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

Inspection report children‟s home: SC374939 1 SC374939 Registered provider: Horizon Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children‟s home provides care and accommodation for up to three children and young people who have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been registered since August 2017.

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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: 21 February 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC374939 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 01/09/2017 Full Good 24/05/2017 Full Inadequate 07/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC374939 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

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)–

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm that it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must make sure that a detailed record is kept of the discussions with the user and the child involved in the measure. This information should inform the review of the incident and provide the opportunity for learning, including amending practice to make sure that it meets the needs of each child and sharing good practice. 30/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which–

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36(1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, children‟s case records should be always written in a way that will be helpful to the child. Case records should include detailed information that provides a full and meaningful picture of the child‟s experiences and progress. Case records 31/12/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC374939 4 should also record the author‟s evaluation of the child‟s experiences and progress and identify the areas where the child needs help and how this will be achieved.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should keep the workforce plan up to date to show any changes to the workforce and how the workforce related requirements of regulation 16 and schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20) will be fulfilled. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 53, paragraph 10.8) Inspection report children‟s home: SC374939 5

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive a high quality of care that is making a positive difference to their lives. The manager and staff‟s nurturing and consistent practice helps children with complex emotional needs to enjoy positive experiences and make good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a comfortable and pleasant house. They have a strong sense of belonging and are proud of their home. They like and trust the manager and staff. This is because the manager and staff are skilled in engaging with children. The manager and staff are genuinely warm and friendly people. They communicate easily with children and respond appropriately to children‟s wishes and feelings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff work tirelessly to make sure that the children enjoy the same opportunities and experiences as other children. Children have fun taking part in a wide range of activities, such as swimming, going to the cinema and going on holiday. Children see their parents, brothers and sisters and friends regularly. The manager and staff make sure that this is a safe and positive experience for everyone.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager carefully selects the children to come to live at the home. She makes sure that staff have the experience and expertise to respond properly to meet each child‟s needs. The manager also astutely matches the needs of the child with those of the others already living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff make sure that each child‟s individual needs are consistently met . As a result, children have significantly improved outcomes in education, health and emotional well-being, developing healthy relationships and understanding and managing their feelings safely. A social worker said, „Staff ensure that the child‟s health needs are met and that he is eating a varied and healthy diet. They also ensure that he has regular exercise and, equally, time to relax and gather his thoughts.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff work hard to make sure that children get the right support to do well in education and achieve their potential. For example, one child‟s school attendance has improved to 96.3%. He is more settled in school and is exceeding his expected grades in most of his subjects. He struggles in mathematics, but his teacher and the staff are working together to make sure that he has the help that he needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff are working closely and creatively with teachers and the local authority to reduce the risk of a child being excluded from his primary school. They provide him with support in school and encourage him to enjoy learning, complete his work and ask for help when he finds things difficult.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

An older child is doing exceptionally well at college and is starting to apply for university. The manager and staff are helping her to achieve her ambitions and have better life chances. The young person is influencing what happens to her by making the decisions about where she will live and study in the future. She is happy with her plan and feels Inspection report children‟s home: SC374939 6 supported by the staff. She is increasingly confident in her abilities. Staff make sure that she has the skills, opportunities, emotional resilience and support that she needs to become an independent adult.

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

The manager and staff make sure that children live in a safe home and are protected from harm. Children feel safe. They can talk to trusted adults if they have concerns, and know that they will help them.

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

Staff have the expertise to recognise signs that may indicate that a young person may be at risk of abuse, neglect or exploitation. They act decisively when they are concerned about children‟s safety. The manager and staff work effectively with children‟s services, the police, health services and schools to understand the risks to children and to take every necessary step to make sure that children are protected.

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

Staff actively support young people to be aware of risks and manage their safety. Some excellent work is taking place to help a child to recognise the impact of drinking alcohol on how she behaves and how it impairs her ability to keep herself safe.

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

Staff help children to learn how to make friends and have positive relationships. They help children to understand how their behaviour affects other people and how to sort out disagreements. Staff are alert to any signs of bullying and have the skills to act, protect and deal with bullying behaviours effectively. For example, they divert children to prevent name-calling from getting out of hand.

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

Staff work positively and confidently with children to find the best way possible to support and help them to feel safe. The manager and staff understand how children‟s experiences and emotional needs influence their behaviour. They have created a social environment in which children can recover and have a strong sense of safety and well- being.

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

Staff have warm, stable and reliable relationships with children, and this is helping children to build secure attachments. Children have clear and consistent routines and boundaries that help them to understand socially acceptable behaviour. Staff‟s approach is having a positive impact on reducing children‟s anxieties, frustrations and aggressive behaviour.

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

Staff know when children are starting to get upset, and help to deal with the problem. For example, staff know that one child scratches his hand when he is anxious. They let him know that he appears worried, and help him to talk about what is wrong.

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

The manager and staff are skilled and well trained in managing aggressive behaviour and physical intervention. Staff use physical intervention appropriately to manage situations when children are at risk of harm, in line with the guidance. The number of times that staff use physical restraint is reducing. Staff are helping children to find ways to manage their feelings safely. Inspection report children‟s home: SC374939 7 The manager and staff, however, do not always keep a detailed record of the discussions that have taken place after an incident during which staff have used a physical intervention. This is a missed opportunity to think about what happened and to see what can be learned about meeting the child‟s needs in the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is an inspirational and effective leader. She has made sure that the quality of support that children receive continues to improve. The manager is very ambitious for children to feel safe, to be happy and to do extremely well. This ethos is easily seen in every aspect of the children‟s care and staff‟s professional practice. The manager and staff make sure that children live in a nurturing, settled and fun „family‟ home that meets their needs and enables them to reach their full potential.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager understands the progress that each child is making and makes sure that they are always cared for in line with their agreed plans. The manager takes suitable action when children have difficulties to make sure that they get the best possible help. She uses productive working relationships with social workers and education and health services to help children to achieve better outcomes .

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are knowledgeable, experienced, skilled and motivated. They are resilient and do not give up trying to make a positive difference to children‟s lives. The manager provides staff with excellent support, guidance and encouragement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have regular opportunities through practice-related supervision and team meetings to reflect on children‟s progress and their own performance, and to share and develop their skills and knowledge. Staff develop expertise through good-quality training relevant to the children‟s needs. They use their learning to improve how they support the children, such as understanding how to support children with attachment difficulties.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

However, the workforce plan is not up to date. It does not reflect the changes in staff or staff‟s learning and development needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a realistic and detailed understanding of what is going well and the things that need to improve. She uses comprehensive review systems to develop the quality of care and staff‟s ability to meet children‟s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager recognises that the quality of children‟s records must improve to provide a clear and informative picture of children‟s lives and the help that they need. Children‟s records are not always written in ways that are helpful to the child and the people supporting the child. Children‟s views about their experiences and their care are not always included. Inspection report children‟s home: SC374939 8

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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: SC374939 9

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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

Nick Veysey, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC374939 10 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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