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 Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned children’s home. It is registered to provide care for up to two children with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is away from the home. The acting manager has been in post since April 2021. She is not currently registered with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 27 October 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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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: 19 November 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: SC060811 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/11/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 16/10/2018 Full Good 12/12/2017 Full Good 28/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC060811 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child currently living at this home has positive relationships with the adults who care for him. He benefits from consistent boundaries and a staff team that understands his needs. This has helped the child to feel at home, despite living a considerable distance from his home town.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide support and guidance on personal care as well as helping the child to explore healthy lifestyle choices. There is also access to more specialist support, such as the substance misuse service. When the child has needed emergency medical care, staff have made sure he has had the level of support required, such as intervention from the child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). This demonstrates that specialist help is made available should the child need or want it.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

For a prolonged period, the child did not have in place an education plan supportive of his needs. This was detrimental to his future prospects. However, managers have worked with the child’s local authority to enable him to enrol at a local college. The acting manager worked with the college manager to put in place a transition plan to help the child integrate into his new setting. The manager has also shared information with college staff to help them to have a better awareness of the child’s emotional and behavioural needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager has ensured that the child has meaningful family time. This includes regularly taking him to his home town to see his family. The open lines of communication staff have with his parents help to maintain the child’s sense of identity and belonging, as consistent family time is maintained.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is able to engage in a wide variety of activities. Staff know his interests and have enabled him to access activities such as playing football, boxing and going to indoor activity centres. Although his hobbies are not always maintained, opportunities to take part are readily available. This helps to provide the child with the chance to try new things.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is helped to learn life skills to support his future, such as planning and cooking meals, exploring cleaning tasks, and travelling independently to and from college. Staff also have regular reflective conversations with the child about his decision-making, and the negative impact this may have on his safety and well- being. Clinical psychologists are reviewing the child’s care plan so that more targeted support can be provided.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The decor of the home needs some attention. Certain areas of the building look tired and in need of updating. The stair carpet is in a poor state and is a trip hazard. The child’s bedroom has a minimal look to it, as requested by the child. However, the bedroom furniture is broken or in a poor state of repair. This does not provide a homely environment for the child and does not enhance his living experience. Inspection report children’s home: SC060811 4

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

Staff talk with the child to help him explore the dangers that unsafe relationships can have on him, such as the risk of criminal exploitation. Staff help the child to consider alternatives to risk-taking behaviour and provide a safe environment for him to live. There is a strong and proactive response focused on reducing the risk of harm for the child.

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

When the child goes missing from the home, staff work well with the police to return him safely. Staff have safeguarding checks in place, which are helping to manage the risk of harm posed to the child when he is in the local community. The manager has been effective in escalating her concerns about the child’s welfare when there have been signs of child exploitation. As a result, the police are now more aware of the child’s associated risks.

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

The child has several individualised risk assessments in place in relation to his needs. The risk assessments provide staff with direction about how to keep the child safe. This helps to ensure that staff have up-to-date strategies to follow and reduces the risk of harm for the child.

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

Staff are knowledgeable about the child’s emotional vulnerabilities. As a result, the use of restraint has not been needed.

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

Staff persistently talk to the child about keeping safe. For example, together they explore what positive relationships are, what exploitation looks like, and how to use social media safely. This is helping the child to recognise situations that may be detrimental to his safety.

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

The local fire service has undertaken some focused fire safety work with the child. This has helped to increase his understanding of risk. The manager also ensures that a fire safety risk assessment is in place. However, it is unclear whether the safety information in the risk assessment is current, as it has not been reviewed by a competent fire safety professional for a considerable time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The acting manager has been quick to establish herself in the role. A lengthy handover period supported a smooth transition of managerial responsibilities to the new manager. She is actively involved in the running of the home and has provided competent leadership to the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have access to a variety of training opportunities. Most training is completed online. However, there are some face-to-face courses, including around behaviour management and first aid training. Staff also benefit from the clinical consultation they have with a partner agency. These sessions provide staff with an opportunity to reflect and to develop the child’s care plan in response to his needs. Inspection report children’s home: SC060811 5 The impact of staff leaving the home has been well managed. The manager has mitigated the impact of staff changes by providing consistent direction to the team. However, staff morale has been affected because there is usually only one staff member working each day. Staff have said they can feel isolated at times. This may impact on the quality of care the child receives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager monitors the quality of care effectively, and has ensured that the plans in place for the child provide staff with clarity on what is required. The quality of records is consistently good and supports the reader to understand the narrative of the care provided to the child. The style and clarity of recording also mean that the child will have an increased understanding about his time at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent visitor regularly attends the home and talks with the child about his experience of being cared for. The visitor evaluates the safety and welfare of the child on each occasion.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The style and quality of questions that managers ask applicants at the interview stage of recruitment have improved. However, other areas of recruitment practice need to be more consistent. For example, the reference for a new staff member has not been sufficiently reviewed by managers. They did not check that the referee was in a suitable role to be able to provide the reference. This could result in new staff members being employed who are not suitable to work with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has failed to notify Ofsted without delay about a serious event. This does not enable the regulator to review and evaluate serious incidents as they occur. This increases the risk of harm to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The acting manager is a strong advocate for the child. She raised concerns when it became apparent that not all professionals shared an awareness of risk for the child when he is in the community. The child’s social worker said, ‘The manager is committed and dogged in her approach.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC060811 6

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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

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there is a plan in place to make the child’s bedroom a warm and welcoming environment, that damaged furniture is replaced, and that the room is sufficiently cleaned.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that repairs are completed to avoid hazards to children and staff. This specifically refers to ensuring that the stair carpet is not a trip hazard. 21 November

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; 21 November Inspection report children’s home: SC060811 7 (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the regulator is notified without delay when there are concerns that a child is at risk a child exploitation.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the fire safety arrangements and risk assessment of the home are regularly reviewed by a competent person, to ensure that they remain current, and in line with health and safety guidance and legislation. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they use recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. In particular, the registered provider should ensure that references provided for new staff members are fully verified, by ensuring that the referee can provide a professional opinion about a new staff member’s suitability for the role offered. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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: Malvern View, Saxon Business Park, Hanbury Road, Stoke Prior, Bromsgrove B60 4AD

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Kirsten Campbell Charlotte Marley

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Inspector

Aaron Mcloughlin, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC060811 9 to 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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