Children's home run by Horton Establishments Ltd in Kingston upon Hull, City of

Inspection report children‟s home: SC413678 1 SC413678 Registered provider: Horton Establishments 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

A private company owns the home. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to two children or young people. The registered provider also runs a school that the children can attend. At the time of inspection, neither of the children living at the home attended the school. The manager has been at the home for 18 months. She was registered on 24 January 2019.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 17 to 18 September 2019

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC413678 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/03/2019 Full Good 02/05/2017 Full Good 07/11/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness 09/05/2016 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: SC413678 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 registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which— include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child. (Regulation 36(1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This is with particular reference to ensuring that return-home interviews are completed. 15/11/2019

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13(1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)) 15/11/2019

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential; ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to— meet the needs of each child; and enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. 15/11/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: SC413678 4 (Regulation 6(1)(a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)) The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— promote opportunities for each child to learn informally. (Regulation 8(1)(2)(a)(v)) 15/11/2019

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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improvement to be good

The children are not settled, and do not consistently experience staff implementing routines and boundaries. The children are distancing themselves from the changing staff team, and their behaviours are escalating. The staff use every opportunity to talk to the children and provide them with guidance and support, but the children are not always accepting of this.

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improvement to be good

The children’s commitment to education is sporadic. They frequently refuse to attend school, and even when they do leave the home in order to go to school, they often go somewhere else instead. This disengagement from school is affecting children’s long- term plans to make progress in line with their age and ability.

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improvement to be good

The children have made inappropriate associates who are involved in risk-taking and antisocial behaviour. These new relationships are leading to the children spending less time at the home engaging in planned activities. The time they spend with the staff and taking part in their hobbies has significantly reduced. One child has stopped attending rugby and cheerleading, which used to be their passion.

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improvement to be good

The children’s s current life styles are having a negative impact on their health and well- being. They are not maintaining their physical and emotional health. Although the children receive routine treatment to address their basic health needs, there are Inspection report children‟s home: SC413678 5 concerns about the children smoking tobacco and illegally misusing drugs and alcohol. Specialist mental health support is available, but this is not consistently embedded, and one child is disengaging from her long-standing therapy.

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improvement to be good

There is evident damage to the home and extensive wear and tear to the carpets, and there are no soft furnishings. As a result, the children live in a home which is not homely or welcoming.

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improvement to be good

When the children are missing from home, the staff try to ensure the children’s safety by looking for them. The staff also share any concerns with relevant professionals, including information about criminal activity and potential exploitation that the children may be at risk of. However, when children are found, return-home interviews are not always completed. This is a missed opportunity to gather further intelligence which could protect the children.

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improvement to be good

The children are misusing substances. The staff do talk to the children about the dangers of their behaviours. This includes discussions about cannabis misuse and exploitation. However, as the children are spending most of their time in the community, being influenced by their peers, the effectiveness of the staff’s guidance has reduced.

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improvement to be good

While the children’s aggression towards staff is reducing, they are also spending longer periods outside of the house. Historically, the children have received criminal convictions for their violent behaviours against the staff. As a result, the children are subject to orders to work with youth offending services. However, one child is currently not engaging with the programme of support, and this could result in further enforcement by the court. The staff have made attempts to encourage the children’s engagement through individualised sessions and liaison with the youth offending service, but appointments continue to be missed.

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

There is instability within the staff team. Several members of staff will be leaving the home. This is because they feel that there are issues regarding equality of pay and a lack of support from the senior leadership team. Agency and temporary staff are used to manage staffing shortfalls. This is having a significant impact on the staff team dynamic and the consistency and standard of the care being provided for the children.

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

The manager is very understanding and supportive of the children and her team, and advocates for them strongly. However, staffing ratios have been reduced during the night, which impacts on the safety and outcomes for the children. Night staff are subject to a lone-working policy, but they can request support from staff at a neighbouring children’s home owned by the same provider. This support is time-limited and not Inspection report children‟s home: SC413678 6 consistently implemented. This means that staffing levels are often not sufficient, given the children’s presenting risks and behaviours, which can change at any time leading to a lack of supervision during the night. These staffing arrangements mean that the staff cannot safely supervise the children and address and respond to the children’s concerning behaviours during the night.

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

The staff are not consistently delivering a therapeutic model of care. Despite this approach being identified in the home’s statement of purpose, not all staff have had the required training. The staff are using other strategies to repair their relationships with the children and help them to re-engage with the support that is available.

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

The manager is aware of the strengths and weaknesses within her team. She utilises internal and external monitoring processes to address practice issues with the staff. However, information within the children’s s records remains inaccurate. The staff ensure that professionals are provided with clear information about the children’s s progress and current challenges. This enables professionals to make informed decisions about the children’s plans.

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Information 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 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: SC413678 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Horton Establishments Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 372 Chanterlands Avenue, Hull, Yorkshire HU5 4ED

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Inspector

Jennifer Fenlon: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC413678 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 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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