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

Good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.2

The children’s home’s provision is good because:

 Over time, young people make good progress from their starting points.  Young people are provided with long-term security and stability. This helps them to experience secure attachments to the adults caring for them.  The well-trained and resilient staff team provides nurturing care in a safe and homely environment.  Partnership working is effective in helping to secure the help and guidance that young people need.  Young people get good support in their transition to independence.

p.3

Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5). This is with specific reference to ensuring that staff understand the steps to be taken when it is suspected that young people may have taken medication that is not prescribed for them.  The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of children living there and the impact the care is having on the outcomes and improvements for the children (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2). This is with specific reference to incorporating and

p.4

Recommendations

evaluating the views of young people, staff, parents and stakeholders.

p.4

Information about this children’s home

This is a private children’s home. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to two children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

p.5

Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 11/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 20/10/2015 Full Outstanding 03/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness 29/10/2014 Full Good

p.5

Good

During their stay at this home, and relative to their starting points, young people make positive progress overall. The journey that young people make to reach this point is not always straightforward. It is often punctuated by difficulties and setbacks and very challenging events. The changes achieved are therefore often small but, given young people’s history, early life experiences and learning needs, represent significant improvement over time. This includes speaking more to staff about feelings, increasing eye contact with others and improvements in personal hygiene.

p.6

Good

Young people benefit from the tenacity of staff. They persevere and stick by young people, and refuse to give up on them when the going gets tough. As a result, young people are able to experience stability and enjoy secure attachments to adults that they can rely on. An independent reviewing officer commented positively on: ‘The flexibility of staff in providing support while accepting that young people are sometimes reluctance to engage.’

p.6

Good

On the cusp of adulthood, young people increasingly assert their right to make their own choices in life. These may not always be sensible choices, and they often make life harder. But when things go wrong, young people gravitate back to staff for help and reassurance. This reflects the strong attachments and relationships that exist between staff and young people.

p.6

Good

Like good parents, staff are always there to pick up the pieces, and to support young people to try again. For example, young people have tried various courses and types of employment. They have often been quite motivated in terms of seeking out opportunities, completing application forms and going along to interviews, but these efforts have not come to fruition. Staff use focused conversations with young people to address the barriers to success, such as behaviour, attitude, compromise and commitment.

p.6

Good

When young people are not in education, work or training, staff maintain a routine that focuses on helping young people to develop skills for independence, promotes engagement with support workers and incorporates learning opportunities such as watching and discussing the content of a drug awareness video.

p.6

Good

Young people’s health is monitored, and there is intensive and increasingly successful intervention to reduce drug use. Staff also encourage young people to extend their limited diet and take more exercise. This is undertaken sensitively and in a way that seeks to empower, not alienate, young people. Key-working sessions are used to good effect to discuss health issues such as the impact of the use of illegal highs and how to check for testicular cancer.

p.6

Good

Young people who move on to independent living are given excellent support by staff. For example, staff went to live for a few days with a young person in her new accommodation until she settled in, and continue to provide outreach support.

p.7

Good

The quality of contact with family can be challenging for young people, but staff work hard to mediate and ensure that family relationships are maintained. The friends of young people regularly visit the home. This gives young people the chance to enjoy shared interests and activities with their peers.

p.7

Good

The home is well maintained, warm and welcoming. A recommendation set at the last inspection to carry out repair work to the bathroom is met.

p.7

Good

When safeguarding concerns emerge, these are managed quickly and effectively to ensure that young people are protected and that they get the help and support they need. Over time, this has had a positive impact, and as a result the number of missing from home incidents has significantly reduced. There are no concerns about child sexual exploitation or radicalisation.

p.7

Good

The use of physical restraint and sanction is minimal. Staff are good at recognising triggers for challenging behaviour and de-escalating situations. They prefer to use a restorative approach and this, along with a range of increasingly refined behaviour management strategies, has reduced the number of physical outbursts.

p.7

Good

The administration of medication is managed well. Lessons have been learned from a recent incident when a young person’s well-being was potentially put at risk. This includes revisiting the use of dynamic risk assessments. A debrief has been undertaken with staff, but the matter could usefully be explored again with the whole team in order to reinforce learning points.

p.7

Good

The current staff team is well established and the turnover of staff is low. When new members of staff join the team, they do so having been thoroughly vetted and checked. The performance and suitability of new staff is kept under close review, and as a result action has been taken to dismiss staff during their period of probation. Judgement grade

p.7

Good

The manager is suitably qualified and has managed this home since 2010. Staff feel that she provides them with good support and promotes their development. For example, one member of staff said that the manager, ‘really encouraged me to get more experience and seek promotion.’

p.8

Good

The manager and staff work hard at gaining the best possible outcomes they can for young people. This is achieved by the use of reflective practice, consultation with professionals and partnership working. This reflects a clear and consistent focus on the needs and welfare of the young people.

p.8

Good

Good staffing ratios and the stability of the staff team contribute to young people enjoying effective and safe care. The longevity of placements means that staff get to know young people and their families very well. This gives families a sense of continuity and consistency in their dealings with staff.

p.8

Good

There is constant monitoring and review of young people’s progress. This involves young people, who contribute to their risk assessments and care planning. This helps young people to understand their journey and contribute to what will happen next.

p.8

Good

The manager ensures that the home works within its statement of purpose. Her six-monthly review of the home adds value to the quality of care that young people receive. This could be further enhanced by greater evaluation of feedback from young people, their families, staff and other professionals.

p.8

What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against ‘Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection’.

p.9

What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children’s home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children’s home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children’s home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of children looked after is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place. However, the children's home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children’s home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

p.9

What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

p.9

Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children’s home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children’s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This 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 Children’s

p.10

Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. the guidance ‘Raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.10

Information about this inspection

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, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for children looked after and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

p.11

Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.11

Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.11

Information about this inspection

T: 0300 123 1231 Text phone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

p.11