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

Inspection report children’s home: SC462591 1 SC462591 Registered provider: GBA Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three children and young people. The home provides long-term care to children and young people who may have emotional, social and/or behavioural difficulties. The home provides a model of care whereby children, young people and their families are provided with high-quality support from one consistent care provider. The manager became the registered manager in December 2016. He is appropriately qualified and experienced to manage this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

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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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

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

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/08/2017 Full Outstanding 01/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 14/06/2016 Full Outstanding 02/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC462591 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people who live at the home receive an exceptional standard of care according to an established residential social work model, which is well supported by research. Given their starting points, the potential outcomes for young people living at the home have significantly improved. The model has provided transformative experiences for young people who have troubled backgrounds and has evidently changed their lives for the better.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff and the young people have a visible rapport, and this is reflected in the young people’s polite, considerate and personable presentation to adults visiting the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The atmosphere in the home is calm and friendly and the young people are comfortable and settled in a caring environment. Two young people separately told the inspector that the home was the ‘best place for them to live’ and one added ‘in the world’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

One significant feature of the young people who live at the home is their attainment and achievement. Not only in education, where they are all settled in placements suitable to their needs, but also in the home itself.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Each young person’s life skills programme leads to a clean and tidy but homely physical environment, of which they are exceptionally proud and keen to show off. Their views are listened to and respected, for instance a request to freshen the appearance of the home has resulted in redecoration by all of the young people and staff to a colour scheme for the home more to their liking.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

A desire for healthy eating has led to each young person building garden boxes in which they grow some of their own food. Most remarkable is the considerable amount of charity work that the home’s community undertakes together, which has included sponsored walks, bike rides and volunteering at a food bank.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The home is deliberately pursuing a programme of long-term placement by admitting children of a younger age group to allow their model of care to take effect across time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Because there is a sustained and stable group of staff and residents, the young people are showing distinct and evident signs of progress. Negative and harmful behaviours apparent from their file on admission are now much reduced or non-existent. This improvement is transformative across all aspects of their lives, including for example school attendance and health, including dental health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Considerable value is added by the home’s partnership with Coastal Child and Adult Therapeutic Services (CCATS) that provides a dedicated team of psychologists to develop highly effective programmes that promote each young person’s emotional well- being. The partnership is exceptionally successful in delivering positive outcomes that Inspection report children’s home: SC462591 4 are shared and well understood by the psychologists, the home’s staff and most importantly, the young people themselves. One young person’s social worker described the benefits to them of living in this special place as ‘tremendous’.

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

Young people who live at the home are safe. Given their troubled life histories, there is minimal use of physical intervention, with one example recorded in the past year which was properly documented and debriefed. Sanctions are known as consequences in the home and are used judiciously not excessively. Consideration of the record shows that they are administered for typical youthful misbehaviour and are reducing over time.

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

Risk is generally well understood by the home’s staff and is an integral part of each young person’s individual behaviour action plan. This is a key document in delivering the highly personalised care that young people receive from the home in partnership with CCATS. The young people’s individual behaviour is very well appreciated in the context of their previous life experiences, and there is a comprehensive and shared approach to ensuring each young person’s individual safety. For example, mapping by staff of a young person’s pattern of behaviour has resulted in a greater understanding of what causes outbursts, and a board game is being developed to help them understand and contain their actions. When they came to live at the home, some of the young people demonstrated sexually harmful behaviour and this has now significantly reduced.

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

A small number of episodes of going missing have required a formal response. None have been related to the risk of sexual exploitation and records demonstrate that each has resulted in a return home interview by the young person’s social worker.

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

Care planning documentation held by the home is variable. Documents on file completed by the better local authorities include care and placement plans that are updated by regular reviews involving the home. These clearly evidence the progress that the young people are making because of the care that they are receiving from the home. In other cases, key documents, such as updated personal education plans and education, health and care plans have been frequently requested but not yet received. One decision to place a young person long term at the home is not well recorded and appears to have happened by default. The home is awaiting a care review to formalise the placement, but this omission on the local authority’s behalf does not support the young person’s feeling of safety and security when living at the home. Nonetheless, the situation is being handled sensitively by the home as it knows the young person well. This good

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

understanding lessens any negative impact on the young person.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is well led by qualified and experienced managers who administer the home well and embody its ethos. Managers are open and approachable, and they are skilled at ensuring that each young person’s individualised placement plans are well understood and delivered consistently across the staff group. Inspection report children’s home: SC462591 5 Young people are an integral part of the home’s decision making from the development of their individual plans to wider issues affecting the home’s community, and managers maintain a consultation programme to ensure that this happens. As a result, young people speak knowledgeably and with passion about the home, with the same level of ownership and engagement as its managers, and this is exceptionally good practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Management of the home is well supported by detailed and informative reports from an insightful independent visitor to the home. Recommendations from these visits are incorporated into the home’s development plan which is suitably prioritised and currently appropriately focused on improvements to the home’s physical environment, given the settled nature of its current residents and their desire to see the home reflect their tastes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The supervision and training achievements of the well-qualified and experienced staff group are well documented, and this is an improvement since the last inspection. Records of regular staff supervision and the high level of support that they receive through training, for instance from CCATS, could be better referenced to the home’s model of care. This would demonstrate clearly the added value of the supervision session or training input to the outcomes for young people who live in the home.

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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 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

Ian Young: Her Majesty’s Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC462591 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 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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