Children's Home run by Dove Adolescent Services Limited in Barnsley

Unique reference number SC064454 Inspection date 23/02/2011 Inspector Russell Shackford Type of inspection Random

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Date of last inspection 07/07/2010 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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You can obtain copies of The Children Act 2004, Every Child Matters and The National Minimum Standards for Children’s Services from: The Stationery Office (TSO) PO Box 29, St Crispins, Duke Street, Norwich, NR3 1GN. Tel: 0870 600 5522. Online ordering: www.tso.co.uk/bookshop

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About this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000.

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About this inspection

This report details the main strengths and any areas for improvement identified during the inspection. The judgements included in the report are made in relation to the outcomes for children set out in the Children Act 2004 and the relevant National Minimum Standards for the service.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

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Brief description of the service

The home is a brick-built detached two-storey building. There is a rear garden, and at the front of the home there is a further garden area and a hard car parking area. The home is on the edge of a town centre. It is on the bus route servicing the town centre and outlying areas. In the local community there are shops, schools, health, leisure and employment facilities.

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Brief description of the service

The home provides placements for two young people aged eight to 17 years, who have a history that encompasses placement breakdowns and emotional and or behavioural problems.

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Summary

The overall quality rating is outstanding.

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Summary

This is an overview of what the inspector found during the inspection.

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Summary

This was an unannounced interim inspection to check on key standards and related regulations under the Every Child Matters outcome group of staying safe.

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Summary

This is an outstanding service. Young people's privacy is very well respected in all aspects and complaints are well handled. Very good safeguarding policies and practice promote and protect young people's welfare. This is a notable area of outstanding strength. Behaviour management is good.

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Summary

Staff demonstrate a good awareness of the risks to the young people during their known and likely activities. Consistently high quality written risk assessments provide clear detail of the action required to minimise the identified risks and comprehensively promote young people’s safety and these are particularly well acted upon. This is also a notable area of outstanding strength.

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Summary

Good policies and procedures help to protect young people's physical safety in the event of a fire at the home. Staff recruitment checks are satisfactory. All staff are trained in appropriate safety subjects including fire safety, complaints, child protection and physical restraint.

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Improvements since the last inspection

There were no actions or recommendations raised at the last inspection.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Each young person has their own bedroom and a key to lock the door if they wish to. Washing and toilet facilities have good locks to maintain privacy in a safe manner. Young people have access to a private telephone which is free to use for reasonable periods. This ensures that young people’s privacy is respected and the payment method is convenient. Staff demonstrate a very good understanding of facilitating privacy for the young people. This is done very sensitively and safely. Details about young people's care is recorded and stored appropriately to maintain good levels of confidentiality.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Strong measures are in place to receive and act upon any complaints. All staff have received training on complaints, to ensure that they know what to do if there is a complaint about the service. The young people know how to make a complaint. Staff have explained the procedure and there is also information in the young people’s guide about how to complain. An accessible complaints symbol book is available to young people who can use it to show staff if they are unhappy about something or somebody. A similarly accessible poster alerts young people to use the book. Staff are sensitive to young people's behaviour which may indicate that they are unhappy. The young people also have the support of an independent advocate who visits. The complaints records contain the required details. Therefore, complaints are well handled.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The young people's welfare is significantly enhanced by the organisation's meticulous approach to child protection. The manager and staff have received child protection training which includes child exploitation and online protection. The provider has a good safeguarding procedure for staff to follow, in the event of any allegation or suspicion of abuse. Staff demonstrate excellent knowledge and understanding of the safeguarding procedures to promote and protect the young people’s safety. There are good links with the Local Safeguarding Children Board. An independent safeguarding forum has been established and independent safeguard visitors are employed to visit and report on the young people's safety and welfare. All staff have received anti-bullying and awareness training. A young people's council meet regularly to discuss the views of young people. Safeguarding is a standing item on the agenda. The young people benefit greatly from the staff's innovative use of

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

games and activities designed to deliver information about personal safety to young people in a fun and indirect manner. Therefore, the welfare of young people is very well promoted. They are protected from abuse, bullying and unauthorised absence. A robust response is made to any allegation or suspicion of abuse. This is an area of outstanding strength. All significant events at the home have been notified to the relevant authorities including Ofsted.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Positive handling plans are used. They contain good, individualised details for staff to follow when managing young people's behaviour. Sanctions are relevant and reflect the age and understanding of the young people. They are reviewed regularly for effectiveness. Physical restraint is rarely used to manage behaviour. Staff are trained in the provider’s policy and authorised techniques. The training is designed and delivered in a manner that ensures that as much as possible, incidents are managed without the use of physical intervention.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Reducing unnecessary risks to young people is a high priority at the home. Consistently high quality written risk assessments are recorded to enable staff to know what action to take to minimise the risk to each young person during their known and likely activities. These are reviewed regularly. The manager takes a very proactive approach to managing risks, ensuring that staff practice and the home environment are as safe as possible. Staff talk in a determined manner about their commitment to ensuring that the young people's welfare is safeguarded. They use local knowledge and contacts to support their efforts. Other agencies are used to support and complement the work of the staff. There is very good evidence that this collaborative approach to minimising risks results in very good outcomes for young people. This is an area of outstanding strength.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

All staff, regular visitors and young people have been involved in regular fire drills. All staff working at the home have received up to date fire safety training, to enable them to minimise the risks to young people in the event of a fire at the home. The fire safety check records are up to date and accurate. Therefore, young people's physical safety from fire in the home is well protected.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

All staff have been appropriately recruited and undergone suitable Criminal Records Bureau checks. The manager has undertaken safer recruitment training to help ensure that staff are suitable to work with young people.

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