Children's Home run by Dorset Council in Dorset

Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2682502 1

p.1

Registered provider: Dorset Council

Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home provides short- to medium-term care for up to three children between the ages of 12 and 18. These children may have emotional and behavioural difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of this visit, one child was living in the home. A second child had recently moved out following a significant incident.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in place since the home opened in October 2022. However, at the time of this visit, both the registered manager and responsible individual were absent from their posts.

p.1

This monitoring visit

Following a critical incident, Ofsted carried out this visit to review the current care arrangements for the child living at the home and the leadership and management arrangements in the absence of the registered manager and responsible individual.

p.1

This monitoring visit

There have been a series of significant incidents and one critical incident at the home, which have caused increasing concern for the physical safety and emotional well-being of one child. At the time of the critical incident, staff responded quickly and proportionately. They followed emergency protocols well to ensure the safety of all children and staff. One child left the home following this incident.

p.1

This monitoring visit

The number and seriousness of incidents since the last inspection have impacted on children and staff. Therapeutic trauma-informed support has been provided by the organisations’ psychologist and this support offer is ongoing. Managers have ensured that damage caused to the home has been repaired to a good standard. However, the location risk assessment has not been updated in a timely way to reflect the likelihood of a similar incident happening and the mitigations in place to reduce such Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2682502 2 a risk. Managers updated this assessment at the time of the visit. The work needed in the home’s hallway to ensure the privacy of the child is secured has also not been carried out since the last inspection.

p.1

This monitoring visit

The child currently living in the home receives consistent care from staff. Trusting relationships are developing. The child is being helped to make their bedroom more personalised, using photos. A photobook has recently been started to capture their memories and time living at the home. Staff spend time with the child, whose voice is clearly captured through records of conversations and through timely debriefs. Staff also take time to get to know the child’s friends and to encourage them to take part in activities in and outside of the home. Staff know the child well and a comprehensive behaviour support plan is in place to provide staff with clear strategies to help diffuse situations at times of heightened stress. However, these strategies are not always successful. Managers acknowledge the small but significant changes they see for the child; however, they accept that the pace of progress is slow in improving the child’s current situation.

p.2

This monitoring visit

While staff are persistent in their efforts to divert the child away from risk and into positive educational activities during the day, the child is still not taking part in any meaningful educational activity. Action has been taken by managers to help secure full-time educational activities and opportunities, but the child is not currently benefiting from any education.

p.2

This monitoring visit

The approach taken by managers and staff in safeguarding the child, who is at risk in the community and from substance misuse, is not yet having an impact on reducing concerns. Managers and leaders are aware that the child is highly vulnerable to risk outside of the home. However, since the last inspection, the child has frequently been out late at night and has been involved in substance misuse.

p.2

This monitoring visit

On a small number of occasions, the child has been reported missing. While staff take timely action to contact the child by phone and maintain this contact when the child does not arrive home on time, they do not go out to search for the child at the earliest opportunity to try and bring the episode to a close. This approach prolongs the time the child is away from the home and vulnerable to risk and substance misuse. Missing-from-home processes and protocols do not provide staff with explicit instructions on the action to take when the child is absent without permission or reported missing. The number of times the child is reported as absent without permission is also not accurately reflected in records.

p.2

This monitoring visit

The quality and use of risk assessments remain areas for improvement. The internal risk assessment does not provide staff with a comprehensive overview of all the child’s vulnerabilities, the risk and type of harm and what actions to take to help safeguard the child and reduce risk. Staff have to read different documents to know the right action to take to safeguard the child. There are two versions of the same internal risk assessment, with different dates and with differing information in both. Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2682502 3 Staff also have access to other more comprehensive risk assessments, relating to risk out of the home and risk associated with peer relationships.

p.2

This monitoring visit

The current acting manager of the home is reflective and has good insight into recent incidents. They understand the needs of the child living at the home well and have a realistic understanding of the progress being made by the child. In the current absence of the registered manager and responsible individual, there are clear temporary management arrangements in place to ensure the quality of care provided to the child is overseen by managers and that staff are supported in their roles. The learning from incidents and how this is being implemented in practice to improve the care provided to children is not consistently explicit in records.

p.3

This monitoring visit

Staff convey a strong sense of ‘team’ and ‘togetherness’. This is especially so following recent events and they are passionate about the care they provide to children. They speak very positively about the support they receive from each other and from managers and leaders. They are consistent in using trauma-informed care approaches and trying to achieve positive change for children. Regular team meetings are solution-focused and cover a range of topics that are highly relevant to staff’s caring roles. In recent months, a small number of staff have not received supervision due to unforeseen circumstances. The process for rearranging supervision is not adequately robust to ensure all staff receive timely supervision.

