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

Unique reference number SC064454 Inspector Parveen Hussain Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Registered person Dove Adolescent Services Limited Registered person address 170 Southgate Pontefract West Yorkshire WF8 1QJ Responsible individual Barbara Anne Whittaker Registered manager Tracey Jane Cooper Date of last inspection 24/03/2014 2 of 8 Inspection date 22/10/2014

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Previous inspection good progress Enforcement action since last inspection There has been no enforcement action since the last inspection.

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Overall effectiveness good

Outcomes for children and young people good Quality of care outstanding Keeping children and young people safe good Leadership and management good

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Overall effectiveness

Young people make good progress at this home. They thrive in the care of thoughtful staff that provide excellent standards of care. Highly individualised care planning supports young people who have a range of needs from their different backgrounds and experiences. Young people engage in full time education and make very good progress from the point of admission. Staff are committed and dedicated in making sure young people receive experience positive outcomes.

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Overall effectiveness

The new manager takes into consideration the views of young people and those who are important to them. This helps ensure young people’s views and care needs influence the running of the home and decisions about their care. Young people have positive views about the home and they are safe. They are protected by the strong safe working practices that staff implement.

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Overall effectiveness

The leadership of the home is good. Staff are well trained, supported and motivated to provide effective care to young people and make a positive difference to their lives.

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Overall effectiveness

The inspection has identified minor shortfalls in the management and organisation of record keeping relating to physical intervention and recruitment checks. 3 of 8

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned children’s home. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to two children and young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/03/2014 Interim good progress 23/10/2013 Full outstanding 30/01/2013 Interim good progress 19/06/2012 Full outstanding

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Statutory Requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person/s meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Reg. Requirement Due date

17B (2001) ensure that within 24 hours of the use of any measure of control, restraint or discipline, a written record is made in a volume which will include the matters listed in Regulation 17B (Regulation 17B (3)). 31/12/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure full and satisfactory information is available in relation to each person employed to work at the home as specified in Schedule 2 (Regulation 26 (3) (d)). 31/12/2014 4 of 8

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Outcomes for young people living at this home are good. Young people benefit from the nurturing and highly positive care they receive from staff. Additionally, they benefit from engaging with specialist services to help them maximise their potential.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people are supported to develop a positive self-view and an understanding of their backgrounds. This strengthens their confidence and emotional resilience. As a result they make good progress in overcoming previous hardships and trauma. Young people engage with external support services and use this to build on their existing relationships with family members and other important people in their life. This adds to their sense of identity and wellbeing. Stakeholders make very positive comments about how young people are able to make progress and contribute this to the nurturing environment they reside in.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people learn about the significance of being healthy and how to adopt a healthy lifestyle. They keep fit and are in good health. They take part in a range of activities such as ice skating, horse riding, cheerleading and swimming.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people benefit from exploring issues around their personal safety and significantly reduce their risk taking behaviours. They have previously been involved in missing from care, sexual exploitation and substance misuse. Through work with staff and external agencies young people develop better strategies for keeping themselves safe.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people are engaged in full time education and school attendance is good. Some young people have made the transition from smaller nurturing units to mainstream education facilities. Other young people are schooled through the providers own education facility. This flexible approach to learning ensures young people are meeting their educational targets. Teachers and stakeholders report young people using these facilities are making good progress.

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Quality of care outstanding

Staff provide young people living at this home with an outstanding level of care. The registered manager and staff want the very best for young people and do their utmost to create a safe, warm and friendly environment for them. The Registered Provider is a key driver of this quality and ensures young people experience very constructive and caring relationships with staff.

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Quality of care outstanding

Staff are sensitive and aspirational, motivating young people to succeed. They take 5 of 8 into account young people’s diverse needs and backgrounds. Staff model commitment and dedication regardless of the individual challenges young people portray. This leads to young people developing a sense of trust in adults and the ability to share their concerns. Young people are able to respond and engage better with staff and services. As a result they feel more secure, placements are stable and there are better prospects for the future.

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Quality of care outstanding

The skilful nurturing response from staff helps young people understand why it is not always possible to act upon their wishes. However young people state their views are listened to and staff consistently persevere in meeting their needs and wishes where possible. An example of this is when a staff member exceeded the requirements of his role in making a long journey to ensure a young person’s family were present at an important event. This level of dedication and commitment towards young people enhances their sense trust in staff as young people enjoy and achieve more.

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Quality of care outstanding

Staff are innovative in their approach to help young people manager their behaviour. Staff use highly individualised strategies such as visual displays around the home and tools which encourage young people to identify their feelings and emotions. Staff also undertake high quality focus sessions to explore positive coping strategies with young people. This enables young people to have insight into their behaviours and reduce the risk of offending.

