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

Inspection report for children’s home: SC018238 1 SC018238 Registered provider: Dove Adolescent Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. It provides care for one child who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the home. However, one other child had lived at the home during this inspection period and had recently moved out. Both children were spoken with during the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has not had a registered manager since June 2025. The home has an acting manager, who supported the inspection with the help of the Head of Care.

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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 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: 17 February 2025

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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: SC018238 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/02/2025 Full Good 11/10/2023 Full Outstanding 08/03/2023 Full Good 16/11/2021 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC018238 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is warm, friendly and welcoming. Children are comfortable in this environment and with the staff who care for them. Staff know the children well. The care they provide to children is based entirely on, and adapted to, their changing individual needs. One child was positive about their experience of living at the home, reminiscing about holidays to the seaside.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff speak enthusiastically about the children’s achievements. Children make good progress and, although their lives are complex, staff understand and document their growth and development well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and the manager are in regular communication with external professionals. This supports the overall care of the children and their development, particularly in relation to their education. Professionals said that staff are ‘strong advocates’ for children and recognise that the working relationships with the team are effective.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to maintain relationships with people who are important to them. This has helped children to feel secure and connected to their friends and families.

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

Staff understand the vulnerabilities and risks for children and provide care that supports them to make safer decisions and choices. Staff are mindful of the previous experiences of the children and how these may affect their decision-making and actions.

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

Plans are in place to reduce harm, including when children go missing from the home. Staff look for children when they are missing and create a welcoming, positive atmosphere for them to return home to. There is a coordinated response to reduce harm, and proactive multi-agency working further reduces risks to children, helping them to understand their behaviour and the risks posed to them.

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

Staff manage safeguarding concerns appropriately. They recognise the need to disrupt harmful activities that could pose a risk to children. Staff provide children with positive activities and use their professional curiosity and knowledge to help keep children safe. However, not all staff are confident about the actions they should take to ensure children’s safety.

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

The physical environment is safe for children and is generally well maintained. Any damage is quickly fixed, and broken items are replaced. This ensures that children live in a nice, hazard-free home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC018238 4 When significant incidents occur, they are not always reported to Ofsted. This reduces Ofsted’s oversight and ability to ensure that appropriate actions are carried out to protect children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers understand the needs of children. They are ambitious for children and understand the importance of supporting them to attain and achieve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are confident and motivated in their roles. They embrace all learning opportunities that are sourced by the leaders and managers. The training carried out by staff is specific to the children’s needs, and these focused discussions and practice reflections continue in team meetings. Specialist practitioners also attend team meetings regularly to enhance staff’s knowledge of the provider’s model of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders, managers and staff involve children in important decisions about their lives and seek their opinions on a regular basis, both through informal and formal discussions. This gives children the confidence that their views are valued and responded to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers promote a supportive and caring environment for staff, which cascades down to the children. Staff speak positively about the team and said that they all work well together. Staff generally feel well supported, despite the changes in managers over the past year.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff find supervision sessions and team meetings helpful for having open and honest discussions with leaders and managers. Leaders have recognised that supervision sessions and annual appraisals have not been carried out to the provider’s expected standards.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager understands the strengths and areas for development for the home; this includes recognising personal development as a new manager. The manager’s monitoring and reviewing systems have been ineffective in recognising that documents and care reviews are not created to the necessary regulatory standard, including the home’s statement of purpose and quality of care review. Inspection report for children’s home: SC018238 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h)) 8 September 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; and

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(e)) 8 September 2025

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that all staff have the knowledge and skills to recognise and respond to children’s risks to keep them safe. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12)

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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 Inspection report for children’s home: SC018238 6 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: SC018238 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Dove Adolescent Services Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspectors

Rachael Lewis, Social Care Inspector Jo Cansfield, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC018238 8 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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