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

Inspection report for children’s home: 2509452 1 Registered provider: Horizon Care and Education Group Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private organisation and is registered to care for three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, three children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager post has been vacant since July 2023.

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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

Date of last inspection: 6 February 2024

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2509452 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/02/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 08/02/2023 Full Good 15/03/2022 Full Good 10/03/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 2509452 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

No children have moved in or out of the home since the last inspection. During the inspection, all children were spoken to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is nicely decorated and furnished. Children’s bedrooms are personalised and promote their identity. The manager has begun to decorate communal areas of the home. He is encouraging children to partake in this to increase their sense of ownership of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children know how to make a complaint. There has been one complaint made since the last inspection. Records demonstrate that this has been investigated by leaders and managers, and the child has been made aware of the outcome. This shows children that their opinions matter.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are prioritised by staff. Children are registered with essential health services to ensure that there is a quick response when they need medical support. In addition, children learn the importance of meeting their own health needs in an age-appropriate way, helping them to understand the importance of taking their prescribed medication.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children learn the importance of education. Managers and staff understand the barriers for children not accessing education and advocate for children to get targeted support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to understand the benefits of attending school and have incentives in place to help with attendance. Two children have completed their GCSE examinations. One social worker said, ‘The home worked with [name of the child] around going to school. I was proud that [name of the child] sat their exams.’ However, when children do not attend, there is not a plan of alternative education that they can follow in the home. Furthermore, children do not have all of the necessary resources to help them learn at home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to share their views about the home and the care they receive. The manager has changed children’s meetings from monthly to weekly so that children have more opportunities to formally share their views. Children are supported to make decisions about their social activities and are helped to contribute to plans about their future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are not being fully prepared for adult life. Discussions to help them get ready for semi-independence are not routinely taking place to ensure that the move from the home is successful. Inspection report for children’s home: 2509452 4

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

Children say they feel safe. Conversations with staff during the inspection demonstrate they understand their roles and responsibilities to protect children. When children are enjoying time independently in the community, staff regularly complete welfare checks to ensure that they are safe and well.

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

Behaviour support plans help staff respond effectively to concerns about children’s safety. Plans are updated to reflect the most recent safeguarding incidents. Strategies to manage children’s risks are well documented and easy for staff to follow.

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

Children rarely go missing from home. When incidents do occur, missing-from-home plans provide staff with guidance to help children return safely. However, the guidance does not include clear details of children’s known associates and areas they might go to when missing, which means there may be unnecessary delays to find them.

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

Staff caring for children take part in a thorough assessment process to determine their suitability to care for children. This includes checks to ensure that they are unlikely to harm children and will prioritise their safety.

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

Children are supported to learn about behaviour that is harmful. Leaders, managers and staff work jointly with partners to provide children with expert knowledge and guidance on what they can do to keep themselves safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been in post since April 2024 and has submitted his application to be registered. He is as child-focused, with a clear vision for improving the outcomes of children living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say they feel supported to do their job. Practice-related supervision takes place regularly in accordance with the home’s statement of purpose and is used as an opportunity to consider staff performance. Training to help staff meet children’s needs is accessible to all staff. When gaps in learning are identified, leaders and managers ensure that staff engage in further training. This ensures that children are being cared for by a competent staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is well staffed and resourced. Leaders and managers have recruited staff who have relevant care experience. In addition, staff absences are covered by bank staff members who know the children and their needs. This gives children the opportunity to build and maintain relationships with people who care for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management oversight of the home has improved. Incident records and discussions with children are routinely reviewed to ensure that the manager has a good Inspection report for children’s home: 2509452 5 understanding of the day-to-day running of the home. However, debriefs with staff following serious incidents do not always include lessons learned.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are systems to monitor the quality of care children receive. These systems are not fully embedded into the home. Consequently, plans to support one child’s move to independence are not in place. Additionally, there is little evidence of leaders, managers and staff raising this with the placing authority. Inspection report for children’s home: 2509452 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that when children’s placing authority documents are not received within the correct timescales, they escalate their concerns to the relevant persons from the placing authority. 28 August 2024

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible; 28 August 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2509452 7 that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child’s learning. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(viii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that there is a plan of alternative education for children to follow when absent from school.

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Requirement Due date

Furthermore, leaders and managers must ensure that children have access to educational material to support their learning from home.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that there are carefully assessed plans to help children make the transition to independence.

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Requirement Due date

Furthermore, leaders, managers and staff must ensure that work is completed with children to prepare them for living independently. 28 August 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that each child’s missing-from-home protocol includes details of known associates and places where the child is likely to go when they are missing from home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.6)  The registered person should ensure that the manager’s review of incidents includes reflective discussions with staff and lessons learned. (‘Guide to the Inspection report for children’s home: 2509452 8 Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.5)

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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: 2509452 9

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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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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Gemma Waddington

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Inspector

Chibuzo Otache, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2509452 10 regulates and inspects 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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