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

Unique reference number SC060811 Inspector Jacqueline Malcolm 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 Kirsten Louise Campbell Date of last inspection 18/03/2014 2 of 11 Inspection date 29/10/2014

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Previous inspection good progress Enforcement action since last inspection none

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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 outstanding

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Overall effectiveness

Young people benefit from excellent quality of care in a safe, caring and stable environment. Young people new to the home are making good progress from their starting points and they are supported by their high quality and individually tailored plans. Positive relationships between staff and young people are devlopeing which promote trust and respect over time. Professionals and stakeholders express satisfaction about the quality of care at the home and have made a number of compliments about the effective working relationships between the home and families and the tenacity shown towards young people when others may have given up on them.

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Overall effectiveness

Staff are child-focussed, competent, motivated and take pride in delivering their roles and responsibilities. The team’s dedication and commitment to improving young people’s outcomes ensure that young people have every opportunity to reach their full potential. The staff team demonstrate strong models of safe practice. They have exceptionally good working relationships with external agencies and this promotes young people’s safety and welfare. To this end, young people confirm they feel safe in the home.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people benefit immensely from strong leadership and management in the home. The Registered Manager is diligent in her commitment to improve young 3 of 11 people’s outcomes. She makes positive use of effective monitoring tools to ensure that she quickly acts on any identified shortfalls.

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Overall effectiveness

The shortfalls identified at this inspection relate to ensuring sanction records include the location and that all risk assessments are signed by staff to confirm they have read and understood them. These shortfalls do not negatively impact on young people’s positive outcomes. 4 of 11

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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 young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Young people are admitted on a planned or emergency basis.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/03/2014 Interim good progress 18/07/2013 Full outstanding 10/10/2012 Interim good progress 12/06/2012 Full good

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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 in a children’s home, a written record is made in a volume kept for the purposes of which shall include the date, time and location of, the use of the measure; specifically the location. (Regulation 17(B) (3)((d))) 31/12/2014

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take 5 of 11 account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 ensure there is a system in place to monitor the quality and adequacy of record keeping and take action when needed. This specifically relates to staff promptly signing risk assessments to confirm they have read and understand them. (NMS 22.1) 6 of 11

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people’s outcomes improve from their starting points as they settle into life at this home. Improvements are made in relation to young people’s positive engagement in their education, re-establishing family contact and working towards semi-independence. The protective and nurturing home environment provides a secure base where young people can plan their future lives. This is supported by clear expectations set out in their individually tailored, high quality plans. Young people’s are developing positive attachments with staff and this helps them to work towards their individualised and realistic goals. This in turn, improves young people's confidence and strengthens their resilience.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

There is good consideration of young people’s wishes and feelings for example, young people’s involvement in their placement planning provides a strong message that they are valued and listened to. This increases the likelihood of young people committing to the home’s firm boundaries and established routines. Similarly where placements have ended, young people understand the safety and welfare reasons for this and they accept that it is in their best interests to positively move on.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people gain a good insight into their health because staff discuss a range of health matters with them. For example, young people learn about healthy lifestyles and the benefits of consuming a well-proportioned, balanced diet. Young people who express a wish to get fitter and lose weight are supported to get started. Young people learn about sexual health matters and the health risks associated with smoking and drinking alcohol. Young people who have a history of not attending health appointments or engaging with health professionals, have made some progress through their attendance at health appointments. This ensures a full assessment of young people’s health needs that promotes their overall well-being.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people life chances are improved by their regular attendance at their education provisions. They are enhancing their learning and skills in subjects that will help them to achieve their future chosen career pathways. Young people’s interest in leisure activities outside of their educational activities helps to develop their social skills and allows them to relax outside of their daily routines. For example, young people have enjoyed day trips out with staff and spending time with friends. Young people’s contact with families is is extremely well facilitated and supported. This has resulted in some young people returning home to their families, which may not have been an option before. Young people’s sense of belonging and connection to their heritage is maintained by their continued contact with significant people in their lives.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people show competence and skills that will help them to cope independently in their adult life. Young people are working within the expectations of their independence plans. For example, young people travel independently to different 7 of 11 places, budget, shop and cook for themselves. They have the ability to ensure good personal care and keep their environment well maintained and are therefore acquiring appropriate independence skills. as a result of developing these attributes.

