Children's home run by Dorset Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 2711719 1 Registered provider: Dorset Council

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides long-term care for up to three children with learning disabilities or physical disabilities. The home currently cares for two children.

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Information about this children’s home

The management of the home is currently being provided by the deputy manager. Oversight is provided by the responsible individual.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2711719 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made progress. Two social workers, the independent reviewing officer for both children, and two parents described how carers have been an integral part of this. Carers have spent time supporting children to develop their verbal and non-verbal communication skills. This has enabled them to better express their wishes and feelings. Carers encourage one child to spend time in the community and to attend activities. They are now asking to do these activities on a regular basis.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive support to communicate and gain an understanding of what is going on in their lives. In addition to using verbal language, Makaton and non-verbal communication, they utilise the Picture Exchange Communication System and devise personalised stories using symbols and words called ‘social stories’. However, the use of these resources and how the child responds to them are rarely documented. Where it is documented, the quality is inconsistent. This prevents oversight of the impact these communications methods have on children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers develop relationships with other professionals. They attend meetings and share essential information about children. This has led to a child receiving support that is essential for their overall well-being. Carers request additional resources from other professionals and use these to inform care planning for children. They have appropriately challenged professionals, effectively advocating for the best interests of the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers recognise the significance and benefits of safe and positive family relationships. They establish relationships with children’s family members. When appropriate, parents visit children in the home. Any concerns about the impact of family time on children are openly shared and promptly addressed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers understand the importance of children receiving an education. One child attends full-time education. The other child is attending provisions that aim to integrate them into full-time education. While the child is not receiving full-time education, carers are consistently providing a variety of enjoyable learning activities within the home and community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to talk about their health. This has supported them to develop an understanding of their bodies and their needs. Robust planning has taken place to devise protocols that support children to receive essential healthcare. However, carers have given a child pain relief medication without exploring why the child has requested it. The protocol in relation to this provides carers with little guidance. Information about a significant allergy is not clearly visible within the child’s documents.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Where appropriate, children are supported and encouraged to look at their files. Recordings of the children’s day-to-day lives are written to the child and provide a good Inspection report for children’s home: 2711719 3 overview of their lives. The inclusion of pictures gives these recordings a personalised feel. At times, the language used within documents is institutionalised and not child friendly. Children’s guides are written specifically for children, in line with their understanding and communication needs.

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

One child said that they feel safe and like living in the home. They identified carers who they could go to if they felt unsafe. Both children were observed to go to carers to have their needs met. Carers know the children well and are very responsive to their needs and safety. Interactions between children and carers were warm and showed the strength of the relationships that have been built. Carers are patient with children and give them time to communicate their wishes and feelings.

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

Children are kept safe in the home. Some necessary restrictions are in place to keep children safe in the home and community. However, planning to review and reduce restrictions is not in place. This could mean that children experience unnecessary restriction of their freedom.

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

Carers are aware of the risks that children face. Risks and other essential information about children are documented in informative documents. However, these documents are not always updated in line with their review dates. There is no mechanism in place to allow managers to know that carers have read these documents once they have been updated.

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

When incidents happen, they are managed well by carers. Carers use effective strategies that are designed to support children. Restraint has been used on one occasion. The use of this was appropriate. On one occasion, the needs of a child were not thoroughly considered. This led to the child becoming upset, requiring carers to step in and support the child. This has been reflected on and changes made. Children are not consistently supported to have reflective conversations following incidents, preventing them from giving their views. While consideration has been given to how to engage children in these conversations, action has not been taken to devise tools that are suitable for the children.

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

Children have not gone missing from the home. The significant vulnerabilities of children in the event that they were to go missing are recognised. The planning that is in place in the event that this happens is robust.

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

On rare occasions, incidents have taken place between the children. Carers have stepped in promptly, prioritising the safety of the children. Despite this, the children have been supported to build a positive relationship. This shows progress for one child, who has not lived alongside another child before. Children choose to spend time together. One child said that they enjoy living with the other child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2711719 4

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There is currently no registered manager at the home. Mechanisms are in place to provide oversight while a manager is recruited. This includes the deputy manager stepping up on a temporary basis and the responsible individual attending the home one day a week.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Management oversight and analysis of the children and their experiences takes place monthly. This identifies patterns in relation to progress and concerns. Learning from incidents is identified, documented and discussed with the team. However, this information is not translated into care planning. Children do not have clear goals to work towards. This may impact negatively on the progress of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Carers enjoy working in the home. They said that leaders and managers provide them with the support and guidance that they need to do their jobs, particularly the deputy manager, who is visible within the home. Carers said that they receive regular supervision that meets their needs. Carers spoke about having positive relationships with their colleagues and an open culture in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Children have experienced some consistency within their care team. However, there has been use of agency workers. Social workers and parents raised concerns that this may not be positive for children given their vulnerability and the time needed to build safe and secure relationships. Leaders and managers share these concerns, and planning is in place to recruit a stable team. The home practices safer recruitment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Team meetings are held regularly. These meetings are used to celebrate successes for children, and practice experience. There is a focus on learning and development for the team. Carers are confident in raising concerns, which lead to open discussions within the team. Regular team days allow for team-building and additional focused discussion about the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Carers receive essential training to allow them to do their jobs. This is not always up to date. However, this has been identified, and carers have been booked onto future training sessions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Planning for children to move into the home is comprehensive. Carers work with other professionals with the aim of making the process of moving as appositive for the child as possible. Carers spend time with children before they move in. They devise and use social stories to give children some understanding of the moving process and the home. This starts the process of building relationships and supports children to feel safe within a new environment. However, the evaluation of how the needs or behaviours of one child may impact on other children is limited. Inspection report for children’s home: 2711719 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, 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

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(d)(e)(f)) 2 October 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2711719 6 The registered person must ensure that care planning for children includes targets and goals, providing carers with clear guidance on how to support children to achieve them.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that restrictions that children face are regularly reviewed and documented.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that training that is essential to carers meeting the needs of children is up to date.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that recruitment issues are addressed in order to provide children with continuity of care in the home.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that carers have access to the most up-to-date information about children. They must ensure that mechanisms are in place to satisfy them that all carers have read updated documents.

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there is planning in relation to meeting children’s health needs, and that planning and guidance in respect of medication are clear and robust. Essential information should be set out clearly for carers to read and follow. 2 October 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2711719 7 The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

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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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended;

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Requirement Due date

that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that robust evaluation and analysis of the needs and behaviours of children and how these may impact on other children are completed before a decision is made for a child to move into the home. 2 October 2024

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that tools are developed to support the completion of reflective conversations with children following an incident. If the child does not wish to engage with this conversation or is not able to, this should be recorded.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person must ensure that direct work with children is well planned. They must ensure that all work and important conversations, particularly when using communication tools, completed with children are documented. 2 October 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home; (Regulation 27 (1)(a)) 2 November 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2711719 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that carers 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. It should allow the reader to gain a full picture of carers and children’s actions. Language used to talk about children should not be derogatory. (‘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 for children’s home: 2711719 9

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Carla Simkiss, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2711719 10 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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