Children's Home run by Dorset Emergency Placement Services Ltd in Dorset

Inspection report children’s home: 2579887 1 Registered provider: Dorset Emergency Placement Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to two children. The home is operated by a private provider. Two children live in this home. One child was not present for the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has moved roles within the organisation. A new manager has been appointed and has applied to register with Ofsted.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2579887 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/03/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 18/08/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 2579887 3

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improvement to be good

Children living in the home develop positive relationships with a caring and committed staff team. Staff support children to develop their interests. Both children enjoy cooking. One child attends regular dance classes and is involved in a local group for children looked after. Staff offer children a wide range of interesting and exciting experiences. One child recently went on a caravan holiday. Both children enjoyed an overnight trip to a theme park.

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improvement to be good

Although children make progress, this is not yet consistently tracked or understood. Leaders and managers identify that there is improvement needed to clarify goals and targets so that all staff know how to best support children.

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improvement to be good

One child attends school. Staff work with the provider to ensure that creative approaches are available to help them to attend. One child has been out of education since before the summer holidays. The manager has raised concerns with the local authority about the delay in securing suitable provision. This has not yet been formally escalated. As the child is not at school, they miss out on opportunities to learn and spend time with people their age.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand and meet children’s health needs. They are supportive and accepting of children who wish to explore their sense of identity. Staff support one child to attend local churches to find one that is appropriate for their faith.

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improvement to be good

One parent spoke positively about the warmth and care provided by staff. However, they worry about their child’s emotional needs not being met, partly because of not attending school. Staff work closely with one family to support plans for the child to return home.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand safeguarding and identify when to raise concerns. Because staff know children well, children speak to them about concerns or worries. One child said that they feel safe and named key staff who they would talk to if they are worried.

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improvement to be good

Staff can identify potential risks to children. However, the risk assessment documents are long and contain unclear and out-of-date information. This leads to staff relying on their existing knowledge to interpret the document. The document does not include reference to all safety measures in place, which means that these are not reviewed.

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improvement to be good

Through educating and supporting the staff team, leaders and managers have made clear efforts to reduce police call-outs to the home. This remains to be embedded. Inspection report children’s home: 2579887 4 Staff show curiosity about children’s needs and what might lead to incidents in the home. Staff use restraint as a last resort where there is a risk of harm. The quality of records of restraint is inconsistent. Debriefs with children do not consider how the child feels about being restrained. Debriefs carried out with staff miss opportunities to explore and understand decision-making. Management oversight of incidents does not look critically at the quality of the record. Information from debriefs is not used effectively to learn from the incident. Staff use consequences with children. However, staff do not seek children’s views on the consequence, and the manager does not evaluate the effectiveness of the measure.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have ensured comprehensive scrutiny of a complex recruitment situation. Recruitment processes follow safer recruitment guidelines. However, some application forms lack detail, which was not identified by those reviewing.

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good

The home’s new manager identifies the areas for development and where to improve. Staff feel supported by the management team. Staff receive supervision and training relevant to their role. The manager identifies that there is further work to be completed in embedding the therapeutic approach into the home’s day-to-day practice.

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good

Lengthy children’s plans result in documents which are confusing and contradictory. Therefore, staff cannot be clear on how to best support children. Records maintained by staff use language that is unclear. This means that what is written is not necessarily understood by all staff.

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good

Professionals identify that the staff team is caring and committed to children. They particularly highlight the positive relationships children form with staff. However, professionals worry about the skill of the staff team to deliver the therapeutic approach of the home.

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good

Areas of the home are well decorated and homely. However, the bathrooms and the areas around the stairs are looking tired and in need of fresh decoration. There are plans in place to address this. Inspection report children’s home: 2579887 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that concerns about the delay in securing appropriate education for one child are escalated formally to the local authority. 18 November

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that an accurate, up-to-date assessment of risk to children is maintained, including measures to reduce that risk. 2 December 2022

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 30 December Inspection report children’s home: 2579887 6 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;

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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 (2)(a)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the therapeutic ethos of the home is embedded throughout the work carried out in the home. The registered person should also ensure that management oversight of incidents includes critical evaluation of the quality of records and information provided to identify opportunities for learning and improvement.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(ii)(vii)(c)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that records of restraint and consequences contain clear details of the incident that has led to the intervention being used. The registered person should ensure that they evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. The registered person should also ensure that children are spoken to about the use of a consequence or restraint. 2 December 2022 Inspection report children’s home: 2579887 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that each child has clear plans with actions to support a cohesive approach to help them make progress. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.5)  The registered person should ensure that application forms for new staff contain full dates of employment. If gaps in employment are identified, these should be explored. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that the home is a welcoming environment in good repair. The bathrooms and the areas around the stairs are looking worn and in need of decorative attention. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that records made in the home use language that is easy to understand and that reflects the ethos of the home.

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Recommendations

(‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2579887 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Dorset Emergency Placement Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 5 Lorton Gardens, Weymouth DT3 5FB

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Inspector

Clare Nixson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2579887 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 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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