Children's Home run by G B A Care Limited in Calderdale

Unique reference number SC462591 Inspection date 24/10/2013 Inspector Debbie Foster Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 17/04/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This children's home is run by a private organisation. It provides care and accommodation for up to three young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties and young people with learning disabilities.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding : a service of exceptional quality that significantly exceeds minimum requirements Good : a service of high quality that exceeds minimum requirements Adequate : a service that only meets minimum requirements Inadequate : a service that does not meet minimum requirements

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be good .

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Overall effectiveness

Children and young people benefit greatly from the excellent care they receive. Care is very well planned, comprehensive and personalised to meet young people’s individual needs. Staff are extremely dedicated and provide a very nurturing environment. This enables young people to thrive, feel safe, develop independent living skills, build confidence and have aspirations.

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Overall effectiveness

This is a new service and young people have recently come to live at the home. The views of young people strongly influence how care is provided. Young people have very positive views about their care. They comment that they get on with all staff and say they are 'doing well.' This shows that strong and trusting relationships are established quickly between young people and staff.

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Overall effectiveness

Professionals made very positive comments, including: 'The staff have achieved so much with X; they support X in a way that has helped turn high risk-taking behaviour around. It’s really great.'

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Overall effectiveness

There is a strong and experienced management team. All staff are enthusiastic and want the best for young people. They are focused on supporting young people to move forward in their lives. The manager motivates staff effectively. Good quality training and supervision are provided. The home demonstrates a strong commitment to continually reviewing the care provided to improve outcomes for young people.

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Overall effectiveness

Areas for development relate to building further on the monitoring of the service to demonstrate and evaluate how the whole service will continue to improve the quality of care.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 ensure there are effective procedures for monitoring and controlling the activities of the home. In particular, ensure monitoring systems evaluate the service provided, identify deficiencies and how further improvements are to be made to improve the quality of care delivered. (NMS 21.1)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are well supported. They attend all the required health assessments and appointments and access specialist health support. A parent said, ' I could not believe that the staff managed to get my son to the dentist as they have a real phobia.' Staff have worked hard to access a dentist who can support the young person with this matter and good progress has been made. This ensures that young people’s health is strongly promoted.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from being involved in planning and cooking basic meals. They learn about the importance of following a healthy diet and acquire useful life skills. A young person commented, ' Staff talk to us often about how to look after ourselves and how to keep fit and healthy.' Young people receive frequent guidance on health matters from staff and other professionals.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have very good opportunities to achieve in education. School attendance is excellent. An education mentor said that a young person has achieved 100 per cent attendance since the start of their placement. As young people have not lived long at the home, academic achievements have yet to be realised. . A young person said 'I had not been to school a lot before coming here; I'm going every day and it’s going okay.' Young people receive care which is provides them with improved educational outcomes and improved life chances; preparing them for adult life and work.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are actively supported to keep in touch with family members and maintain important relationships. Young people build links with relatives which enable them to have regular contact with those who are important to them. This ensures that there are family networks which will assist and support them in the future.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people receive good preparation for adulthood. Young people who are reaching their mid-teenage years have begun to participate in daily living tasks around the home. For example, they help with their laundry and keep their own bedrooms clean. A young person said, 'I cook sometimes, I'm learning how to manage my money and I've just opened a bank account.' Staff support young people well and encourage them in learning life skills appropriate to their age and understanding.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

Staff want the very best for young people, instilling in them the confidence to succeed and achieve. As a result, the well-being of individual young people is central to the high quality of care delivered. Young people thrive from a very caring staff team, a homely and friendly environment. A young person stated, 'It's sound here; I get on with all the staff; they give us a lot of help and they are always praising us.' Young people have an excellent rapport and relationships with staff which helps them to trust the people caring for them. This in turn assists them tremendously to positively move forward in their lives.

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Quality of care

Staff provide care in a way that significantly promotes young people's welfare regardless of the challenges they present. Diverse needs such as vulnerability, personal safety and lifestyle choices are all very effectively addressed. Young people are fully involved in the running of the home. For example, they contribute to their placement plans, weekly activity plans, menus, appointments and their activities; with help from staff. This contributes to keeping young people at the heart of what goes on in the home.

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Quality of care

High standards of care are achieved by implementing detailed in-house care plans, including risk assessments. These are very clear about a young person's individual needs and the support they require. Staff carefully and consistently follow these plans; which ensures they consider and respect young people's views and needs.

