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

Inspection report for children's home: 2578355 1 Registered provider: Horizon Care and Education Group Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is part of a large private organisation. The home cares for up to four children who may have social and emotional difficulties. One child was living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

A new manager has been appointed. She has applied to register with Ofsted.

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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: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A compliance notice was issued at the last full inspection, under regulation 13, the leadership and management standard. At a monitoring visit on 23 July 2024, this was deemed to have been met.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A notice restricting accommodation at the home was issued following the last full inspection. This was lifted following a monitoring visit on 9 September 2024. Inspection report for children's home: 2578355 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/06/2024 Full Inadequate 22/05/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 05/07/2022 Full Good 13/04/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2578355 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has moved into the home since the monitoring visit in September 2024. The child had the opportunity to visit and meet the staff team beforehand. A detailed plan was drawn up to prepare for the move and for the weeks following their move. Staff provided good support, acknowledging the significance of the relationships the child had with staff at their last home. They worked together with these staff and arrangements were made so both staff teams can mark the child’s forthcoming birthday. The child is pleased with these plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child well to meet their own health needs. They encourage the child to make their own healthcare appointments but advocate and assist when specialist health services are required. Due to the child’s age, the staff are working to promote independent living skills. The child has made significant progress with self-care skills and daily living tasks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has struggled with education for many years. Before moving to this home they received support with post-16 learning from a tutor. The child’s engagement with the tutor is sporadic. However, since the child moved into this home, the staff team has supported learning and worked to promote the benefits of education. As a result, there have been steady improvements with the child’s motivation to engage in learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A child who has moved out of the home since the last inspection was supported with the move to their new home. There was good preparation and support to help the child to understand the reasons for the move. The staff bought leaving gifts and the child was taken to say goodbye to their friendship group on their last day in the home. At the child’s request, the manager travelled with the child to support their move.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The well-being of the child in the home is central to the care provided by staff. Staff clearly understand the child’s individual needs. Staff recognise the importance of the child’s family relationships and support the child to maintain these positive connections with their birth family. Staff welcome family members to spend time with the child in the home. Staff have formed strong relationships with the child in the short time they have lived in the home, but opportunities to consult the child about their wishes and feelings in their first few weeks in the home have been missed.

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

Staff understand the child’s risk and vulnerabilities. They keep these under review and adapt their approach to care appropriately. Staff work hard to ensure that the child feels safe and protected and they provide the child with good support. Staff consider the child’s past experiences, so their responses are appropriate and boundaries that reflect need are implemented. The child is starting to build strong relationships with staff and the manager, and they can identify trusted individuals to talk to. Inspection report for children's home: 2578355 4 When the child who previously lived in the home was there, their missing-from-home incidents continued. Staff followed the child’s missing-from-home protocol and worked in partnership with relevant agencies. Creative strategies to reduce the risk of missing- from-home episodes were considered. Professionals working with the child said they were satisfied that staff did all they could to locate the child and encourage them to

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

There have been no physical interventions since the last inspection. The staff team uses a therapeutic approach to successfully de-escalate situations. Despite restraint not having been used, managers have considered the importance of maintaining staff skills to ensure safe practice and accurate recording. Additional training has been provided, with written tasks to maintain competence in practice.

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

There has been one allegation and one complaint since the last inspection. The manager has acted promptly and effectively to address practice issues in the staff team. The child’s feelings have been considered throughout the process, with the child being informed at each stage of internal investigations. The manager has talked through the complaints process with the child and helped them to understand their rights and how to make a complaint. The social worker for the child said the practice issue in the home was unfortunate for the child but the approach and commitment to the investigation were thorough and provided a measured response to the situation. This satisfied the social worker that the manager had done all they could to rectify the situation and keep the child safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A child-focused manager leads the home. Her application to be registered with Ofsted is being processed. She has a clear understanding of the child’s experiences, personality, needs and risks and has built a strong relationship with the child in the short time she has been supporting them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Ongoing reflection and learning have continued since the last inspection. Managers have made positive and sustained changes to the management arrangements and oversight of the quality of care provided to the child. The manager continues to receive supervision fortnightly and, in addition to the responsible individual, also has the support of two other managers for peer support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place fortnightly to help build the team’s skills and knowledge and integrate new members of the staff team. Staff prepared well for the home reopening, following a temporary closure when no children were living in the home over the summer.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There has been a strong focus on staff training. Most of the team have completed their core training, with only one course outstanding for two members of staff. Specific training has been provided to help the staff understand and meet the child’s needs. In Inspection report for children's home: 2578355 5 addition, workshops have been delivered to upskill staff in practice issues such as reporting and recording.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff supervision is regular, reflective and child-focused. New members of staff are given more frequent support during their probation to facilitate their learning and development while settling into the role. Supervision records are made available to staff. They contain details of the discussions held and actions set to develop practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers build positive working relationships with the professionals working with the child. Strong working relationships are fostered to create a holistic approach to the child’s care. There is clear evidence of partnership working, most noticeably in the proactive approach to securing education for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Effective monitoring takes place. Leaders and managers work in partnership to oversee the home and track the progress of staff, the child and the home environment. Despite clear oversight, there was one incident of a delay in reporting a notifiable incident to Ofsted. The manager quickly rectified this when she returned from leave and addressed this with the staff team to mitigate the risk of this happening again. Some important information is missing in the child’s records around their cultural preferences. The manager has also not ensured that the home has an up-to-date care plan for the child from the placing authority. Inspection report for children's home: 2578355 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 registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)) 28 November 2024

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Recommendation

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

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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: 2578355 7

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

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Inspector

Joanne Hawkins, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2578355 8 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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