Children's home run by Care Management Group Limited in Mole Valley

Inspection report children’s home: SC037152 1 SC037152 Registered provider: Care Management Group 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

This is a privately run home. It provides care and accommodation for up to five young people who have autistic spectrum disorder and/or learning difficulties. Currently, three children live at the home full-time and two have shared care between the home and their parents.

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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: SC037152 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/08/2017 Full Good 27/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 01/11/2016 Full Requires improvement 15/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC037152 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 complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (2)(c)) 30/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(c)) 30/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only employ an individual to work at the children’s home—

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Requirement Due date

if the individual has the appropriate qualification for the work that the individual is to perform.

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Requirement Due date

An individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

(a) the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) ("the 30/11/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC037152 4 Level 3 Diploma"). (Regulation 32(3)(b) (4)(a)) Children’s case records

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) for each child which:

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36(1)(b)) 30/11/2018

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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Recommendations

 The registered person must demonstrate every effort to achieve continuity of staffing to prevent disruption to children’s attachments. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 51, paragraph 10.1)

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Recommendations

 The following elements of the workforce plan should be included in the statement of purpose: (in accordance with schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20)) the staffing structure, experience and qualifications of staff and arrangements for supervision of staff practice. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.10)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should monitor and review the patterns and trends of turnover of staff, whether agency or directly employed, and be able to understand and where possible address any trends. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.19)

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Recommendations

 No more than half the staff on duty at any one time, by day or night at the home, should be from an external agency. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.17)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are happy in their home and form good relationships with staff. They enjoy high levels of staff supervision and engage well. One young person informed the inspector, ‘I like it here.’ Young people enjoy good access to facilities such as a swimming pool and a well-equipped resource centre. This summer, young people helped staff to plan a holiday at the seaside. Inspection report children’s home: SC037152 5 The home offers a significant amount of indoor and outdoor space. This allows young people to separate themselves from the group when they begin to feel upset or need time away.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has a warm, family-style environment. Young people are very settled, as demonstrated by placement lengths of up to eight years. Placement stability supports a good understanding of routines and behavioural expectations. Staff are currently providing good support to three young people as they move on to adult services.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people develop new skills in a number of areas, including learning to manage their own emotions. As a result, young people are less reliant on mood-stabilising medication and require less involvement with the child and adolescent mental health services.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

High staffing levels support good behaviour management. There is no restraint in the home. Staff use their good relationships with young people to de-escalate challenging behaviour. Where appropriate, young people are helped to take responsibility for their actions. For example, they help staff to clean up after any incidents.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All of the young people engage well in full-time education. Three young people recently enjoyed their prom night. Staff attend statutory meetings. This supports attainment. Because young people enjoy education the home is able to maintain good, healthy routines.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to enjoy safe, managed contact with their friends and family. Two young people have a shared care arrangement with their parents. Staff work hard to manage the weekly transitions, maintain communication and limit anxieties for the young people. One parent said, ‘He is going great guns. The staff really work hard to support him.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff strive to support healthy living and regular exercise. Staff support young people to learn the importance of limiting portion sizes and reducing junk foods. With staff support, one young person has made good progress in diversifying his food intake.

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

The home promptly shares safeguarding concerns with relevant agencies. Staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities. This supports a good safeguarding culture.

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

Risk assessments clearly outline young people’s vulnerabilities. Staff allow young people to take managed, age-appropriate risks. A qualified psychologist supports staff to review care plans and consider innovative behaviour management techniques. For example, staff now consider triggers such as noises and are aware of the impact of eating certain foods. Parents provide information to broaden the scope of plans. Inspection report children’s home: SC037152 6 Independence work is effective. Young people are encouraged to handle money and carry out basic budgeting tasks where appropriate. Young people engage well.

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

Managers offer creative solutions that support young people to overcome challenges. For example, a local dentist visits the home to treat young people who are anxious about attending the surgery. This ensures good health.

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

Staff make sure that the home is a safe environment, with all necessary risk assessments undertaken. A biometric entry system protects the home. Each young person has an individual fire escape plan. This minimises young people’s anxiety during fire drills.

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

Close staff supervision ensures that young people do not go missing. In the unlikely event that young people should go missing, staff are very familiar with relevant procedures.

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

The registered manager has been in post for three years and has been employed by the owners of the home for 20 years. The staff, who describe her as ‘the glue that holds it together’, respect her. The registered manager is due to complete her management qualification in October 2018.

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

High staff turnover and regular use of agency staff remain causes for concern because they prevent the establishment of a stable, experienced staff team. At present, 10 staff members are completing their probationary period and remain heavily reliant on the support of managers. The statement of purpose does not reflect the current staffing structure.

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

The service lacks a coherent workforce development plan. Similar shortfalls were identified at the previous inspection. Managers recognise the concerns outlined during this inspection and realise the need to ‘break the cycle’ of high staff turnover.

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

Despite high turnover, staff morale remains good. Levels of supervision have improved and managers monitor and evaluate training through a computer system. Despite these improvements, two members of staff have not have a performance appraisal. This limits the ability of managers to evaluate their work. In addition, two members of staff have failed to attain the necessary qualification within the required timescale.

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

Case file recordings are not always up to date. This limits a full evaluation of the progress achieved by young people.

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

Managers organise admissions to the home well. The last admission occurred in April 2018 and was the first for four years. This young person has settled well, benefiting from a good induction and thorough needs assessment. Recruitment practice is safe. Managers ensure suitable verification of references. New staff receive a structured induction. Induction includes several ‘shadow shifts’. This Inspection report children’s home: SC037152 7 enables managers to carry out a full assessment of new staff members’ developmental needs.

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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: SC037152 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Care Management Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Care House, Randalls Way, Leatherhead, Surrey KT22 7TW

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Inspector

Barnaby Dowell, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC037152 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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