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

Inspection report for children’s home: SC463852 1 SC463852 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 privately run home offers support and therapeutic care for up to four children who may have experienced neglect, abuse or trauma, which has left them vulnerable.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has an experienced registered manager, who has the necessary management qualification and has been in post since January 2020.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 14 February 2023

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC463852 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/02/2023 Full Good 01/11/2021 Full Good 25/09/2019 Full Good 19/12/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC463852 3

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outstanding

Since the last inspection, the same four children and young people continue to live in the home. Staff support children and young people to make exceptional and sustained progress in all areas of their lives. This is because staff share close and trusting relationships with them. Also, staff provide consistent and individualised support to meet their complex needs. The quality of the relationships and support significantly enhances children and young people’s life chances.

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outstanding

All children and young people are fully engaged in education or training at settings that meet their individual needs effectively. They all aspire for their future careers. One child, who is currently head boy of their school, has received offers from universities to study for a degree in their chosen subject. Another young person is studying to be a paramedic and has begun work experience at a local hospital. An education professional said that staff are ‘supportive, and are encouraging [name of child] to pursue their dream’. Excellent communication between the home staff and education professionals contributes to the solid progress that children and young people make.

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outstanding

Two young people have recently celebrated their eighteenth birthday and will have planned moves in to independent or semi-independent accommodation. Staff are creative in supporting children and young people to achieve skills so they can move on successfully. For example, staff guide children and young people to travel independently. One young person, who has recently passed their driving test and bought their first car, drives to college. Some children and young people have part- time jobs. These are significant steps for children and young people, whose self- esteem has improved and whose confidence is flourishing.

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outstanding

The staff record regular planned discussions with children and young people. There are detailed records about the work completed on matters such as staying safe, education, and learning life skills. Records provide the reader with an insight into how staff offer support and the progress made by the children and young people. The quality of planned discussions has resulted in their outstanding progress.

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outstanding

Staff understand the importance of family for children and young people’s sense of identity and understanding of their life history. They actively support children and young people to develop these important relationships. For instance, one parent regularly comes to the home to cook meals with their child. This joint activity has helped to rebuild the relationship. The parent said, ‘It’s been amazing, everyone has gone out their way to give me time and given me the chance to know [name of child].’ Additionally, managers and staff help and support children to establish friendships and networks in the local community. Inspection report for children’s home: SC463852 4

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outstanding

Relationships between children, young people and staff are exceptionally strong. Warm and humorous interactions between the children, young people and staff can be seen. Children and young people say that they feel safe, and they highly value the open and honest communication they have with staff. This means that they can easily discuss worries and concerns, and continue to develop positive relationships with staff and peers.

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outstanding

Staff adopt a therapeutic and restorative approach to managing children and young people’s behaviour. Regular consultations with a clinical psychologist are used well and are effective in improving staff practice. The home has a calm and relaxed atmosphere. Staff consistently model positive behaviour and promote this through the use of positive rewards. Children and young people accept the home’s ethos of tolerance and mutual respect, and incidents are extremely rare.

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outstanding

Staff support and help children and young people to prepare for independence safely. Staff promote and develop children’s independence skills by assessing risks well and working closely with children and young people, their social workers, and other important people in children’s lives. Direct work to educate children about danger and risk is of excellent quality. The registered manager skilfully balances the risks with opportunities for children and young people to improve their skills. The quality of this work ensures that they are better prepared when they move on from the home.

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outstanding

Children and young people have not gone missing from the home. On the rare occasion that a child or young person does not return on time, staff follow agreed protocols. They contact the child or young person and say they are worried about them and want them to come home. When the child or young person returns, staff give them a warm welcome. When the time is right, staff talk with the child about agreed rules and boundaries. As a result, children and young people feel that staff have their safety and well-being at the heart of their relationship.

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outstanding

Staff know about their responsibilities to safeguard children and young people. They are consistently professionally curious and vigilant about children and young people’s friendships and activities in the way a good parent would be. Staff share concerns with agencies, including the police. Police visit the home and talk with children and young people about keeping themselves safe.

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outstanding

Staff and the registered manager respond sensitively and effectively when children talk about their experiences. Leaders share all information and work well with external professionals. Follow-up work and protocols are devised and reviewed with professionals to sensitively provide support to children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC463852 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led and managed effectively by an extremely committed and experienced manager. The manager has worked in the home for eight years and has been a consistent presence in the lives of children and young people. The manager is supported by a newly appointed deputy, who has worked in the home for four years. Managers are inspirational and ambitious for children and young people, and they ensure that this personal and professional ethos is cascaded throughout the entire staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is central to planning the care for children and young people. To support this, they have developed excellent relationships with a wide range of agencies. Social workers say that their children or young people make ‘brilliant progress’ and that staff ‘actively encourage the children to live together as a ‘family of sorts’ while maintaining their individuality and identity’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is an exceptional advocate for children. They are confident in challenging other professionals when they believe that they are not acting in children and young people’s interests or fulfilling their responsibilities to children. Managers work in partnership with other professionals and with parents to ensure that children and young people are reaching their full potential, are happy, and are safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, no staff have left, and the staff team remains unchanged. Staff are fully committed to ensuring that children and young people receive exceptionally consistent care. Any shortfalls in staffing are covered by core staff and managers, and no additional staff have cared for children or young people. As a result, children, young people, and staff have built close relationships based on trust, respect, and genuine positive regard.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular, good-quality supervision and annual appraisals. This helps them with their development and to reflect on their practice. The manager encourages staff to be ambitious and to strive to progress in their careers. Staff are extremely positive about the support they receive from the manager. They describe the manager as ‘the backbone of the house’ and as an ‘outstanding manager’ who is always available to the children and young people. Morale is high and staff are proud of themselves and the children and young people who they support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The training and development of staff are given high priority, and managers ensure that all staff have the necessary skills and knowledge to support the child effectively and promote positive outcomes. However, some staff have not received training in protecting children from radicalisation and extremism. Inspection report for children’s home: SC463852 6 The manager continuously reviews the quality of care that children receive. They submit detailed reports to the regulator and set ambitious targets to ensure ongoing improvements. However, on one occasion, strategic managers did not conduct a review following a serious safeguarding incident. This is a missed opportunity for managers and staff and the wider organisation to learn lessons from a serious incident when a child was at risk. Inspection report for children’s home: SC463852 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to recognise and be alert for any signs that might indicate a child is in any way at risk of harm. The registered person should ensure that skills in safeguarding children from radicalisation and extremism are gained, refreshed, and recorded in the home’s workforce plan. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’ page 43, paragraph 9.12)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring, including under regulations 44 and 45, to ensure continuous improvement. They should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, such as learning from serious safeguarding incidents. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’ page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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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: SC463852 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: Unit 12, Venture House, Prospect Business Park, Longford Road, Cannock, Staffordshire WS11 0LG

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Inspector

Karen Gillingwater, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC463852 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 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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