Children's home run by Horizon Transitional Care Ltd

Inspection report for children's home: 2597734 1 Registered provider: Horizon Transitional Care 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 children’s home, owned by a small company. It is registered to care for up to four children who may have social and emotional difficulties and complex needs, including learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has worked at the home since 25 September 2023 and has applied for registration.

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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: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2597734 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/03/2023 Full Outstanding 18/05/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2597734 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Four children live in the home. Two of the children have lived in the home for more than one year. During this inspection period, one child moved out in line with their plan, and two children moved into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Before children move in, they have the opportunity to visit the home, look at their bedrooms and spend time with staff and other children living in the home. This helps children to understand where they are moving to, eases any anxieties and helps them settle into their home quickly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff effectively support children when they leave the home. They organised a leaving party for the child who moved out. This allowed the child to say good-bye to the staff and children living in the home. The child was given a memory book of their time and experiences in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff use various communication aids to support children to enhance their communication skills. For instance, two children use items from their objects board to communicate to staff when they need to go to the toilet or if there is a certain toy they want to play with. As a result, children are now able to use their aids to make choices and develop their language. This helps the children to communicate their wishes and feelings effectively to staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress from their starting points. During mealtimes, two of the children are now able to use cutlery unaided. Before coming to the home, these children used their fingers to eat their meals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to understand their behaviours and recognise their successes. Each child has a positive behaviour chart. Each day, staff record what the child has done well. Children’s achievements are celebrated with rewards. For example, children choose a small gift from their individual lucky-dip boxes. As a result, children’s positive behaviour is reinforced through restorative practice and praise.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to take their required medication. On two occasions, a child declined to take their medication, and staff recorded this appropriately. The child did not suffer any adverse effects. Staff did not seek advice from medical professionals in a timely manner about how refusal of medication would impact on the child. The manager acknowledges this shortfall and has put systems in place to ensure this does not happen again.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

In the main, the manager and staff understand the importance of promoting positive relationships between the children. However, during two incidents, there were missed opportunities for staff to educate children on the impact of their behaviours on the other children in the home. This prevents children from maintaining and enjoying positive peer relationships. Inspection report for children's home: 2597734 4

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

Children and staff share strong relationships. Staff know the children well; they understand their vulnerabilities and support them to help them to stay safe.

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

Allegations and complaints are managed well. The manager takes prompt action, ensuring information is shared quickly with external professionals to avoid delay and ensure that children are protected from harm. Children are kept informed of any outcomes. These actions support children’s confidence to raise concerns and help them feel safe.

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

Health and safety procedures, including fire arrangements, are safe. Staff and children participate in regular fire drills. Children have personal evacuation plans to help staff understand the level of support they require to evacuate the home safely. The home has won an award from an independent organisation for the quality of its health and safety checks.

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

Recruitment is safe. The manager ensures that all applicants are subject to thorough recruitment checks before they begin working in the home. This keeps children safe from unsuitable people having access to them.

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

On one occasion, leaders did not notify Ofsted of an allegation that was made against a member of staff. This limits the regulator’s oversight of the home.

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

Overall, physical interventions are well managed. However, the manager is not consistent in completing staff and child debriefs. This is a missed opportunity to reflect on staff practice and explore children’s views and feelings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is in the process of registering with Ofsted. In the short time that she has been in post, she has built trusting relationships with the children and the staff. She leads by example and has high expectations of the staff and the care that they provide for the children. One staff member said that the manager is ‘supportive’ and that the home is a good place to work.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that staff have the training to meet the children’s individual needs. Staff have a variety of skills, experience and qualifications. This ensures that all staff have the skills and necessary training to work with the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that staff receive good-quality and reflective supervision. Children are at the centre of supervision discussions, and there is an emphasis on improving their care. The manager appraises staff performance annually, which helps staff plan their professional development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is aware of the strengths of the home and the areas for development. External monitoring by an independent person also highlights areas for Inspection report for children's home: 2597734 5 improvement. The manager has recently created a targets and goals document, which maps out all of the review recommendations for each child. She has added the quality standards to be tracked in line with the children’s progress. This ensures children receive a quality of care that is in line with national standards.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Partnership working is a real strength. The manager and staff work well together and share information with parents, social workers and schools. One professional said, ‘I have regular communication and regularly receive progress reports.’ This effective communication improves children’s experiences and development. Inspection report for children's home: 2597734 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, The 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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(viii)) 29 December Inspection report for children's home: 2597734 7 This relates to the provider ensuring that following incidents, children are supported and encouraged to build positive relationships with their peers.

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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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

that each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b) and (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to staff ensuring medical advice is sought when children refuse their prescribed medication. 29 December

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that all children and all staff involved in any physical intervention incidents are debriefed within the required time frames. 29 December

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Recommendation

Inspection report for children's home: 2597734 8  The registered person should ensure they involve the local authority and other relevant persons whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. This specifically relates to notifying Ofsted of all safeguarding incidents within the relevant timescale. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.4)

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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: 2597734 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Horizon Transitional Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Carthorne Cottage 55 Woodfield Avenue, Wolverhampton, West Midlands WV4 4AG

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Inspector

Jas Nahar, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2597734 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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