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

Unique reference number SC064454 Inspector Parveen Hussain Type of inspection Interim 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 22/10/2014 2 of 5 Inspection date 04/02/2015

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Previous inspection good Enforcement action since last inspection none

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This inspection

This home was judged good at the last full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judge that it has improved effectiveness .

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This inspection

At the last full inspection in October 2014 the home was found to be good. Two requirements were raised relating to the accurate recording of physical interventions and the need for full references, including the last employer. These have both been addressed and the home has been judged to have improved effectiveness.

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This inspection

Young people make excellent progress in their education. They benefit from good attendance and are achieving in line with their age and stage of development. Staff wholeheartedly support the educational attainments of young people and celebrate their success, helping to keep young people motivated. This includes working closely with them to develop their confidence and skills with independent travel, helping them with homework and undertaking educational visits. Young people feel proud of their achievements and assign this to the support and commitment of staff.

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This inspection

Health outcomes are positive. Young people living at the home make good progress relating to their health including their physical, social and emotional development. As a result of the trusting relationships with staff, young people become more stable in placement and require less input from external agencies and services. As a result of the increased stability, hard work and dedication of staff, young people are supported to reduce their medication and lead a healthy lifestyle. This includes through maintaining a good diet, regular exercise and a range of activities including ice skating, visits to the cinema and shopping centres. Young people like living here and say they enjoy the activities they take part in.

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This inspection

Young people have an active voice in the running of the home and are well consulted. The Registered Manager and staff utilise a range of techniques to seek their views and incorporate these in the daily routines of the home. This helps ensure young people’s care and support needs remain central to the running of the home. 3 of 5 The Registered Manager has robust quality assurance systems in place to ensure effective and timely monitoring takes place. This helps identify shortfalls swiftly and is followed by prompt action to minimise the impact on young people. Further independent scrutiny takes place and complements the manager’s feedback from young people, family members and professionals.

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This inspection

Records are well maintained and are reviewed regularly. This ensures information is up to date and relevant to the needs of young people. Plans are highly personalised and clearly identify young people’s current and emerging needs. Some young people continue to engage in risk taking behaviours such as going missing from the home. These incidents are followed up with staff going out looking for young people to ensure their safe return home. Detailed work takes place to support young people to recognise the dangers of their actions. Staff have a good awareness of safeguarding practices and adhere to the policies and procedures in place for young people. Multi- agency working and information sharing with partner agencies is of a high standard and contributes to keeping young people safe. Young people feel safe and are safe living at the home. Stakeholders comment about the commitment and dedication of

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This inspection

staff and how they build warm relationships with young people contributing to their safety and wellbeing.

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This inspection

Staff use their caring and nurturing approach to reduce the need for physical interventions and sanctions. However these are utilised on rare occasions to help young people manage their emotions and behaviours. Restraint records are not always completed by staff involved in the incident. This raises the possibility of records being tampered with and does not provide young people with an accurate account of events.

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This inspection

Young people benefit from the flexibility of staff in helping them acquire independence skills. Some young people are supported at a gentle pace. This helps young people remain motivated and benefit from the additional support available. They learn new skills and make progress in line with their care plans. This helps them increase their confidence and develop a strong sense of achievement.

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This inspection

A key strength of the home is the Registered Manager’s and staff’s commitment and flexibility when facilitating contact. They ensure young people benefit from opportunities for quality contact with their families and other key people in their lives. This often involves staff travelling to other cities to promote family contact for young people. This helps support young people to maintain their familial relationships and build on their identity. 4 of 5

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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

22/10/2014 Full good 24/03/2014 Interim good progress 23/10/2013 Full outstanding 30/01/2013 Interim good progress

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Recommendations

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

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Recommendations

 ensure where measures of restraint are utilised, these must be carefully recorded within a 24 hour period by the staff involved and full details provided in the record. All records must be in a format that cannot be tampered with after the event (NMS 3 - Volume 5, Statutory Guidance, paragraph 2.91) Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Recommendations

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What inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspections we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection.

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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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