Children's Home run by Dorset Council in Dorset

Inspection report for children's home: SC032163 1 SC032163 Registered provider: Dorset Council - Social Care, Children’s Homes Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a local authority. The home provides long-term care for up to nine children who have learning disabilities or physical disabilities. The home currently cares for five children and young people, in accommodation based in four distinct living areas in the main building. At the time of this inspection four children and one young person were living here.

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Information about this children’s home

The post of registered manager has been vacant since 21 March 2022. At the time of the inspection, the post was being recruited to.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC032163 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/04/2021 Full Good 10/02/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 21/08/2019 Full Good 15/01/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: SC032163 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience a variety of opportunities that enrich their lives. They are active and regularly explore the wider community. They enjoy forest walks, trips to the beach and swimming. The children enjoy spending time in the large garden, which is filled with a range of toys and equipment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive warmth and affection from a consistent staff team. The dedication and commitment of the team is clear throughout the home. One social worker agreed and described staff as ‘fierce advocates’ for children. Staff develop positive relationships with children’s education providers, to ensure children get the provision they need. Social workers value the stability of the core team supporting each child and say there is good communication.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand children and their needs. Staff use children’s individual communication methods effectively. This means children feel understood and are supported to use their communication tools. Staff encourage children to make choices in their daily lives. One child uses their communication device to search for places to visit. This has resulted in discovering new places for children to explore.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support helps children to make progress. Children have opportunities to learn how to prepare and cook food. One child has been supported to develop tolerance for items in their living space. They were able to select their own rug and now have curtains up at windows and pictures on the wall. This is a notable personal development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Close working relationships with specialist health teams lead to coordinated approaches to children’s care. Children attend healthcare appointments such as dental checks and eye tests to ensure they remain healthy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents are positive about the support their children receive. Staff keep them informed about how their children are doing and help them to spend time together. One parent says their child is ‘flourishing’.

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

Children are settled and feel comfortable living in the home. There is a calm atmosphere and a minimal number of incidents. Records are clear and staff remain vigilant of bruises and injuries to children. Management oversight takes place for every injury or incident. However, these are not tracked, meaning wider patterns are not considered.

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

Risk assessments link clearly to care plans and behaviour support plans. This provides cohesive documents for staff to use. Staff manage risk effectively to support children to experience appropriate independence. Restrictive practices Inspection report for children's home: SC032163 4 deemed necessary to keep children safe are appropriate, clearly identified and kept under review.

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

Investigations into staffing concerns have been thorough and ensured that children are safeguarded. Recruitment practices are safe.

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

Staff understand fire safety, including individual evacuation plans. These plans were updated following an unexpected fire alarm when staff noted that children’s responses were different to those that had been anticipated.

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good

There is currently no registered manager in post. While leaders are recruiting to this post the deputy manager is temporarily in day-to-day charge with support from the responsible individual. Leaders and managers have identified the need to develop a safe and inclusive working culture. Staff speak positively about their work and support from their colleagues. However, due to management and organisational changes, staff feel unsettled and morale is low. While this is not currently impacting on their care of children, it nevertheless impacts on their experience in the workplace.

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good

Supervision of staff includes high-quality discussions about children. Safeguarding is a standard agenda item. However, actions taken by supervisors are not always clearly recorded. Therefore, it is not known what happens with information shared by staff. Meetings take place regularly in specific staff groups to explore the support needs for children. This helps to develop cohesive plans and to provide consistency of care.

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good

Staff receive training appropriate to their role. Staff maintain clear training records, with regular oversight and identify accurately when training needs to be updated. However, the impact of recent staff absences due to COVID-19 has resulted in some training being out of date.

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good

As a result of the interim management arrangements, oversight and tracking is inconsistent. Children’s targets are not robustly reviewed. Therefore, the effectiveness of support is not fully known.

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good

Decoration of the home is of inconsistent quality. Some spaces are warm, welcoming and homely. However, this is not the experience for all children. Some spaces are sparse due to children’s individual needs. However, the dated building impacts on what can be done to improve the living environment. In particular, the bathrooms are old and feel institutional rather than homely. While the environment does not have a negative impact on care provided, staff have to make adjustments to their working practices to ensure children can reach their potential. Leaders and managers recognise the shortfalls in the physical environment and this forms part of an ongoing review. Inspection report for children's home: SC032163 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

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 should ensure that the home is decorated to a consistently high standard. Action should be taken to reduce the institutional feel of bathrooms. 1 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; 27 May 2022 Inspection report for children's home: SC032163 6 ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

The registered person should ensure consistent review and monitoring systems are in place. Also, that clear action is taken and recorded when concerns are raised by staff in supervision.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the responsible individual should take action to ensure a suitable manager for the home is appointed, in order to fulfil the responsibilities of the role and to continue the work of embedding a positive working culture. 27 May 2022

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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 for children's home: SC032163 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Dorset Council - Social Care, Children’s Homes

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Dorset Council, County Hall, Colliton Park, Dorchester DT1 1XJ

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Inspector

Clare Nixson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC032163 8 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 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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