Granary Families Assessment Centre

Inspection report for residential family centre: Granary Mother & Baby Centre 1 Granary Mother and Baby Centre Granary Care Limited 60 Vaughan Road, Harrow HA1 4EE Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this residential family centre

Granary Care Limited is a privately owned company. This residential family centre is registered to provide care and accommodation for three families. The setting provides residential and community-based parenting assessments.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and parents, taking into account requires improvement to be good

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and parents are helped and protected good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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Overall experiences and progress of

The residential family centre is not yet delivering good assessments, help and care for children and parents. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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Overall experiences and progress of

Date of previous inspection: 11 July 2017

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Overall experiences and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection none Inspection report for residential family centre: Granary Mother & Baby Centre 2

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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, Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Statutory requirements

Requirement Due date The registered person must ensure that a written record is made of any complaint or representation, the action taken in response, and the outcome of the investigation. (Regulation 20(6)) 01/09/2019

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Statutory requirements

The registered person shall ensure that the residential family centre is conducted so as to— promote and make proper provision for the health and welfare of residents. (Regulation 10(1)(a)) In particular, to implement an adult protection policy that is specific to the centre and to review the effectiveness of regulation 25 monitoring reports. 01/09/2019

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Statutory requirements

The registered person shall make arrangements, by training persons working at the residential family centre or by other measures, to prevent residents being harmed or suffering abuse or being placed at risk of harm or abuse. (Regulation 11(5)) This relates to staff‟s understanding of action to be taken in the event of an allegation of abuse against a senior member of staff. 01/09/2019

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Statutory requirements

The registered person shall ensure that— full and satisfactory information is available in relation to him in respect of each of the matters specified in Schedule 2. (Regulation 16(3)(d)) This relates to updated staff DBS checks and confirmation of staff‟s relevant qualifications. 01/09/2019

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Statutory requirements

The registered person shall ensure that all persons employed by him— receive appropriate training, supervision and appraisal; and are enabled from time to time to obtain further qualifications appropriate to the work they perform. (Regulation 17(5)(a)(b)) 01/10/2019

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Statutory requirements

The registered person shall— keep under review and where appropriate revise the 01/09/2019 Inspection report for residential family centre: Granary Mother & Baby Centre 3 statement of purpose and resident‟s guide; and notify the Commission within 28 days of any such revision. (Regulation 4(a)(b))

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Recommendations

 The manager regularly monitors, in line with the Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002, as amended, all records kept by the centre to ensure compliance with centre policies to identify any concerns about specific incidents and to identify patterns and trends. Immediate action is taken to address any issues raised by this monitoring. (NMS 19.1)  There is a clear and effective policy on the use of surveillance in parenting assessments. The policy sets out how the techniques will be used to contribute to assessments, how families will be informed of their use for their particular circumstances, how legitimate privacy will be protected and how residents will be protected from potential abuse of such measures. (NMS 10.1) This relates to the provider including the use of metal detectors in the centre‟s surveillance policy.  Staff have access to support and advice (including from external specialists) to

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Recommendations

provide a comprehensive service for parents and their children and are provided with regular supervision by appropriately qualified and experienced staff. (NMS 17.4) This relates to ensuring that the social work lead receives clinical supervision that supports her social work practice.  The registered person has a written development plan, reviewed annually, for the future of the centre, either identifying any planned changes in the operation or resources of the service, or confirming the continuation of the centre‟s current operation and resource. The views of parents and children at the centre at the time of the annual review are sought and taken into account. (NMS 13.1)  Staff understand the nature of records maintained and follow the centre‟s policy for the keeping and retention of files, managing confidential information, and access to files (including files removed from the premises). There is a system in

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Recommendations

place to monitor the quality and adequacy of record keeping and take action when needed. (NMS 20.2) This relates to keeping risk assessments and placement plans up to date, obtaining parents‟ written consent as required and maintaining staff‟s written accounts of incidents. Inspection report for residential family centre: Granary Mother & Baby Centre 4

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improvement to be good

Children and parents receive services that meet their individual assessment needs. However, the significant shortfalls in leadership and management have resulted in the overall judgement of requires improvement to be good. Families settle in well following their arrival at the centre. Not all parents have signed the consent forms on admission as required. Parents are aware of the purpose of their placement, the nature of assessments and staff‟s expectations of them. Most parents say that they have a good relationship with many of the staff. However, some parents say that they do not feel that managers and staff listen to what they have to say.

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improvement to be good

Parents are aware and make use of the centre‟s complaints procedures. In the last 12 months, the centre has received 28 complaints. Most of these have been managed well. However, not all records of complaints say whether complainants have received a response to their complaint. Some complaint records do not say how the complaint was resolved.

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improvement to be good

Families are supported to live healthy lifestyles. Children have good access to primary care services. Assessment programmes encourage regular baby checks, immunisations, play and stimulation classes. Staff ensure that families‟ contact with healthcare professionals is frequent. This is to help promote children and parents‟ good health.