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Quality of care

Staff effectively motivate young people to further themselves in learning new skills, developing their independence and taking more responsibility for their lives. Staff can demonstrate the individual progress and positive outcomes that young people make from the starting point of their placement at the home. A social worker said, 'The progress X has made in such a short time in unbelievable; they have responded so well to the approach and care staff provide. Risk-taking behaviour has stopped.'

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Quality of care

Young people benefit tremendously from the excellent support provide by a proactive staff team who ensure continuity in their educational placements. There is very strong partnership working with other agencies including schools, youth offending officers, social workers, and parents. A learning mentor commented, 'Staff communication is excellent; they speak with us on a daily basis, they are very proactive in supporting X with their school attendance.'

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Quality of care

There is strong ethos within the home to build meaningful working relationships with other supporting agencies; which has been achieved. This enhances young people's opportunities to be actively involved in life outside the home. Staff ensure that crucial support is provided to young people so that they may progress in most aspects of their welfare and development.

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Quality of care

Young people benefit greatly from living in a home that is maintained to a very high standard. The home is suitably located to enable young people to access community amenities including shops, public transport and schools. The home is well decorated, very comfortably furnished, clean and tidy. Young people personalise their rooms. The home is kept safe through frequent health and safety checks. Young people say that they like their home, that they feel safe and comfortable there. One young person commented, ' my room is the best in the house and I've got my own bathroom; it's good.'

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Safeguarding children and young people

The service is good at keeping children and young people safe and feeling safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Well-written risk assessments inform staff of the action to take to minimise any identified risks and these are consistently implemented in practice. Staff successfully engage the young people in talking through identified concerns. Young people confirm that this helps them to understand of the risks and the reasons for adults being concerned. As a result, they feel cared for and protected. Young people's risk- taking behaviours have reduced significantly.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff demonstrate a thorough understanding of safeguarding processes and how to protect the welfare of young people. Child protection training is undertaken by every staff member. Written guidance and procedures detail the course of action to follow in the event of an allegation or if they have any concerns and are available for all staff to access.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people say, 'There is no bullying here.' Staff have spoken to all young people at the residents' meeting and individually explained that bullying will not be tolerated. This ensures young people are clear on what bullying is and that it is not acceptable.

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Safeguarding children and young people

When they arrive at the home, some young people have a history of going missing and therefore of being at risk. Staff have proactive working relationship with the designated missing person’s officers and clearly understand the steps to take should a young person go missing. Staff work closely with individual young people and because of this young people recognise the risks and dangers of such behaviour. This ensures that steps are taken to keep young people safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people live in a safe environment because staff undertake regular health and safety checks and make sure that equipment is properly serviced. Staff also practise the home's evacuation procedure with young people so that they know what to do in the event of a fire or other emergency. The manager's monitoring of health and safety matters ensures the safety and welfare of young people is suitably promoted. All staff are appropriately recruited. Their suitability to work with young people is assessed by the recruitment checks completed, including the completion of a disclosure barring check.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the children's home are good .

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Leadership and management

An experienced manager and management team support the rest of the staff to provide a stable home environment with good care outcomes for young people.

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Leadership and management

A Statement of Purpose is available which informs professionals and members of the public about how care is provided at the home. The children’s guide provides a user- friendly summary of the Statement of Purpose. Young people receive a copy of it before or when they move to live at the home. Staff also explain the information and this assists them to understand what to expect from their new home.

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Leadership and management

This is a new service. However, a core of the staff team have previously worked together in other residential settings and work cohesively together to provide a consistent standard of care.

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Leadership and management

There is good written guidance for staff which is implemented in practice. Staff say they are well supported and receive regular formal supervision. They confirm that the management team are very approachable.

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Leadership and management

The organisation demonstrates a commitment to professional development and training. The majority of staff have completed an appropriate qualification at level three in Caring for Children and Young People, as well as completing training in other child-care related topics, for example, child sexual exploitation; children missing from home; and promoting positive behaviour. As a result, young people are looked after by staff that are well trained, competent and supported in meeting their needs.

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Leadership and management

The Responsible Individual and the manager monitor the quality of care. Monitoring systems are suitable and the manager maintains a day-to-day overview of the care that young people receive and of the general running of the home. However, this monitoring does not always evaluate the service provided or bring about continued improvement in the quality of care provided at the home.

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About this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards.

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About this inspection

The report details the main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made against the Inspections of children’s homes – framework for inspection and the evaluation schedule for the inspection of children's homes.

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