Children's Home run by Dimensions Care Limited in Sandwell

Inspection report for children’s home: 2686902 1 Registered provider: Dimensions Care Limited

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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 care for up to three children who have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is currently on long-term leave. An interim manager is in post and is in the process of registering with Ofsted. She has just enrolled onto her level 5 qualification. The interim manager has been leading the home in recent months.

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Information about this children’s home

All children were seen during the inspection. Two children were spoken with and one child declined to speak to the inspector.

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Information about this children’s home

Information was received by Ofsted after feedback was given to managers on 6 March 2025. Follow-up enquiries were made to explore this information with the registered person as needed.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account good

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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Overall experiences and progress of

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

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Overall experiences and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2686902 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/03/2024 Full Good 14/02/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2686902 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three children were living at the home at the time of the inspection. One of the children has lived at the home for over two years. He is settled and happy and, with the good support from staff, has made significant progress with his education and developing independence skills. The second child has been living at the home for six months and has developed some positive relationships with staff. He is making some good progress in regulating his emotions, which in turn is helping to keep him and others safe. The third child has been living at the home for nearly a month and so is in the process of getting to know staff and peers, as well as the routines and boundaries in place.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children have moved on from the home since the last inspection. One child’s transition from the home was planned and positive. She made good progress with keeping herself safe and building good independence skills. The second child moved on from the home at short notice following an alleged incident between two children at the home. Decisions about the child moving on were made by managers, together with the placing authority, to keep the child and peer living at the home safe. The incident was looked into and no further action taken.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff know how important it is for children to spend quality time with close friends and family. They support children to see their family and friends, in line with their care plan. As a result, children develop and maintain positive relationships with those who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have opportunities to express their wishes and feelings through spending quality time with staff, engaging in a range of activities, children’s meetings and care planning meetings. This empowers them to have a voice, and they are involved in the decision-making about how they are supported and cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children enjoy a range of activities in the home and community. They go out on walks and meals out and enjoy day trips to theme parks. One child went on a trip of a lifetime to New York with staff. The child made amazing memories, which she will cherish for a long time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, the manager and staff support children to be healthy. All children are registered with relevant health professionals. Children enjoy home-cooked healthy meals and staff encourage them to be active. In respect of two children, staff have not yet followed up on the recommendations raised in two children’s statutory health assessments. While this has not had a detrimental impact on the children’s health, it does need addressing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend education and, when necessary, have bespoke plans to encourage learning. Staff communicate well with children’s teachers and work to address issues as they arise. Inspection report for children’s home: 2686902 4 The home environment requires improvement in some areas. There has been recent property damage in some areas, which occurred a few days before the inspection. For example, walls in the hallway and stairwell need repainting, and carpets need replacing. Managers have a plan in place to address this.

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

There have been some challenging incidents that have occurred in the home recently as two children are in the process of settling into their new home. The manager and staff have shown a lot of resilience and have consistently followed safeguarding processes to safeguard the children.

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

Incidents of children going missing from home, self-injurious behaviour, property damage and physical aggression have been managed well by staff. A number of de-escalation strategies are initially used to try and defuse situations before they escalate. When physical intervention is necessary, this is used as a last resort to keep children and others safe.

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

During incidents and afterwards, staff give the children consistent reassurance, empathy and emotional support. This emphasises to the children that the manager and staff care for them and support the children to feel safe at the home. Children are reflecting and learning from behaviours, and risk-taking behaviours are reducing for most children. After incidents happen, staff use reflective practice for themselves and with the children, looking at what went well and how they can do things differently in the future. Managers also liaise with partner agencies to review children’s safety plans and put in additional support as needed.

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

Managers implement good safer recruitment processes. This helps to ensure that adults who are safe and suitable provide care for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The interim manager is a strong advocate for children. She role models positive parenting to staff and leads by example. Staff feel well supported by her. Managers maintain good oversight of the home and are aware of the service’s strengths and areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision, attend team meetings and receive training. This good support enables them to meet children’s needs well. These platforms also offer staff time to reflect on their practice and explore areas of strength and areas for their continued development. This, in turn, helps to maintain good-quality care to children and improve outcomes for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works well with partner agencies and ensures that children’s care plans are consistently reviewed in accordance with statutory frameworks and legislation. She exercises effective challenge when this is required to ensure that partner agencies fulfil Inspection report for children’s home: 2686902 5 their obligations towards children. Equally, when partner agencies raise a concern, the manager works promptly to address these.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff do not have one child’s up-to-date looked-after review documents and care plans. This needs to be actioned as needed with this child’s placing authority. Inspection report for children’s home: 2686902 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they follow the actions set out in the child’s health plans. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 33, paragraph 7.4)  The registered person should ensure that the home environment is well maintained throughout and improvement plans implemented. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should keep all children’s case records up to date. In particular, they should ensure that children’s statutory care planning documents are requested and received as needed from the child’s placing authority. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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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: 2686902 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Dimensions Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 5 Brooklands Place, Brooklands Road, Sale, Cheshire M33 3SD

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Inspector

Rumbi Mangoma, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2686902 8 and inspects 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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