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

07/08/2018 Full Good 13/07/2017 Full Good 29/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/09/2016 Full Good 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff— provide children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably; ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(2)(b)(vii)(c)(i)) 12/07/2019

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)) 12/07/2019

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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 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)(a)(b)(2)(c)) 12/07/2019

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children— receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. 12/07/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC438427 4 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)(2)(iii)) The registered person must ensure that— children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home; is necessary and proportionate; is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced

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Requirement Due date

against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 12/07/2019

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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). The requirements are that— full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1)(2)(a)(3)(d)) 12/07/2019

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Recommendations

 The information set out in the Statement of Purpose is an essential part of the process of agreement between the registered person and placing authority that a placement in that home is the right one for that child, and that the home will be able to respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.6)  Children should be encouraged by staff to see the home’s records as ‘living documents’ supporting them to view and contribute to the record in a way that reflects their voice on a regular basis. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.19)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is one young person living at the home. One young person has moved on to semi- dependent living, and she made some good progress when living at the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC438427 5 The young person receives good care from committed staff and he develops good relationships with them. This enables him to feel settled and secure and to make good progress in different aspects of his development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person enjoys a range of activities that meet his personal interests. He continues to attend a ‘Yu-Gi-Oh’ games club and takes part in tournaments within the community. This has increased confidence and provides this young person with wider social networks and positive experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide the young person with consistent routines and clear boundaries. These help the young person to know what is expected of him and reassure him.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the young person’s health needs well. They ensure that he attends all health appointments. He enjoys a healthy diet and plenty of exercise, which promotes his health and well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person has an excellent attendance record at school and is making good progress. Staff support the young person with meetings at school and encourage him to revise for exams. Staff have positive working relationships with school staff and communicate with professionals about the young person’s educational progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person has developed new skills that have helped him to become more independent. For example, he has recently started to do his own laundry and is now using public transport independently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage the young person to express his views regarding his care. There are regular individual link-work sessions between staff and the young person. However, records do not always show that the young person’s voice is heard. As a result, it is not always clearly shown whether staff have listened to the young person.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and the registered manager understand the importance of young people maintaining important relationships with their family and other significant people. Staff positively support young people seeing their family and friends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Although the young person who moved on made some good progress, she was not fully prepared for her move and this led to uncertainty for her.

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

Staff take appropriate action when concerns arise and keep detailed records about incidents that occur. Young people feel safe and are well cared for.

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

The young person rarely goes missing from the home. When he does, staff work closely with parents, the police and the placing local authority. Staff follow the young person into the community and act quickly and appropriately to make sure that he is safe.

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

All staff have completed training on the use of physical intervention and de-escalation Inspection report children’s home: SC438427 6 techniques. The frequency of incidents requiring physical intervention has decreased. The registered manager completes debriefs with the young person and staff following incidents. This provides the opportunity for staff and the young person to reflect and learn from these situations.

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

Staff attempt to support the young person to understand and manage his behaviours and emotions. The young person has made some good progress. However, staff support is not always effective, and some key-work sessions do not provide the young person with meaningful strategies to help him to manage and modify some of his behaviours that cause concern.

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

Managers and staff do not consistently update risk assessments to reflect the current risks. In addition, the rationale behind levels of risk is not always clear. For example, one young person’s risk assessment stated that he should have less supervision in the community with his internet-enabled mobile phone but have a higher level of supervision when using the internet at the home. This has the potential to be confusing for staff and for the young person. However, to date it has not had a negative effect on the young person’s safety.

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

The registered manager is caring and passionate about providing good care to young people. A stable staff team provides the young person living at the home with consistent care and support.

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

Staff do not always feel supported by the registered manager. Although staff receive regular supervision, the quality of supervision varies. As a result, staff do not always have the opportunity to reflect on their practice or their experience of working at the home.

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

The registered manager does not always monitor whether staff have access to appropriate training and fulfil training objectives. For example, although staff have completed mandatory training, they have not received training in understanding and managing self-harming behaviour. In addition, three members of staff have not completed their level 3 diploma qualification in residential childcare within the required timescale. The registered manager is aware of this and has made efforts to address this shortfall by enrolling staff on the relevant course.

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

The registered manager is regularly supervised by an independent consultant. The last inspection found that the records from these sessions were ineffective and did not contain details about any reflection or learning. The registered manager has been proactive in addressing this shortfall and his supervision records are more detailed. This has supported the registered manager to reflect on his practice.

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

Recruitment practice continues to require improvement. The registered manager does not clarify gaps in employment and consistently verify references. This increases the risk of unsuitable people working with children. Inspection report children’s home: SC438427 7 The statement of purpose does not accurately reflect the current operation of the home. Furthermore, it does not contain up-to-date information about staff and staff qualifications. An inaccurate statement of purpose has the potential to mislead placing local authorities who read it. In the main, staff maintain a reasonably well-maintained and homely environment for the young person to live in. His bedroom is personalised and comfortable. However, some areas of the home have an institutional feel. For example, bedroom doors have numbers displayed on them instead of young people’s names. In addition, the games room is not welcoming or comfortable, and needs decorating. This does not give the

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

environment a homely feel throughout. The registered manager and staff have implemented restrictions in the home in response to perceived risks. For example, the games room is kept locked. However, this practice has not been informed by an updated risk assessment and is not subject to ongoing review. As a result, this is not appropriate or proportionate and means that unnecessary restrictions are in place.

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

The registered manager proactively challenges professionals and staff to secure the best outcomes for young people. For example, the registered manager has challenged staff about the way they spoke to a young person. The young person was reassured that his concerns were taken seriously. Staff maintain good communication with professionals and parents, keeping them informed about the young person’s progress.

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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

Patrick McIntosh, 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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