Children's home run by Diverse Abilities Plus Limited in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

Inspection report for children’s home: SC004085 1 SC004085 Registered provider: Diverse Abilities Plus Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home can provide overnight short breaks for four children and day care for additional children. At the time of this inspection, three children were at the home on their short break.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a suitably qualified registered manager in post.

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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

Date of last inspection: 15 November 2022

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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: SC004085 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/11/2022 Full Good 20/12/2021 Full Good 13/08/2019 Full Good 18/09/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC004085 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make some good progress in this home. Staff know the children well and understand their communication styles. They communicate well with the children and understand the things that the children like and do not like. Staff are attentive to children’s needs and offer children meaningful choices in the things they like to do or how they are cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy their short breaks and appear happy during their stays. Each child has individual targets which staff consistently support them with to help them make progress. This helps children to learn new skills and to improve their communication with others. Children enjoy taking part in a wide range of activities both in and out of the home. This means they can spend time with other children who are familiar to them and can make friends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend school, and their health needs are met by the staff who care for them. Staff have good communication with the schools so that children are provided with consistent levels of support. Children are well supported by staff who have access to detailed information about them. This helps staff to know the best way to support the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care plans are kept up to date and contain important information about children’s needs and their routines. Before children come to stay at the home, managers obtain important information about each child which ensures their needs are well met during their stay. Managers think carefully about the other children who will be staying at the home. This supports children to have positive experiences in an environment where they feel well cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with clear and consistent support that help them to make progress. For example, staff were observed supporting a child with their drink, providing them with consistent levels of encouragement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is clean and well maintained in some areas. It would benefit from improvement in other areas to make it feel more homely. For example, the flooring in one bathroom is in poor condition.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Positive feedback was received from social workers and most parents regarding the children’s experiences. One parent said, ‘This service is vital for families like mine. I know that he is safe and well cared for in this home.’ One parent felt that communication could be improved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from the close relationships the service has with other services that support young adults. The services are closely linked and this means that when it is time for children to move on, they receive consistent support and care from staff they have already built relationships with. Inspection report for children’s home: SC004085 4

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

Staff know the children well and know how to keep them safe. There was one safeguarding incident, in June 2023, which was well documented. Staff responded appropriately to this incident and took positive action. Although the manager took appropriate steps to notify the local area designated officer, this was not followed up to ensure the outcome was known.

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

Staff understand the relevant risks to children and how to keep them safe. There are behaviour plans in place to support children who need them. The manager obtains information from education and health professionals to create good support plans.

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

Staff know children well and respond sensitively to meet their needs. Children are provided with clear and consistent boundaries by staff. Restraint is proportionate and only used to keep children and staff safe. When children display behaviours that challenge staff , managers liaise with external professionals to try and address these concerns.

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

Managers usually apply safe recruitment processes when recruiting new staff. However, the inspectors found one discrepancy with a reference that managers had not identified. A recommendation has been made about this.

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

Medication arrangements are safe; lead practitioners assume day-to-day responsibility for the safe administration and storage of medication. Clear processes ensure accurate information is obtained from parents.

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

Leaders and managers identified two medication errors swiftly and investigated them. Staff are supported with observations of their practice following errors. The errors identified were isolated ones and there are no patterns or reoccurrences of similar concerns.

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good

The manager has been in post since 2014, is well established and has the relevant qualification. She knows the children well and could describe each of the children’s needs in detail.

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good

Some shortfalls were identified in the leadership and management of this home. There is limited information about the risks in the local community. Leaders and managers have acknowledged that the location risk assessment is out of date and that this needs to be updated as a priority. The independent person’s reports and the quality of care reviews are not always shared with Ofsted in a timely fashion. Inspection report for children’s home: SC004085 5 Staff receive regular supervision but the recording of this is not consistent. Some staff receive good levels of reflective supervision from managers. However, this is not consistent for the whole team.

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good

Team meetings take place regularly. Leaders and managers use this time to provide staff with opportunities for good reflection and discussion about issues that are impacting on the home. Staff are encouraged to ‘shout out’ and send in positive comments about their colleagues, which are then read out at team meetings.

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good

The new records management system provides clear information about children’s stays and their support needs. It is still in the process of being embedded, however, it is already improving the quality of oversight that managers have.

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good

Management oversight is effective and is seen throughout documents. Leaders and managers provide good advice and guidance to staff so they are able to make progress in their practice. There are risk assessments in place that consider risks associated with the home and when children are on outings in the local community. Inspection report for children’s home: SC004085 6

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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, 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 within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality-of-care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality-of-care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (4)(a)) 31 August 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records of supervision are clear and consistent for all staff, and that they reflect the content of the conversations to evidence reflection and staff development. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)  The registered person should ensure that, by developing a strong safeguarding culture, if no response is received following a referral to the local authority that this is followed up effectively. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.8)  The registered person should ensure that they keep the statement of purpose

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Recommendations

under review and send a copy of the reviewed document to HMCI. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.4)  The registered person should ensure that any incidents of physical intervention are clearly recorded. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards, page 46, paragraph 9.34)  The registered person should ensure that any repairs needed in the home are carried out. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. In particular, that employment references are Inspection report for children’s home: SC004085 7 completed thoroughly. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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: SC004085 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Diverse Abilities Plus Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Barnabas Project Centre, 13-15 Manor Avenue, Poole, Dorset BH12 4LB

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Jonathan Seaward

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Inspectors

Sarah Sheffield, Social Care Inspector Clare Nixson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC004085 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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