Children's Home run by MGM Care Services Ltd in Telford and Wrekin

Inspection report children‟s home: SC438427 1 SC438427 Registered provider: MGM Care Services Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This service is a small, privately run home looking after up to two children or young people who have complex needs which may include autistic spectrum disorder and learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in December 2011 and is suitably qualified.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC438427 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/07/2017 Full Good 29/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/09/2016 Full Good 08/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC438427 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‟s home that promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

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)(a)(2)(c)) 21/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children‟s home. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(b)(2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, devise and implement effective compatibility assessments to inform decision-making about whether young people are suitably matched to the young people already living in the home. 21/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children‟s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. (Regulation 16 (1))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that the statement of purpose accurately describes what therapeutic support will be provided in the home, and includes staff qualifications. 21/09/2018

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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 satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

The requirements are that— full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the 21/09/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC438427 4 individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1)(2)(a)((3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This is with specific reference to addressing any gaps in employment history.

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Recommendations

 Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 22, paragraph 4.11)

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Recommendations

 A record of supervision should provide evidence of the outcome, and evidence that the supervision provided is practice-related. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 61, paragraphs 13.3 and 13.4)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have positive experiences living in this home. They are offered a variety of activities that are individualised to meet their needs. One young person attends a Yu-Gi- Oh games club and takes part in tournaments. This has increased his confidence and provides him with additional experiences to socialise with other young people in the community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have good relationships with young people. The stability of the staff team provides young people with consistent care. Young people have stable routines and clear boundaries that help to reassure them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are supported to attend school regularly and they are making good progress. Staff have good working relationships with school staff and there is frequent communication about the progress of young people‟s learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Good health monitoring remains central to staff practice. Young people have regular health assessments and are encouraged to eat a healthy diet. Staff support young people to understand their own health needs. One young person has been supported to reduce his medication, in consultation with medical professionals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most young people learn the skills they require to become more independent. They take responsibility for tasks around the house and as they progress in their plans, they learn to budget, shop and cook. Staff successfully supported one young person to move to a semi-independent placement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff know the importance to young people of maintaining family Inspection report children‟s home: SC438427 5 relationships. They support young people to have positive and safe contact with their family and friends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are encouraged to express their views on all aspects of the home through weekly meetings with staff. There are regular individual link-work sessions between staff and young people. However, it is not always evident how young people‟s suggestions are followed up by staff. This does not clearly show how young people are listened to and their views acted on.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most young people have positive experiences of moving on from the home and they experience good outcomes. Examples include young people who have returned home to live with their families, and others who have moved on to foster care or to semi- independent living.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

However, in the last six months two young people have experienced unplanned endings. Although the manager has now made changes to the admissions process to seek accurate and up-to-date information from placing authorities, he continues to use a generic compatibility risk assessment. This compromises the manager‟s ability to assess the appropriateness of the placement for a young person alongside other young people already living at the home. For these young people this means that their needs may not be appropriately met, and their progress may be limited.

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

Young people‟s individual risk assessments provide clear information to staff about how to promote the young people‟s safety and welfare. Staff understand these assessments and implement them consistently.

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

Staff help young people to develop a clear understanding of how to behave appropriately. Consequences for inappropriate behaviour are effective. All young people have clear behaviour targets. Staff use link-working sessions to provide young people with meaningful support, which helps them to achieve these targets.

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

Staff successfully de-escalate most incidents of challenging behaviour. Physical interventions are only needed on rare occasions to keep individuals safe. Debriefs with young people and staff are evident following an incident. This allows the people involved to reflect on and learn from what has happened.

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

Young people‟s incidents of going missing have decreased since coming to live at the home. If young people do go missing from home, staff respond swiftly and appropriately. Staff are proactive and try to locate the missing young person. Since the last inspection, the home‟s safeguarding procedures have been reviewed. Allegations about staff conduct are appropriately reported and the local authority designated officer informed. The one allegation made since the last inspection was investigated fully and safeguarding procedures were appropriately followed. Inspection report children‟s home: SC438427 6 Staff have access to online safeguarding training to equip them with essential knowledge for their roles but have received no training on radicalisation or child sexual exploitation. Shortfalls in staff knowledge mean that such safeguarding issues may go undetected and unreported.

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

The manager has been in post since the home first opened and is suitably experienced. He has high aspirations for young people and is passionate about providing good quality care.

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

Staff receive regular supportive supervision and an annual performance appraisal, which helps them to reflect on their practice and learn from these discussions.

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

An independent consultant supervises the manager regularly. However, the records from these sessions are ineffective as they do not contain details about any reflection or learning from incidents, or record decisions or actions that have been identified for the manager to take. This limits the learning from this process as well as the development of the manager.

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

All staff have completed mandatory training, and most have undertaken training to raise their awareness of e-safety and autistic spectrum disorder, which was a requirement made at the last inspection. However, staff have not had the opportunity to develop their skills and knowledge to meet the needs of current young people placed, for example to raise their awareness of sexually harmful behaviour and self-harm. Opportunities previously utilised in team meetings to invite professionals who offer specialist support to young people have not been used recently. This shortfall limits staff‟s capacity to understand all the needs of the young people they are caring for.

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

Managers fail to ensure that young people are protected effectively by safe recruitment practices. The manager does not challenge gaps in employment histories. This practice does not promote the safety of the young people by preventing unsuitable adults from working with them.

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

The statement of purpose does not reflect the current operation of the home. The document does not accurately reflect the therapeutic support available to young people in the home, and the qualifications of a staff member are inaccurate. An inaccurate statement of purpose has the potential to mislead those who read it. The manager proactively challenges professionals to secure the best outcomes for young people. This is particularly evident in his challenges to schools, for example ensuring that one young person was able to attend a school trip.

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

The manager and staff keep professionals up to date about the young people‟s progress. They send social workers weekly reports detailing events. Parents said that they are regularly updated, and staff listen effectively to any concerns raised and proactively Inspection report children‟s home: SC438427 7 respond.

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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: SC438427 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: MGM Care Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Mathew Varughese

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Inspector

Anne Daly, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC438427 9 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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