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Quality of care outstanding

Young people live in a home that has high aspirations for them. The manager and staff team go the extra mile to maximise young people’s potential irrespective of the diverse challenges presented by them. Staff are knowledgeable about the young people in their care and they talk about them in favourable terms. Staff make effective use of their skills of engagement. This helps them to build positive relationships with young people and they are developing trust at a realistic pace. This enables staff to implement clear routines, boundaries and manage risky and challenging behaviours without the need for physical intervention or involving the police. A social worker said, ‘I was very impressed regarding the standard of care afforded to the young person I had placed at (name of the home). The staff were very proactive in ensuring that the young person had a structured timetable which included education, leisure activities and also supporting the young person to develop

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Quality of care outstanding

Young people benefit from having specifically tailored, high quality and outcome based placement plans. These clearly show how the home intends to meet their holistic needs and maintain young people’s involvement at the centre of their planning. Relatively new young people to the home have shown challenging behaviours that may place them at risk of harm. However, their changing needs and risks are recognised and captured in their plans and lessons are learned to ensure that the home continues to safety meet their needs.

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Quality of care outstanding

Staff actively promote an open environment where young people and adults can have honest and meaningful discussions about a range of topics. This includes listening to young people’s wishes and feelings, which are given a high priority. The frequent consultation with young people effects positive changes in the home care planning. Young people’s views are listened to and acted on wherever possible including in regular keyworker sessions, house meetings and ad hoc discussions outside of these arenas. This promotes young people’s rights. As a result, young people are having an influence on the décor of the home, their placement plans and activities. Young people know how to complain and to date have not had cause to make a complaint. Their access to an independent advocate and the independent Regulation 33 visitor provides young people with further opportunities to access advice and support when they need it.

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Quality of care outstanding

Young people benefit immensely from the exceptionally good communication and collaborative practices shared between the home and external agencies. For example, social care, education, health and the police. This ensures that young 8 of 11 people have valuable resources available to them which promotes and safeguards their welfare.

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Quality of care outstanding

The home provides a comfortable and warm environment. It has undergone some recent redecoration and young people have personalised their rooms in styles that suite their personality and tastes. Young people benefit from living in a well located home that allows them easy access to their education provision, contact and places of interest.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Young people live in a home that has a strong safeguarding culture and no safeguarding concerns have been raised . Young people confirm that they feel safe and can identify adults to talk to about any worries. Staff are safely recruited through robust recruitment procedures to ensure that prospective adults caring for young people are safe at this home. Staff are trained in safeguarding children and young people, which enhances their awareness about their safeguarding responsibilities. This protects young people’s significant vulnerabilities and effectively keeps them safe.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Young people are not known to be at risk of child sexual exploitation. Plans are in place to ensure that new young people to the home partake in e-safety training. This promotes their awareness about the potential risks whilst using the internet. Young people do not report bullying behaviour to be an issue for them at this current time. The nature of the current placements and high staff supervision minimises opportunities for young people to live in fear of bullying behaviour and intimidation.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Exceptionally good risk assessments clearly identify the actual, and potential risks and strategies to reduce young people’s risk taking behaviours. However, not all staff sign the documents to confirm they have read and understood them. Notwithstanding this, staff practice determines that they adhere to risk assessments, which promotes safe practices. Positive behaviour management strategies are consistently applied and support young people to improve their behaviour. Young people have not been restrained for a significant period of time. This is good because it demonstrates the effectiveness of strategies used by staff to de-escalate potentially challenging situations. Young people do not need to have many sanctions imposed on them. However, when they do, the sanction record does not consistently include the location where the incident that resulted in a sanction took place. The manager has given an undertaking to resolve this issue to ensure comprehensive records that

