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

Inspection report children’s home: SC462591 1 SC462591 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 owned and run children’s home. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural problems.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account outstanding

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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Overall experiences and progress of

Date of last inspection: 1 February 2017

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: Improved effectiveness

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Overall experiences and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children’s home: SC462591 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home is outstanding because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people make exceptional progress from their starting points in all areas of their lives.  Through living at the home, young people’s life chances and outcomes are significantly improved.  The strong model of care is informed and underpinned by research.

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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

 Annual appraisals for staff have not taken place within required timescales.  Systems to record and respond to information from return home interviews following missing from home incidents are not currently in place.  Improvements are required to the systems for recording and evaluating staff training and skills.  Education targets and working levels for those young people who are new to the home are not fully understood by staff or managers, which reduces targeted support for young people.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 14/06/2016 Full Outstanding 02/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 30/06/2015 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC462591 3

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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 registered person must ensure that all employees have their performance and fitness to perform their roles apprised at least once every year. 31/10/2017

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Recommendations

 Staff need to have the knowledge and skills to understand each child’s education and training targets and their next steps for learning. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.11)  The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home, and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff - including the home’s manager. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the

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Recommendations

children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  Evaluation of missing incidents should be undertaken to identify any gaps in training, skills or knowledge for staff or to record and retain evidence of what worked well. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46 paragraph 9.31) Inspection report children’s home: SC462591 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The young people make significant progress through living at the home and, as a result, their future outcomes improve. Some of the young people, from previous starting points of highly restrictive environments, now enjoy activities and free time that are in keeping with healthy childhood development. They embrace the trust that has developed between themselves and staff. Through continuous positive messages from staff, the young people fully accept the goals in their plans and have a thorough understanding of how those goals are achieved. This underpins their positive attitude towards learning new skills, responding to expectations and developing pride in their achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people, even those new to the home, develop a sense of emotional safety. This is built through the diligence and sensitivity of staff in responding to each young person individually. Young people who have additional and complex needs are given support that is in keeping with their development. For example, in consultation with the therapeutic team, staff have utilised visual aids to support one young person’s understanding of routines.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The young people describe their experiences of living at the home in terms of being within a ‘family’. They said: ‘I love them a lot; [Name] is like my dad. Since being here he has offered me a lot’ and, ‘They are really nice. They take me on lots of activities. [Name] is like a mother figure really.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The young people are fully encouraged to take ownership of and commitment to living at the home. Their rooms are fully reflective of their tastes and interests. Through the attitude and approach of the staff, young people exhibit high levels of confidence and ease in living at the home and are able to fully welcome and engage with visitors. These experiences promote their emotional resilience and demonstrate staff commitment to applying the model of care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The young people’s education is a high priority for the staff. For example, anxieties for one young person in starting a new school were anticipated and allayed by staff. Staff worked quickly in order to ensure that there was minimal disruption to education due to moving to the home. The young person being able to attend the new school, prior to the summer break, dissipated those anxieties and fostered a positive attitude towards the autumn term. An independent reviewing officer commented: ‘This was really good for him and his confidence. He was able to meet friends. It was a really good plan and it has made him less anxious.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The young people are fully supported to develop their sense of identity through the therapeutic support that is offered and regular liaison with parents. Staff are tenacious in ensuring that the young people experience positive and meaningful contact with family. One family member said: ‘Without a shadow of a doubt, he is calmer and they have helped the visits to ourselves. They are very open to listening to what we have to say and certainly listen to us.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC462591 5 Staff fully understand the young people’s previous life experiences and how they impact on their behaviours and sense of self-worth. Through this understanding, staff offer responses that are attuned to their needs. One social worker commented: ‘Now he is learning to be a child again.’

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

The young people said that they feel safe and are safe through living at the home. For those young people currently living at the home, missing from home incidents are low in number, and none of the young people is involved in drug or alcohol use or child sexual exploitation. One social worker commenting on the safety of a young person said: ‘This is the safest he has ever been for years.’

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

Since the last full inspection, missing from home incidents have reduced. When young people do go missing, staff are active in seeking their return and liaising appropriately with other agencies. However, there is currently no system in place for collating information from return home interviews. As a result, opportunities to evaluate the information and, if necessary, update risk assessments have been missed.

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

The young people are given advice, support and direction from staff in managing their relationships with each other. They are open and receptive to this advice through the positive and trusting relationships that staff have forged with them.

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

Physical intervention is rarely required or used. There has been only one incident requiring this intervention in the past 16 months. When it was used, there was appropriate management oversight. Follow-up work with the young person ensured that he is able to understand and accept the actions of staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been registered to manage the home since December 2016. He is suitably qualified and experienced. He leads an enthusiastic team that is committed to the young people’s progress and improving their life chances.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager understands the young people well and monitors their progress regularly. This oversight is further enhanced through the individual relationships that the manager has built with each young person. For some young people, however, education targets are not known or understood by the staff or management team. This information was not secured prior to one young person joining the home or commencing his new school. This limits focused work that may be achieved with the young person.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is visible and accessible to staff and young people. The manager ensures that supervision and support are offered to staff on a regular basis. However, annual appraisals of staff have not taken place. This reduces managerial oversight with regards to their competence and planning for their future training needs. Although the manager tracks areas of training viewed as mandatory, there is no comprehensive overview of Inspection report children’s home: SC462591 6 other training that staff may have completed or are identified to complete.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff work well with other agencies, and professionals are complimentary about the timeliness and appropriateness of information shared. Positive working relationships are established and maintained, and this ensures that young people receive care that is appropriate, and remains focused and multi-disciplinary. The staff and managers also benefit from regular consultation with the therapeutic team. This partnership supports the planning for future admissions and ongoing therapeutic intervention. All recent admissions have been planned and the young people prepared for the move to the home. As a result of this planning, the young people have very quickly accessed education that is tailored to their specific interests and others have benefited from quick admission to local schools.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, there have been decorative improvements to the home. In addition, senior managers have utilised external skills to map and evaluate strategic issues and drive improvements overall. These identified improvements are still in the planning stage and have yet to be realised.

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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 differences 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: SC462591 7

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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

Pauline Yates, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC462591 8 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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