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

Inspection report for children’s home: SC438427 1 SC438427 Registered provider: MGM Care Services Ltd 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 with complex emotional and behavioural needs, which may include autism 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 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 for children’s home: SC438427 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/01/2022 Full Good 23/05/2019 Full Good 07/08/2018 Full Good 13/07/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC438427 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the home. They are making some progress from their starting points. One child had moved out of the home in a planned and well-managed move. Staff supported this child to live with family members.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Relationships between the child and staff have improved. This is having a more positive impact on the child’s lived experiences and progress. This child told the inspector that although they wanted to return home to live with family members, they felt staff provided a good quality of care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Health plans are attuned around the needs of the child. Staff have worked hard to ensure that the child’s health needs and well-being have remarkably improved following a serious health condition. Staff liaised with health professionals to gain a good understanding of the child’s condition and treatment, as well as act on recommendations from health plans. As a result, this child’s health needs are monitored effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the last inspection, children were not in formal education. The registered manager and staff have been persistent in promoting the child’s educational needs. For example, the registered manager worked with other professionals to create a well-thought-out plan for the child to access the appropriate college provision. This helped the child return to a supportive school environment and has had a positive impact for them. The child told the inspector that they enjoy going to college.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, the child is making good progress in developing their independence skills. This is because staff support the child to develop some life skills. As a result, this child is learning to use the washing machine, clean their bedroom and undertake personal self-care tasks without assistance. Competently learning these skills has resulted in the child developing further independence in preparation for adulthood. This is an ongoing learning plan to support them to achieve their future goals in cooking and using public transport.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child well to explore their identity and develop their interests. For example, the registered manager and staff promote the child’s culture and religion, where the child goes to weekly prayers at the mosque and celebrates Eid. As a result, the child feels safe to express themselves and is confident that their identity is respected and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child lives in a clean and warm environment. The home is furnished to meet the child’s basic needs. However, the decor in the home and child’s bedroom is tired and has not been personalised. Furthermore, the garden area is unkempt, which means the child is unable to fully enjoy their environment. This shortfall takes away from the child having a homely environment to live in and enjoy. Inspection report for children’s home: SC438427 4

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

Staff understand the child’s needs and vulnerabilities. These are recorded in risk assessments that are reviewed regularly. Staff practice is balanced between embedding clear, consistent boundaries and providing the child with care and protection. This helps the child to develop a powerful sense of feeling safe.

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

Staff know the child well and strive to keep them safe from harm. They take steps to build positive relationships to enrich the child’s experiences. For example, staff helped the child to feel safe by enabling them to communicate their wishes and feelings about living with their family members. This helped to settle the child’s emotions. As a result, there have been no physical interventions or consequences within the home. Furthermore, there have been no safeguarding concerns, missing- from-care incidents or complaints about the child’s quality of care.

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

Staff ensure that medicines are administered safely. They always keep accurate records of the administration of all medication in line with the recommendations from the child’s consultant paediatrician. In addition, because of the child’s ongoing health concerns, staff are considerate in gaining further information and seeking advice from professionals to inform their approach to behaviour management and when organising activities.

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

Staff are not consistently following measures to ensure the child’s safety when online. Inspectors found the staff had not checked the child’s electronic devices to ensure security measures were in place to protect the child from harmful online material. Consequently, the child could have accessed inappropriate websites. This makes the child more vulnerable to harm while online.

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

Overall, safer recruitment practices in the home are good. The registered manager ensures that recruitment processes explore the full employment history of staff before they start working in the home. However, on one occasion, the registered manager did not ensure that gaps in a member of staff’s employment history were fully explored.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has positive relationships with the child and staff. Through his ambition, he has had a positive impact on the lives of the child and staff alike. Staff reported to the inspector that they are happy working here and that it is not a chore going into work.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Most staff have completed the level 3 qualification, and one member of staff is within the required timescale for their qualification in residential childcare. In addition, staff have a comprehensive training programme that gives them the necessary skills and knowledge to meet children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager uses internal audits to monitor and track the child’s progress from the time they move in. These help to identify strengths and areas for Inspection report for children’s home: SC438427 5 further development. The registered manager is proactive in examining patterns of behaviour or concern to improve the standard of care the child receives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Partnership working is good. The registered manager recognises the importance of maintaining strong relationships with partner agencies. He attends healthcare consultations and has regular discussions with college teachers, parents and social workers to closely scrutinise the child’s overall development. Professionals were positive about their communication and relationships with staff and the care provided to the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Overall, staff receive regular practice-related supervision. However, one new staff member did not always receive regular supervision in line with the organisation’s own policies. The registered manager acknowledges that this staff member received inconsistent supervision and plans to address this. The impact of this shortfall is lessened as new staff have the benefit of support from senior members of staff to improve their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager acknowledges that the independent person does not always make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for promoting the welfare of the child in the home. For example, the independent person has not always viewed the child’s bedroom, looked at records and, on occasion, has not sought feedback from the child and professionals involved in the child’s care. This is a missed opportunity to assess the quality of care and secure the views from key people to help the independent visitor reach an informed assessment on the child’s lived experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has submitted their quality of care review to Ofsted within the required period. However, this report does not contain the relevant information to demonstrate effective oversight of the home. In addition, feedback from children, parents and external professionals is omitted from this report. This leaves the regulator without the full information needed to review the manager’s assessment of the quality of care. Inspection report for children’s home: SC438427 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

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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to the registered manager and staff ensuring they understand and follow children’s risk assessments. 7 April 2023

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home’s records (except for a child’s case records, unless the child and the child’s placing authority consent) as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit ("the independent person’s report") which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and 7 April 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC438427 7 the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions. (Regulation 44 (2)(b) (4)(a)(b) (5))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to the registered manager ensuring the independent person makes a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is well maintained and personalised to meet their needs of the children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home’s Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure they undertake a review that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home and the experiences of children living in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home’s Regulations, including the quality standards’, pages 64-65, paragraph 15.2)  The registered person should ensure that recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home’s Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that each child is helped to prepare for any moves from the home, whether they are returning home or living independently. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home’s Regulations, including the quality standards’,

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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: 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 for children’s home: SC438427 9 inspects 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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