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

Inspection report for children’s home: SC355839 1 SC355839 Registered provider: Dove Adolescent Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for up to two children who may have social and emotional difficulties. There were two children living in the home at the time of the inspection.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is led by an experienced and suitably qualified registered manager.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 11 October 2022

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC355839 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/10/2022 Full Good 14/12/2021 Full Good 03/09/2019 Full Good 29/05/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC355839 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has been welcomed into the home. The child moved into the home in a planned and sensitive way. The manager and staff had a good understanding of the child’s needs prior to them moving in. This supported the child to settle into their new home and helped staff to provide them with care tailored to their individual needs.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to build positive and trusting relationships with staff. Staff talk positively about the children and enjoy spending time with them. One child’s social worker said that they have observed the child to interact well with staff and observed the child to be ‘comfortable’ in the presence of staff.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to enjoy their free time and have access to a range of activities. This helps children to have fun, take part in activities that are of interest to them and develop peer relationships outside the home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff support children with their health and education. When children are reluctant to attend education or health appointments, the registered manager and staff are proactive in encouraging them. This has helped one child to enrol in college and has helped to support another child to receive appropriate medical attention. One family member said that they do not want the child to ‘live anywhere else’ as they are ‘being well cared for’.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to enjoy time with their family in accordance with local authority plans. This helps children to maintain and develop relationships with people who are important to them.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff are aspirational for children. They promote progress through the children’s care plans, which are comprehensive and detail important milestones. Plans are reviewed regularly to monitor progress. Children contribute to their plans. One professional said that, since living at the home, their child has developed their independent living skills with the support of the staff.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s life stories are promoted through journey books. The books are creatively presented and contain photos, memorabilia and stories of the children’s time in the home. These books will help children to have positive memories of their time in the home and help them to understand this part of their life journey.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home provides a warm and welcoming environment for children. It is clean and decorated to a good standard. Children are encouraged to personalise the home and their bedrooms. However, although no complaints have been made by the children, the home would benefit from some maintenance work being done to the back garden. Inspection report for children’s home: SC355839 4

p.3

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

Children’s known and emerging risks are understood by staff. Risk assessments are up to date, accurately detail the children’s vulnerabilities and set out what action staff must take to manage and reduce risks.

p.4

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

Focused conversations take place with the children regularly and cover a range of issues pertinent to the children’s needs and risks. Theory underpins these conversations, and this supports staff to help the children to talk about matters that are important to them.

p.4

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

Staff know what to do when children are missing from care. The home has a clear missing-from-care protocol. Children’s individual missing-from-care plans are reviewed and updated following any missing-from-care episode. When children go missing from care, they are offered return home interviews. If the children decline to take part in these, staff have focused conversations with the children to help understand the push-and-pull factors that resulted in the missing-from-home episode and to promote children’s safety.

p.4

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

The registered manager and staff know the children extremely well and promote positive behaviour through consistent boundaries, focused conversations, incentives and rewards. Staff understand the principles of therapeutic parenting and the importance of this in promoting positive behaviour.

p.4

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

On the occasions that staff have used holds, this has been to keep the child being held and others safe. Leaders and managers have excellent oversight of these incidents to ensure that the use of holds is proportionate.

p.4

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

There have been no allegations against staff. Staff are aware of safeguarding procedures and the whistle-blowing policy should they have concerns about the conduct of a member of staff. This promotes the safety and welfare of children living in the home.

p.4

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

Leaders and managers follow safer recruitment processes when appointing new staff. This reduces the risk of unsuitable people working in the home and promotes the safety and welfare of children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is managed by an experienced and suitably qualified manager who is nurturing and passionate about promoting positive outcomes for children in her care. The registered manager inspires confidence in her staff and is ambitious for children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers are passionate about their roles. They have high expectations of themselves and their staff. They are passionate about children in Inspection report for children’s home: SC355839 5 their care and influential in changing their lives. One professional said that the registered manager is a very good advocate for their child.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is committed to providing a stable and loving home for children. When children are struggling to settle into the home, the registered manager is proactive in working with placing authorities and family members to promptly review the plans for children and agree the best steps to promote the child’s safety and well-being.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is fully staffed by suitably experienced and vetted staff who are strongly committed to making a difference to children’s lives.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff enjoy working in the home and morale appears high. Staff benefit from learning from one another and describe an open culture where they can talk and challenge each other.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

In addition to mandatory training, staff access specific training that enables them to provide a high standard of care to children. Staff value the access to clinical supervision, which provides them with the opportunity to reflect on the needs and behaviours of the children. These discussions empower them to learn about how they can best support children.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff benefit from practice-based supervision and team meetings to reflect on their practice and development. The registered manager promotes a culture of high challenge and high support. This supports staff in their role but also holds them accountable for the care that they deliver.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Effective working relationships between the staff, registered manager and partner agencies, including education providers, ensure that communication is open, transparent and up to date. Inspection report for children’s home: SC355839 6

p.5

Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff provide a nurturing environment that is welcoming. This includes maintaining the grounds around the home for children to enjoy. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)

p.6

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: SC355839 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Dove Adolescent Services Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Malvern View, Hanbury Road, Stoke Prior, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire B60 4AD

p.7

Inspector

Shirin Khan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC355839 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

p.7

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.8

Inspector

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

p.8

Inspector

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

p.8