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

Inspection report children’s home: SC037861 1 SC057703 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 children’s home is owned and managed by a private company. The home provides care and accommodation for up to two children who may have social, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Both children were present during the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2019.

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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: 8 December 2021

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC057703 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/12/2021 Full Good 26/11/2019 Full Good 31/07/2018 Full Good 03/10/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC057703 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living at this home are happy and settled. This is because of the relationships that staff have built with the children and the nurturing care they provide for the children. This gives children a sense of security and stability and helps them to make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living at this home are making progress from their starting points. Children receive a high standard of individualised care from staff who are committed to providing children with a sense of belonging. Staff understand the importance of building trusting relationships with children to help them to feel increasingly safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand how children’s past experiences impact on the child and their development. Staff talk to children about their experiences. This helps children to make sense of their feelings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to aim high. Staff are ambitious for the children and treat them with unconditional positive regard. Consequently, children feel valued, are settled and happy living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made progress in education. Staff ensure that children receive help and support that considers the child’s ability and starting point. Staff help children to understand their anxieties about school. This means that children’s attendance at school has improved. Staff help children plan for post-16 education and to access training and employment. This helps children to prepare for their future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in a range of meaningful activities with staff, such as going on holiday and visiting places of interest. This has proved effective in helping children to broaden their horizons, have fun and build self-confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have open and honest conversations with children in line with the child’s plan. Staff talk to children about incidents, risks and keeping safe. This helps children to reflect and learn from their experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children spend time with family and friends. Staff work hard to ensure that children have the same experiences as their peers. For example, staff supported one child to go on a family holiday, and another child is going on a holiday with their best friend. Staff have good relationships with children’s families and friends. In one instance, staff worked intuitively to remove communication and language barriers with one child’s family. As a result, the child was able to enjoy good-quality time with those who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to prepare to live independently. Staff teach essential practical skills such as cooking, budgeting and completing laundry, as well as helping them to Inspection report children’s home: SC057703 4 develop emotional resilience. Every effort is made to help prepare children for their transitions to young adulthood.

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

The relationships between staff and children are strong. This provides children with a sense of security and trust in the adults who look after them. Positive behaviour is encouraged through praise and reward. This positive approach allows children to express their emotions in a safer way.

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

Risks to children have reduced. This reduction happened soon after the children moved into the home. One social worker said, ‘It is the nurturing approach that staff take which has made a real difference to the risks reducing for the children.’

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

The risk of children going missing has reduced. Staff are proactive in talking to children about being missing. For one child, this has meant they have been helped and supported by staff to spend time with family and friends. This approach equips children to make positive choices and reduces the likelihood that they will be missing from home in the future.

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

Staff understand the identified risks and vulnerabilities for individual children and the steps they must follow to reduce the risks. Staff talk openly with children and actively encourage them to be solution focused. As a result, children are developing coping mechanisms and are more able to talk about how they are feeling.

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

Serious incidents are rare. When they do occur, staff respond appropriately and take effective action. The manager and staff consult with the relevant agencies for help to support the children. Staff help children to access information and services. This provides children with an understanding of risk and equips them to become increasingly safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced and suitably qualified. He is ambitious and has a clear vision for the development of the home and staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the children well and understands their needs. The manager has a child-centred approach and role models positive practice to the staff team. This helps staff to work as a team to implement firm boundaries and deliver consistent care to achieve improved outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager values his staff and provides them with effective leadership and support. Staff said they are happy and feel supported. This means that staff morale is good, and staff are committed to providing children with a high standard of individualised care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Records show that staff receive regular supervision. Discussions are child centred and allow staff to reflect on practice. Staff are clear about the targets set in their Inspection report children’s home: SC057703 5 appraisals. Staff development needs are discussed in supervision. This helps staff to remain motivated in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good monitoring and auditing tools in place to track the progress of children and the development of staff. This ensures that children’s needs are reviewed, and staff continue to progress in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager completed a thorough assessment of children’s needs and risks before they moved into the home. This includes the impact on children already living at the home. However, this assessment of need does not capture the potential gaps in the staff team’s skills set. This means that, on one occasion, the manager failed to consider whether staff were suitably trained to meet the child’s needs and manage the risks safely.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager actively challenges other services to ensure that the children’s plans progress and that they have the opportunities and recourses needed to support them. He has challenged decision-making about children’s education. This means that children have access to appropriate support and, as a result, they have made progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Safer recruitment checks for agency staff are incomplete. This is because the manager does not have access to staff references and their verification. This means that the manager cannot be fully assured that the references have been checked and deemed suitable. Inspection report children’s home: SC057703 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of the staff in the home. They should ensure that staff receive the relevant training that helps them to meet the needs of the children currently living at the home. They should ensure that staff receive training to meet the needs of a child moving into the home. This should be done in a timely manner. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should maintain good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. This includes the recruitment of staff through an agency. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61,

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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: SC057703 7

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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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Inspectors

Rachel Webster, Social Care Inspector Ceri Evans, Regulatory Inspection Manager Inspection report children’s home: SC057703 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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