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improvement to be good

Children and parents have access to specialist services. This includes community- based drug and alcohol services, domestic abuse programmes and counselling. Staff undertake drug testing and alcohol breathalyser testing on site as required.

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improvement to be good

Families benefit from the staff team placing their safety and well-being at the centre of all the work they do. This is despite the very complex issues that some families present with. Staff support parents to develop skills that help them to manage their own conflicts. Disputes between individual families are resolved swiftly and appropriately.

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improvement to be good

Children and parents‟ contact with their family and friends is managed well. The centre has a contact room, which is specifically designed for this. Staff are available to conduct supervised contact at the courts‟ or placing authorities‟ request.

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improvement to be good

Parenting assessments are detailed. They are tailored to meet the assessment needs of individual family members. Assessments are thorough and realistic about what parents can achieve. Final reports are of a very high quality. They are evaluative, analytical and explore well all the concerns that the courts or placing authorities have for the safe care of children. Inspection report for residential family centre: Granary Mother & Baby Centre 5

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Children and their parents are protected from abuse, harm and neglect. Staff‟s close supervision and monitoring of families mean that very few critical incidents occur.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff have access to detailed adult and child protection policies. However, some of these require review. This is to ensure that written procedures relate to the centre‟s practice and are not, for example, general adult protection procedures. Not all staff have a good understanding of the action that they must take in the event of a resident making an allegation against a senior member of staff.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

In the last 12 months, Ofsted has received a number of complaints and allegations about the centre. These, in part, relate to the conduct of staff members. Managers have provided appropriate responses to these allegations.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff complete individual risk assessments. However, not all of these are kept updated. Staff make appropriate use of CCTV, baby cot cameras and one-to-one supervision. This is in response to the level of risks posed by some families. Staff are using a metal detector as a safeguarding measure for one family. However, managers are yet to develop a policy about how and when staff use metal detectors.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff promote positive behaviour. Parents are given support about how to treat each other with respect. They are helped to keep themselves and their children safe from discriminatory behaviour. Staff‟s communication with the police about concerns for the behaviour of some parents is appropriate.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Families are comfortable in their surroundings. The centre is a safe, homely and secure environment. The premises are well decorated, appropriately equipped and well maintained. There are no health and safety issues and parents manage well their use of the centre‟s shared areas and facilities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The leadership and management of the centre is weak. Monitoring systems are not rigorous and so important functions are not effective. Independent monthly monitoring visit reports are often very brief and do not evaluate well the quality of the service. The provider does not have a development plan. Quality of care reports are not sufficiently focused and do not have clear timeframes to help promote improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The centre‟s staff vetting practices require improvement. Some staff personnel files failed to evidence staff‟s updated Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks or confirmation of staff qualifications. These practices do not confirm that newly appointed staff are suitable to work with vulnerable children and parents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The staff team members feel well supported by their line managers. However, Inspection report for residential family centre: Granary Mother & Baby Centre 6 records of staff supervision do not demonstrate that all staff receive supervision regularly. The previous inspection highlighted this as an issue. The social work lead does not receive clinical supervision and annual staff appraisals do not consistently happen. This is important to ensure that staff are reflective about their work and understand how their learning and professional development can improve their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff training, induction and development opportunities are poor. Staff training is largely dependent on online training. Training subject areas are not sufficiently wide- ranging given the varied complex issues that families present with.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The quality of record-keeping is variable. Some key records are incomplete or missing. This was the case for some placement plans and staff witness statements of incidents. Not all records of complaints were sufficiently detailed. The home‟s statement of purpose contains inaccurate information. Managers‟ overview of staff‟s recording requires improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager is qualified and experienced to manage the centre. Leaders are ambitious for the home, and they prioritise the needs of children. The home‟s care planning process is effective. Children are kept safe; their experiences are positive and their outcomes improve from their starting points.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The staff member responsible for the completion of final assessment reports is a very experienced, skilled, qualified social worker. They have an excellent knowledge of key issues that help to inform practice and support parental assessments. Final reports to the court are of a very high standard.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff ensure that there is good communication between them, placing authority social workers, children‟s guardians and the courts. A child‟s guardian said, „When I visited I found the staff professional and it had a nice nurturing “feel” to the placement. The current child seems to be doing well and staff are approachable and informative in respect of the issues.‟

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and parents. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and parents. They watched how professional staff work with children and parents and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and parents. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the residential family centre knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and parents 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 Inspection report for residential family centre: Granary Mother & Baby Centre 7 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 Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for residential family centre: Granary Mother & Baby Centre 8

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider: Granary Care Limited

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider address: 60 Vaughan Road, Harrow HA1 4EE

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Residential family centre details

Responsible individual: Paullette Jean-Jacques

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Residential family centre details

Registered manager: Paullette Jean-Jacques

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Inspector

Sandra Jacobs-Walls, social care inspector Inspection report for residential family centre: Granary Mother & Baby Centre 9 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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