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

Inspection report children’s home: SC413987 1 SC413987 Registered provider: Horton Establishments 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

A private provider operates and runs this home. A variation was granted on 23 September 2019, increasing the home’s registration to care for nine children or young people. The home’s registered manager has the necessary qualifications and experience to fulfil his responsibilities. He has been the registered manager since 2015.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is divided between two buildings, Southlands and The Lodge. Seven beds are available within Southlands and two beds within The Lodge. The young people are able to move into The Lodge to develop their independence skills.

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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 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

Date of last inspection: 11 December 2018

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC413987 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/12/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 23/05/2018 Full Good 22/05/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 09/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC413987 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 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. (Regulation 6(1)(a)(b)) In particular, this is for the staff to implement routines and boundaries for the children and young people to provide them with structure to their days. 10/01/2020

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— mutual respect and trust; an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— help each child to develop socially aware behaviour; encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding; understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children. (Regulation 11(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(ii)(iii)(ix))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the staff should have the skills and knowledge about attachment to provide informed support and guidance to the children and young people. In addition, guidance should routinely be provided to the children and young people to educate them about their behaviours, as the imposed sanctions and limited key-working sessions are not achieving the desired outcomes. 10/01/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC413987 4 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 in paragraph (1) 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, have the means available to enable the children and young people to return back to the home to ensure their safety. 10/01/2020

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children— have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(b)) 10/01/2020

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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

In particular, there should be a copy of any plan for the care of the child prepared by the child or young person’s placing authority, and of the placement plan. 10/01/2020

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Recommendation

 Staff must help each child to prepare for any moves from the home, whether they are returning home, moving to another placement or adult care, or to live independently. This includes supporting the child to develop emotional and mental resilience to cope without the home’s support and, where the child is moving to live independently, practical skills such as cooking, housework, budgeting and personal self-care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.27). This is with particular reference to the children and young people being provided with a realistic budget when completing an independence programme. Inspection report children’s home: SC413987 5

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improvement to be good

The progress that children and young people make at the home is limited. Progress for some children and young people who have lived there for a lengthy period is slow.

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improvement to be good

Children and young people coming to live at the home do not get an education placement in a timely manner. However, the manager is active in linking with other professionals to secure education placements. When children and young people are not attending full-time education, there is little structure to their day. The lack of routine means that a number of children and young people are in the home and become bored, which is having an impact on their behaviour and outcomes.

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improvement to be good

Not all children and young people have a positive experience of living in the home. Children and young people have experienced bullying from their peers and have been ostracised, making them feel unwelcome. This is increasing their anxiety and has an impact on their happiness.

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improvement to be good

The children and young people’s engagement in hobbies and interests is limited. Some children and young people have stopped attending previously enjoyed hobbies, choosing to spend their free time in the community with peers. This limits their time with the staff and does not promote positive relationships within the home. The staff team encourages children and young people with opportunities to try new experiences, and they have enjoyed holidays during the summer with a range of activities. However, children and young people have said that money is not always made available to meet their requests for some activities.

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improvement to be good

Children and young people are registered with health agencies to support their routine physical health needs. However, the children and young people do not access support from specialist professionals and the staff are not sufficiently trained in understanding the impact of attachment.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children and young people to spend time with their families and friends. This helps children and young people to retain a sense of their identity and promotes positive relationships.

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improvement to be good

Children and young people are developing their life-skills for independence. This involves building their skills around cooking, daily tasks and budgeting. They are provided with a weekly budget. However, this may not be in line with the income they will receive once they move on from the home . Inspection report children’s home: SC413987 6

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improvement to be good

Regular cannabis use is having an impact on children and young people’s health and well-being. They are also smoking in their bedrooms, which increases the risk to others within the home. This is a particular concern for the young people living in The Lodge, who are preparing for independence. These young people have limited supervision, in line with their age and independence plans. The provider is taking some action to address the concerns, but staff are not consistent in their practice. The risks associated with smoking are identified in the children and young people’s plans. However, key- working to discuss substance misuse is reactive and is only in response to incidents. Sanctions are relied upon to address risk-taking behaviours, but these are ineffective.

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improvement to be good

Staff are trained to defuse and de-escalate behaviours. There are lessons being learned about behaviour management, particularly in relation to children and young people’s restraints. Individual behaviour management support plans include strategies to help the staff manage the children and young people’s behaviour. However, behaviours are not consistently addressed by the staff, and as a result some children and young people are involved in criminal activity and inappropriate behaviour.

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improvement to be good

Children and young people are going missing from the home. This means that they are vulnerable to risk and harm. The individual protocols clearly outline what action staff should take. However, strategies were not implemented due to lack of financial resources being available to facilitate their safe return.

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improvement to be good

Some children and young people are moved into the home with little information and without the appropriate placing authority records. However, the manager challenges the placing authority. The home has its own care plans and risk assessments until documents have been received; this has seen contact plans not being clear and causing unnecessary anxiety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager leads his staff team with a hands-on approach, providing practical support and advice. This gives the staff team clearer direction on how best to support the children and young people’s individual needs. He is passionate and committed to the children and young people, wanting the best possible outcomes for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager advocates for children and young people and appropriately challenges other professionals, particularly around education provision and family time. He has aspirations for children and young people to achieve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision and have an annual appraisal. Supervisions address the core requirements and include actions, identify strategies, address practice and reflect on staff’s strengths and development. Staff receive informal support and supervision and have said that the manager and deputy are approachable for advice and guidance. Inspection report children’s home: SC413987 7 The manager ensures the safe recruitment of staff. New members of staff undertake induction training and are supernumerary on shadowing shifts. Mandatory training is completed to equip the staff to help meet the children and young people’s day-to-day needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There has been a high level of staff turnover, which has resulted in instability within the home and staff team. This has had an impact on the consistency of care for the children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff are not making plans for the day and evening effectively. This leads to staff being reactive to the children and young people’s needs rather than being proactive. As a result, this gives limited structure and routines for the children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has an overview of the home’s strengths and areas for development, using internal and external monitoring to identify areas of training and support to best meet the needs of the children and young people. While he has recognised that the strategies are not fully embedded due to the turnover of staff, he is making himself available to all staff.

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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: SC413987 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Horton Establishments Ltd

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspectors

Jennifer Fenlon, social care inspector Sue Hatton, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC413987 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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