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

Inspection report children’s home: SC475347 1 SC475347 Registered provider: Horizon Care and Education Group Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned. It provides care for up to two young people. The statement of purpose states, ‘We seek to maximise each young person’s potential for social and educational growth and development by working in partnership with education, health, social workers and families to provide a nurturing environment. Children should be loved, happy, healthy, safe from harm and able to develop, thrive and fulfil their potential.’

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left the post in October 2019. A new manager has been in post since November 2019 and has applied to register with Ofsted.

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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: 13 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: SC475347 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/11/2018 Full Outstanding 31/08/2017 Full Good 22/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 01/09/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC475347 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people develop warm and trusting relationships with dedicated, child-focused staff. They benefit from a comfortable, welcoming home where they can relax and focus on their own needs. The home needs some maintenance in the kitchen and bathroom, but young people can personalise their bedrooms and enjoy the garden in the summer. They are enthusiastically involved in redecorating and furnishing a games room in the garden.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When young people come to live at the home, staff prepare them well. Staff also make valuable links with previous carers. This means that young people feel less anxious about the move and settle in more easily.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Experienced staff provide young people with consistent boundaries and routines that make them feel secure. This supports their emotional well-being and ability to understand and manage their anxieties and behaviour. The playfulness, acceptance, curiosity, empathy (PACE) model of care is skilfully and effectively adapted by staff to meet young people’s individual needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff listen to young people and engage them well to address a range of sometimes challenging issues. Young people talk to staff and go to them when they are worried or want a hug. Young people know how to make a complaint and feel confident to do so.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have fun with staff, who ensure that they have access to stimulating activities at home and in the community. They enjoy cooking, attend youth club, trips out and seaside holidays. This helps their social development and emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The nurturing environment enables young people to settle and develop confidence and new independence skills. In addition, young people make progress in managing their personal care, their emotional well-being and education. One young person now has 100% attendance at school. Caring staff are preparing the other young person, who recently moved in, for the challenging experience of starting at a new school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that young people’s physical and mental health needs are identified and addressed. With staff support, young people keep in touch with family members. This supports their identity and emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A year ago, the registered manager admitted a young person who was not an appropriate match for the young person who already lived at the home. This led to three weeks of disruption for both young people as staff lacked the necessary skills to meet the needs of both young people. When the registered manager recognised this, the new young person moved out. Apart from this period of disruption, the young person who still lives here has benefited from a stable, supportive experience Inspection report children’s home: SC475347 4 and a good match with a new young person, which has helped him make good progress.

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

Highly trained staff keep young people safe, and young people said that they feel safe. No young person has been subject to child sexual exploitation, child criminal exploitation or radicalisation, but staff are aware of and alert to the signs of such concerns. Vigilant staff monitor the relationships between young people and ensure that there is no bullying.

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

When young people go missing from home, staff follow and search for them. They follow protocols and liaise with the police, social workers and family members to ensure young people’s safe return. Close links with the local police ensure that staff and young people are kept up to date with any potential safeguarding issues in the local community. Staff respond well to these issues, which helps to keep young people safe.

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

Skilled, individualised behaviour management is key to keeping young people safe. Staff know young people well. Additional training in autism spectrum disorder and global developmental delay enables staff to understand young people’s vulnerabilities and the reasons behind their behaviours and to respond to them appropriately. For example, staff take one young person to school themselves, to prevent him having to travel there by taxi. This significantly reduced his anxieties and enabled him to better manage his feelings and behaviour.

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

The consistent use of PACE provides young people with responses from staff that help them to learn to calm themselves and begin to understand their own emotional needs and behaviours.

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

Staff support young people well and teach them how to keep themselves safe. This work includes stranger danger, road safety and internet safety. Police officers local to the home visit regularly to talk to young people. This breaks down barriers, provides young people with the opportunity to raise any worries and ask questions, and contributes to safeguarding young people.

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

The manager regularly reviews and updates young people’s risk assessments and behaviour support plans. Staff sign to confirm that they have read the updated plans, which means that everyone has the same valuable information and guidance about how to safeguard individual young people effectively.

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good

The registered manager left in October 2019, and the new manager took over from then. The new manager is child focused and very experienced, having worked in the team for several years. She has applied to be the registered manager. Inspection report children’s home: SC475347 5 The new manager has put her stamp on the home to make it more colourful and welcoming, and by creatively providing more activities for young people. She is hands on and knows the young people and the staff team well. She is keen to develop the provision and the staff and has given staff and young people a new project to do together, renovating the games room.

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good

The manager has a good understanding of the strengths and areas for development of her team and has plans to develop the staff’s skills and knowledge further. Regular team meetings, training opportunities and supervision enable staff to reflect on their practice as a group and as individuals. Staff are very positive about the new manager, and senior staff value the opportunities that she is giving them to broaden their experience by undertaking some management tasks.

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good

Staff love working here and feel well supported by the new manager. Other professionals including the police and a clinical psychologist praise the work of the manager and team. A family member commented that her young person has made ‘incredible progress’ with improvements in behaviour and life skills.

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good

The new manager is aware that there are areas for improvement in the leadership and management of the service. Although the two young people living at the home now get on well together, managers must ensure that young people do not move in to the home unless the provision is able safely to meet their needs and those of young people already resident.

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good

When young people return from going missing from home, staff talk to them about why they went missing and identify any safeguarding issues. However, staff from young people’s placing authorities have not offered young people a visit from someone who is independent of the home when they return. Crucially, managers have not challenged this shortfall.

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good

When new staff are recruited, managers do not ensure that they check the reasons why staff left previous employment with children or vulnerable adults. This does not fully promote young people’s welfare and safety. Inspection report children’s home: SC475347 6

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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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must ensure that if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5(c))

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Requirement Due date

This is with regard to ensuring that placing authorities provide children with an opportunity to have an independent return home interview after they have been missing. 31/03/2020

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(b)(2)(a)) 31/03/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. The requirements are that full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32(1)(3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This is with reference to verifying as far as practicable the reason a person, who has previously worked in a position involving work with children or vulnerable adults, left that employment. 31/03/2020

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Recommendations

 Many children placed in homes may undergo a difficult transition and what should be simple aspects of their care take on a substantial significance in this context. Staff should provide a nurturing environment that is welcoming, supportive, and which provides appropriate boundaries in relation to their behaviour. Homes must Inspection report children’s home: SC475347 7 also meet children’s basic day to day needs and physical necessities. Staff should seek to meet the child’s basic needs in the way that a good parent would, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met – doing so is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value them as an individual. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)

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Recommendations

This is with regard to repairing the bathroom flooring and the kitchen cupboard doors.

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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: SC475347 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

Louise Whittle, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC475347 9 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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