Children's home run by Children of the Mangrove Limited

Inspection report children's home: 2552579 1 Registered provider: Children of the Mangrove Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care for up to four children. The home’s statement of purpose states that it looks after children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been registered with Ofsted since 19 November 2019 and this is the first full inspection. The registered manager post has been vacant since 31 December 2020. The new manager has submitted an application to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

This was a blended visit carried out both on and off site. Social care professionals, staff, parents and children gave a combination of verbal and written feedback. A staff questionnaire was also shared for those staff who were not on site but wished to contribute their views.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020.

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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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children's home: 2552579 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report children's home: 2552579 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff use referral information, care plans and visits to children to ensure that they can meet children’s needs before a decision is made for them to move into the home. Staff access therapeutic support to develop their skills to work with children. However, they do not fully consider the impact of new children on children already living in the home. Although staff understand children’s behaviours, they do not fully prepare those children already at the home for the impact of new children moving in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in their health and education. All children participate in education, and staff follow agreements relating to mental health care. Staff encourage children to attend their education provision even when they are reluctant to do so. Staff use their knowledge of children to provide the incentives best suited to them. Therefore, children have greater access to opportunities and support to enhance their future development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to share their views and opinions. Children feel confident and able to share their worries and concerns with staff. Staff use a variety of ways to engage with children, such as formal one-to-one sessions, individual discussions during activities and a comments box. Written information demonstrates how children participate in these discussions. However, staff do not always ensure that children acknowledge the information that is written about them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are offered a variety of experiences that are tailored to their individual interests. Staff and children create and follow weekly planners to provide structure and clarity to the day. Children are encouraged to eat their main meals with staff and other children. Staff use every opportunity to acknowledge positives and build self-esteem in children. Children know their routines and are relaxed and confident in their interactions with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Feedback from children’s professional and family networks is positive. Staff share information, communicate concerns and provide balance between rules and fun. Staff support children to spend time with their family contact at the home and in the community. Staff provide verbal and written updates to family members and professionals. Consequently, children are supported by a network of individuals who respond quickly to their needs.

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

Staff consult with children’s professional and family networks around their complex learning and mental health needs. They contribute, highlight and advocate for children in discussions with the other professionals to agree procedures when working with children. Leaders and managers actively source training from Inspection report children's home: 2552579 4 therapists and safeguarding professionals to strengthen staff knowledge and the quality of the care provided to children.

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

Staff ensure that children receive the correct medication in line with their prescriptions and this is clearly recorded. However, staff do not consistently ensure that medical treatment is sought in response to one child’s self-harmful behaviour. The cumulative effects on the child are not monitored effectively and addressed to ensure that their needs are met efficiently and effectively.

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

Risk assessments are completed for a range of situations. They are initially created according to children’s care plans and are then updated according to children’s presenting behaviours and risks.

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

Staff create specific and individualised behaviour support plans that are reviewed regularly. Children contribute to their support plans. Consequently, staff are prepared to care for children and ensure that children receive tailored responses to their presenting behaviours. Staff have purchased additional resources such as weighted blankets and squishy items to support children’s emotional well-being. Staff have a good understanding of children’s needs and how they should respond to meet those needs. This means that children receive clear and consistent responses, contributing to a feeling of well-being and security.

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

Records of restraint demonstrate that the use of restraint is proportionate and necessary. However, debrief discussions with children following the use of restraint are not included in children’s records. When leaders and managers have been involved in an incident of restraint, there is no objective oversight by a suitable person who was not involved. Agency staff working at the home are only allowed to undertake physical interventions with children together with a permanent member of staff. However, records do not clarify when an agency member of staff has been involved in a restraint or the name of the member of staff involved. This does not enable leaders and managers to monitor restraint practice effectively and identify any emerging themes and patterns.

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

Children seek reassurance and care from staff. Staff remain focused on children and display an ongoing need to understand their behaviours. The staffing levels are increased for the initial weeks of a new child’s arrival. Leaders and managers do not seek to have full occupancy of the home, preferring to have a thorough awareness of the needs of children already in the home before admitting new children. This means that children are able to build trusting relationships with staff.

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

On one occasion, a senior leader’s response to a child’s behaviour did not follow the behaviour support plan and consider health and safety risks. Consequently, the situation could have escalated unnecessarily and led to an escalation in harm to staff and children.

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

Staff are focused on promoting the welfare of the children. The physical environment is homely, clean and accessible. Staff ensure that COVID-19 protocols are followed by visitors. Children have additional night-time support from staff, who Inspection report children's home: 2552579 5 offer children reassurance. Staff take effective action to help and protect children in their care.

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good

Leaders and managers are not sufficiently robust in their oversight of records. When online applications are made for vacancies at the home, applicants do not sign to confirm the contents of the application. Furthermore, on one recruitment file viewed by the inspector, the induction pack and job description for another children’s home was on the recruitment file. Team meeting minutes are not readily accessible and do not consistently consider information from children’s house meetings. Records relating to staff supervision are not evident on staff files. However, managers and staff reported that team meetings and supervision are taking place. Staff handovers and records are not completed in a timely manner and the location risk assessment needs to be updated.

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good

The staffing of the home is an area of concern. Leaders and managers rely heavily on the use of agency staff. Senior managers attempt to cover shifts themselves to try to provide consistency of care to children. Leaders and managers responded appropriately to children’s requests to know who is working in the home each day by providing them with an adapted version of the staff rota. Children and professionals report that the inconsistent staff team has had a negative impact on them. However, there is a planned recruitment drive and suitable agency staff are being encouraged to apply for permanent positions at the home.

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good

Oversight of agency staff is not sufficiently robust. Agency staff do not complete training specific to the home or the needs of the children living at the home. Training undertaken by agency staff is not clearly recorded on training records. The lack of management oversight and scrutiny of agency staff training means that the skills and experience levels of agency staff are variable.

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good

Leaders and managers do not consistently adhere to their own planned interventions. For example, when leaders and managers have identified training for staff to help them to meet children’s needs, not all staff have completed the training.

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good

Leaders and managers have high aspirations for children in their care. A consultant therapist offers staff support and guidance and the opportunity to discuss children’s needs. Bespoke training from one child’s professional network was provided to the staff team to create continuity in the responses provided to the child. Leaders and managers know children well and develop positive relationships with them. They are proud of the progress children are making. Inspection report children's home: 2552579 6

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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 health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, medical advice should be sought when children sustain injuries through self-harmful behaviour. 8 August 2021

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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—

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v)(b)) 8 August 2021 Inspection report children's home: 2552579 7 In particular, impact risk assessments must fully consider the needs and experiences of all children.

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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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(d)(e)(f)(h)) 8 August 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the employment of any person on a temporary basis at the children’s home does not prevent children from receiving such continuity of care as is reasonable to meet their needs.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— 8 August 2021 Inspection report children's home: 2552579 8 within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (3)(a)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the role and name of agency staff should be recorded on physical intervention records. Furthermore, when a leader or manager is involved in a physical intervention, there must be oversight and scrutiny by a suitable person not involved.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that a record of supervision is kept for staff, including the manager. A note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions should be kept, and both the supervisor and supervisee should have a copy of the record. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraphs 13.3 and 13.4) Inspection report children's home: 2552579 9

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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’.

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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: Chester House, Fulham Green, 81-83 Fulham High Street, London SW6 3JA

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Knowlton Crichlow

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Inspector

Tolulope Sawyerr, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2552579 10 to 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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