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

Inspection report for children’s home: 1235653 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 five children aged 11 to 17. In its statement of purpose, the provider states that care is provided to children who have emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted in April 2016 and the current manager registered in April 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 13 October 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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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: sustained effectiveness

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good

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

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/01/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/08/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 14/01/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 24/07/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 1235653 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There were four children living in the home at the time of this inspection. Feedback was only provided from one child as two children declined to speak with the inspector and one child was missing from care and away from the home during the inspection. Children were observed to be relaxed, happy and comfortable in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have regular discussions with staff. They do not engage in planned key- work sessions, but will engage with staff in unplanned sessions. Staff have meaningful discussions with children to help them make good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported extremely well to learn more about their culture and identity. For example, one child is supported to learn more about his ethnicity, food, culture and self-care. This helps the child to learn more about himself and his culture.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to attend school and engage with tutors. The manager actively challenges and advocates for children with stakeholders to avoid undue delays in children’s educational needs being met. However, staff do not keep good records of what strategies and actions they take to build good routines for children to support their engagement in education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to have healthy lifestyles and achieve better physical and mental health. They make sure that children access recreational activities and explore their talents. For example, one child showed promising football skills and the staff found him a football coach to try and enhance his skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff help children to maintain and develop positive relationships with their birth families and friends. For example, one parent was supported to visit the home and engage in cooking activities with their child. This helped the child to reconnect with their family in a safe environment.

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

Staff understand children’s individual needs, risks and vulnerabilities. Staff use this informed knowledge to help children to make safe decisions. When children go missing from the home, staff take prompt action. Staff follow children’s missing-from-care protocols and work closely with the police. This coordinated approach helps to keep children safe.

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

Allegations against staff are managed well. Staff demonstrate a good knowledge of the policies and procedures relating to the management of allegations against senior staff and whistleblowing procedures. This helps staff to keep children safe. Inspection report for children’s home: 1235653 4 Staff only use physical restraint when it is necessary to safeguard children and others. Following incidents of restraint, children receive good support which enables them to reflect on their emotions.

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

The physical environment for children is safe, secure and comfortable. Children’s views were considered when redecorating the home.

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

Additional therapeutic support is available to staff to promote the mental health, welfare and safety of children. Staff are helped to understand the impact of trauma on children’s experiences and behaviours. Staff provide emotional warmth, non- judgemental acceptance, and nurture. This helps children to develop more positive and safer behaviours. However, this advice and support is not always recorded and the behaviour support plan was not completed for one child. This does not help staff to promote consistent behaviour management.

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

Medication is administered and recorded safely. However, one child’s discontinued medication was not disposed of for three months. The manager took swift action to return the medication to the pharmacy during the inspection.

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good

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2021, following a period of three different managers since the last full inspection. The registered manager has worked hard at recruiting a staff team due to the high use of agency staff since the last full inspection. However, the manager has made every effort to ensure that, where possible, there were consistent agency staff in use to improve the quality and consistency of care provided to children.

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good

The manager has also covered many support worker shifts to support staff and ensure that children receive good-quality experiences and are protected. However, this has meant that the manager has not been able to focus her attention on demonstrating management oversight in areas such as staff training and the quality of records.

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good

Staff say that they have experienced much instability in leadership and management since the last inspection. However, they say that they have found the registered manager to be very supportive and always on hand for help and advice. This has helped improve team dynamics and helped the team cope with the effects of the ongoing pandemic.

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good

The manager and staff benefit from weekly team meetings. However, supervision does not take place in line with the home’s statement of purpose. For example, the manager has not received monthly supervision in the last six months.

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good

The pandemic has impacted on staff undertaking face-to-face training. Additionally, not all staff have completed core online training, such as medication administration Inspection report for children’s home: 1235653 5 and first aid training. Staff have also not completed training that is specific to the needs of children, for example self-harm and behaviour management training.

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good

Leaders and managers have improved decision-making processes and matching of children. However, impact risk assessments do not include the manager’s evaluation of risk and any mitigating and support factors. This compromises the records relating to the decision-making when new children move into the home.

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good

Recruitment practice is not sufficiently robust. Leaders and managers do not undertake all safer recruitment checks when assessing the suitability of staff to work at the home. Staff recruitment records sampled do not demonstrate that references for staff who have previously worked with vulnerable adults or children have been verified, that gaps in employment history are checked and explored, or that disclosure and barring checks are updated. This does not demonstrate safer recruitment practice and potentially places children at risk. Inspection report for children’s home: 1235653 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 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

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this refers to ensuring that behaviour management plans provide staff with clear strategies to manage risk. 7 March 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and 7 March 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 1235653 7 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)(b) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this refers to ensuring that references are verified, disclosure and barring service records are up to date and gaps in employment history are accounted for.

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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

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry.

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Requirement Due date

if the child dies before attaining the age of 18, for 15 years from the date of the child’s death;

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Requirement Due date

in cases not falling within sub-paragraph (a), for 75 years from the child’s date of birth;

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Requirement Due date

securely in the children’s home during the period when the child to whom the case records relate is accommodated there; and

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Requirement Due date

in a secure place after the child has ceased to be accommodated in the home. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this refers to ensuring full records are kept of:

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Requirement Due date

 children’s daily experiences, including efforts made by staff to encourage children to attend and engage in education and develop good routines;

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Requirement Due date

 records relating to advice provided to staff by the psychologist of how to manage behaviour effectively.

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Requirement Due date

 evaluation of risk when conducting impact risk assessments and how any identified risk will be managed. 7 March 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 1235653 8 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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to ensuring that staff receive:

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Requirement Due date

 supervision in line with the statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

 training to meet the needs of each child, including core training for children’s homes and training such as self- harm, behaviour management and safe use of restraint. 7 March 2022

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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’. Inspection report for children’s home: 1235653 9

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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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Inspector

Jayshree Pillay, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1235653 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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