Children's Home run by Children of the Mangrove Limited in Merton

Inspection report children‟s home: 1235653 1 Registered provider: Children of the Mangrove 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 is privately owned. The home provides care for up to four young people aged 11 to 17 who have social and emotional difficulties. The home‟s statement of purpose states that a therapeutic model of care and support is provided. The registered manager has been registered since April 2018.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children‟s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: 1235653 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/03/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 23/10/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 28/02/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children‟s home: 1235653 3

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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, 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 registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (3)) 30/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit („the independent person‟s report‟) which sets out, in particular, the independent person‟s opinion as to whether— children are safeguarded effectively; and the conduct of the home promotes children‟s well-being. (Regulation 44 (4)(a)(b)) 30/11/2018

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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— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(2)(c)) In particular, this relates to staff skills and training that is bespoke to meet all the children‟s individual needs. 30/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records („case records‟) for 30/11/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: 1235653 4 each child which— are kept up to date; and signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(b)(c)) Review of quality of care

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for the children („a quality of care review‟) at least every 6 months. In order to complete a quality of care review, the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating— the quality of care provided for children; the feedback and opinions of children about the children‟s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it. 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 (1)(2)(a)(b)(5)) 30/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The children‟s views, wishes and feelings standard

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Requirement Due date

The children‟s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who— take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children‟s care and welfare and their lives. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff— help each child to understand how the child‟s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child. (Regulation (7) (1)(c)(2)(a)(v)) In particular, the home must ensure that it records the actions that it takes in response to young people expressing their views, wishes and feelings at the weekly house meetings. 30/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must— keep the statement of purpose under review and, where 30/11/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: 1235653 5 appropriate, revise it; and notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b)) In particular, the home must ensure that the statement of purpose accurately reflects the home‟s staffing structure. Fitness of workers

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children‟s safety. The registered person may only— employ an individual to work at the children‟s home; if the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform. For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained— the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) ("the Level 3 Diploma"); or a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma. The relevant date is— in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a

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Requirement Due date

home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. The registered person may defer the relevant date if the individual— does not work, or has not worked, in a care role in a home for a prolonged period; or works, or has worked, in a care role in a home on a part-time basis. (Regulation 32 (1)(2)(3)(b)(4)(a)(b)(5)(a)(b)(6)(a)(b)) 30/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

Behaviour management policies and records

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or 30/11/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: 1235653 6 restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes— the name of the child; details of the child‟s behaviour leading to the use of the measure; the date, time and location of the use of the measure; a description of the measure and its duration; details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure; the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used; the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure. within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(iv))

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Recommendations

 Expectations of standards of behaviour should be high for all staff and children in the home. These standards should be clear and unambiguous. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 39, paragraph 8.11). In particular, staff must apply house rules consistently with all young people.  Regulation 23 requires the registered person to ensure that they make suitable arrangements to manage, administer and dispose of any medication. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 35, paragraph 7.15). In particular, the registered person should ensure that all staff receive training in the administration of medicines. Inspection report children‟s home: 1235653 7

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improvement to be good

Young people do not benefit from staff help and support to make progress in their independent living skills. While young people are encouraged to engage in informal activities such as washing up and doing their own laundry, they do not engage in the home‟s formal semi-independence skills training programme. As a result, not all young people are ready to live independently when they move on. During the inspection, staff told the inspector about the progress young people are making in the home. For example, one young person is developing social skills and engaging more with staff, while another young person has reduced his missing from care episodes. All young people have engaged in their education plans, with some taking end-of-year school exams such as GCSEs. However, none of this positive engagement is systematically captured by the staff team. As a result, the progress made by young people cannot be properly reviewed and means that staff‟s understanding of young

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improvement to be good

people‟s achievements and continued development is limited. Young people‟s individualised reward and incentive charts encourage them to earn additional money and save towards their chosen reward, such as a music system. Targets to work towards include respecting the home and respecting the house rules. Such charts are further broken down into actions that young people should take, such as attending health appointments and school, managing their emotions, completing personal care and returning back to the home before curfew time. The independent person recently reported, „Young people continue to struggle with achieving positive progress in relation to the rewards system.‟ While one young person was recorded as earning rewards for being better able to manage their emotions, three young people failed to earn any rewards for engagement in their semi-independence training, and returning home before curfew provided mixed results. Rewards and

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improvement to be good

incentives are not reviewed or amended regularly, with one young person‟s incentives and rewards remaining the same for seven months. This means the scheme is not dynamic and is not responsive to the young people‟s changing needs. Young people provided varied feedback during the inspection regarding the quality of meals. The home‟s cook prepares healthy and nutritious meals during the week and young people choose the menu during their weekly house meeting. One young person said the food is good, while another young person said that she does not like the food. Young people are successfully encouraged to attend their weekly house meeting. Young people‟s suggestions and requests are recorded. Group activity requests, such as trips to theme parks, leisure centres and fishing trips, are booked. Individual requests, such as cadets, meals out with staff or visits to the local church group, are organised. However,

