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 Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a private company. The home provides care and accommodation for up to four male children or young people who may have social, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home provides care on a medium- to long-term basis. The home has a manager who has registered with Ofsted.

p.1

outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

p.1

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.

p.1

outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC462593 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/04/2018 Full Good 09/05/2017 Full Good 25/10/2016 Full Good 26/04/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

This home is an exceptional care environment in which children and young people are offered an outstanding level of care. Since the last inspection, the provider has been able to evidence further improvements which have positively affected the experiences and progress of children and young people. Children and young people seen and spoken to all said that they were fully consulted about day-to-day life at the home and felt a part of a community. For those who have had poor early life experiences and often a series of broken care placements before coming to live here, this is home. Parents, social workers and others spoken to had nothing but praise for the way that the home works. All emphasised the staff’s excellent communication skill which keeps them informed and involved in the children’s lives. All spoke of the transformation in the children’s and young people’s behaviour and demeanour over the time that they have

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

been at the home. The children and young people were often admitted from establishments that were unable to cope with behaviour that stemmed from their negative early life experiences. The staff’s capacity to see beyond behaviour and successfully address underlying emotional issues was a consistent theme throughout the inspection.

p.2

Recommendations

 In accordance with regulation 14(1)(a) and 14(2)(b)(2) (care planning), children’s care plans should form the basis of their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.1) In particular, documents recording daily activity should measure the children’s progress against planned outcomes, so that it is demonstrable and well understood. Inspection report children’s home: SC462593 3 Central to the home’s success in providing previously troubled children and young people with a calm and reflective care environment is the registered provider’s relationship with Coastal Child and Adult Therapy Services (CCATS). Therapists and care staff at the home work well together to ensure that children and young people are offered care that is consistent with the home’s successful model of care. One social worker described the home as ‘wonderful’ for providing a boy who has complex needs with calm and

p.2

Recommendations

consistent care that had made a real difference to his life. Given their starting points, the children and young people are doing very well at school with good attendance records and improved attainment. They enjoy taking part in a wide variety of activities, such as playing in a rugby club, horse riding or attending the St John’s Ambulance Brigade. These have been successful in promoting their social skills and they have formed important friendships with their peers outside of the home. At the time of the inspection, plans for a caravan holiday in Wales were being finalised, with the children and young people looking forward to enjoying shared activities, such as mountain biking.

p.3

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

An increased commitment by staff to psychologically informed practice has led to a sharp and evident decrease in the use of physical intervention to control children’s behaviour. Restraints have apparently reduced in number, duration and intensity since the time of the last inspection and they are now rarely used. The registered providers have introduced a new model of intervention for times of crisis, with a greater emphasis on de-escalation than restraint, and this is proving effective. The staff team has now moved to a restorative approach to what it calls ‘consequences’, rather than the more negative ‘sanctions’. If the children and young people misbehave, they are asked how they want to make amends and will often volunteer to repair any harm by apologising or fixing any damage. Improved relationships in the home are leading to a significantly lower number of instances when the children and young people are going missing, with a very small

p.3

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

number of episodes reported this year. None of these related to sexual or criminal exploitation. No complaints have been received and there is altogether a very low level of formal safeguarding intervention in the children’s and young people’s lives. Given their starting points, this is a significant achievement on the part of the home. The home’s records mitigate for poor-quality care planning documentation provided by some social workers, but they do not always consistently reflect the application of the model of care. This varies between what is being recorded and who is recording it, but it is a missed opportunity to fully evidence the way that the home’s effective delivery of the model is improving outcomes for the children.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Improvement at the home is due in large part to dedicated and vigorous leadership by the home’s experienced registered management team. The team is devoted to establishing the home as a psychologically informed care environment and its Inspection report children’s home: SC462593 4 commitment has yielded highly positive results. The home’s managers are well supported in this endeavour by understanding and empathetic registered providers who offer staff at all levels clear practice guidance in the form of a model of care, and extensive training on how to deliver interventions according to the model. Partnership with CCATS is key to the success of this approach, with CCATS operating as therapists, trainers and producing an insightful profile of the home’s staffing complement. This profile informs in detail the home’s perceptible move toward psychologically informed practice, and this in turn is leading to evident benefits for the

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

children and young people, such as improved behaviour and better school attendance and achievement. The home is a learning environment committed to continuously improving the way it works. For example, the independent visitor under Regulation 44 reported that the children’s and young people’s voices were not coming through clearly enough in the home’s recording. As a result, several new recording formats have been developed by the home to ensure that the staff are clearly capturing and responding to the voices of those who live there. One particularly positive element of the way the provider works is the practice of starting members of staff as casuals. This means that children and young people are rarely cared for by people they do not know and has led to the recruitment of a workforce of high calibre. Staff are well enabled to understand and exemplify the model of care through extensive induction and training programmes. They communicate often and well with

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

CCATS and embody sound care practice. The introduction of short reflective sessions at the end of every shift is particularly welcomed by staff as supportive and beneficial in helping them to provide care that is of high quality.

p.4

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.

p.4

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 5

p.4

Children’s home details

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

p.5

Inspector

Ian Young: HMI Inspection report children’s home: SC462593 6 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.

p.5

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.6

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.6

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.6