Children's home run by Merryvale Children’s Home Limited in Merton

This monitoring visit

The purpose of this visit was to evaluate the progress made by the provider in the recruitment of a manager and to monitor the serious concerns raised at the full inspection of 17 May 2016. The overall inspection judgement was inadequate.

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This monitoring visit

The full inspection raised concerns about how staff manage safeguarding concerns, in particular how they managed incidents where young people were at risk of significant harm. A significant concern from the inspection was that the home had been without a registered manager for over 80 weeks. There was ineffective and weak leadership which had resulted in a lack of the day-to-day management oversight required to ensure the safety of young people or to support staff adequately. At the time of the inspection, the registered provider had no interim arrangements in place for the day-to-day management of the service.

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This monitoring visit

A requirement was issued in relation to the appointment of a permanent manager. In addition, numerous requirements and recommendations were made relating to the care that young people receive and staff’s practice.

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This monitoring visit

This monitoring visit confirmed the provider has appointed an experienced children’s home manager. The new manager has met with young people and staff, who all report positive initial meetings. Young people played a significant role in the recruitment of the manager.

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This monitoring visit

The inspector found that progress has been made in relation to the staff response to safeguarding young people. A childcare consultant has met with the staff team, both as a group and individually. This enabled them to consider their roles and responsibilities to implement the home’s policies and procedures to safeguard young people. The ‘missing’ and safeguarding flowcharts evidenced in the home provide staff with information on the procedures to follow should a young person go missing or be at risk of significant harm. Therefore, the home has started to support staff to provide young people with suitable care and responses to manage behaviour to meet their individual needs.

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This monitoring visit

The provider continues to have some difficulty in fully understanding the requirement made regarding engaging with the wider community to ensure that young people’s needs are met. The home is reluctant to challenge placing authorities and thereby advocate on behalf of young people. The focus is more on the negative impact that this may have on the provider, as opposed to ensuring that young people’s care plans are relevant and sufficient to meet their individual needs.

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This monitoring visit

Further shortfalls identified at the full inspection included: independent monitoring of the home; care planning; supervision of staff; behaviour management action plans; and quality of care reports. These shortfalls resulted in statutory requirements. The monitoring visit reviewed progress to date on these requirements. Some progress has been made in meeting these although the timeframe for meeting them had not been reached.

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This monitoring visit

While some progress is noted, there continues to be concerns on the management of young people’s behaviour, the home’s ability to keep young people safe and the lack of young people’s voice in their care plans. A further full inspection will be undertaken in due course. This will allow for a proper assessment of progress within the service, and its ability to implement and sustain change in providing safe care for young people.

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Information about this children's home

This is a privately run children’s home for up to five children and young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is the only home provided by this company.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that must be taken so that the registered person(s) meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and ‘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

5. Engaging with the wider system to ensure children's need are met

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff— (b) seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child's need; (c) if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority's or a relevant person's performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child's needs are met in accordance with the child's relevant; and (d) seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children's home is to provide care and accommodation 01/8/2016

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Requirement Due date

33.—(4) The registered person must ensure that all employees— (b) receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33(4)(b)) 01/8/2016

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Requirement Due date

44.—(1) The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

(7) the independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to— (a) HMCI. (Regulation 44(1)(7)) 45.—(2) In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring , reviewing and evaluating— (a) the quality of care provided for children; (b) The feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and (c) Any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

(5) The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45(2)(a)(b) (c)(5)) 01/8/2016

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the positive relationship standard, with particular reference to supporting children to understand acceptable social behaviour, the registered provider must ensure—-

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Requirement Due date

(a) that staff— (ii) help each child to develop socially aware behaviour; (iii) encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding; (iv) help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone; (vi) help each child to understand in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful; (vii) help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship; (x) are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children and to help children to do the same; (xi) de-escalate confrontations with children, or potentially

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Requirement Due date

violent behaviour by children; (xiii) have the skills to recognise incidents of indications of bullying and how to deal with them; and (b) and that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. 01/8/2016 12. The protection of children standard:

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, with particular reference to ensuring that children are protected from harm, the registered person must ensure— (a) that staff— (iii) have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; (v) understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; (vi) take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and (vii) are familiar with and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies; (b) that the homes’ day-to-day care is arranged and delivered as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm; (c) that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. 01/8/2016

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the care planning standard with particular reference to the relevancy of plans, requires the registered person to ensure— (e) that the child’s placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child’s relevant plans is requested, if— (i) the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet the child’s needs. 01/8/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Ensure that there is a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 14 and 19). (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children's home since its last Ofsted inspection. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. in the guidance ‘Raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’ which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of this guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for children looked after and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234 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,

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

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