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improvement to be good

Inspection report children‟s home: 1235653 8 some requests are not actioned. One young person said that she did not know if staff will action young people‟s requests. Another young person waited for one month for staff to purchase a fan for his bedroom to help keep cool. Because of the delay, and due to the increasingly warm weather in July, the young person felt compelled to remove his bedroom window restrictors to increase air circulation. This compromised the young person‟s safety. Professionals compliment the staff team and the support offered to young people. A social worker said, „I am confident that the nurture and unconditional positive regard you showed (X) will be really valuable in the future.‟ Another professional said, „This placement has been the making of (Y), they seem to go the extra mile.‟ A young person who recently left the home said, „I have respect and gratitude to the staff who have

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improvement to be good

Young people spoken with during the inspection said they feel safe in the home. A young person described the home as „calmer since last year‟. The registered manager and the staff team consider every referral in detail, taking account of the impact on the young people already living in the home. This placement matching process helps young people in the home remain settled. The use of restraint has significantly reduced since the last inspection. There have been two recorded incidents since the last inspection. However, the registered manager has not audited these records and they are not signed and dated by the young people. This means that young people are not consistently offered a debrief after any physical intervention, and the registered manager does not have an overview of the effectiveness of any restraint used. Weekly team meetings enable staff to discuss every young person in detail. Staff share

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improvement to be good

updates and any concerns, alongside the input and advice of the home‟s consultant psychologist. However, where an action is identified, such as „help a young person to stay safe‟, there is no record of how staff will help the young person achieve this. This limits the effectiveness of any intervention. House rules continue to be poorly implemented by staff. Records show that young people are eating in the kitchen at 2.30am, and making hot drinks at 4.00am. Young people are expected to be out of bed by 10.30am during the school holidays, otherwise they will lose the opportunity to go on an organised activity. This rule was not applied during the inspection. This raises the risk that young people will not respect house rules, and rules become more difficult for staff to enforce. Young people‟s files are inconsistently maintained. Some of the young people‟s files sampled during the inspection were incomplete or not up to date. A young person‟s

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improvement to be good

behaviour management plan did not provide staff with strategies to help reduce challenging behaviours. A young person‟s health plan did not include any reference to the need for a dietician referral. This was clearly set out in the placing authority‟s health Inspection report children‟s home: 1235653 9 assessment. Risk assessments sampled during the inspection were incomplete. Risks identified in young people‟s behaviour management plans are not identified in the individual risk assessments. Some risk assessments were over one year old with no recorded review. Risk assessment formats are inconsistent across young people‟s files. One file contained a different severity of risk for the same behaviour. As a consequence of out-of-date, incomplete and inaccurate documentation, staff run the risk of providing ineffective care and support to young people. Young people know how to complain. However, a young person spoken with during the

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improvement to be good

inspection said that although she had made a number of complaints over time, she had only ever received a written acknowledgement about one of her complaints and has never been told about the outcome of any of her complaints. Written and electronic records inspected confirmed that the home‟s complaints policy is not being adhered to.

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

Leaders and managers have failed to meet all of the requirements and recommendations set at the last inspection. Of the seven requirements made at the last inspection, only two have been met. The recommendation made at the last inspection has not been met. Young people‟s files and records are inconsistently maintained. For example, one young person‟s file contained personal information in relation to another young person. Furthermore, another young person‟s file contained misleading information regarding their legal status. The home receives monthly monitoring visits from an independent person, as required. However, the independent person‟s reports do not provide an opinion as to whether young people are safeguarded effectively, or whether the conduct of the home is promoting their well-being. Further monitoring is undertaken by the registered manager in the form of a quality of care review. Despite this, the subsequent quality of care review report does not contain

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

feedback from young people, parents and professionals. This is a lost opportunity to further enhance the development of the service. All staff receive training in child protection, safeguarding vulnerable young people and restraint techniques. However, training that is bespoke to young people‟s individual needs has not been undertaken by all staff. No staff have undertaken substance misuse or prevent training, while only some staff have undertaken training in child sexual exploitation, self-harm awareness and the administration of medicines. As a result of this shortfall, staff‟s knowledge is limited in some key areas of care and support for young people. A number of part-time staff in care roles are not qualified to the appropriate level 3 qualification; nor are they enrolled on the course. This means that not all staff in the home are suitably qualified. The staff team has previously undergone some

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

restructuring, and is now fully staffed. However, the home‟s statement of purpose and Inspection report children‟s home: 1235653 10 the young people‟s guide do not reflect the staff structure and team members. Staff spoken with described the team as „gelling together‟, and „working towards one vision‟. One member of staff said, „There is a definite improvement in the operational structure.‟ Another member of staff described working at the home with the friendly and helpful staff team as „like having a second family‟.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and young people and their families. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the children‟s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

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 children‟s home: 1235653 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Children of the Mangrove Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 101 Henchman Street, London W12 0BN

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Inspector

Victoria Jones, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 1235653 12 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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