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

Inspection report for children’s home: 1258089 1 Registered provider: Horizon Care and Education Group Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private company and offers care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

One child lives at the home. They have lived there since before the last inspection.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 7 December 2022

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1258089 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/12/2022 Full Good 03/02/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 17/05/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 18/09/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 1258089 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have warm relationships with the child. Relationships are built through a good understanding of the child’s communication needs and behaviours. Staff also understand the child’s background and experiences, which helps them to provide behavioural and emotional support. The child trusts staff members and interacts with them easily, which helps them to feel settled and happy.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s is supported to attend health appointments and medical attention is sought when necessary. Staff understand the child’s health needs and support and encourage them to engage with therapeutic input for their emotional and mental health. Staff consult with a therapist who provides guidance around areas such as education and independence. Staff are also guided by their own therapist on how to understand the child’s emotional and mental health needs better. The staff’s caring approach helps the child to manage difficult emotions.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Family time is well supported. The child has daily discussions with their family and sees them frequently. Family members are supported to visit the home. Frequent contact from staff keeps them involved in the child’s life. This helps the child to form their identity and maintain relationships which will support them when they reach adulthood.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child participates in enjoyable activities, including gymnastics. Staff engage the child in play and activities they enjoy. Staff have supported the child to have pets. This has given the child responsibility and a sense of achievement. Staff also promote the child’s independence. One-to-one time helps them to learn skills such as cooking and shopping, as well as how to keep themselves safe in the home or away from it. Sessions are carried out at least every other day and sometimes daily. They are recorded in detail and state whether the child listened and engaged.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has regressed in terms of their education since the last inspection, spending a large amount of time being educated at home for short periods. The regression is understandable in the context of the child’s current experiences. However, the manager and staff have ensured that educational work has been provided while the child has not attended school. Home tutors have also supported to engage the child in lessons. The manager sufficiently challenged the school and the local authority, until the child returned to school.

p.3

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

Staff keep the child safe. They understand the risks to the child and how to manage them. Risk assessments are regularly updated and help staff to identify the steps to take to reduce them. Incident reports demonstrate how staff follow the child’s plans to keep them safe. The child feels safe, which is evident from talking to them and from the progress they have made. Inspection report for children’s home: 1258089 4 Physical interventions are proportionate. De-escalation techniques are used to try and prevent the use of physical interventions. Recordings are detailed and clear. Timely debriefs with the staff and child explore the incident and there is team learning and one-to-one sessions with the child in the following days. Management oversight and analysis of the reasons for the intervention promote further learning.

p.3

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

Allegations against staff and misconduct are dealt with appropriately. The child’s views are listened to and acted on. Staff are suspended if necessary and the child is kept safe by the process. Staff and management action is timely. Investigations are recorded and processes are followed to protect everyone involved.

p.4

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

Safer recruitment checks ensure that staff working in the home are suitable. When agency staff are used, the manager has a system to ensure their suitability to work with children. The use of agency staff has reduced over recent months. Efforts are made to use the same agency staff to maintain continuity of care for the child.

p.4

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

The child’s missing-from-care protocol is up to date and available for staff. The child’s photo is included, along with details of key professionals and what action to take in the event the child goes missing. There have been no episodes of the child going missing from home.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has a permanent registered manager. The home is not fully staffed. However, internal staff from sister homes are used to ensure that appropriate care is provided. Internal staff are always accompanied by a permanent member of staff. The same internal staff are used regularly and have good relationships with the child. The manager works some shifts in the home. This does not impact on their management role.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Permanent staff receive regular supervision from the manager. They discuss personal and practice issues. They discuss the child and their needs. Objectives are set and followed up during subsequent supervision sessions. The manager enables staff to reflect during supervision. All staff feel supported by the manager. The manager is available for discussions and support outside of supervision. However, internal staff from sister homes do not receive supervision from the manager of this home. This means that the manager has no formal oversight of their practice with the child. This may mean that problems are not identified and addressed. The training needs of internal staff could also be missed.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff have aspirations for the child and take pride in the progress made. There is a culture of praise towards the child. Staff attribute the team’s investment in the child and the positive culture to the manager.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager seeks the views of professionals and the child’s family members through regular communication. There are good relationships between the manager and the child’s wider networks. The independent person also carries out thorough Inspection report for children’s home: 1258089 5 visits, which includes consultation with the child and professionals to support the manager’s continuous review of the home. However, the independent person has not consulted with family members for a significant period, which means that the family’s views are not obtained independently. Point-in-time surveys are also not completed by staff or the child. This is a missed opportunity for the leadership team to obtain feedback to inform the running of the home.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The child’s records are kept up to date. The manager is proactive in contacting the local authority if there are delays in sending out copies of planning documents or meeting minutes. Meetings and care plans are also written by staff and kept on record to ensure that they have details of the child’s agreed plan. This provides clarity if the local authority is delayed in sending out care planning documents. Health and education documents are also up to date and kept on file to support staff in meeting the child’s needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 1258089 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

p.6

Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, internal staff not based at the home must have supervision by the home’s manager if they are regularly working shifts in the home. 16 April 2024

p.6

Recommendation

 The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent monitoring. Children’s family members should be included in the independent person’s report to ensure that their views are obtained independently. Staff and the child should be encouraged to complete point-in-time surveys to ensure continuous improvement. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

p.6

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: 1258089 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Horizon Care and Education Group Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

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

p.7

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Oliver Scrimshaw

p.7

Inspectors

Ed McCallum, Social Care Inspector Parveen Hussain, Social Care Regulatory Inspection Manager Inspection report for children’s home: 1258089 8 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.

p.7

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8