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

Inspection report children’s home: SC060811 1 SC060811 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 and run children’s home is registered for the provision of placements to two children who are emotionally and behaviourally disturbed. It is currently providing a solo placement.

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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

Date of last inspection: 12 December 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/12/2017 Full Good 28/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/03/2017 Full Good 11/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC060811 2

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard, in particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding. (Regulation 11 (2)(a)(v)) In particular, children should be supported to develop understanding and empathy and staff should be provided with a refreshed set of targets to continue to deal with young people’s behaviours in a therapeutic manner. 16/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. The requirements are that— full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1)(3)(d)) 16/11/2018

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Recommendations

 Appropriate forms of contact should be promoted and facilitated for each child, including where appropriate visits by the child to relatives. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.18) In particular, the home’s ongoing role in the delivery of contact arrangements should be reconsidered to include the young person’s wishes and feelings, so that contact can remain a positive experience for the young person.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Over the period since the last inspection, the young person in placement has made significant progress. A well-trained and highly motivated staff group is key to the home’s success. Staff are empathetic to young people’s needs and committed to meeting them. The staff’s positive Inspection report children’s home: SC060811 3 attitude has significantly improved outcomes for the young person in placement, who now presents as a mature partner in their own care. Well-kept health records show that basic health needs are now met, and staff have been responsive to any additional health concerns the young person may have. As a result, the young person’s presentation and self-esteem have significantly improved. The young person has shown great determination in meeting their educational outcomes, and their achievement has been recognised and rewarded. However, the young person has not yet successfully engaged with tertiary education and staff are

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

aware of the pressing need to establish a regular routine of engagement and attendance at college if the young person is to succeed. The young person enjoys a wide range of leisure options, and at the time of the inspection was enthusiastically putting together a costume for Hallowe’en. Staff benefit from the advice of their employer’s therapeutic partner, the Northern School of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy (NSCAP), in promoting the young person’s emotional well- being. The psychotherapist assigned to the home said that staff value the opportunity that consultation brings and approach it in a very open manner. Significant progress is in evidence across every aspect of the young person’s life. However, challenges remain, such as contact with family. While the home is managing this well, arrangements for contact would benefit from a thorough reconsideration by the partnership supporting her placement so that it does not become a conflict.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person reports that she is happy in placement and feels a full part of any decisions made about her future. The young person is relaxed and at ease with the staff who provide care, and these positive relationships are central to the young person’s capacity to cope with any setbacks and continue to make progress on her journey towards independence.

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

An extensive reduction in the number of notifiable safeguarding incidents over the period since the last inspection means that risk of harm to the young person has been significantly reduced. For example, from a position where 60 missing episodes were reported in a three-month period last year, there have been three episodes in this calendar year. The young person now generally keeps in touch with staff when she is away from the home. This reduces her vulnerability to risks such as sexual exploitation. Offending behaviour in the home has disappeared following effective partnership working with local police, with realistic prospects that there will be no further instances of offending. This means that the young person now has more opportunity to focus on a positive future, free from court appearances and risk of custody. Risk is managed effectively through a suite of well-written risk assessments. These have

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

helped staff to understand and deal with a range of possible dangers, such as the risk of self-harm. The home’s assigned therapist from NSCAP says that staff’s capacity to manage risk and safeguard young people is ‘impressive’. Staff would benefit from a review of what they have accomplished in keeping the young person safe and how they have achieved it. Inspection report children’s home: SC060811 4

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is well led by an experienced and appropriately qualified manager who is exceptionally skilled at written care and placement planning. Lessons learned from the reports of the independent visitor are drawn into the home’s ongoing development plans effectively. The impending planned absence of the registered manager means that cover arrangements have been put in place through an extended handover with her temporary replacement. The home’s registered providers have been highly empathic to the needs of the young person when making these arrangements. The home’s detailed and extensive written plans considerably enhance suitable care plans for the young person that the local authority has in place. The home’s plans comprehensively cover day-to-day arrangements for the young person’s care. The home’s wide-ranging plans will undergo further revision following forthcoming completion of pathway assessment and planning by the local authority, as the

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

partnership that cares for the young person begins to implement a plan for independence. Staff are well supported in their care of the young person through regular, reflective supervision sessions, which are exceptionally well recorded by the registered manager. Staff’s performance is formally appraised, and their training needs suitably identified. Bespoke training sessions add value to the registered provider’s existing programme of online training, which ensures that staff are kept up to date on their statutory training requirements. Review of staff files, specifically those relating to staff recruited since the last inspection, indicates gaps in meeting statutory requirements regarding their employment. Recording errors were immediately addressed by senior managers during the inspection. However, the responsible individual’s system for verbally checking references does not comply with regulatory requirements and this is a significant shortcoming.

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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 differences 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 whom 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: SC060811 5

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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

Ian Young, Her Majesty’s Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC060811 6 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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