Apricot Centre Wellbeing Service

Inspection report for adoption support agency: Apricot Centre Wellbeing Service 1 Apricot Centre Wellbeing Service Apricot Centre CIC Apricot Centre, Huxhams Cross Farm, Dartington, Totnes TQ9 6AA Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this adoption support agency

The agency and the manager registered with Ofsted in July 2021. This is the agency’s first inspection.

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Information about this adoption support agency

The agency provides adoption support services for adopted children and their families in the Devon and East Anglia regions of England. These services include art therapy, music therapy, play therapy, somatic movement, psychotherapy and life- story work. Therapeutic practitioners are self-employed and are commissioned for specific pieces of work by the agency. There are currently 22 practitioners offering therapeutic services to 80 adopted children and their families.

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good

How well children, young people and adults are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The adoption support agency provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for adoption support agency: Apricot Centre Wellbeing Service 2

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

This agency provides highly effective services and contributes to significantly improved outcomes for children and families. Practitioners build trusting relationships with children and families through using child-focused therapies and offering effective support. Children show marked improvements in their behaviour and stability. In many cases, the work of the agency’s practitioners has helped to avoid family breakdown.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

Therapeutic assessments are effective. The intended objectives and timescales for individual pieces of therapeutic work are clear and are always agreed with children and families. Therapeutic plans are generally of a good quality. Therapists always seek and record the voice of children and families and work alongside them effectively when creating plans. The outcomes of each piece of work are evaluated, recorded and understood by all involved.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

The agency is creative and innovative. For example, some therapeutic work is carried out in a farm setting, where children benefit from spending time in the countryside in a relaxed environment. This helps them to build trusting relationships with their therapist.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

The agency links effectively with the University of Essex and is carrying out research into possible links between food and mood, and the impact of autism spectrum on gender identification and sexuality.

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Overall experiences and progress of service users: good

This is a child-focused agency. The voice of the child is evident in all areas of work. Children say that they feel listened to and report positively about how they feel therapy has helped them. Adoptive parents report positively about the benefits of therapy and how much they value this support. One family reports that their therapy session is the highlight of their week and is something that they really value and look forward to.

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good

Complaints to the agency are minimal. If a complaint is received it is taken seriously, thoroughly investigated, and a prompt response is given to the complainant. This is a learning organisation which welcomes all feedback from children, families and professionals. Any learning from complaints is promptly implemented to further improve the service.

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good

Clear and effective safeguarding procedures help to keep children safe. Any safeguarding concerns that arise during a therapeutic session are promptly logged by the practitioner concerned and are followed up by the manager. It is then decided Inspection report for adoption support agency: Apricot Centre Wellbeing Service 3 what safeguarding action needs to be taken in line with the agency safeguarding procedures, for example forwarding the concern to safeguarding professionals.

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good

Practitioners demonstrate that they have a comprehensive understanding of safeguarding concerns such as self-harming, stranger danger and the potentially negative effects of social media. They offer young people safe and effective strategies so that they can learn to keep themselves safe.

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good

The agency has recently strengthened its safer recruitment processes to ensure that all practitioners are suitably qualified and vetted. However, recruitment records do not always evidence that all necessary checks, such as proof of identification and a practitioner’s registration with their professional body, have been obtained. Any checks found to be missing were obtained during the inspection and therefore evidenced that only suitable people are employed by the agency.

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good

During a comprehensive induction process, newly employed practitioners and staff receive safeguarding training, including ‘Prevent’ duty training. Therapists demonstrate that they are clear and confident about the action that they would take if they had a safeguarding concern about a child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers provide strong leadership. The agency achieves its aims and objectives. Policies and procedures are continually reviewed and improved as the agency evolves and develops, to ensure that they are effective. A clinical lead post has been created that will further strengthen leadership and practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Practitioners report that they feel well supervised and supported and that there is always someone available in the agency if they need to discuss a concern. Practitioners benefit from regular supervision sessions that are structured and well recorded. They feel that the emotional impact of the work is understood by leaders and managers, who offer good-quality support so that the practitioners, in turn, can offer high-quality support to the children and families that they work with.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The agency has strong links with local authority commissioners and regional adoption agencies, who value the services provided by the agency. They report that contracting processes are clear and timely and that communication is regular and prompt. Social workers in one regional adoption agency report that they have received very positive feedback about the quality and effectiveness of the work that their children and families have carried out with the agency.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The agency recognises the benefits of regular and informative training for practitioners. The agency provides mandatory training and, in addition, practitioners are expected to maintain their professional development and provide evidence of training and qualifications to demonstrate that they have the appropriate professional skills and knowledge. Inspection report for adoption support agency: Apricot Centre Wellbeing Service 4 Leaders and managers are developing monitoring and quality assurance processes to ensure that therapeutic outcomes are monitored and any shortfalls identified and addressed. The agency has systems in place to regularly review the work of practitioners and ensure that reports, reviews and outcomes are recorded and evaluated. However, a system is not yet embedded to ensure that the directors of the agency are provided with six-monthly reports that evaluate the quality of service

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

being provided to children and families and that outcomes are effective. Inspection report for adoption support agency: Apricot Centre Wellbeing Service 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the agency can demonstrate, from written records, that it consistently follows good recruitment practice and all applicable current statutory requirements and guidance in the recruitment of staff, volunteers and people on the central list. This includes Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks. All personnel responsible for recruitment and selection of staff are trained in, understand and operate these good practices. (NMS 21.2)  The registered person should ensure that the directors of the agency are provided with written reports on the management, outcomes and financial state of the agency every six months, monitor the management and outcomes of the services in order to satisfy themselves that the agency is effective and is achieving good outcomes for children and/or service users and satisfy themselves that the agency is complying with the conditions of registration. (NMS 25.6)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, young people and adults, using the social care common inspection framework.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the adoption support agency, how it meets the core functions as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Adoption Support Agencies (England) and Adoption Agencies (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2005 and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for adoption support agency: Apricot Centre Wellbeing Service 6

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Adoption support agency details

Registered provider address: Apricot Centre, Huxhams Cross Farm, Dartington, Totnes TQ9 6AA

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Adoption support agency details

Email address: wellbeing@apricotcentre.co.uk

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Inspector

Tina Maddison, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for adoption support agency: Apricot Centre Wellbeing Service 7 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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