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

Inspection report children’s home: 2509452 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 is owned by a private company and is registered to provide care for up to three children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The current manager registered with Ofsted in March 2019 and has the required qualifications.

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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 SCIFF 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2509452 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/03/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness 15/10/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 2509452 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is welcoming and reflects a calm and relaxed environment. Children receive good-quality care from staff who they know care about them. Children are happy living at the home. One child said, ‘I am excited to come home, I have never felt like that.’ Staff provide children with a safe and nurturing environment in which they thrive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff’s relationships with children are a strength. Relationships were observed to be warm and relaxed. Children receive certificates and letters of appreciation. This is not just to celebrate achievements but to capture the uniqueness of each child. These are highly personalised, and copies are kept for the children’s memory boxes. Staff and children participate in regular meals out together. Staff attend these meals even if they are not working that day. This reflects the commitment that staff have to the children living in the home. As a result, children feel valued and cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress given their starting points. They receive a high level of individualised care which meets their complex needs. Staff have a good understanding of the children in the home, their experiences and the challenges that they face. This enables them to support children to build strategies to achieve emotional stability and positive developmental progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise the importance of helping children to build their independence. They are ambitious for children and want the very best for them. Staff engage children and set them clear, achievable goals. As a result, children learn essential life skills. This helps to build their confidence and provides children with a good foundation for independent living. One child is supported to attend job interviews. During the inspection, he completed a work experience day and returned home feeling motivated and proud of his achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in education. One child living at the home has progressed on to further learning at college. One child who was not attending school regularly now attends every day. Staff work well with education professionals. As a result, children are supported to make progress in their education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to provide the children with valuable and memorable experiences. Children experience a wide range of social and community activities that help them to explore their interests. For example, one child plays an active role in a community youth group. This has developed his confidence and self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff make sure that children understand their family background. One child’s culture and heritage form a central part of his care planning. His culture is understood and celebrated in the home. Staff translate essential documents into his preferred language so that his parents can play an active role in understanding their Inspection report children’s home: 2509452 4 child’s care. Staff acknowledge the child’s understanding of his own language and actively encourage his views about the documents they produce.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to capture children’s wishes and feelings. Documents are written to them in a child-focused way. Staff have introduced new ideas to respond to children’s views. For example, they have developed a monthly newspaper that captures children’s experiences along with their views about the home. This ensures that children have a voice in the care that they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise the importance of family relationships. They support children to have contact and maintain relationships with their families. However, care planning in relation to one child for family time was not appropriately risk assessed.

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

Children living at the home say that they feel safe. As a result, children feel safe to make mistakes as they are confident that they will be supported to learn from their actions. Staff help children to reflect when incidents occur. As a result, children engage in interventions that address risk-taking behaviours. This supports children to develop strategies to keep themselves safe.

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

Children have a wide range of individual risk assessments in place, which provides clear guidance for staff to follow. This helps staff to keep children safe. However, the omission of a risk assessment for one child around unsupervised family contact means that this is not managed safely. The manager put this risk assessment in place during the inspection. This omission could compromise the child’s safety.

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

Dedicated and nurturing staff ensure that children receive clear and consistent expectations and boundaries. As a result, children know what is expected from them. Because children feel safe and supported, they manage their feelings well and staff do not need to restrain them.

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

Children rarely go missing from this home. When children are missing from the home, staff respond proactively and work collaboratively with safeguarding agencies. All children have clear missing-from-care protocols. Direct work sessions are carried out, and the manager evaluates incidents. When children return, staff work closely with them to understand the reasons why they go missing. Because of these proactive approaches, there has been a reduction in missing-from-care episodes for children, and staff take steps to keep them safe.

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

Staff are knowledgeable about the risks that children face. They undertake purposeful work with children with a focus on helping them to engage. Staff use evidence-based information to help children to reflect and understand risk. For example, children have engaged well in creative sessions to increase their understanding of risks such as self-harm, drug misuse and consent. These sessions give children the knowledge and understanding to help keep themselves safer now and in the future. Inspection report children’s home: 2509452 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A passionate and child-focused manager leads a committed and motivated team. She knows the children well. The manager and staff work well together to provide a good level of care to children. They are continually seeking innovative ways to improve the experiences of children. They do this because they want the best for the children they care for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager places high value on learning and development. Staff supervision takes place regularly. The manager is aspirational for the children and her staff team. Because of this, staff are invested in the children and the home. Staff are motivated to progress and develop their skills. The manager acts as a positive role model to others. There is a strong focus on training and staff are committed to this. This is because they know that this supports them to deliver the good care to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has a core team of regular and experienced staff which provides consistent care for children. Staff have worked overtime to cover vacancies, which has reduced the need for the use of agency staff in the home. This means that children are consistently cared for by people who know them well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. She continuously thinks of ways to improve the experiences for children. Children are continuously encouraged to participate in their care. This helps them to feel valued and involved in their care planning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children are encouraged to be part of the local community. Staff keep abreast of current trends and themes. For example, the children have been involved in developing an understanding about the current challenges faced by Ukraine. One child has been supported to raise funds for his local youth group.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The inspector spoke to several professionals as part of the inspection. They all gave positive feedback about the home. The manager knows that it is essential to build strong working relationships and that this a pivotal part of safeguarding children. This promotes children’s safety and welfare.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some records reviewed were open to interpretation and could give the wrong message to staff. For example, the language used in one child’s risk assessment was confusing about rules around smoking. This could lead to the wrong action being taken by staff. Clearer recording will resolve this issue. A recommendation has been made in respect of this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Generally, the home is well maintained and welcoming. However, some areas require redecoration. The manager is aware of this and has started to make improvements. A recommendation has been made to continue this work in a timely way. Inspection report children’s home: 2509452 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

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that each child has risk assessments in place which include all known risks and provide staff with strategies to follow to keep children safe. 28 April 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s needs are met in a homely, domestic environment. This specifically relates to ensuring that the home is well maintained and decorated. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report children’s home: 2509452 7

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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: 2509452 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

Natasha Skinner, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2509452 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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