SC474050 Registered provider: New Horizons (Child Care) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework Information about this children’s home This is a privately owned children’s home registered to provide care and accommodation for up to one young person who has emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. Inspection dates: 19 to 20 July 2017 Overall experiences and progress of children and young people, taking into account requires improvement to be good How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted. Date of last inspection: 2 March 2017 Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness Enforcement action since last inspection None Inspection report children's home: SC474050 1 Key findings from this inspection This children’s home requires improvement to be good because:  Staff do not always keep the young person safe.  At times, staff have been chaotic in their response to a previous young person’s complex and high-risk behaviours.  The staff’s responses to high-risk situations, such as child sexual exploitation, have not been good enough. They have not adequately prevented missing incidents from happening.  The home environment is not homely. The garden is not well maintained and the young person is not able to use it to its full advantage.  Key-working sessions are poor. Staff do not recognise when the young person is potentially giving them vital information regarding issues such as child sexual exploitation.  Supervisions are poor.  The responsible individual does not provide enough support or oversight of the home.  There is a significant lack of senior management oversight of complex placements and incidents. The responsible individual does not always know what is happening in the home.  Placements are poorly planned and reviewed.  School placements have been poorly planned.  There is a lack of challenge to the young person’s placing authority regarding risk management, delegated authority and partnership working. The children’s home's strengths:  A new young person has recently moved in. He is making good progress from his starting point and his risk-taking behaviours have reduced.  Staff have had training in the individual needs of the current young person in placement.  There is evidence of good relationships between staff and the current young Inspection report children's home: SC474050 2 person in placement. Staff provide individualised care to him.  Staff have remained committed to the previous young person that they cared for, despite it being a complex and challenging placement.  Partnership working with other agencies is generally good. Recent inspection history Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 02/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 03/11/2016 Full Requires improvement 11/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 08/10/2015 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC474050 3 What does the children’s home need to do to improve? 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. Requirement In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff, seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs, with particular reference to risk management. (Regulation 5 (b)) Due date 04/09/2017 In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must ensure that, if they consider, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, they 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)) 04/09/2017 The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who understand the children’s home's overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children and use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. 04/09/2017 In particular, the standard requires the registered person to— provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably, such as a wellmaintained and useable garden and a homely environment. (Regulation 6 (1) (a) (b) and (2) (b) (vii)) The positive relationships standard is that the registered person ensures that staff meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans; and that staff help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful. (Regulation 11 (2) (a) (i) and (vi)) 04/09/2017 The positive relationships standard is that the registered person ensures that staff help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship. (Regulation 11 (2) (a) (vii)) 04/09/2017 Inspection report children's home: SC474050 4 The positive relationships standard is that the registered person ensures that staff are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same. (Regulation 11 (2) (a) (x)) 04/09/2017 The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. 04/09/2017 In particular, the standard requires the registered person to ensure— that staff 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, and that staff understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (2) (a) (i) and (v)) The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that promotes the welfare of children and young people. 04/09/2017 In particular, the standard requires the registered person to— lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose and that they understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1) (a), (2) (a) and (f)) The leadership and management standard is that the registered person demonstrates that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received. (Regulation 13 (2) (g) (ii)) 04/09/2017 The care planning standard is that children receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home and that they have a positive experience of moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1) (a) and (b)) 04/09/2017 A responsible individual must have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (7) (b)) 04/09/2017 Inspection report children's home: SC474050 5 Inspection judgements Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: requires improvement to be good One young person has recently left the home and another has moved in. Staff failed to provide individualised care to the previous young person. Behaviour management plans failed to take into account her highly complex risk-taking