p.3

This monitoring visit

Managers and leaders monitor the progress of the home’s internal improvement plan. This is kept up to date and reviewed regularly. The home’s improvement plan mostly reflects the requirements and recommendations made at the time of the last inspection. However, the impact for children is not being sufficiently tracked and monitored. Managers have made progress in a small number of areas, in relation to holding debriefs, guidance on room searches, memory books being created for children and the quality of team meetings. However, these improvements are recent and require further monitoring to ensure practice improvement is sustained.

p.3

This monitoring visit

The requirements and recommendations raised at the last inspection remain in place. A new requirement relating to children going missing from home has been issued following this visit.

p.3

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/04/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2682502 4

p.3

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The 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 with the given timescales.

p.4

Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

p.4

Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

p.4

Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

p.4

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.4

Requirement Due date

ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare;

p.4

Requirement Due date

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

p.4

Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(b)(i))

p.4

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that debriefs are completed with children. If the decision is made not to complete a debrief, the rationale for this should be clearly recorded. 15 June 2023

p.4

Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

p.4

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— 15 June 2023 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2682502 5 that staff—

p.4

Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

p.5

Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

p.5

Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

p.5

Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

p.5

Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

p.5

Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(viii))

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that, if children are not attending an education provision or receiving formal tuition, staff support children to complete educational activities and/or tasks in the home or in the community on a regular basis.

p.5

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.5

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;

p.5

Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; 15 June 2023 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2682502 6 take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare;

p.5

Requirement Due date

and are familiar with, and acting in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

p.6

Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that each risk is fully assessed and clearly documented in a plan.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In addition, where it is acknowledged that a child is not safe, ensure that plans to address and reduce risk are robust and effective.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In addition, ensure that carers are provided with thorough guidance when completing room searches.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In addition, ensure that plans written to guide carers in supporting children’s behaviours and keeping them safe detail clear strategies for carers to use when working with that child.

p.6

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—

p.6

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.6

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;

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; 15 June 2023 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2682502 7 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;

p.6

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)(c)(f)(h))

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that team meetings are reflective and have a focus on the children living in the home. Ensure that minutes provide the reader with a clear overview of discussion, identified actions, timescales for the completion of actions and who should complete the actions.

p.7

Requirement Due date

In addition, ensure that staff receive reflective supervision which includes a focus on practice and the care of children living in the home. Ensure that written records provide the reader with a clear overview of discussion, identified actions, timescales for the completion of actions and who should complete the actions.

p.7

Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

p.7

Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

p.7

Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

p.7

Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

p.7

Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(b) (3)(a)(b))

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must assure herself that when practice concerns related to agency staff arise, the agency deals with these concerns appropriately and that staff are safe to work with children. 15 June 2023 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2682502 8 The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

p.7

Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home.

p.8

Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

p.8

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—

p.8

Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

p.8

Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

p.8

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 (1)(a) (2) (3)(a)(iii)(iv)(c))

p.8

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all restraint records detail the length and type of restraint used. 15 June 2023

p.8

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.8

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.8

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;

p.8

Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

p.8

Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; 4 July 2023 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2682502 9 and are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

p.8

Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

p.9

Requirement Due date

In particular, review the missing-from-home protocol and ensure that staff take every action required to ensure children’s swift return home when they are missing. This should include searching for the child.

p.9

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home provides a nurturing, supportive and homely environment that meets the needs of the children. In particular, carers should ensure that children’s bedrooms and communal spaces are personalised and homely. In addition, ensure that children are provided with privacy in all areas of the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should understand their important role in encouraging the child to reflect on and understand their history, according to their age and understanding. Staff should keep, and encourage children to keep, appropriate memorabilia of the time spent living at the home and help them record significant life events. In particular, carers should ensure that personalised memory books are created for any child who lives in the home, no matter the duration of their

p.9

Recommendations

stay. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)  The registered person should ensure that staff understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. In particular, carefully consider the appropriateness of recording the child’s information using first-person narrative. In addition, ensure that acronyms are not used on children’s paperwork. Also, ensure that, when recording events, these are described so that a child can understand the entirety of that event. And ensure that there is consistency when completing reports. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

p.9

Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

p.9

Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2682502 10

p.9

Children’s home details

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

p.10

Inspector

Kendra Bell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: 2682502 11 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.

p.10

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.11

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.11

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.11