, most children receive coordinated care and support. However, one child has experienced significant delays in accessing an appropriate school. Furthermore, this child is not always engaged in constructive activity during the school day. This has compromised this child‟s progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy regular contact with their family members. Staff promote contact for children and liaise with the placing authority to review contact arrangements. This means that children maintain safe and positive links with people who are important to them. Inspection report children‟s home: 1258434 5

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

Children speak to staff if they have any worries and know how to complain. They said that they feel safe and listened to.

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

Children engage in regular key-work sessions with staff, which helps address a range of issues including safe relationships, behaviour and how to keep safe. This promotes their welfare.

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

Staff review and update children‟s behaviour management plans and risk assessments regularly. As a result, staff understand the needs of the children and how to support them.

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

Staff use incentives to encourage children to behave positively and they reward children when they do well. For example, a child visited the beauty salon for a nail treatment, due to good school attendance.

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

The staff are trained in the use of physical intervention and use it only as a last resort to maintain children‟s safety. However, when such incidents occur, the registered manager does not consistently carry out all follow-up action. For example, she does not speak to the staff members involved in the physical intervention within 48 hours of the incident occurring. This contributes to a lack of prompt oversight and learning from the use of physical intervention.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and staff team have worked hard to improve standards and provide good-quality care for children. They understand the home‟s strengths and areas for improvement and are committed to continued improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff reported that they are well supported by managers. Staff receive monthly supervision in line with the home‟s policies and procedures. This means that the staff are consistently receiving regular feedback on their practice. Furthermore, good training opportunities enable staff to keep up to date with the relevant skills and knowledge to meet children‟s needs well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff maintain good working relationships with children‟s families and professionals involved in their care. Families and professionals spoke positively about the quality of care children receive and the progress they make.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When serious incidents or allegations against staff have occurred, these have not always been reported to Ofsted in line with regulation. Not notifying Ofsted leaves the regulator without essential information with which to monitor the effectiveness of the home. Inspection report children‟s home: 1258434 6

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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 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: 1258434 7

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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

Sarah Junor-Fitzpatrick, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 1258434 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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