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

Inspection report children’s home: 2531921 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 private children’s home registered for up to four children. The home’s statement of purpose states that children living in this home may have a range of social and emotional difficulties or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2021. She is appropriately experienced and qualified to manage a children’s home.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 7 September 2021

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2531921 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/09/2021 Full Good 17/09/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 02/07/2019 Full Inadequate Inspection report children’s home: 2531921 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress while living in the home. Inspectors observed improvements in children’s confidence and self-esteem. Social workers and children’s families are complimentary about the quality of care that children receive. They said that staff understand children’s needs and advocate on behalf of children to help them improve their life chances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have improved their education attendance; they have been supported to obtain their GCSE’s and attend their end-of-year prom. Additionally, one child has enjoyed engaging in a local authority arranged independence life skills programme during the summer holidays. One child is being supported to find an alternative education provision. The staff team is working proactively with the virtual school to source a suitable alternative provision. Most importantly, the child’s needs and wishes are at the centre of this decision-making.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are well monitored. The staff team is proactive in obtaining additional mental health support for children, such as counselling and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) support. An in-house clinical team works closely with the staff team to review children’s therapeutic assessment and support plans, so that the staff are helped to develop their understanding of children’s trauma-led behaviour and early childhood experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to explore their own identities and individuality. Staff are positive role models and support children to be confident in their personal choices. Children’s incentives are based on respectful relationships and supporting children to manage their behaviours appropriately with each other and around the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s family time is actively promoted, no matter the distance. Children have regular overnight stays and quality time with their families. They benefit from owning and caring for their own pets. Children are also encouraged to spend time with their friends, engage in activities associated with their hobbies, and have enjoyed a summer holiday away together.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive relationships with staff. They can talk to staff and, overall, children say that they feel listened to. Regular consultations also ensure that children’s views, wishes and feelings are heard. However, the manager does not always fully address all concerns raised by children in house meetings. This is a missed opportunity to demonstrate to children that they have been listened to, their views considered, and action taken when appropriate.

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

Children told inspectors that they have been supported by the staff team to make safer choices. Children’s levels of self-injurious behaviour have reduced. Children are Inspection report children’s home: 2531921 4 no longer at high risk of child criminal exploitation, and they do not engage in substance misuse. Risk assessments evidence children’s journeys as they have learned to make positive decisions about their safety and, consequently, reduced their risk-taking behaviour.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home. The staff team takes prompt and appropriate action to keep children safe. Staff understand and follow children’s missing-from-home protocols to prevent children’s unauthorised absence escalating to serious incidents.

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

Staff act immediately to safeguard children during serious incidents. Staff know the children well, understand triggers to their behaviour, and know how to support them when they are in crisis. Multi-agency safety planning is thorough and effective. Preventative measures are agreed and implemented without delay to ensure that children are not placed at future risk. Children are always spoken to after serious incidents, to educate them about the potential implications of their risk-taking behaviour and how to keep themselves safe.

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

Restraint is used as a last resort. The manager assesses the effectiveness of any restraint used and addresses lessons learned with staff, if she feels it will promote improvements in incident management. The manager monitors patterns and trends associated with children’s behaviour. She seeks advice from relevant professionals to enable the staff team to effectively support children to manage their behaviour, such as consultation with the in-house clinical team or child mental health services.

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

On one occasion, staff have failed to correctly administer a child’s prescribed medication in line with guidance given by the general medical practitioner. However, immediate action was taken by staff to have the child medically assessed. The manager has also taken prompt action to address the error with staff and revisited medication competency training.

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

Allegations and children’s complaints are dealt with promptly and transparently. However, some children have spoken about the impact of other children’s behaviour on their emotional well-being. Restorative and direct work completed with children does not evidence a proactive or consistent staff approach in addressing children’s negative behaviour towards each other. This means that, while children’s concerns are listened to, the action taken is not yet effective in resolving the challenges that remain between some children.

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good

The manager is passionate about obtaining positive outcomes for children. She knows the children well and ensures that their progress is recognised and celebrated. The manager provides staff with clear expectations relating to their roles and responsibilities. They are provided with regular practice-related supervisions to review their practice and support continuous development. Inspection report children’s home: 2531921 5 Children are not always provided with continuity of care from a stable and consistent staff team. A number of staff have left their roles since the last inspection and senior managers have been unable to permanently fill the positions through recruitment drives. Agency staff and staff from other settings are regularly used to cover the rota. Therefore, children are regularly supported by some staff that they do not have established relationships with. Staff and children told the inspectors that the

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good

inconsistencies of different staff working in the home can have an impact on the consistency of care that they receive.

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good

There are unclear arrangements relating to the use of increased staffing to safeguard one of the children. There is no clear plan with the placing authority about when they expect a higher staff ratio to be implemented and if this is feasible based on the current low staffing levels. The means that this strategy is being used inconsistently depending on the numbers of staff on shift, and places the child at potential risk. That said, the manager acted immediately to implement temporary additional staffing daily until this could be formally assessed with the child’s social worker.

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good

Sanctions given to children are fair, timely and proportionate. However, the manager does not routinely evaluate the effectiveness of the sanctions given to children. This means that staff are not always kept informed about sanctions that are suitable to be used again with children to help them manage their behaviour.

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good

The manager’s review of the quality-of-care report provides a detailed overview of the progress made by children and it evidences that the manager understands the strengths and weaknesses of the home. However, the independent visitor’s monthly reports do not consistently obtain feedback from children, staff, families and social workers in order to provide a full evaluation of the quality of care provided to children.

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good

Staff meetings take place monthly. They are purposeful and child centred. The manager facilitates regular research-informed workshops in team meetings to develop the staff team’s knowledge base, specifically in areas such as PTSD, mental health, and autism spectrum disorder. In addition, staff are kept up to date with mandatory training and training specific to children’s needs and risks. Inspection report children’s home: 2531921 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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(iv)) 14 October 2022

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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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for 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)(d)(e)) 14 October 2022

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires. (Regulation 44 (2)(a)) 14 October 2022 Inspection report children’s home: 2531921 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted on. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that medicines are administered in line with a medically approved protocol. Regulation 23 requires the registered person to ensure that they make suitable arrangements to manage, administer and dispose of any medication. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)

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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: 2531921 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, Unit 12, Venture House, Prospect Business Park, Longford Road, Cannock, Staffordshire WS11 0LG

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Inspectors

Cheryl Field, Social Care Inspector Katie Tomlinson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2531921 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 who are looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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