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

Inspection report children’s home: SC462593 1 SC462593 Registered provider: G B A Care Ltd

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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 is a privately run children’s home. It provides care and accommodation for four young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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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

Date of last inspection: 25 October 2016

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Good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

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Good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people are making good progress. They attend school, and risk-taking behaviour has reduced significantly.  The quality of relationships between young people and the staff team is contributing to a feeling of well-being and security for young people. A relaxed Inspection report children’s home: SC462593 2 and positive atmosphere permeates the home.  Young people are supported by a variety of agencies to help to meet their needs. There are strong working relationships between the staff and other professionals, which enhance the impact of their intervention.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development

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Key findings from this inspection

 Individual sessions with young people should be a time for two-way discussion to help young people to learn about and understand the issues that they are facing. Recording of these discussions needs to reflect this in a way that will help young people.  Young people need to be consulted about the way they are cared for, and this should contribute to their placement plans.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/10/2016 Full Good 26/04/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 05/01/2016 Full Good 17/06/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC462593 3

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Recommendations

 Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5). In particular, ensure that risk ratings correspond to assessed risk.  The registered person should oversee the welfare of the children in their care through observation and engagement with each child, the home’s staff and each child’s family/carers where appropriate. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards, page 54, paragraph 10.23)  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page

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Recommendations

62, paragraph 14.4). This is with reference to the recording of individual key working discussions with the young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are making significant progress in relation to their starting points. Although it is early days for some young people, the individualised care and support provided by staff is finding solutions to challenges that they present. For example, an organisation specialising in teaching young people to stay safe from exploitation is having a positive impact on some young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people feel valued and respected. The majority identify it as the ‘best home’ they have lived in. Warm relationships between staff and young people are a feature of the home. Staff invest time in understanding the experiences of the young people and how these can influence their behaviour.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is having a positive effect on young people’s progress. All young people attend full- time education, and incidents of young people going missing from the home are low. For some young people, this is a significant achievement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work closely with education providers to enable challenging behaviour from the young people to be dealt with swiftly and effectively. Young people are learning at school, and attendance is good. One young person has a Saturday job in a local garage. This helps young people to prepare for the world of work. Inspection report children’s home: SC462593 4 Young people’s health needs are being met. They access psychological support, which is helping them to come to terms with their experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from participating in frequent individual sessions with staff, covering a wide variety of topics, such as managing anger and doing their own laundry. However, the recording of these does not detail the learning of the young person or further actions to enhance this. This means that records are not helpful to young people’s understanding of the issues discussed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A requirement to help young people to understand their life story is met. Achievements and events, both past and present, are captured through photographs and individual memory books. More in-depth work regarding family history is undertaken by a psychologist. Case records have been modified to better reflect children’s everyday lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are supported to see their families, including those who live a long way from home. One parent commented, ‘I worry less about him there. I know he will be safe.’

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

Young people respond well to nurturing and clear boundaries. Staff work hard to help young people to understand the need to keep them safe. Young people have been consulted about their preferred ways of calming down when they become upset. This is helping them to learn how to manage their feelings. It also results in staff knowing how to diffuse situations more effectively.

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

The risks associated with young people are known and understood by the staff. Individual, up-to-date risk assessments effectively address young people’s known vulnerabilities and set out what action needs to be taken to address them. Staff follow the plans in place to effectively safeguard young people. However, risk ratings do not always correspond to assessed risk.

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

The staff take prompt and decisive action when young people go missing. Young people who are at risk of exploitation are protected by well-developed partnerships with the police, the local authority missing-from-home coordinator and a specialist voluntary organisation.

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

Behaviour management is effective and includes the appropriate use of restorative practice. As a result, the use of physical intervention is not required for the majority of young people. When it is necessary, it is recorded, monitored and reviewed in line with requirements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Inspection report children’s home: SC462593 5 The manager has been in post for two years. She holds a level 5 qualification. Staff are appropriately qualified and experienced. They use their diverse range of skills to enhance the experiences of young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Requirements made at the last inspection to maintain case records to include all the required documents and to record enquiries relevant to safeguarding are met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a thorough and holistic understanding of the progress of young people. Plans for individual children comprehensively identify their needs and guide staff practice. However, young people’s views, wishes and feelings are not fully recorded in their placement plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers make child-centred decisions about young people coming to live at the home. This includes consideration of the needs of young people already living there and ensures that their needs are compatible with those of the new young person. Full information is in place prior to placement, and risks are assessed. This ensures that staff are able to protect young people immediately. Young people are prepared by visits and photos of staff and the home. This helps them to feel welcomed when they arrive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team works proactively with other professionals to ensure that action is taken to address all the identified needs of young people, including those who are placed a long way from home. Feedback from professionals praises staff for their communication and the quality of their relationships with young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager provides a supportive environment for staff and understands their development needs. Timely supervision and staff meetings focus on the experiences and needs of young people and recognise the emotional impact of the work on staff.

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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. Wherever 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.

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Information about this inspection

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 children’s home: SC462593 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2nd Floor, Brian Royd Mills, Saddleworth Road, Greetland, Halifax, West Yorkshire HX4 8NF

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Inspector

Janet Black, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC462593 7 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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