Children's Home run by Horizon Care Limited in Staffordshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC062406 1 SC062406 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

The home forms part of a large social care company. The home is registered to provide care for three young people. The home provides therapeutic care for young people who may have experienced neglect, abuse or trauma.

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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

Date of last inspection: 21 November 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC062406 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/11/2018 Full Outstanding 12/02/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 09/10/2017 Full Good 14/12/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC062406 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement;

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Requirement Due date

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of 20/03/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC062406 4 exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child’s learning. (Regulation 8 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(x)(b)) The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(f))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the arrangements for the management and oversight of the home are effective in the absence of the registered manager. 20/03/2020

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the statement of purpose is clear about any form of monitoring devices used in the home. 20/03/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)) 03/04/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC062406 5 The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience;

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Requirement Due date

and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 20/03/2020

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4; ensure that the records are kept up to date. (Regulation 37 (1)(2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to maintaining the children’s register. 20/03/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person, if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, and relatives, as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a copy of the independent person’s report to HMCI. (Regulation 44 (2)(a)(7)(a)) 20/03/2020

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Recommendations

 Staff should provide a nurturing and supportive environment that is homely. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  Children should have access to a computer and the internet to support their education and learning. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 29, paragraph 5.19) Inspection report children’s home: SC062406 6

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The overall experiences of young people are positive. Young people make good progress from their starting points. They have good relationships with staff based on honest communication.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have good relationships with young people’s families and help young people to see them regularly. This often involves taking them long distances, so these important relationships endure. Families are involved in the lives of young people and feel valued. One young person’s grandmother said, ‘The staff really understand my grandson. He gets on great with them. His behaviour has improved enormously since he has lived at the home.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff listen to young people. The voices of young people are heard, and they are involved in making decisions about their care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of education for young people and work quickly to identify suitable arrangements. Staff take young people on educational visits and support their learning by taking them to and from school or college. However, one young person has not engaged with education since June 2019. Despite the best efforts of staff, they have not succeeded in re-engaging the young person in any form of education, training or employment. The home does not have a working computer for young people to use. This does not assist them in their learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is in a remote rural setting. It is well furnished throughout, and young people can decorate their rooms as they wish. However, some areas of the building look tired. For example, there is damage to some of the internal walls. There is rubbish and discarded items in the grounds, and the exterior walls are dirty. This detracts from what is a nurturing environment for young people to live in.

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

Unwanted behaviours from young people are de-escalated by staff. When staff have to intervene to keep everyone safe, this is done appropriately and recorded accurately and in full. Staff and young people reflect on incidents. The cause of unwanted behaviours and how these can be avoided is discussed openly. This reduces the likelihood of incidents happening in the future.

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

Staff receive training and are aware of their safeguarding responsibilities. Young people seldom go missing, however there is a well-embedded missing-from-care procedure. Staff look for young people in the local area if they go missing. They communicate well with agencies until the young person is found.

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

Positive behaviours are rewarded, and this works well with young people. Rewards are used five times more often than negative sanctions. This approach encourages Inspection report children’s home: SC062406 7 young people to control their behaviours. Young people are keen to develop skills to move towards independence.

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

Organisational recruitment of new staff is sound. Safe recruitment checks reduce the risks of unsafe people being employed to work at the home.

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

There have been no incidents of young people self-harming since the last inspection. Incidents of bullying are rare, and staff are quick to respond. Young people said they feel safe and will speak with staff if they have any issues. All the young people spoke fondly and positively about staff.

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good

The home’s registered manager left the role in November 2019. The organisation has failed to recruit a new manager. Arrangements to cover the vacant manager post were insufficient and an interim manager was recently appointed. Without a manager, the leadership and management of the home have suffered. However, this has not been to the detriment of young people in the home.

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good

The home has a register of all children and young people who have lived there, past and present. However, the recording of information in the register lacks important information. The addresses of where young people lived before moving into the home are missing from some records. This gives an incomplete picture should this information be required in the future.

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good

An independent visitor carries out monthly visits to the home. In the subsequent reports, the visitor does not capture the opinions of young people’s family members. The visitor appears to speak only with the manager and no other staff. Visits often happen during school time. This does not provide comprehensive monitoring and review of the home to inform the provider, placing authorities and the regulator.

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good

The home’s most recent statement of purpose gives an inaccurate account of the services the home provides. This could be misleading for families or local authorities that are looking for a suitable placement for a young person.

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good

Retention of staff at the home is good. Staff receive comprehensive training to support them in their roles. New staff receive an in-depth induction. All but one of the staff team are qualified to the level 3 diploma. However, since the manager left, staff have not received regular, practice-led supervisions in line with organisational policy. One member of staff has also not received an annual appraisal of their practice.

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good

Feedback from external professionals and family members was positive. One professional said, ‘The staff are very attentive and know the young people well. They have excellent relationships with them and genuinely care about their well- being.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC062406 8

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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: SC062406 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

Ricky D’Arcy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC062406 10 to 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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