Children's Home run by Gravitas Care Limited in Calderdale

Inspection report children’s home: 1257706 1 Registered provider: Gravitas 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 run by a private organisation, and provides care and accommodation for up to two children. The children require care to support their emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered in December 2020. She has the relevant experience to work with children.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1257706 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/03/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 10/09/2019 Full Outstanding 03/10/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 1257706 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are able to build trusting relationships with the staff, who provide them with the security and stability that they require.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s health and developmental needs are supported by the staff. The children have access to therapeutic support from the home’s psychologist, which provides the children with an opportunity to talk about their feelings, worries and anxieties. This helps to promote good mental health and emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are ambitious for the children and work with schools, virtual headteachers and special educational needs coordinators to ensure that the children engage in their education plans. As a result, the children’s engagement in education is much improved from their point of admission to the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to share their views in weekly children’s meetings and monthly consultations. The children are encouraged to choose what activities they would like to do and what they would like to eat, and to talk about changes they would like to see in their home. These opportunities enable the children to have a voice in their care plans, and also support them in building their self-esteem. Children told the inspector they feel valued and that the staff listen to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to pursue their hobbies and interests, and to engage in positive activities. These include bowling, playing golf, accessing the gym, playing board games and going on walks. They also enjoy looking after some small pets. These activities help to create positive childhood memories, and assist with improving children’s emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote the children’s identity and cultural needs, and have supported the children to remain connected to their families. As a result, the children have been able to rebuild relationships with their family members.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work in partnership with other agencies to progress the children’s care plans and pathway plans. Staff have also supported the children in developing some independent living skills. However, professionals told the inspectors that this support and partnership work have not been consistent. This has led to some children having unplanned endings to their placements because their care plans and pathway plans have not been fully progressed and actioned.

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

Staff access regular training, supervisions, daily handovers and monthly team meetings which support them in providing consistent routines, structures and boundaries for the children. This means the children receive continuity of care from an experienced staff team. Inspection report children’s home: 1257706 4 Staff have a good knowledge of the children’s emotional and behavioural needs, and use de-escalation strategies to support the children to regulate their emotions. Consequently, there have been no physical interventions and the children have become more settled in the home.

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

Incidents of children going missing from care have reduced in number. However, when children go missing, staff follow policy and procedures to help reduce the risks to the children. Staff ensure that the children have return home interviews, and carry out key-work discussions with them. These discussions help the staff to find out information from the children which informs risk assessments and helps to reduce the risk of the children going missing.

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

There are good risk assessments and behavioural support plans in place, which are regularly reviewed and updated as the children’s needs evolve. All risk assessments have management oversight and staff are able to follow these so as to protect children more effectively.

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

The children have one-to-one staffing, which enables them to feel safe and secure and build trusting relationships with the staff. This level of staffing provides the children with the structure that they require. As a result, the children experience predictability and know what to expect each day.

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

Staff use key-work sessions to support the children to understand risky and concerning behaviours. There are positive incentives and rewards in place to help the children to improve their behaviours and engage in their care plans. Professionals confirmed this and told the inspector the children are now more able to take part in their care planning meetings, and are making better decisions about their personal safety.

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good

The manager is ambitious for the children and is supported by a consistent staff team. However, the systems in place to monitor the effectiveness of the home, and make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided, are not yet effective.

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good

Professionals said that the manager works in partnership with them to progress children’s care. However, some professionals were concerned that the manager did not always follow one child’s plan, which led to the child’s placement ending at short notice. This resulted in the child not being fully prepared for semi-independent living at the point they moved on from the home.

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good

The monitoring systems in place do not support the manager to have robust oversight of children’s progress and staff practice. This means the manager is not fully able to demonstrate the impact of the care that is provided for children. There is development plan in place for the home, which is reviewed regularly by the manager. However, this record does not contain a clear action plan or provide Inspection report children’s home: 1257706 5 information which the manager could utilise to inform the quality of her regulation 45 reports. This means that the manager cannot be fully reassured that her monitoring and review systems are robust enough to enable her to make improvements to the service.

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good

Staff are supported by the manager through regular supervisions, inductions and training. This helps to ensure that practice concerns are addressed promptly, in order to safeguard the children.

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good

More positively, the manager works directly with the children and is accessible to her staff team. She has built good relationships with the children, and will advocate for them and escalate any concerns. Inspection report children’s home: 1257706 6

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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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child, and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(d)(e)(f)(h)) 30 September

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that arrangements are in place to— 30 September Inspection report children’s home: 1257706 7 manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review, the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5)) 30 September Inspection report children’s home: 1257706 8

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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: 1257706 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Gravitas Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 99 Cragg Road, Hebden Bridge HX7 5FB

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Inspector

Noel Cooper, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1257706 10 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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