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

Information about this children’s home

The home is one of a number of residential services provided by a private organisation. The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three children aged between eight and 18 years old, who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a registered manager in post, who is currently undertaking his level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare.

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection date: Not previously inspected

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection judgement: Not previously inspected

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Information about this visit

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), Ofsted suspended all routine inspections in March 2020. As part of a phased return to routine inspection, we are undertaking assurance visits to children’s social care services that are inspected under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF).

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Information about this visit

At these visits, inspectors evaluate the extent to which:

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Information about this visit

 children are well cared for  children are safe  leaders and managers are exercising strong leadership.

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Information about this visit

This visit was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000, following the published guidance for assurance visits.

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Information about this visit

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills is leading Ofsted’s work into how England’s social care system has delivered child-centred practice and care within the context of the restrictions placed on society during the COVID-19 pandemic. Assurance visit report: 2589392 2

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Findings from the visit

We did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance visit.

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The care of children

Staff and children have positive and trusting relationships. Children benefit from a staff team that understands their needs and because of this, children are making progress in the home.

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The care of children

Children who have moved on from the home have done so in a planned way with a thorough transition to a new home and into a new school. Children have been consulted throughout the process; their views, wishes and feelings considered.

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The care of children

Staff have improved their implementation of routines in the home and children engage well with their individual plans. As a result, children have clearer expectations about daily routines and have consistent boundaries in place.

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The care of children

Some children have 100% school attendance and have worked well with home schooling during the pandemic. The manager secured daily tutoring for one child prior to the COVID-19 government restrictions. However, the child is still not on role at a school, nor do they have an up-to-date personal education plan or education, health and care plan in place. The manager has regularly liaised with the social worker and virtual head but has not further escalated their concerns with the placing authority in relation to the significant delay in securing a school placement for the child.

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The care of children

Children engage in direct work with staff to help them understand specific health needs. The staff team encourages children to talk openly about any concerns they may have in relation to their health, by using key words to help children to talk about sensitive issues. Where children have required external professional support, staff have successfully encouraged them to engage.

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The care of children

During COVID-19 restrictions, children’s time with their families has been promoted using technology and as restrictions relaxed the home has facilitated face-to-face contact for children and their families in outdoor areas while maintaining safe social distancing.

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The care of children

Staff have been creative in engaging children in activities together and because of this, children have improved their relationships with each other. Children have built up a safe level of trust over the last few months and are enjoying increased time with friends in the community.

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The care of children

The home has been refurbished downstairs to a lovely standard. However, the upstairs of the home requires improvement, in relation to decor looking worn and including the decoration of children’s bedrooms to repair damage and graffiti. This is something that the registered manager has identified and there is an action plan in Assurance visit report: 2589392 3 place to address this.

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The safety of children

Children told the inspector that they felt safe and parents equally reported that they felt their children were safeguarded. One child’s social worker said, ‘This is the best placement for [Name] as they understand him, want the best for him and know what he needs. They go above and beyond.’

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The safety of children

Risks have reduced significantly for children, with a reduction in the level of physical restraint, damage caused to the home and incidents of going missing from home. A staff member told the inspector, ‘The staff team do not give up on children when they are in crisis.’ There was evidence to demonstrate that because of this children are able to talk to staff about how they are feeling, to help them make better choices associated with risk-taking behaviour.

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The safety of children

Records show that staff follow and have an understanding of missing-from-home protocols to keep children safe. However, return home interviews with children by an independent person are not always evidenced following a child having been missing from home.

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The safety of children

Staff have developed their understanding of the risks that children pose to themselves or others. There have been improvements in debriefs with children following serious incidents. Staff revisit incidents through direct work sessions once children are ready to talk. This has helped staff to identify triggers to children’s behaviours, build these into their behaviour plans and as a result behaviour management in the home has been more effective.

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The safety of children

Effective restorative work has been completed with children to address how others feel if they are physically harmed or bullied. Consequently, children have spent more positive time together and incidents of children harming each other have stopped.

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The safety of children

The home has assessed that the kitchen area presents high risks. The staff lock the kitchen door until children are calm. However, a risk assessment is not in place to identify the children’s individual needs in relation to managing their behaviour. A risk assessment should be kept under regular review, and ensure that it has minimal impact on other children living there.

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Leaders and managers

The registered manager is very positive about obtaining the best outcomes for children. This is evidenced in the good level of communication associated with multi- agency working and the positive relationships the manager has with the children. The use of reflective practice is improving the home’s ability to identify lessons learned from incidents and obtain better outcomes for children.

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Leaders and managers

Staff, overall, are supervised in accordance with the timescales set out in the home’s policy and procedures. Staff told the inspector that they feel well directed and enjoy Assurance visit report: 2589392 4 working at the home. Staff reported that working during the COVID-19 restrictions was challenging, but the team worked well together and had the support to do so.

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Leaders and managers

Training and development of staff are promoted in the home. Staff have completed training specific to children’s needs. Staff are also involved in regular professional clinical sessions during team meetings, where they review and agree strategies in relation to children’s needs or risks.

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Leaders and managers

Some children’s risk assessments are not sufficiently robust. For example, they do not state timescales for welfare checks for children who may be at risk of harming themselves and do not include procedures for staff monitoring children in the night who have specific health needs. There have been no serious incidents as a result of this. That said, clearer direction for staff will ensure the consistency of safe practice in the home.

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Leaders and managers

Some of the records for the use of restraint do not meet regulatory requirements, where they do not include the duration of the restraint or evidence debriefs with staff who have been involved in the incident. The manager, however, has failed to identify this in the records or in his management oversight.

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Leaders and managers

In addition to regular regulation 44 visits, the home receives evaluative feedback in the form of monthly quality improvement partner feedback reports and regional operational manager bi-monthly audits. The manager uses these documents to make improvements in the home and give senior managers a clear oversight of the progress children are making.

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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—

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Requirement Due date

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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 5 (c)) 15/10/2020 Assurance visit report: 2589392 5 Specifically, in securing an education placement for a child within suitable timescales. Also, ensuring that a personal education plan and education, health and care plan are in place to support the child’s transition to their school placement.

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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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

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.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that relevant behavioural risk assessments are in place, that they are robust and contain necessary direction to enable staff to safeguard children. For example, they state timescales for welfare checks for children who may be at risk of harming themselves and they include procedures for staff monitoring children in the night who have specific health needs. 15/10/2020

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 35 (3)(a)(iv)(b)(i)(ii)) 15/10/2020 Assurance visit report: 2589392 6

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Specifically, in relation to the upstairs decor looking worn and including the decoration of children’s bedrooms to repair damage and graffiti.  Just as in a family home, children should be able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s needs. Limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home (regulation 21(c)(i)). Any decisions to limit a child’s access to

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Recommendations

any area of the home and any modifications to the environment of the home, must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30) Specifically, the home has not been able to evidence that return home interviews

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Recommendations

have taken place or that any responses, views and feelings from children involved in the interview have been recorded. This is to ensure that risk assessments and strategies can be updated in the home, to enable staff to help safeguard children and prevent them from going missing from home in the future. Assurance visit report: 2589392 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

Cheryl Field, Social Care Inspector Assurance visit report: 2589392 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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