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 operated children’s home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to two children or young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is currently providing a solo placement.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a registered manager who has recently returned from maternity leave. A temporary manager has been in place during that time.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 19 to 20 November 2019

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 16 October 2018

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC060811 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/10/2018 Full Good 12/12/2017 Full Good 28/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/03/2017 Full Good

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, the young person’s experiences and progress have varied as a result of inconsistent care.

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improvement to be good

The young person follows an independence plan but has not been fully supported to meet the objectives of that plan. For example, when budgeting the young person has often spent the money on phone credit, rather than food, or bought junk food rather than essential items. The young person has made some progress with this very recently, however, it is too early to tell whether this progress can be sustained. The young person has made some progress in learning to cook and wash her clothes.

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improvement to be good

The young person’s personal hygiene is poor; at times going weeks without a shower or bath. The staff have tried different incentives and encouragement. However, these strategies are not effective. This limits the young person’s social interaction outside the home as they receive negative comments about their presentation.

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improvement to be good

The young person often stays in bed most of the day and stays awake during the night. This has affected her attendance at college and daily functioning, and the overall routine is not healthy. Her routine is such that it supports her pattern of sleeping in the day and being awake during the night.

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improvement to be good

The young person attended education until the end of July and gained some qualifications. She enrolled to another college placement from September. However, due to poor attendance, this placement came to an end. The young person is now waiting to begin study with another provider, however, she has not attended an assessment and no date has been set for another one.

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improvement to be good

The young person has been making their own medical and optician appointments with the support from staff. However, she has chosen not to attend recommended medical investigations and therefore not gained insight on her overall health. The young person smokes and has been offered some help from the looked after nurse and encouraged to Inspection report children’s home: SC060811 3 engage in smoking cessation. She has engaged in therapy sessions, and reports that these are helping to manage her emotions.

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improvement to be good

The young person had rebuilt some relationships with her family and was able to spend some time with them. Unfortunately, due to family dynamics, there has been a lack of contact for a few months until very recently. The staff have been offering support to her by talking about the issues associated with rebuilding family relationships.

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improvement to be good

The young person has built positive relationships with staff and can name trusted adults that she can speak to. The young person’s views are listened to and she takes part in the daily planning in the home including choosing new carpets and decorations in the home. The staff encourage the young person to try different activities in and out of the home.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments are not an accurate reflection of the young person’s behaviours. Some risk assessments lack strategies to prevent unsafe behaviours and have not been updated following incidents. The staff do not have a full knowledge of the information that they need to fill in the behaviour logs and incident forms. Some risks have been rated as low, when these should have been high. This means that the risks are not fully understood, and the actions to address them are not clear.

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improvement to be good

The staff have not always followed missing from home protocols when they have not known where the young person is. Lack of prompt action from staff has meant that some opportunities to prevent incidents have been missed. For example, not intervening quickly enough or contacting the police in time to prevent an assault on the young person, or from preventing the young person from leaving the home when there are known risks.

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improvement to be good

The young person has used internet sites to meet up with an unknown male. She left the home to meet someone in person with the knowledge of staff and put herself at significant risk of harm. She has access to the internet to form relationships that have been unhealthy. The staff and the local police have done e-safety work with her to reduce these risks.

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improvement to be good

The number of times the young person has gone missing from home is now low. Her night-time absences from the home have reduced and are now for a very short periods of time. The young person can go out of the home on her own as long as she keeps in touch with staff as agreed and they know where she is. This supports her age appropriate development of independence skills.

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improvement to be good

The young person receives incentives, such as additional time on Wi-Fi for making the right choices. Focused work sessions with staff help the young person to reflect and understand unsafe behaviours and make better choices. Inspection report children’s home: SC060811 4 The young person does not display offending behaviours, take drugs or drink alcohol. The number of overall incidents because of unsafe behaviours has reduced and there have been no incidents that require physical intervention.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Since the last inspection the home has been managed by an interim manager while the registered manager has been on planned absence.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The overall monitoring of the quality of care has not been effective. The interim manager has not had full oversight of incidents with relating to unsafe behaviours. This means that risk assessments and records of behaviour are not accurate and up to date. Some incidents have not had a full follow-up, which means that the opportunities to develop staff’s knowledge to deal with certain risky behaviours have been missed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The review of the quality of the care lacks evaluation to identify areas of strength and weaknesses in the care being provided. The report does not identify what action has been taken as a result of the previous review. It is not clear how the quality of the care is monitored and how the service is improved as a result.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has actioned the recommendations from the independent visitor’s reports. For example, changes have recently been made to the back yard which have greatly improved the appearance. The home has been decorated and has had new furnishings in the last year. However, cleaning of the home has not been actioned in accordance with the planned tasks. This gives the home a poor appearance and does not incentivise the young person to keep her own room clean and tidy.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager and the staff receive regular supervisions that include discussions about the young person, staff development and day-to-day running of the home. The staff have opportunities to work in the company’s other homes to gain more knowledge and experience.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home has got a full staff team, which brings stability to the young person. The new staff that have started working in the home are suitably vetted and have received induction training. The staff access online training and report that these help to develop their practice. However, a number of staff have not undertaken risk management and safer-caring training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The staff and the manager have regular liaison with the virtual head, social worker, therapist, local police and other professionals working with the young person. The social worker and the police receive a weekly report about the young person. The professionals report positively about the level of communication with the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The requirements from the previous inspection have been met. Inspection report children’s home: SC060811 5

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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(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably. (Regulation 6 (1)(2)(b)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that the home is clean and maintenance jobs are completed in a timely manner. 15/01/2020

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; 15/01/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC060811 6 understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(v))

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that all the risks are assessed, risk assessments updated following new incidents and the plans to reduce risk are in place and understood by staff. Ensure that staff clearly record incidents and understand the processes in relation to managing them. The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential promotes their welfare

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that all staff have completed risk management and safer caring training. Ensure that the registered person has a good oversight of incidents and interventions and that any action to reduce further incidents are implemented. 15/01/2020

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (2)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that the review identifies areas of strength and weaknesses in the quality of the care being provided. The report should clearly identify any actions required and how they will be addressed. 15/01/2020

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that— 15/01/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC060811 7 the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that the young person has a healthy. daily routine.

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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 8

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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

Krista Hardy: social care regulatory inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC060811 9 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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