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

Inspection report children’s home: 1224663 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 home provides care for up to three children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by an experienced manager.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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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

Date of last inspection: 30 October 2019

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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: 1224663 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/10/2019 Full Outstanding 06/06/2018 Full Outstanding 17/07/2017 Full Good 25/10/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: 1224663 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff provide good care and support to children. Children enjoy it when the staff spend time with them. Staff show genuine emotional warmth and understanding to children. This helps children to build trusting relationships with staff, which helps children to make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have developed a strong sense of belonging and stability. They enjoy many positive experiences. This helps them to develop their confidence and self-esteem. Children express themselves. They get to explore their interests and talents and staff encourage this. Children would benefit further if staff and the manager developed different ways to celebrate positive times for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy living at the home. They receive positive care and support. This enables children to grow in confidence and self-esteem. As a result, children are able to grow and develop.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to express their wishes and feelings. This takes place through regular children’s meetings and weekly activity planning meetings. However, the views and feedback from children are not always recorded in all records. This limits children’s participation in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff support children to attend education. When children need to be educated at home, staff work hard to motivate them to learn and work with tutors. As children become older, staff support them to prepare for adult life. This helps children to engage with learning, development and make good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are well known and met by staff. Staff work with a variety of involved health professionals. Staff understand the complexities of each child. There is a good therapeutic approach. This helps to maintain children’s health and emotional well-being.

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

The manager and staff understand children’s vulnerabilities. The staff ensure that children’s risk assessments contain the required clarity and are up to date. This supports staff to take effective action to keep children safe. The staff plan for and respond well to all known potential risks. Because of this, children are safe and secure.

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

Children have trusting relationships with the manager and staff. Children know they will be taken seriously and listened to if they raise any worries or anxieties. This reflects the staff’s ability to manage and help children work through anxieties or worries. As a result, children have the stability they need. Inspection report children’s home: 1224663 4 Safeguarding practice continues to be strong. The staff are provided with the safeguarding training and development they need. However, there are some gaps. Staff would benefit from further discussion in their individual supervision meetings and team meetings on wider safeguarding issues.

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

The manager and staff, with a psychologist, develop good care and behaviour support plans for children. When children are involved in any worrying incidents, staff practice is effective. This is because they follow the children’s behaviour support plans. The manager and staff review all incidents and adjust plans, if required. As a result, children’s plans accurately reflect changes in behaviour or presentation. This reduces risk and improves children’s safety and welfare.

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

Children rarely go missing or leave the home without staff agreement. Should this happen, the manager and staff work well with the responsible external agencies to get the children back home safely. Safeguarding practice is robust and helps to protect children.

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

The manager makes certain that safer recruitment protocols are followed when recruiting new staff. Prospective new staff are subject to rigorous vetting processes. This helps to safeguard children. However, some agency checks do not demonstrate the required attention to detail. The manager understands this. Consequently, plans are being put in place to drive improvements in this area.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A dedicated manager leads this home. She speaks with passion about the home and the children, demonstrating a genuine commitment. Her focus has been to support staff in their roles. She leads by example and is an integral part of the home and its success. As a result, children make progress, and the manager knows them very well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel very supported in their roles. They receive daily support and guidance. The manager has a clear development plan in place to support the team. However, where opportunities for staff to improve on their practice are identified, these are not always clearly recorded in supervision records.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has recruited a diverse team, which enriches the quality of care. Staff have confidence in the manager. Some members of the team are new. Consequently, the manager is working hard to embed the ethos of the home to make sure that care is consistent.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with regular mandatory training. They benefit from advice and guidance from specialist healthcare professionals. The induction for new staff is robust and thorough. Therefore, training is focused on the care, support and safeguarding needs of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals from external agencies are positive in their feedback about the home. One professional said, ‘I’ve seen huge improvements, children are interacting much Inspection report children’s home: 1224663 5 more, seem more settled, they (staff) do an amazing job.’ The manager has effective systems to monitor the quality of care provided. However, internal quality assurance does not always have management oversight in some areas, for example oversight of records and evidencing children’s comments and/or feedback on the care they receive. This is an area for ongoing development. Inspection report children’s home: 1224663 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 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

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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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager’s oversight of records and the expressed views and opinions of children. 25 April 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that, as set out in regulations 31 to 33, good employment practice is maintained. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should have systems in place to ensure that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should ensure that the use of external agency staff can be a positive choice to complement the skills and experiences of the permanent workforce. Any external agency staff should meet the requirements in regulation

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Recommendations

32 (4) regarding mandatory qualifications and the registered person should consider their skills, qualifications and any induction necessary before they commence work in the home. The use of agency staff should be carefully monitored and reviewed to ensure that children receive continuity of care. (‘Guide Inspection report children’s home: 1224663 7 to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.6)  The registered person should ensure that children are encouraged by staff to see the home’s records as ‘living documents’ and supported to view and contribute to the record in a way that reflects their voice on a regular basis. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.19)  The registered person should ensure that staff understand the system for rewarding and celebrating positive behaviour and recognising where children have

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Recommendations

managed situations well. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 47, paragraph 9.39)

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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: 1224663 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: Horizon Care and Education Group Limited, Venture House, Unit 12, Prospect Business Park, Longford Road, Cannock WS11 0LG

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Inspector

Thirza Smith, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1224663 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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