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

Inspection report children's home: 1234243 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

This is a privately owned home. It can provide care for up to three children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 2018.

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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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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 9 December 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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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 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

Date of last inspection: 11 December 2019

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children's home: 1234243 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/12/2019 Full Good 26/02/2019 Full Good 22/02/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 19/09/2017 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 1234243 3

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inadequate

The overall experience of children is inadequate because the home’s management has been poor. The conduct of the registered manager has been poor, and quality assurance systems have been ineffective.

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inadequate

One child’s bedroom was unhygienic and potentially unsafe. Hazards in the room presented a potential risk to the child. The room had not been checked by staff. The failure to ensure a safe, nurturing environment does not promote the welfare of children.

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inadequate

One child does not yet have a school place. Although he is participating in structured educational activities in the home, provided by a commissioned tutor, he is missing the opportunity to interact with peers and to participate in school-based group activities. Leaders and managers have not escalated concerns with the placing local authority to ensure a school placement is prioritised for this child.

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inadequate

Staff have arranged health screening for children and supported children to attend appointments with primary health services. However, leaders and managers have not ensured that staff are proactively following up one child’s significant dental health needs. They have also not sought advice promptly from opticians about another child who is not currently wearing the glasses that are prescribed for him.

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inadequate

Staff consult with children. However, there is little evidence of children’s views and wishes informing the development of the home. There is no tracking of responses to concerns or requests raised by children. As a result, it is not clear how children’s concerns are addressed.

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inadequate

One child’s records did not include an up-to-date education, health and care plan or information about outcomes from a statutory looked after review. As a result, the child’s placement plan is not informed by up-to-date multi-agency assessments and decisions.

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

Managers do not review risk management and behaviour support plans effectively, to ensure that they are suitable. For example, there was no detailed risk assessment in place, about children’s contact with family members. This resulted in a child returning to the home with items that might have presented risks to the child or other children in the home. Inspection report children's home: 1234243 4 The home has adopted a particular therapeutic parenting approach. However, this approach is not consistently applied by all staff. When there have been incidents of concern, there is little evidence that leaders and managers have reflected on the specific strategies and interventions used by staff. The clinical specialists, who support the approach within the home, have not always been consulted about care strategies. This means that therapeutic behaviour support plans and practice within the home are not always effective.

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

The quality of individual work with children is not being routinely monitored and evaluated by leaders and managers. Some individual work is not purposeful and is not informed by agreed behavioural targets.

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

In some cases when complaints and concerns have been raised about managers, these have not been reviewed or investigated properly. Significant concerns about a manager’s conduct that had an impact on children, were not reported promptly. The impact on children of potentially inappropriate management conduct has not been recognised or addressed. Whistle-blowing procedures have not been used effectively to safeguard children.

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

At the time of the inspection, management arrangements had been changed, and oversight of the home had been enhanced. Children’s welfare is currently being carefully monitored by senior leaders.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have not provided a supportive environment for staff. Some staff have not received supervision for over a year. This means that they have not had an opportunity to share concerns about practice with their manager, have not received professional guidance to develop practice and have not been asked about their welfare.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff have raised concerns about the style of management in the home. They did not feel that feedback about their practice was supportive or constructive. Management did not build staff confidence or support their professional development. When there were incidents involving a child’s behaviour, staff did not have the opportunity to reflect on lessons learned but felt blamed and criticised. Senior managers did not have robust oversight of the effectiveness of management practice within the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have not managed the home in a way that is consistent with the stated approach and ethos as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. Staff report behaviours by managers that would have an impact on the welfare of the children witnessing those behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Although leaders and managers attended the majority of children’s care planning meetings with social workers, the outcomes of the meetings were not shared with staff. Consequently, staff do not demonstrate a clear understanding of children’s care plans. Up-to-date plans were not available in some children’s records. Inspection report children's home: 1234243 5 There has not been effective monitoring of the quality of care in the home by leaders and managers. Senior managers’ audits and independent visitor reports have identified shortfalls in management oversight and quality of care in the home. However, senior managers have not ensured that effective action has been taken to address the shortfalls. Inspection report children's home: 1234243 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. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)) 29/10 /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; 29/10/2021 Inspection report children's home: 1234243 7 help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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

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 home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii))

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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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(e)) 29/10/2021

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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 29/10/2021 Inspection report children's home: 1234243 8 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

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

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Recommendations

 Where children placed in a home are not participating in education because they have been excluded, or not on a school roll for some other reason, the registered person and staff must work closely with the placing authority so that the child is supported and enabled to resume full-time education as soon as possible. In the interim, the child should be supported to sustain or regain their confidence in education and be engaged in suitable structured activities. If no education place is identified by the placing authority, the registered person must challenge them to meet the child’s needs under Regulation 5 (engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are being met). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)  When a child needs additional health or well-being support staff should work with the child’s placing authority to enable proper and immediate access to any

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Recommendations

specialist support required. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.10)  Supervision of staff practice should ensure that individual adults in the home are engaged in the safeguarding culture of the home so they understand what they would need to do if they found other staff misusing or abusing their position to the detriment and safety of a child. ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.14)

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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: 1234243 9

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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

Cathey Moriarty, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 1234243 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 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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