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Missing from care incidents have significantly reduced due to changes in the young people who currently live at the home. However, young people who go missing from care are supported and helped by the home’s missing from care protocols and 9 of 11 individual strategies. Members of staff work proactively and effectively with the police to ensure they are fully appraised of the missing event. Staff also search for young people in the community and contact them on their mobile phones to expedite their safe and well return. These actions give young people a clear message that staff care about them and are concerned for their welfare when they do not return home at the agreed time. A social worker said, ‘the staff were very proactive in relation to the actions they took when the young person went missing and also when completing focus work after the incidents’.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Young people live in a safe and secure physical environment. For example, young people’s involvement in fire drills helps them know what to do in the case of an emergency and ensures that they can safely exit the home. Up to date checks on electric and gas appliances keep young people safe from hazards to their welfare. These measures ensure everyone’s safety.

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Leadership and management outstanding

Leadership and management arrangements are extremely efficient and aspirational in their outlook which promotes high expectations for all young people. This approach has led to some successful outcomes for young people.

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Leadership and management outstanding

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 2010. She is very experienced in working with young people in residential care and is suitably qualified. The manager shows a great deal of tenacity in fulfilling her responsibility to improve outcomes for young people.This enables her to lead by example. She is currently studying towards a business management qualification at Diploma level 7. This promotes positive role modelling to the rest of the team and supports a healthy learning environment in the home.

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Leadership and management outstanding

Staff members’ personal attributes, commitment and resilience provide them with the necessary experience and skills to rise to the challenges facing them and deliver an efficient and motivated child focussed service. Staff either hold the relevant childcare qualifications and are studying towards a higher level, or they are currently progressing towards completing their course. A sound range of training opportunities available to staff, which includes mandatory and refresher training, enhances the team’s knowledge and professional development. These include first aid, fire safety, drug awareness, child sexual exploitation and safeguarding refresher training and behaviour management. A strong and well retained staff team provide high staffing levels. This enables young people to receive consistent, well planned care in an exceedingly supportive and extremely caring environment. Staff speak highly about

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Leadership and management outstanding

the support they receive from the manager. They say that the manager is ‘supportive, really good, really fair and lets us work on our own initiative’. Regular staff supervision, daily handovers and team meetings support the team’s efficiency, performance and positive staff morale. 10 of 11 The home meets the objectives set out in the Statement of Purpose, which informs how the home intends to care for young people. Effective communication in the home supports consistent practice and reinforces firm boundaries and routines that young people clearly understand. Stakeholders speak in complimentary terms about the excellent levels of communication that they have with the home. A social worker said, ‘the communication between myself and the staff was also excellent and I was kept fully informed via phone calls, emails and monthly progress reports’. Compliments received by the home about their care of young people stimulate

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Leadership and management outstanding

positive morale. For example, a stakeholder said, ‘x would not have progressed much without x support’ and a social worker commented how impressed they were with a young person’s semi-independence plan being detailed and well thought out. Young people prosper from a strong internal and external quality assurance system that is very well integrated into the other systems used by the home to measure the impact of interventions with young people. This includes comprehensive monthly Regulation 33 monitoring of the homes performance. The views of young people, stakeholders and staff are included, which inform any required changes to their care management. The manager has implemented a realistic outcome based development plan. It is regularly reviewed and shows the impact of improvements in the home. Although no requirements or recommendations were made at the last inspection; this has not prevented the manager from identifying the home’s strengths and acting on any

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Leadership and management outstanding

areas for development so they can continue to drive forward improvements in the home.

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Leadership and management outstanding

Young people benefit from comprehensive and well-ordered records. These documents track young people’s care journey, which provides them with an important and valuable legacy to take forward in life. Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Leadership and management outstanding

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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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