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

Inspection report for children's home: 1257073 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

A private provider operates this home. It can provide care for up to three children with learning disabilities, emotional and/or social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a manager in place who is suitably qualified for the role.

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Information about this children’s home

The provider ceased operation of the home between the 21 May 2021 and 4 February 2022.

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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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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 4 March 2021 to carry out a monitoring 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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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 1257073 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/08/2019 Full Good 01/05/2019 Full Inadequate 14/11/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 1257073 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager has established a home environment that has a strong emphasis on siblings living together. This has enabled children to maintain their connections and relationships with their siblings. In doing so, this has had a positive effect on children’s emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is family-oriented. There is an array of resources in the home for children to enjoy. Children have access to age-appropriate books, board games, art and craft materials in addition to appropriate digital services. This means that children can learn, have fun and thrive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to pursue their hobbies and interests. Staff also encourage children to make contributions to their local community, which the children have embraced through their participation in charity fund-raising events. Staff capture special moments through taking photos. This will enable children to fondly look back on fun experiences from their childhood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff sensitively cover topical world events with the children, such as the war in Ukraine and COVID-19. Children draw and paint pictures to express their understanding of topical issues. This creates the opportunity for staff to support children’s emotional well-being through providing child-focused explanations of complex issues. The efforts made by staff in these areas reassure children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are innovative when undertaking key-work sessions with children. Key-work activities provide staff with a deeper understanding of the child’s interpretation of significant events and associated issues in the child’s life. This means that staff become attuned to the child’s world, which enables children to learn from staff and develop their life skills. This is a particular area of strength.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff write the children’s placement plans in language that children can relate to. Children read their placement plans and learn about important issues that staff are supporting them to manage. However, some placement plans overlook significant topics, such as diagnosed health conditions or pertinent matters concerning the child at that point in their lives. This increases the risk of staff overlooking important areas that the child requires support with.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are excellent lines of communication between home and school. This enables staff to promptly address any issues that affect the children’s focus in school. Staff have the capacity to transport children to and from school. However, children are transported to school in a taxi. This reduces the emotional support available to children, which the manager acknowledges.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager has established a thorough referral process that helps the manager’s ability to match children. However, some children have experienced abrupt, unplanned Inspection report for children's home: 1257073 4 moves from the home. In these instances, management has failed in its obligations towards the children and towards the children’s respective local authorities. The manager has since undertaken a thorough learning review. The findings from the learning review have helped to reduce the risk of children experiencing further unplanned moves.

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

The staff have frequent consultation sessions with a therapist who helps them understand the child’s world. The therapist also undertakes structured sessions with children in their home. This service strengthens the support network for children. It also increases the capacity of staff to support children when they are in a state of crisis.

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

Risk assessments are concise and clear, and they reflect the current risks associated with the children’s behaviours. Risk assessments provide staff with clear guidance on the action to take when children are at increased risk of harm. This keeps children safer as staff are confident in caring for them in risky situations.

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

There is good management oversight of incidents involving children, including incidents that involve restraint. However, the home’s statement of purpose does not highlight the staff’s approach to restraint, neither does it highlight their access to restraint training. This denies parents and professionals the ability to independently access information about an important element concerning the child’s care.

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

The manager makes good efforts to establish and maintain contact with children’s parents. However, in respect of staff using social media to promote contact between children and their families, the manager has yet to establish a working agreement between all parties, including the children’s social worker. This will help to ensure that parents are aware of the efforts that staff make to protect their children’s identities when using social media platforms.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has established a peer audit system. This has created an internal support network within the organisation, which the manager values. The system bolsters the manager’s oversight of the home and enables the manager’s performance to be constructively scrutinised by other managers within the wider organisation. This decreases the risk of the responsible individual overlooking situations that could affect the care of the children. The manager took an active role in the recruitment process, which resulted in establishing a new team of experienced staff. The manager has a clear vision for the home and recognises that much of her work is in its infancy. Staff respect their manager and are clearly happy in their role. This has created a cohesive team and consistency of care for the children. Inspection report for children's home: 1257073 5 The manager has guided staff to build effective working relationships with other

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

professionals and agencies. This has enabled a cohesive approach to care. It has also promoted other agencies’ confidence and familiarity with the setting. This has increased the support network available to the children and the staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager encourages staff to reflect on their practice through frequent supervision. There is an established support and learning structure for staff which begins in their probation period and flows through their supervision. This has created a learning environment for staff to flourish.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel valued by their manager and appreciate that the manager invites their input. This has created good morale throughout the team, promoted accountability and contributed to a positive and vibrant atmosphere in the home. Inspection report for children's home: 1257073 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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(b)) 15 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

Details of the home’s approach to behavioural support, including information about—

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Requirement Due date

the home’s approach to restraint in relation to children; and

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Requirement Due date

how persons working in the home are trained in restraint and how their competence is assessed. (Regulation 16 (1)), (Schedule 1 (17)(a)(b)) 15 April 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should challenge, where the placing authority or another relevant person does not provide the input and services needed to meet a child’s needs during their time in the home. Staff should act as champions for their children, expecting nothing less than a good parent would. Key areas for the registered person to focus on are seeking guidance from health professionals on diagnosed health conditions relating to specific children and accessing relevant virtual schools for support and guidance. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 12, paragraph 2.8)  The registered person should seek agreement with parents when using social media platforms to provide updates for family members. The placing authority will have recorded the level or type of family involvement that is appropriate in their care plan. Children’s homes must follow regulation 7(2)(e) in accordance

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Recommendations

with this decision. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.7) Inspection report for children's home: 1257073 7  The registered person should ensure that the necessary support is given to children to enable them to access their education or training. Support may include, for example, putting in place practical arrangements such as transporting the child to school, support by staff to learn how to use public transport confidently and safely, or the use of technology to connect with online learning. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.17)

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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 for children's home: 1257073 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: Venture House, Unit 12, Prospect Business Park, Longford Road, Cannock WS11 0LG

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Inspector

Steve Guirey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1257073 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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