behaviours and there was a lack of structure around behaviour management. Behaviour management plans lacked detail regarding who the young person’s friends were and their contact details. The registered person failed to ensure that they sought enough information regarding the young person’s family so as to support positive, safe contact. This potentially placed the young person at risk of harm. Due to difficulties in the relationship with the placing authority, accountability for decision-making regarding important issues such as the young person’s free time and contact arrangements was unclear. On occasion, the placing authority would override staff decisions. This created inconsistency, a lack of boundaries and no structured behaviour management. The previous young person in placement did not make adequate progress. The previous young person’s education placement was poorly risk-assessed. The responsible individual did not adequately assess whether the educational placement was suitable for the young person’s needs. There was a lack of management oversight in relation to the school which led to significant safeguarding concerns occurring. Both the young person and staff were placed in unsafe situations due to poor management and staffing issues. The registered manager escalated her concerns regarding the suitability of the school placement and the unsafe situations. The previous young person in placement made little progress in her education. Key-working sessions are poor. They are unplanned and lack purpose. Key-working sessions do not link with the aims and objectives of the placement. They are reactive and do not support young people’s understanding about risk-taking behaviours, keeping safe or relationships. For example, staff discussed issues such as contraception with the previous young person but they failed to discuss issues such as child sexual exploitation. On one occasion, staff did not recognise important information that the previous young person in placement shared with them. This meant that information relating to a missing incident and possible child sexual exploitation was missed. Transitions are not well planned and there is a lack of learning from the previous young person’s feedback. The previous young person had an unplanned ending to her placement in the home. Her feedback regarding the home and staff was not escalated or reviewed by the registered person. The registered person failed to ensure that they followed their own processes and they did not convene a placement disruption meeting Inspection report children's home: SC474050 6 with the placing authority. The lack of review of the previous young person’s placement means that there has been no learning and consequently no changes made to how the organisation works with young people with such complex and high-risk behaviours. While the current young person’s admission to the home was well planned, he arrived during the previous young person’s notice period. The current young person is happy and feels safe. Although he has lived in the home for a relatively short period of time, he is making significant progress and has formed good relationships with staff. For example, he has attended a college interview and is due to start an animal care course in September. The registered manager has arranged for the young person to attend a fishing course during the summer holidays, which the young person is looking forward to. A good quality, structured planner is in place which supports the young person’s feelings of safety. The young person enjoys this structure and routine in his daily life. The young person likes the home and he has personalised it with his fish and fish tank. However, the home continues to lack feelings of warmth. Parts of the home continue to be in need of redecoration and maintenance, specifically the garden which is overgrown and in poor condition. Individualised care is good. Staff have sourced activities for the current young person based on his likes, such as horse riding, dog walking and fishing. Staff have taken time to get to know him and they understand his needs. For example, the young person has a list of all the positive attributes that staff have identified about him. He says that he likes reading this and it helps him to stay positive. The young person’s placing authority is pleased with his progress and the individualised care that staff provide to him. A social worker said, ‘My young person feels wanted by staff. He’s not just another statistic and regardless of anything else he is treated as a child. His behaviour reflects this as he feels that staff like him. It’s important that people value him and the staff here do.’ How well children and young people are helped and protected: requires improvement to be good Staff have failed to keep both young people consistently safe during their time in placement. Staff have failed to follow young people’s risk-management plans rigorously. For example, on one occasion staff did not follow the previous young person when she was attempting to go missing. When the previous young person threatened to self-harm, staff did not refer these concerns to a specialist mental health service or offer her any therapeutic intervention, despite this being identified as an action to complete in the young person’s risk-management plan. Staff do not always keep the home environment safe or limit the current young person’s opportunity to access kitchen knives. This has placed young people at potential risk of harm. The previous young person’s risk-management plans did not contain enough information regarding how staff could keep her safe. For example, risk-management plans did not contain details about who her friends were, their contact details or how she knew them. Staff did not complete any purposeful and planned key-working sessions with the previous young person regarding relationships, exploitation or radicalisation. While senior managers within the organisation had implemented child sexual exploitation monitoring forms this information did not link with any significant work with the previous Inspection report children's home: SC474050 7 young person and consequently were