Granary Families Assessment Centre

Inspection report for residential family centre: Granary Families Assessment Centre 1 Granary Families Assessment 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

This centre registered with Ofsted in June 2016. It provides parental assessments for up to seven families at any one time and is staffed on a 24-hour basis.

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Information about this residential family centre

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 2016 and is suitably qualified.

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Information about this residential family centre

At the time of this inspection, six families were living in the centre.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and parents, taking into account 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 good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The residential family centre provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Overall experiences and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for residential family centre: Granary Families Assessment Centre 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Parents develop positive relationships with staff. They describe staff as ‘understanding’, ‘non-judgemental’ and ‘fair’. One parent said, ‘They treat me like an adult, they don’t look down on me.’ Children and their parents receive individualised care and support that are tailored to meet their needs. Staff demonstrate warmth and compassion towards families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

The centre has a welcoming, relaxed and friendly feel. It is decorated to a high standard with comfortable furnishings, which provides a cosy and family-like feel. The centre is suitably resourced with toys and books, and children have opportunities to play safely inside and outside the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Parents benefit from a structured assessment process that focuses on safeguarding and meeting the social, emotional, educational and health needs of their children and themselves. Assessments are of good quality and are evidence based. They are measured and fair in assessing parents’ capacity to meet their children’s needs and promote their welfare.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Assessments consider parents’ strengths and challenges effectively. They come to realistic and clear recommendations for the court. The assessments and findings come from evidence that includes observations, key-work sessions, specialist reports, parenting tools and the triangulation of historic and known information.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

One parent said of the centre’s reports, ‘They are very honest and reflect what is happening, but not in a judgy way. I trust them.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

The centre works hard to gather parents’ views, which includes seeking parent evaluation on in-house and external sessions and child development sessions. Feedback is requested weekly and monthly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Parents receive weekly updates on their progress, which helps them to see what is working well and what they can improve. Family placement plans are comprehensive. The centre provides weekly progress updates to placing social workers, which are considered and reflective.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

The centre has an in-house counsellor who provides individual support to parents and offers support to the staff team. The centre has an attachment coach who runs weekly sessions which help parents to understand the impact that their own attachment style may have on their parenting and personal relationships. Parents are also offered specialist domestic violence and substance misuse support through external agencies.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Parents with additional needs are supported to understand the use of the parent assessment model. Leaders and managers ensure that parents’ learning needs are Inspection report for residential family centre: Granary Families Assessment Centre 3 reflected in the family care plan and working together agreements. Management and staff are proactive if parents have unidentified learning needs that emerge during the assessment and advocate with local authorities on their behalf for further support. This may result in time extensions to the process to ensure that all parents have fair and equal assessment and for bespoke support to be put in place.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Parents can access various activities, including baby groups, baby massage, day trips, cooking, well-being walks and arts and crafts. Activities take place to celebrate cultural and personal milestones. Parents have requested that further activities take place, especially in the evenings. Parents have voiced this opinion at the regular residents’ meetings that take place, and management are to act on this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Parents know how to raise complaints, and complaints are responded to promptly by management.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

There is a strong safeguarding culture at the centre, with a commitment to protecting and promoting the welfare of children and parents. Parents learn how to keep themselves and their children safe.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Incidents are well recorded and include management evaluation. The practice improvement consultant’s evaluation and scrutiny of incidents routinely include analyses of any lessons learned and reflections for staff to consider at the daily handovers and during the weekly reflection huddles that take place. This ensures that all staff are mindful of any concerns or behaviours for parents which may either impact progress or, more significantly, increase risk to their child.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Family risk assessments are updated regularly. The registered manager’s impact risk assessments are robust and comprehensive. The risk assessment considers the risks presented with mitigation strategies identified, including considering staff’s skills and capacity to address these.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff have undertaken appropriate safeguarding training for adults and children. Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding and whistle-blowing procedures.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Historic risks are understood alongside the parents’ presenting needs. This means that staff always have in mind all the information that they need to enable them to be alert to any emerging risks. Parenting work and key-work sessions are thorough and responsive to align with court directions and any new risks that are identified.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

The centre ensures that parents consent to the use of surveillance in the centre. However, the monitoring and surveillance policy and subsequent agreement do not make it clear to parents about the use and retention of any audio recording.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Overall, safer recruitment procedures are followed. However, while references are verified, this is not fully evidenced on all files. Inspection report for residential family centre: Granary Families Assessment Centre 4 The staff team’s communication with other professionals is clear, frequent and effective. Professionals have not raised any safeguarding concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An experienced and suitably qualified registered manager manages the centre. The senior management team comprises experienced and qualified social care practitioners who work well together.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team shows a commitment to ongoing development of practice at the centre, with reflective practice at the forefront. The emphasis on reflective practice is seen in the weekly ‘reflective huddles’, staff supervision sessions, team meetings and evaluation on incident recording. Reflective practice supports the centre in providing fair and robust assessments for families.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are experienced and say that they feel well supported by the management team. Staff feel valued and are proud of the input they add to the holistic assessments produced at the centre.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel listened to and say that managers are always accessible. Staff receive regular supervision and appraisals, where training opportunities and career development are regularly discussed. The provider offers opportunities for career development through internal promotion or by offering opportunities for staff to achieve more formal qualifications.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager provides consistent oversight and quality assurance of the centre’s records and assessments. Management meetings and quarterly quality assurance meetings ensure that managers have a good overview of the centre’s practice. Additionally, trends or themes which may influence the organisation’s policies and practice are also considered through management review of the independent visitor’s monthly reports. Information collated is reflected in the manager’s six-monthly reports and plans for the development of the centre.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have identified areas for improvements in their own quality reviews and have established an effective learning culture that enriches the positive practice of the centre. Inspection report for residential family centre: Granary Families Assessment Centre 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all people working in or for the centre have references checked to assess their suitability before taking on responsibilities. Telephone enquiries should be made and written references should be documented. (Residential family centres: NMS 14.1)  The registered person should amend and clarify the centre’s surveillance policy so that it is clear about how the information, specifically audio recordings, will be retained and for how long. Staff should follow the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998. (Residential family centres: NMS 10.5)  The registered person should offer more varied recreational activities for families, particularly at the weekend and weekday evenings. (Residential family centres: NMS 11.1) Inspection report for residential family centre: Granary Families Assessment Centre 6

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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: Ralph Jean-Jacques

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Residential family centre details

Registered manager: Paullette Jean-Jacques

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Residential family centre details

Email address: motherandbaby@granarycare.com

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Inspector

Amanda Burrows, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for residential family centre: Granary Families Assessment Centre 7 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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