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

Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2702209 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

This home is operated by a private company. It provides care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties. One child was living at the home at the time of the inspection and was spoken to by the inspector.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left their post in February 2024. A new manager was appointed but left their post in November 2024 before they were registered. At the time of the inspection, an interim manager had been appointed, and they plan to apply for registration.

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Inspection date: 19 December 2024

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Inspection date: 19 December 2024

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At this inspection, the inspector evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. The inspector has looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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’. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2702209 2

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Findings from the inspection

We did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance inspection.

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Findings from the inspection

The child lives in a well-maintained, comfortable and welcoming environment. Staff and the manager work hard to create a home that is enjoyable to live in. There are photos around the home that add to the homely feel. In addition, staff encourage the child to personalise their bedroom with images of their favourite football teams on the wall. The child takes great pride in their home environment, and incidents of damage to the home have reduced.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff and the manager show genuine care and love towards the child. This helps the child to build trusting relationships with the adults caring for them and creates a safe place for them to live. The staff’s nurturing response has led to a reduction in physical interventions and allegations, with none since the last inspection.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff help the child to have positive routines. The child consistently attends school and makes steady progress against their educational targets. Staff take the child to various after-school activities, including swimming, football and forest school. This helps the child to develop social skills and friendships and boosts their self-esteem.

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Findings from the inspection

The manager actively listens to the child’s wishes, helping them feel valued and respected. These have included plans for the child’s birthday party, which were acted on, and their parent was invited. As well as listening to the child, this supported them to see their family and created a positive experience for them to remember.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff support the child to eat healthily. A staff member instigated the idea of a tuck shop to encourage the child to make healthy choices after school. This helps the child to think about healthier food choices. However, the staff and manager lock some food items away in the kitchen to stop the child accessing certain foods. This does not provide a nurturing response to the child’s needs.

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Findings from the inspection

The manager and staff demonstrate a good understanding of the child’s vulnerabilities and potential risks posed to them. The child requires specialist therapeutic help to support their understanding of appropriate boundaries, but there has been a significant delay in the child accessing this. In the interim, the manager and staff recently attended specific training to improve their awareness of and responses to this risk. However, there has been a lack of work with the child in relation to keeping themself safe. This means the manager and staff do not follow or support the child’s care plan fully, and the child’s vulnerability is increased.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff understand the child protection policy and know how to report a safeguarding concern. Following shortfalls identified in this area during the previous inspection, Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2702209 3 the manager has undertaken work with staff to help increase their knowledge. This ensures that the child is protected from harm.

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Findings from the inspection

Improvements have been made to the induction process for the new manager as well as the staff who have recently joined the team. The manager is highly committed to ensuring good levels of care for the child. Staff feel well supported and valued. The new manager accesses regular support from senior managers, which helps him to implement new ways of working.

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Findings from the inspection

Most staff now hold the required qualification for residential childcare. A small number of staff are currently working to achieve this qualification. However, one member of staff is unable to achieve their qualification within the timescale. The previous manager did not escalate this matter with the staff member or the examination board. The new manager has created a review date to ensure the staff member completes their qualification within a realistic timeframe.

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Findings from the inspection

The new manager is honest and reflective and shows an understanding of the home’s strengths and areas of development. He has a clear vision of how he wants to improve the care provided, and this is already having a positive effect on the child’s experiences, auditing processes and staff morale.

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Findings from the inspection

The manager recognises that staff do not fully understand the therapeutic parenting model outlined in the home’s statement of purpose. This means staff do not provide consistent therapeutic responses to the child. A recommendation has been made to address this. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2702209 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/07/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/11/2023 Full Good Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2702209 5

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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, 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager and staff having regular conversations with children to support them to understand and reduce risks in line with their care plans. 24 January 2025

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate 3 February 2025 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2702209 6 qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) ("the Level 3 Diploma"); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may defer the relevant date if the individual—

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Requirement Due date

does not work, or has not worked, in a care role in a home for a prolonged period; or

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Requirement Due date

works, or has worked, in a care role in a home on a part- time basis. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b) (6)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager having a clear overview of completion timeframes for staff’s qualifications to avoid drift and delay.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they lead and manage the home in a way that delivers the ethos, outcomes and approach set out in the home’s statement of purpose. This includes being clear about models of care that staff are trained in and are used at the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.4)  The registered person should ensure the home complies with relevant health and safety legislation. However, in doing so, the home should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than institutional impression. The rationale for food being locked away should be reviewed and consideration given to less restrictive ways of managing a child’s food intake. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2702209 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

Caoimhe Richards, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2702209 8 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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