Children's home run by Horizon Care and Education Group Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 2494962 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 privately run and provides care and accommodation for up to four children or young people. The children and young people require care and support to deal with their emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered since the home opened. She holds the level 5 qualification in leadership and management and has 15 years’ experience of working with children and young people.

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Information about this children’s home

This is the home’s first inspection following registration.

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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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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2494962 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

This is the home’s first inspection Inspection report children’s home: 2494962 3

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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. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.). However, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page15, paragraph 3.9). In particular, the young people should have a fully working internet/Wi-Fi to access for education and leisure pursuits.  The principle of listening to the child and taking their views, wishes and feelings into account when planning and undertaking their care applies to all children (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 21, paragraph 4.5). In particular, ensure that the young person has been fully

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Recommendations

consulted on the leaving care plan, reflecting that their views and choices have been considered and explored fully.  Children must be consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Due consideration should be given to the child’s cognitive ability in the development and implementation of any consultation processes. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11). In particular, the complaints records should indicate whether the young people are satisfied with the outcome of complaints. Staff should respond to the young person’s request for a later bedtime.  The registered person must specify the procedures to be followed and the roles and responsibilities of staff when a child is missing from care or away from the

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Recommendations

home without permission and how staff should support the child on return to the home (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.28). In particular, each young person’s missing from care protocol should set out when the young person should be reported missing to the police and other relevant parties. Inspection report children’s home: 2494962 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff build strong and trusting relationships with young people. As a result, the young people listen to the guidance and advice that the staff give, and this brings improved outcomes for the young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people receive consistent care, with daily routines that help them to feel cared for, safe and secure. Those living at the home for a period have made good progress, in education, in reduced risk-taking behaviour, and in improved health and self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The health of the young people is well promoted. They receive routine health checks that include visiting the dentist. The staff team has access to a clinical team that is available with advice on how to best support the young people’s mental health and emotional well-being. The young people take part in planning a well-balanced diet. A young person is attending the gym as their main choice for regular exercise. This promotes a healthy lifestyle for young people and improves their long-term health and well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is given a high priority. This is achieved firstly by the staff working closely with education professionals to ensure that the young people have suitable placements. The young people are encouraged to attend school, and the staff work to build their confidence to accomplish this. The young person in residence is positively motivated and engages well with full-time attendance at school and tuition. This is significant progress after a long period of non-attendance. Consequently, the young person’s attainment and grades have improved, and they have undertaken GCSE examinations. This has increased their opportunities to access training and/or employment as they go forward into adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people plan how they wish to spend their time on social and leisure activities with the encouragement and support of the staff. These activities include going to the cinema, playing pool and seeing their families. They have enjoyed day trips out to London and York. This enables the young people to develop further their social skills and take part in age-appropriate activities. Positively, the young people have increased their life experiences and built their self-esteem and confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people gain valuable independence skills. These include undertaking chores around the home and learning how to cook. This provides them with age-appropriate and essential self-care skills that prepare them for adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people enjoy regular contact with those who are important to them. The staff support the young people to rebuild and maintain strong and positive relationships with family members. This ensures that the young people have a strong sense of identity and a feeling of belonging. Inspection report children’s home: 2494962 5 The young people benefit greatly from an individualised and nurturing care approach from the staff. The ethos of the home ensures that the young people are involved in decision-making that forms part of everyday life. For example, they make decisions about their meals, weekly activities and health appointments alongside the staff. This happens naturally through daily discussions and the young people’s meetings, and through young people attending their own statutory reviews. However, there should be further expansion to gain the young people’s views and opinions about their care plans

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

for their future as young adults. One young person’s current wishes about where they would like to live when leaving care are different from the plans being made by the social worker. A meeting is being organised to discuss this matter further.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff ensure that the young people know how to complain. There have been two complaints from young people. These have been appropriately investigated, and action has been taken to address the concerns raised. However, the records do not detail whether the young people are satisfied with the outcome of the investigated complaint. A young person’s request to have his bedtime reviewed has not had a response in a timely manner.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is decorated and furnished to a high standard throughout. This provides young people with safe, secure and positive surroundings to live in. There have been efforts to address the intermittent internet and Wi-Fi connections. However, a young person said that this was one of the few things that he thought needed to improve in the home. It affects him doing education work and some leisure activities, for instance when he wishes to play internet games.

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

The young people are safe. A young person said: ‘This is a nice place with great staff, and I do feel safe living here.’

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

The young people respond well to the constant giving of praise for their achievements, and this increases their self-esteem. This, along with consistently delivered care routines and clear boundaries, helps the young people to feel safe. Consequently, there has been just one appropriate physical intervention since the home opened and no sanctions have been used. The staff work tirelessly to support the young people in making positive and safe choices. Supporting professionals also work with the young people on issues that include areas such as raising awareness about the impact of taking illegal substances and being involved in gangs. This aids the young people’s progress and supports them positively to keep safer.

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

The staff team has a positive approach to managing challenging behaviour, and staff use their skills to successfully de-escalate difficult situations. They fully explain matters and listen to the young people. This approach is effective, and the young people engage well in good daily-life activities. These include going to school, seeing their families and participating in age-appropriate social activities. This shows that the behaviour management strategies implemented work well because the young people have learned Inspection report children’s home: 2494962 6 to manage their feelings better over time and have become more emotionally resilient.

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

The proactive actions of the staff keep the young people safe. This has resulted in reduced risk-taking behaviour. There have, for example, been reductions in missing from home episodes, taking illegal substances and engaging in criminal activities. The staff regularly review the care and support strategies for the young people, and they liaise with the supporting professionals to ensure that everyone is clear about the safeguards in place. Effective safeguarding measures have kept the young people safe. The staff can verbalise the procedures that are followed when a young person goes missing. However, the individual written missing from care protocol does not detail specifically at what point the young people will be reported missing to the police.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager sets clear expectations about the quality of care to be provided to the young people. These are disseminated to the whole staff team. This has resulted in the young person in residence achieving great success because of the consistent and nurturing care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff have established positive working relationships with other agencies and professionals. These include social workers, health professionals, education professionals and drug awareness workers. This close collaborative working assists the staff further in improving the outcomes for the young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Strong teamwork exists within a supportive environment. The staff receive regular formal supervision, and this assists them in working cohesively to carry out their care work with the young people. Good communication systems include detailed daily handovers from one shift to another and regular staff meetings. All the staff have received a detailed induction programme and mandatory training. In addition, staff benefit from access to specialist training. This includes therapeutic approaches, drugs awareness and the signs of self-harm. The manager recognises the importance of training, and this supports staff to be well equipped with the knowledge and skills to meet the needs of the young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A good standard of care is maintained through the wide range of internal auditing undertaken by the manager and the staff team. Audits undertaken include health and safety, medication, safeguarding areas, staff training and supervision. In addition, external monitoring is undertaken by an independent person. The manager demonstrates a strong awareness of the strengths of the home and the areas that have been identified as being in need of improvement. The manager responds quickly to the identification of deficits. There is an ongoing review of the young people’s progress. This brings a continued improvement to the care provided to the young people. Inspection report children’s home: 2494962 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 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: 2494962 8

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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

Debbie Foster: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2494962 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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