ineffective. There was a lack of a structured and rigorous response to managing the previous young person’s risk-taking behaviours, such as putting themselves at risk of radicalisation and child sexual exploitation. For example, when the placing authority had made poor decisions regarding the previous young person’s contact arrangements and free time, the registered manager raised her dissatisfaction with the placing authority. However, the responsible individual did not escalate or formally document these concerns. Overall, staff understand how to manage the current young person’s risk-taking behaviours. The current young person has not gone missing and his risk-taking behaviours have significantly decreased. Staff have ensured that, when the young person has left the home, they have kept him safe, for example by diverting cars when he has attempted to walk onto roads. Staff talk to the young person regarding his safety and emotional well-being. This has been effective, as there have been a low number of physical interventions. Overall, partnership working is a strength of this staff team. When the previous young person went missing, staff were good at liaising and communicating with the police. The registered manager and staff team implemented any advice or guidance that the police provided to them. Staff are committed to the young people that they care for and they work hard to keep them safe. The significantly complex and high-risk behaviours of the previous young person, poor placing authority decisions and a lack of rigorous structure regarding riskmanagement mean that staff were unable to keep the previous young person consistently safe. The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good There is a registered manager in post who is suitably qualified. Out of the 15 members of staff, 11 are suitably qualified with a further 3 members of staff undertaking their qualifications. There is one member of staff who has yet to start their qualification. Some 14 members of staff have a first aid qualification. The responsible individual has not provided good enough management oversight of this home. She has not reviewed the complex placement of the previous young person and she has not reflected or made changes as a result of it. While the registered manager had appropriately escalated her concerns to the team manager in the placing authority, the responsible individual has failed to follow the company’s own procedures in escalating the concerns. The responsible individual has not visited the home for over 12 months. The responsible individual does not ensure that she liaises directly with the registered manager to find out what has been happening in her home. The lack of visible senior leadership has had an impact on the quality of care that is being delivered to young people. The responsible individual has not provided the registered manager or the staff team with enough support during a challenging and emotionally difficult period. Since the previous young person has left the home, there has continued to be a lack of visible senior management. The responsible individual has not met with the registered manager to Inspection report children's home: SC474050 8 review the ending of the previous young person’s placement. The responsible individual has not attempted to learn from incidents in order to prevent reoccurrences within the organisation or to ensure that they deliver the home’s aims and objectives outlined within their statement of purpose. Senior management decisions regarding the educational placement for the previous young person were poor. Senior managers were aware of unsafe and risk-taking incidents happening between pupils in the school, such as young people having sex and running away together. They failed to take immediate and rigorous action to protect the previous young person. The registered manager is good at communicating and working with other professionals. She liaised effectively with the police to try to manage the previous young person’s risks and behaviours. The registered manager identified when the placement was no longer able to meet the previous young person’s needs. Staff say that they feel well supported by the manager. However, supervisions are not good enough as they do not allow staff time to reflect on young people’s needs and their own emotions in relation to young people’s behaviours. The registered manager is aware of the strengths and areas for development of the staff team and she has taken steps to rectify the identified shortfalls. For example, she ensured that staff received training in relation to the current young person’s risk-taking behaviours. This has been effective, as staff have demonstrated informed practice which has benefited the current young person’s emotional well-being and progress. The registered manager has learned from the previous young person’s placement. Consequently, the current young person’s placement was well planned and staff were prepared and equipped with the skills to manage the current young person’s behaviours. Inspection report children's home: SC474050 9 Information about this inspection Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Whenever possible, they talked to children and young people and their families. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the children’s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people whom it is trying to help, protect and look after. 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 and 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 children's home: SC474050 10 Children’s home details Unique reference number: SC474050 Provision sub-type: Children’s home Registered provider: New Horizons (Child Care) Limited Registered provider address: Hurstwood Court, New Hall Hey Road, Rawtenstall, Rawtenstall, Lancashire BB4 6HR Responsible individual: Kelly Looker Registered manager: Carmel Ashby Inspector Hannah Bates, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC474050 11 The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence, write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk. 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