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

Inspection report children’s home: SC355755 1 SC355755 Registered provider: Dove Adolescent Services Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home is registered to provide care and accommodation for one young person who has emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

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

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection

None Inspection report children’s home: SC355755 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff are committed and dedicated to achieving good outcomes for young people.  Staff have a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of young people’s individual needs.  Young people make good progress due to consistent and individualised care plans.  Good collaborative working with professionals and outside agencies ensures that the safety, health and education of young people remain a priority.  The manager provides good leadership with support from an experienced and established staff team.  Physical intervention is not used because of the solid relationships staff build with young people.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 26/04/2016 Full Good 16/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 08/12/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC355755 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff concentrate all of their efforts on the one young person in placement. The current and previous young people report feeling comfortable in the home. They enjoy living in a spacious and well-maintained detached property. Consistent gathering of young people’s views ensures that staff are continually aware of their needs and can focus on meeting these. This includes food choices, decoration of the young people’s bedroom and social activities. As a result, young people remain settled. A parent said, ‘I think the home is lovely, staff are really helpful. They keep me informed of [name of young person]’s progress.’ Good-quality care planning ensures that the diverse needs of young people are identified and met. Continuous reviews of plans and assessments guarantee that care is adapted to meet the young people’s ever-changing needs. Young people are encouraged and supported to be involved in their plans. They attend their meetings

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

and play an active role in decision-making that affects them. A professional said, ‘[Name]’s engagement with services has massively improved. He’s now experiencing a period of stability, which hasn’t been achieved before this placement.’ The manager and staff team show genuine care, warmth and empathy for young people. This enables young people to build trusting relationships and empowers them to accept care and boundaries. Young people make good progress from their starting points and understand why they need to stay safe and make different choices. Young people benefit from key-working sessions. Staff address the relevant topics that warrant exploration. Young people are making good progress with their education. Staff invest in their learning and provide encouragement and support for them. One young person, who was not in formal education prior to living at this home, is now actively involved in training courses and has a plan for the future. A professional said,

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

‘[Name] has made massive progress at [home]. He is now interested in education when before he was not doing anything.’ Close and regular partnership working with the police and specialist professionals promotes the swift identification and response to new risks. This helps to ensure the safety and well-being of young people and equips staff with up-to-date information and intelligence in the local area. The committed staff support young people and their families to keep in touch with each other. They provide a safe and comfortable environment for contact to take place. As a result, young people improve their familial relationships, and re- establish vital bonds and preserve their cultural links. One young person has moved on and another young person has arrived since the Inspection report children’s home: SC355755 4 last inspection. Although the ending of that placement is not how staff would have wished, they continued to advocate for the young person. This demonstrates their

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

focus on achieving good outcomes for young people.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The experienced and knowledgeable staff team demonstrates a very good awareness of safeguarding. A high staff ratio ensures that young people live in a safe environment and are safe and protected. The manager is proactive at managing risk and is transparent when risk is no longer safely manageable. He takes steps to secure extra support for young people. The manager has developed good working relationships with the police and other local agencies. A robust locality risk assessment, coupled with regular multi-agency safeguarding meetings, ensure that the manager and staff team’s knowledge of current risks and concerns remain up to date. This enables them to pre-empt potential threats to the safety of young people and promotes their welfare. Continuous evaluation of risk assessments allow the staff team to constantly re- focus on safeguarding issues and identify any new or emerging risks. Staff develop

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

good-quality relationships with young people, enabling them to identify issues swiftly and address them. Because of this, young people are kept safe. The staff team is skilled in de-escalating challenging situations. The positive handling training that staff receive ensures the safe application of any physical intervention; however, this is rarely needed. Sanctions are also rare, with only one sanction imposed in this inspection period. This demonstrates that staff are competent at developing mutually trusting and respectful relationships with young people. There have been no missing episodes with the current young person in placement. Significant incidents of missing occurrences with the previous young person were managed well. Staff demonstrate their knowledge and training competently, escalating their concerns effectively to involved agencies.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The experienced registered manager has worked with young people for over 12 years and holds level 4 in leadership and management in health and social care. He has a good understanding of the service and can effectively evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the home. Reflection by the manager has allowed identification of gaps in the home’s admissions policy, resulting in a much more robust system. This has enabled the manager to quickly address deficits and make changes. Young people benefit from a longstanding and stable staff team that has a wealth of experience and knowledge. Extensive safeguarding, first aid and physical intervention training further complement this. This ensures that young people receive good-quality care from a diverse and skilled team. Staff feel supported by the manager. They value his knowledge and experience and Inspection report children’s home: SC355755 5 benefit from regular supervision. This is used effectively to evaluate practice and

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

identify learning needs. Staff carry a shared ethos of best outcomes for young people. This is at the forefront of their practice and is firmly imbedded in their practice. A robust external monitoring system ensures independent scrutiny of the home that complies with legislation. Evaluation of the home’s progress allows the manager to address any gaps. This contributes effectively to continuous safeguarding of young people. Recommendations made at the last inspection have been met and there are no requirements or recommendations from this inspection. This demonstrates the manager’s ability to address shortfalls swiftly and improve practice, thus ensuring that young people receive good and improving care.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and 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.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: SC355755 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Dove Adolescent Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 170 Southgate, Pontefract, West Yorkshire WF8 1QJ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Barbara Whittaker

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Inspector

Abby Maspero, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC355755 7 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, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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