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

Inspection report children’s home: SC475323 1 SC475323 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 owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a manager in post, who is not yet registered with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded. The care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not judged

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC475323 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/03/2020 Interim Not judged 28/01/2020 Interim Not judged 07/11/2018 Full Good 28/02/2018 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC475323 3

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inadequate

Safeguarding and leadership and management arrangements are inadequate. This has had an impact on the overall experiences and progress of children living in the home. Three children currently live in the home.

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inadequate

At the time of the inspection, areas of the home were observed to require a deep clean. Managers have since taken action to address this. This will help improve the look of the home, making it clean and tidy.

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inadequate

Children’s case files do not include all necessary information. Furthermore, managers and staff do not regularly or accurately review and update internal care plans and risk assessments. As a result, children do not receive well-coordinated care, and this can hinder their progress.

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inadequate

Staff do not consistently undertake key-work sessions with children. This means that children are not provided with the opportunity to understand and manage the impact of their current issues and, importantly, past experiences. This does not support children’s safety, welfare and progress.

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inadequate

When children express their views during the key-work sessions they do have, staff do not provide them with appropriate responses and feedback. For example, a child told a member of staff that they wished to have children. The member of staff told the child that because they had poor mental health, their child would be taken away. This is poor practice and does not treat children with dignity and respect. Inappropriate responses from staff do not promote the welfare of children and can leave them feeling unhappy and not listened to.

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inadequate

Children who are approaching adulthood do not receive the support needed to develop their life skills. Managers and staff fail to ensure that children have pathway plans in place. Consequently, staff fail to give children the help they need to prepare for independent living.

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inadequate

The organisation provides managers and staff with specialist input from a clinical team. However, staff fail to undertake work recommended by the clinical team to support children’s individual needs. This does not promote children’s emotional health and well- being.

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inadequate

Children’s relationships with people who are important to them are promoted and maintained by staff. This helps children to spend time with their family and friends. Inspection report children’s home: SC475323 4

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

Safeguarding arrangements in the home are inadequate. Staff do not always respond effectively to safeguarding incidents. For example, staff failed to act when a child disclosed that she was physically assaulted by a family member. Staff did not identify this as a significant incident, and failed to report and record this incident in line with the organisation’s safeguarding policy. The child’s placing authority was not informed of the disclosure. Consequently, as no action was taken by staff, the child spent further time with her family, which placed her at further risk of harm. It was not until the child made a further disclosure 16 days later that appropriate action was taken to ensure that the child was safeguarded effectively.

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

Staff fail to report concerns and share information with children’s placing authorities. For example, in March 2021, a member of staff had a discussion with a child who was observed picking up staff’s discarded cigarette ends outside the home. The inspector found no evidence that this information had been reported as an incident or shared with the child’s placing authority, and no evidence of how managers and staff were going to address this behaviour. This is particularly concerning given the current COVID-19 pandemic, and places children at risk of harm.

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

Risk assessments for children are not updated on a regular basis and fail to detail children’s potential behaviours, such as sexualised behaviours and self-harm. For example, risk assessments in respect of children who self-harm provide staff with conflicting information as to how to manage and reduce risks. Out-of-date or inaccurate information in risk assessments can compromise children’s safety.

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

Impact risk assessments are poor. A child was admitted to the home in September 2020. The impact risk assessment did not consider the child’s needs in light of the risks they posed to, or faced from, children already living in the home. This resulted in an increase in self-harm incidents and allegations of inappropriate, sexualised behaviour in the home.

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

Managers and staff do not work in line with the home’s ethos, aims and objectives as set out within its statement of purpose. For example, a member of staff failed to support colleagues appropriately during an incident in which a child self-harmed. The member of staff failed to record the incident accurately and share with the on- call manager information about events unfolding in the home. As a result, children are not safeguarded or afforded good-quality care.

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

Managers and staff fail to ensure that appropriate consents are in place from placing authorities for the use of children’s bedroom door alarms. This means that children’s placing authorities have not given consent for additional monitoring and surveillance systems to be used within the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The leadership and management of the home are inadequate. Managers have failed to identify areas of weakness and take effective action to resolve these. For Inspection report children’s home: SC475323 5 example, the management oversight and challenge of records are poor, with some serious incidents not having any management oversight. As a result, shortfalls in staff practice and recording have continued and remain unchallenged. This means that the manager is unable to evaluate incidents and address concerns identified in staff practice effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Children have not been provided with continuity of care. The home does not currently have a full team of core staff. Consequently, there is a high reliance on agency staff and staff from other homes within the organisation to supplement the staffing ratios. This does not give children the opportunity to form meaningful relationships with people who they can grow to trust.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers have failed to ensure that all required information for agency staff is in place and verified. This does not demonstrate that managers take sufficient action to ensure that staff providing care to children in the home have the required skills and experience to meet children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff rotas do not accurately reflect the staff working in the home. This does not provide assurance of who is employed to work on shift and whether children are experiencing a good quality of care. This does not demonstrate safe and effective leadership and management of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers and staff receive regular supervision. This provides them with the opportunity to reflect and receive feedback on their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers fail to ensure that consent is in place for the independent visitor to view all children’s case files. This means that the independent visitor has accessed some children’s case records without the consent of the child’s placing authority. This lack of management oversight does not provide a clear audit trail. Inspection report children’s home: SC475323 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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 and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

treat each child with dignity and respect;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to managers and staff understanding and conducting their roles and responsibilities in line with the home’s statement of purpose and children’s care plans. In particular, managers and staff should ensure that they prepare children for independence, including obtaining copies of children’s pathway plans. 11 July 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC475323 7 The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to managers and staff providing children with appropriate responses and feedback during key-work sessions.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was also made at the last inspection and is restated. 11 July 2021

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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; 11 July 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC475323 8 take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with and act in accordance with the homes child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to managers and staff’s understanding and implementation of each individual child’s risk assessment, and their role in keeping children safe.

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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

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to leaders and managers ensuring that staffing arrangements in the home provide continuity of care to children living in the home. In addition, leaders and managers need to ensure that robust monitoring and review systems are implemented in the home. 11 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and 11 July 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC475323 9 have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

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))

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Requirement Due date

This refers specifically to children moving into the home being suitably matched to children already living there.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance. (Regulation 24 (1)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the provider ensuring that consent is in place for using bedroom door alarms. 11 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

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 specifically relates to the provider ensuring that satisfactory employment checks are completed for agency staff. 11 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the need for children’s case records to contain all required information, be kept up to date and be written in a child-focused way. 11 July 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC475323 10 When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home’s records (except for a child’s case records unless the child and the child’s placing authority consent) as the independent person requires. (Regulation 44 (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the provider ensuring that they have the required consent in place for the independent visitor to view children’s case records. 11 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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: SC475323 11

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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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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Agata Dokszewicz

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Inspector

Sarah Junor-Fitzpatrick, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC475323 12 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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