Children's home run by Horizon Transitional Care Ltd

Inspection report children‟s home: 1268535 1 Registered provider: Horizon Transitional Care Ltd

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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 privately owned home is registered to accommodate up to three children and young people aged eight to 17 years, who have a range of complex needs including autism spectrum disorder. The registered manager is suitably qualified and holds a level 5 diploma.

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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 requires improvement to be 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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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: 1268535 2

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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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard requires the registered person to ensure that staff assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child‟s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff read all risk assessments and behaviour management plans, and any updates made to those plans, and sign to evidence that they have read them. 22/02/2019

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard requires the registered person to ensure 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. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that a robust system is in place for the safe and reliable administration and recording of medication to children. 22/02/2019

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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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard requires the registered person to ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

With reference to training staff and placing staff in roles that are appropriate for their experience and skills. 22/02/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least 22/02/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: 1268535 3 once every 6 months. The system must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1)(5))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child‟s assessed needs as recorded in the child‟s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 56, paragraph 11.4)

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Recommendations

 The capacity and competence of staff to build constructive, warm relationships with children that actively promote positive behaviour, provides the foundations for managing any negative behaviour. Staff should have the skills to respond to each child‟s individual behaviour. Where necessary they should manage conflict, maintain constructive dialogues and react appropriately if challenged by a child in their care. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 39, paragraph 8.14)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy warm and trusting relationships with staff and said that they are happy. Staff provide young people with good routines and boundaries which enable them to feel secure and settled. Prior to moving in, young people are invited to visit the home and staff consult with young people in the home before a new young person is admitted. Young people feel that staff listen to them and take any concerns seriously. Young people know how to make a complaint.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people get on well together and staff have involved them in decorating the sitting room and games room. This has made the rooms welcoming and fun, with mood lighting and creative games console „pods‟. These creative innovations encourage young people to come out of their rooms and engage with each other and staff. Young people enjoy a range of stimulating activities outside the home, including going to a magic club, paintballing, going to a gym and attending football matches.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Perceptive staff understand each young person‟s individual needs and are aspirational for them. Young people make good progress in their health and well-being, losing weight and improving their personal hygiene and eating habits. They develop independence skills including cooking, learning basic house maintenance tasks, going out independently and attending medical appointments. All the young people engage Inspection report children‟s home: 1268535 4 positively in education, and dedicated staff support them to travel to school and to use the local library. They are all making progress in improving their self-esteem, social development and confidence. Staff address challenging issues in key-work sessions with young people, including inappropriate and racist language.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from staff encouraging and facilitating family contact, including overnight stays. This supports their identity. One young person had not had contact with all his older brothers together for three years and staff arranged for them to come and celebrate his exam results with him.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff praise and reward positive behaviour. Staff ensure that rewards are individualised to make them effective. For example, one young person has been given a star chart as he likes to choose activities and trips out.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Feedback from family and professionals is positive. The previous foster carer for one young person said, „I‟m very impressed. It‟s the making of him. His progress means he is unrecognisable. He‟s becoming like a young man. They treat him at the right level.‟

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

Staff keep young people safe. They are trained in safeguarding and child protection and have recently undertaken training in radicalisation. Young people feel safe and said that staff teach them to keep themselves safe. Staff complete effective key-work sessions with young people to help them to stay safe.

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

The registered manager ensures that risk assessments and behaviour management plans are detailed and relevant. He reviews and updates them on a regular basis and after any incidents. This provides staff with access to the valuable information they need to keep young people safe.

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

Since the home opened, there have been no incidents of young people going missing. Staff are clear about the policies and procedures if young people do go missing. One young person moved in after having experienced regular physical interventions at his previous placement. He has only been subject to two restraints here, which is a significant improvement.

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

Positive relationships between staff and young people help staff to understand the triggers to behaviours that could place young people at risk of harm. Young people are confident to talk to staff if something has upset them, which then helps them to manage their own emotions and behaviour.

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

An area for improvement is that staff do not always respond appropriately to young people when they exhibit challenging behaviour. For example, one staff member told a young person, who was in a heightened state, that he had to get up and go to school as it was a „statutory requirement‟. This resulted in increased challenging behaviour and failed to achieve the desired outcome. Inspection report children‟s home: 1268535 5 A further area for improvement is the recording of medication. Some errors in recording were found during the inspection. However, no young people have been adversely affected by these.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

This is the registered manager‟s first management post and he has worked hard to successfully set up the home and establish a team. He is child focused and has enabled staff to provide young people with positive experiences and make good progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

However, for leadership and management to be good, the registered manager needs to develop a more in-depth knowledge of the quality standards and regulations. This will enable him to have a more effective understanding of his role and responsibilities in respect of the young people and staff. For example, while the registered manager has undertaken his first review of the service, he has not understood the purpose of incorporating feedback from young people, staff and professionals when assessing and planning how to improve the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

While the registered manager diligently reviews and updates risk assessments and behaviour management plans, he is unable to evidence that staff have read the updated information. Staff also do not evidence that they have read the very useful communication passport on each young person‟s file. Impact assessments do not clearly show that the impact of a new admission to the home has been fully considered.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager promoted a member of staff who did not have the required skills and experience for this role. The impact on the young people was minimal but the registered manager needs to be fully aware of the strengths and capabilities of each of his staff, to ensure appropriate and consistent care for young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager demonstrates many positives in his practice. He provides staff with regular monthly supervision which is supportive and informative. He undertakes debriefs after incidents and talks with staff in supervision and team meetings to identify what works well and what they could have done better. Team meetings are well attended, and staff said that the registered manager listens to their ideas and comments. Staff enjoy working here and feel supported by the registered manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff receive a range of training to meet the individual needs of young people. This includes topics such as epilepsy and moving and handling. Several staff have experience of working with young people with learning disabilities and formal training in this area is booked for the near future. However, this training should have been provided as soon as staff were appointed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager and staff work closely with a range of professionals to ensure that the needs of young people are understood and met. The registered manager advocates on behalf of young people. Having established that one young person is entitled to money for a laptop from his pupil premium, the registered manager has written to the placing authority to request that this is provided. He is proactive in Inspection report children‟s home: 1268535 6 seeking medical diagnoses and services, such as anger management, for young people, to improve their well-being and better understand their care needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Professionals gave positive feedback about the service. Police and social workers are impressed with the effectiveness of the communication and planning, the care provided to young people and the progress that they make. The social worker for one young person who was recently admitted commented that staff are transparent, inform him of all incidents and send weekly update reports about the young person. He said, „I can‟t fault them for their efforts in this short space of time.‟ The previous foster carer for one young person highlighted „brilliant communication‟, explaining, „Staff call me in advance to arrange weekends; contact is all organised. Staff are lovely.‟

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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: 1268535 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Horizon Transitional Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 73 Dudley Road, Dudley DY3 1TF

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Inspector

Louise Whittle, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 1268535 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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