Children's Home run by Horizon Care and Education Group Limited in Staffordshire

Inspection report children’s home: 1276216 1 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

The home is owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three young people, aged between 10 and 17 years old, who have complex social and/or emotional needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is experienced and qualified to level 5 in leadership and management.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1276216 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/03/2019 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1276216 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people live in a welcoming and nurturing environment and receive good- quality care. One young person has had a positive move to enable her to return home with her family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are two young people who are currently living at the home and are settled. Staff understand the young people’s needs and use their skills and experience to help keep the young people safe. Staff manage young people’s risks despite the challenges. As a result, young people thrive physically, emotionally and socially.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to develop essential life skills and remain sensitive in respecting young people’s views, wishes and feelings. As a result, young people are increasingly prepared for the next steps into adolescence and adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff receive ongoing support from the organisation’s clinical team to ensure that their practice is consistent with the home’s therapeutic model of care. As a result, young people receive the help that they need to become more self-aware of their emotions and to find new ways to manage situations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

From young people’s starting points, they are making good progress in their education. For example, one young person now attends school every day and is enjoying his learning experiences. Another young person, who is on a reduced timetable, now attends school regularly. The registered manager and staff support young people with their school work and make sure that all educational achievements, no matter how small, are always celebrated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help young people to build positive and meaningful relationships and to participate in activities outside of the home. As a result, young people develop their social skills and increase their self-confidence from their varied experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are encouraged and supported to express their wishes and feelings. They have regular house meetings with staff and individual key-work sessions to discuss their care. As a result, young people feel valued, respected and their views contribute to the quality of care they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff enable young people to maintain important and positive relationships with their family members, despite the geographic distance from the home. This has provided some memorable and valuable experiences for young people. Inspection report children’s home: 1276216 4

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

Since the last inspection, the number of physical interventions and incidents has reduced. When staff are required to use physical intervention to safeguard young people, a detailed record is made. The registered manager has good oversight of these incidents. Also, staff reflect and learn from their experiences to improve practice. This promotes safe practice and ensures that young people and staff are not put at unnecessary risk of injury.

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

Staff follow agreed protocols when a young person goes missing from the home and act quickly to determine the young person’s whereabouts. Staff work in close partnership with local services, such as the police and placing local authority to identify any potential risks and consider ways to reduce these.

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

Staff provide a good balance between using incentives and rewards and consequences. This promotes positive behaviour and helps young people to develop the skills to manage some of their actions better.

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

Overall, staff understand risk well and keep detailed records about safeguarding young people. In most cases, detailed risk assessments and behaviour support plans identify triggers and what specific actions staff should take to manage and minimise risk. However, some risk assessments and behavioural plans have inconsistent information and are not reviewed and updated regularly. This has the potential to cause confusion and does not provide staff with clear guidance and advice on how to manage risk.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by the registered manager. Staff told the inspector that the registered manager promotes their professional development and that ‘it’s a pleasure coming into work’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is passionate, enthusiastic and insightful about the care that the young people receive and has high ambitions for the development of the home. She reflects well on young people’s experiences and staff practice and recognises strengths and areas for improvement. As a result of this management oversight, the standard of care that young people receive has improved since the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive specialised training when necessary. For example, staff have received bespoke training in increasing their awareness in regard to young people who present with self-harm behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff are qualified to level 3 in residential childcare or are working towards the award. As a result, staff have the necessary skills and knowledge to meet the young people’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff receive regular practice-related supervision. This means staff have the opportunity to reflect on their practice and personal development. Inspection report children’s home: 1276216 5 The registered manager escalates matters on behalf of young people when she identifies shortfalls in the support and care provided to them by others. She is not averse to challenging the staff team or a young person’s placing local authority to ensure that the needs of the young people in the home are met. For example, the registered manager supported one young person to make a formal complaint regarding a member of staff. This resulted in the registered manager challenging the member of staff’s practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Young people’s case plans still do not contain all the required information. For example, young people’s missing-from-care plans do not have key information about young people’s associates. This leaves the staff without enough information to share with the relevant agencies, such as the police. This means that key agencies have limited information to enable them to identify the potential locations where young people might be found. Inspection report children’s home: 1276216 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

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—

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Requirement Due date

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;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vii)) 10/04/2020

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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)) 10/04/2020

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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: 1276216 7

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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

Patrick McIntosh, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1276216 8 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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