Children's Home run by Young Horizons Limited in Sandwell

Inspection report for children's home: 2821248 1 Registered provider: Young Horizons 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

This home registered with Ofsted in February 2025 and is privately owned. It provides care for up to 3 children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, 3 children were living at the home. All 3 children were spoken to.

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Information about this children’s home

The previous manager left in November 2025. A new manager registered with Ofsted in January 2026. She is currently completing the required qualification.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2821248 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/06/2025 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2821248 3

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Summary of findings

Children are supported to stay safe and are making good individual progress. Management oversight has strengthened since the last inspection, providing greater monitoring and accountability across the home. However, the quality of managers’ reports about the quality of care is variable.

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Summary of findings

The staff team is newly appointed and relatively inexperienced. As a result, leaders have prioritised workforce development to ensure that staff can continually learn and improve their practice. This is having a positive impact on the care that children experience. Recruitment practices are largely good. However, where there are concerns or discrepancies, leaders do not consistently seek further information to clarify these matters. This limits the robustness of some recruitment decisions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, 3 children have moved into the home, and one child has moved on. Children experience a warm welcome when they arrive, and staff help them to adjust to their new environment. Staff provide reassurance and help children to personalise their rooms. One child moved on due to increased incidents where they were missing from the home. Leaders did not take this decision lightly and made sure that the child had a positive ending to their time in the home. Staff supported the child to understand the reasons for this considered ending and wrote them messages of well wishes to take with them. Leaders have completed a review of this child’s time in the home. They have identified learning to strengthen practice and help prevent this from happening again.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience nurturing, therapeutic care. This helps children to form trusting and positive relationships with staff. All children say that they like living in the home. One child said, ‘It’s amazing here. Staff treat us all well.’ Children feel understood by staff who help them in times of emotional upset. Children can recognise the progress they have made while living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children make progress that is meaningful for them. Children’s educational progress has been significant. Leaders and staff have worked well to break down barriers to learning, and all children are in regular education and achieving their academic targets. One child has recently sat their GCSE examinations and successfully gained a place at college. Staff and leaders play an active role in children’s education. They attend review meetings, support children with homework and provide additional tutoring if needed. Children’s positive engagement in education has helped them to develop the confidence to achieve their potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand children’s health needs and help them to work towards having healthier lifestyles. Children are also supported to access a range of specialist external agencies Inspection report for children's home: 2821248 4 and services to ensure their needs are fully met. For example, staff have arranged specific support to help children who smoke. This has helped children increase their awareness of the health risks related to smoking and take significant steps to reduce this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are actively involved in care planning arrangements, so they have increasing ownership of their own lives. Children are encouraged to attend and participate in their review meetings, so their views are listened to and acted on. Children also take part in regular house meetings, which are a space where they can express their views and feelings. Staff act on this information, promoting positive outcomes and empowering children to have a meaningful voice in decisions that affect them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children spend time safely with people who are important to them. Staff also help children to understand how to keep themselves safe when they are not under direct supervision. As a result, children independently attend a variety of clubs, groups and activities that reflect their interests and help them to develop social skills and confidence.

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

Since the last inspection, there has been an increase in incidents where one child was missing from the home. Staff managed those incidents well, following procedures and responding promptly to concerns. Staff worked effectively with partner agencies to promote the child’s safety and wellbeing, ensuring that opportunities for the child to talk to someone independent of the home were offered when they returned. Staff also made sure that there was regular communication with relevant professionals and family members where appropriate. This child moved on from the home in a planned and supported way.

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

Children sometimes engage in self-injurious behaviours. Children’s trusting and positive relationships with staff allow them to let staff know when they have harmed themselves. Staff respond promptly with care and nurture so that children feel emotionally supported. Staff also take appropriate actions to ensure children’s wellbeing is protected and reduce risks. Risks are reviewed and monitored well so that guidance support is current to any concerns.

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

Children can access technology, such as mobile phones, in a way that balances independence with appropriate safeguards. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of online safety and provide ongoing support and advice tailored to children’s individual needs. Leaders regularly review practices and monitor emerging risks.

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

Children feel safe living in the home. Their emotional health and wellbeing are well supported, and staff work closely with children to help them identify and develop strategies that work best for them. Staff have a good understanding of each child’s individual needs and are consistent in using these agreed approaches. As a result, incidents are infrequent. Inspection report for children's home: 2821248 5 Children sometimes become frustrated with one another, which is reflective of typical sibling-like interactions. Staff manage these situations well, responding promptly and proportionately to help resolve conflicts positively. They encourage respectful communication, help children understand each other’s perspectives and promote positive relationships in the home. As a result, incidents rarely escalate, relationships are maintained, and children are learning valuable social and emotional skills.

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

When children make disclosures about their past experiences, staff respond with sensitivity and care. This creates a safe environment where children feel listened to and are able to express themselves openly. Staff understand the importance of responding appropriately to disclosures and ensure that concerns are recorded and shared promptly with relevant agencies.

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

Safer recruitment arrangements are generally effective. However, when concerns or discrepancies are identified during the recruitment process, leaders do not always seek further information from relevant external agencies to fully explore these. Although risk assessments are completed and the rationale for recruitment decisions is recorded, on one occasion, opportunities to strengthen this through additional verification and follow- up enquiries were missed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, there have been changes to the staffing team and the manager of the home. The new manager has a strong understanding of children’s needs. All 3 children say that they would go to the manager if they were worried or had concerns. This demonstrates the safety of the relationship the manager has created with each child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s allocated social workers say that children are making progress, are settled and are well cared for by staff. Information-sharing is effective, and staff and leaders have a strong presence in care-planning meetings, where they advocate well for children and their best interests. One parent noted improved communication between them and the staff, and they feel that their child is well cared for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is newly appointed and relatively inexperienced. Only one member of staff currently has the required qualification. However, all staff are enrolled to complete this qualification, and leaders are supportive of staff development. Regular team meetings, workshops, supervision sessions and training opportunities are all in place to provide staff with guidance and to help them develop their knowledge, skills and understanding of children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring systems are in place and are effective. In addition, the manager frequently measures and reviews children’s progress against their plans. The responsible individual is a frequent presence in the home, spending time with children and staff and seeking their views about the home. The manager completes quality of care reviews, but these do not fully evaluate feedback from children and others. This means that it is not clear Inspection report for children's home: 2821248 6 how feedback helps to shape decisions, influence practice improvement or enhance outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The requirements and recommendations raised at the last inspection have been addressed. Inspection report for children's home: 2821248 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of children living there and the impact the care is having on outcomes for the children. This should include seeking views from children and others and including this in the evaluation of care to influence ongoing improvement in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2)  The registered person should ensure that if there are discrepancies during recruitment of staff, they gain further information, so these are fully explored. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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: 2821248 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Young Horizons Limited

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Mohammed Zulfiqar

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Inspector

Joanne Humphreys, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2821248 9 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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