YMCA DLG - West Sussex and Surrey

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: YMCA DLG - West Sussex and Surrey 1 YMCA DLG - West Sussex and Surrey Registered provider: YMCA Downslink Group

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

At the time of this visit, this service provided support and accommodation for 33 children aged 16 and 17 years old. The service also provided accommodation for young adults aged between 18 and 25. The service manager is registered with Ofsted.

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Inspection dates: 3 to 5 June 2026

The inspection was announced on 1 June 2026 and started that day. The inspectors were on site from 3 and 4 June 2026.

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Outcome

Consistently strong service delivery leads to typically positive experiences and progress for children. Where improvements are needed, leaders and managers take timely and effective action. The next inspection will be within approximately 3 years. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: YMCA DLG - West Sussex and Surrey 2

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Summary of findings

The children’s voice is a clear priority for this provider. This is reflected throughout the provider’s policies and thematic research used to inform staff practice.

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Summary of findings

The provider supports children who have experienced multiple placement breakdowns and difficult family dynamics or displacement, and it matches their needs with staff knowledge and experience.

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Summary of findings

Safeguarding practice has improved since the monitoring visit. The use of safeguarding practice managers, an internal review and external auditing have improved practice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children feel supported and well cared for by staff. They say staff listen to them and offer support when needed. One child said, ‘Staff help me. They sit and chat about what’s happened and work out a solution and safety plan.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children

The staff are creative in tailoring the support to children, such as playing LEGO with one child while engaging them in discussions. They listen to children’s views and place them in accommodation that reflects their specific needs due to disability, gender or diversity. They consider the children’s journey to the home and how this affects them. Children are encouraged to express their feelings and develop trusted relationships with staff. This helps them to mitigate the effect of any adverse experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

When children do raise concerns, the senior managers take these seriously. Children are encouraged to make a complaint if they are not happy. If this does occur, the complaints policy is followed. Feedback is sensitive, and any lessons learned are addressed. This means that children share their concerns with confidence that staff will respond meaningfully.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Most children are engaged in or seeking education or employment. An initiative to provide breakfast during school or college days enables children to have a nutritious start to the day. This nurturing and thoughtful approach has been successful in improving educational attendance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children build on their independence skills with the support of staff. Initiatives such as cooking lessons with the chaplain are well attended. The children access a range of activities in the home and in the community, such as BBQs, pool and 6 weeks of youth engagement as part of the organisation’s youth participation pilot. Senior managers research models of engagement to inform their practice and ensure all staff are working to the same model. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: YMCA DLG - West Sussex and Surrey 3 Children’s health is prioritised. When necessary, staff accompany children to medical appointments. The staff supported one child’s planned operation, which was managed sensitively. They advocated for the child to ensure the operation was at a suitable time to ensure the best outcome.

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How well children are helped and protected

Leaders and managers follow safeguarding procedures. They report appropriately to the local authority designated officer and inform social workers of any increased risk to children. Managers and staff work closely with professionals involved with the child, including the police, health services, and local substance misuse or criminal exploitation services to provide a coordinated response when children are at risk.

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How well children are helped and protected

Safeguarding practice managers support the effective management of safeguarding concerns. They facilitate forums to monitor and share concerns with managers and ensure that any safeguarding procedures are consistently followed. Audits of safeguarding practice and processes are undertaken, and any actions are addressed to improve practice.

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How well children are helped and protected

The provider has undertaken thematic research on ‘weapons-related safeguarding risks in youth supported housing’. The learning has been shared with staff in training workshops to improve their understanding and practice.

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How well children are helped and protected

Before the children move in, the managers consider their likely needs and risks. They assess whether they have staff with relevant expertise to manage potential risks. Leaders and managers consider the effect of new children on other children in the homes. However, this process is not consistent across all the homes. When children have had a negative effect on the wellbeing and safety of other children and staff, they have responded swiftly to review the arrangement.

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How well children are helped and protected

Managers and staff involve the children in shaping their support plans and developing awareness about managing their emotions and developing coping strategies. The support plans and risk assessments are updated in response to emerging risks. The staff receive the necessary guidance to support children safely.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders have good oversight of the home and undertake internal audits. They have commissioned external professionals to ensure continued learning and development. However, the quality of review does not include feedback from children, each child’s local authority, staff and relevant persons.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The safeguarding practice managers manage children’s risks and support staff when managers are not available. This ensures that there is effective support available to staff to ensure that they follow safeguarding procedures. The management structure has been strengthened to support the registered service manager and ensure accountability. This arrangement has also ensured that Ofsted is notified of any serious incidents. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: YMCA DLG - West Sussex and Surrey 4 Children are supported by a stable staff team. When temporary staff are used, the managers ensure that they are inducted and trained alongside permanent staff. They use regular agency and relief staff to ensure that the children are familiar with them. Leaders and managers have a workforce plan to identify the knowledge, skills and experience of the staff, identify any gaps and how to address these and manage

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Supervision sessions include staff welfare, organisational aspects and discussions relating to children’s needs. Team meetings are used as learning opportunities to improve the service and share any learning from incidents. However, not all staff have regular supervision meetings, including the registered service manager. This does not allow them the opportunity to reflect on their practice in a formal setting.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff work well with other agencies involved in children’s plans. Social workers, overall, are positive about how the organisation supports children. They recognise that the staff have positive relationships with children and report that the children make good progress and want to remain living there. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: YMCA DLG - West Sussex and Surrey 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and the ‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain a system for monitoring and improving the quality of support provided by the supported accommodation undertaking by completing a review (“a quality of support review”) at least once every six months, which must take into account—

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Requirement Due date

the views of children, including any feedback and complaints received;

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Requirement Due date

feedback from individual children on the impact the supported accommodation has had on the child’s life, especially regarding how well prepared the child felt for transition into supported accommodation and how well prepared the child feels for transition out of supported accommodation;

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Requirement Due date

feedback from each child’s accommodating authority, staff and any relevant persons. (Regulation 32 (1) (a)(b)(c)) 3 August 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should fully consider the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of young people in that setting and vice versa. It is the responsibility of both the accommodating authority and the registered person to assess the previous experiences and any trauma of the young person when determining if a placement is appropriate. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 18)  The registered person should ensure that they have systems in place so that all staff, including the registered service manager, receive supervision of their practice from a suitably skilled and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the young people accommodated in the setting. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 51) Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: YMCA DLG - West Sussex and Surrey 6

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023.

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Information about this inspection

The inspection was announced on 1 June 2026, and the inspectors were on site from 3 June 2026 and 4 June 2026. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: YMCA DLG - West Sussex and Surrey 7

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: YMCA Downslink Group

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered service manager: Sharon Rawcliffe

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Inspectors

Suzy Lemmy, Social Care Inspector Stephen Challis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: YMCA DLG - West Sussex and Surrey 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.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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