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Quality of care outstanding

Staff are forward thinking and meticulous in detail when reviewing young people’s care plans. They are thorough in identifying risk factors and utilise their excellent knowledge of young people to deliver high quality care. Highly effective multi-agency working between staff and agencies ensures care plans are comprehensive and specific to young people. This ensure there needs are well met. A social worker stated, ‘Staff really do know their young people.’ She felt it was the best placement for this young person and was meeting the young person’s holistic needs.

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Quality of care outstanding

Staff are highly committed to supporting young people make progress in their education. They work closely with education professionals to help young people make progress in their achievements. Young people looking to make the transition to further education benefit from support and consultation about various post 16 options. Staff spend extensive time with young people to enhance their learning. Staff ensure young people are afforded opportunities to visit libraries and other educational establishments which promote learning and improve basic skills.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Young people live in a home where staff prioritise their safety and ensure the environment is warm and nurturing. Staff are committed to keeping young people safe and work hard to achieve this regardless of the diverse needs and challenges presented by young people. 6 of 8 The manager and staff team are effective at communicating with other professionals and placing authorities about concerns affecting young people and their safety. They advocate strongly on behalf of young people to secure therapeutic and counselling services. An example of this is when staff highlighted their concerns and pushed for an early appointment with mental health services. Staff encourage and promote engagement between young people and these services. This ensures young people’s welfare is protected, they enjoy a better quality of life and their potential is maximised.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Staff successfully use a range of incentives, rewards, activities and leisure opportunities to help young people improve their behaviour. Based on young people’s development, they utilise individual age appropriate strategies. As a result, young people have reduced their levels of offending behaviours and there are no longer any episodes where they have been missing from home. When young people have previously been missing, staff have actively kept in touch with young people’s known contacts to ensure their safe return.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

The staff and registered manager have a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the safeguarding policies, procedures and practices. They are up to date with training and legal and professional developments which contribute to their ability to safeguard young people. They appropriately challenge where necessary to ensure young people are afforded opportunities in line with their age and stage of development. An example of this is when staff advocated for additional free time to allow a young person to take measured age appropriate risks.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Staff regularly review and amend personalised risk assessments to target potential areas of concern. These are implemented through a variety of means tailored to suit the individual needs of young people. For some young people this is through visual aids whilst others benefit from individual focus work sessions. This results in the minimal use of physical interventions and sanctions to manager behaviour. On occasion the records relating to physical interventions are not always kept in a volume in line with regulatory requirements. There is minimal impact to young people’s safety this is rare and there are additional records kept separately.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

The staff recruitment process is generally comprehensive with appropriate checks being made. On one occasion when a check was missing the management processes did not robustly demonstrate what action had been taken to resolve this. The addition of further checks in this case did ensure that a staff member was suitable to work with young people.

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Leadership and management good

7 of 8 The Registered Manager has been in post since April 2014. She has relevant experience and qualifications for the position and is supported by an experienced and skilled staff team. Together they demonstrate commitment and enthusiasm in promoting high quality care for young people. This quality of leadership and care results in young people making good progress in their development.

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Leadership and management good

The manager undertakes extensive monitoring of the home. This ensures the quality of care it delivers to young people is highly effective. This is supported by good quality, regular independent monitoring visits that check on how well the home is managed. This supports the manager to have a good understanding of the main strengths and weaknesses of the home and take action where necessary.

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Leadership and management good

The manager is committed to seeking the views of young people, families, staff and professionals to ensure these are incorporated in the running of the home. This knowledge assists the provider, manager and staff team to ensure young people’s views are central to the planning and quality of care they receive. In turn, this leads to a happy environment where both young people and the staff team feel their views are valued and respected.

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Leadership and management good

The manager has implemented a new locality assessment for the area the home is in. The manager and staff team make appropriate links with relevant agencies to ascertain statistical data as well as their professional views. This level of interaction contributes to the future development of the home, ensures admissions will remain appropriate and strengthens networks to support young people in placement.

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Leadership and management good

The manager is clear of her role and models good relationships with placing authorities and other services. An independent reviewing officer and social worker commented positively about the quality of communication and the timing of the progress reports they receive. Care and placement plans are comprehensive and are maintained to a good quality. The majority of records are detailed and provide good evidence of young people’s journey since admission.

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Leadership and management good

Staffing levels are good which ensure young people’s care needs are well met. In addition, staff receive good quality, consistent supervision which further enables them to keep young people safe. Staff are committed to the young people in placement and in meeting their diverse needs. This leads to good quality interaction between staff and young people. Staff receive good levels of training which contribute to their personal and professional development. This keeps them abreast of legal and professional developments in policy and practice. There are opportunities for continuous professional development for senior staff wanting to enhance their management skills. This ensures the home maintains a good balance of experienced staff working directly with young people whilst promoting opportunities for others. Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Leadership and management good

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Judgement Description

Outstanding A service of exceptional quality that significantly exceeds minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Good A service of high quality that exceeds minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Adequate A service that only meets minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Inadequate A service that does not meet minimum requirements.

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Information 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 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards.

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Information about this inspection

The report details the main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made against the framework of inspection for children's homes.

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