Children's home run by Mutual Care Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2528486 1 Registered provider: Mutual Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is one of two homes that are privately operated by a small company. The home is registered to provide care for up to three children who experience social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, two children were living in the home. For three months of this inspection period, no children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has applied to register with Ofsted.

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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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2528486 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/08/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/06/2022 Full Inadequate 04/01/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 14/09/2021 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2528486 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is large and spacious but still inviting and homely. It is decorated and furnished to a high standard throughout. Communal and outside spaces provide areas for children to relax or carry out activities. Children’s bedrooms are personalised and decorated to their taste. Sensory corners have been added, which shows that this is a home designed for children and their needs. Furthermore, the home has a games room, which is currently housing six ducklings. These have hatched and been hand-reared by the children and carers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children like living in the home. Both children rate the home highly and say that they feel safe. They name carers who they can talk to. The inspector observed positive interactions between carers and the children. One child’s parent told the inspector that they are happy with the care provided to their child. Professionals spoken to were complimentary about the care provided to the children. One professional described how carers provide a child with ‘personalised care’ and said, ‘They wanted to get to know the child and gave her choices rather than dictating to her.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers support children to have safe and positive relationships with their friends and family members. Carers see real value in children’s relationships and want them to develop these when possible. They work with other professionals to identify and assess risk and to make children’s time with others positive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers encourage and support children to attend and do well in education. One child attends school full time. One child is provided with limited resources for home education by their school. Carers have continually challenged the school, attempting to secure additional and more appropriate and stimulating resources for the child. They have advocated for the child, who wants to attend school, which has resulted in them being allocated a school place. To ensure that the child receives the education and stimulation that they require, carers provide the child with routine, motivation and a package of additional activities to support their well-being, learning and development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers gather information about children’s wishes and feelings. They listen to children and act on any concerns they raise or requests that are made. Carers are patient, inquisitive and provide children with timely guidance and advice when needed. Carers facilitate the expression of emotions in imaginative ways. For example, children place different-coloured knitted jumpers on a model duck to represent how they are feeling.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Daily logs are informative and are written to the children. These logs provide a good view of children’s day-to-day lives. Carers promote a variety of enjoyable activities and provide children with healthy and varied diets. Carers regularly record children’s experiences and memories on an accessible online system. Inspection report for children’s home: 2528486 4

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

Risk assessments aim to provide children with the protection and support that they require. The assessments are informative and provide carers with clear information and direction. Some risks are attributed to children when there is no evidence that that risk is present, which risks labelling children and may be confusing for carers.

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

Carers take action to reduce risk. In line with the children’s plans and risk assessments, device and room searches are regularly carried out. Carers support children to understand why searches take place. When searches identify concerns, they are addressed effectively and work to educate children is carried out.

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

The children currently living in the home are settled and incidents are rare. When they do occur, they are appropriately managed. Recordings are thorough, carers receive debriefs and children are spoken to. Carers used restraint on a child who previously lived in the home. On one occasion, the use of restraint could have been prevented if carers had acted to de-escalate the incident sooner. The report for this incident inappropriately places fault on the child for their actions.

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

Plans designed to support carers to care for children are clear and informative. Plans provide good overall insight into the child, their needs and the behaviours that they may exhibit. For example, when reading a plan devised to support one child to manage their behaviours and emotions, the child and their personality really come through.

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

Carers advocate for children to receive the care and support that they need. When a child has needed support from other professionals, carers have swiftly identified this. Referrals have been made and carers have worked effectively with others to achieve positive outcomes for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good oversight of the home. The home has had two different managers during this inspection period. The current manager has been in post since February 2023 and has applied to register with Ofsted. He wants the children to achieve the best outcomes possible and spends time building relationships with them. He has a wealth of knowledge of the children and talks about them affectionately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Carers respect their leaders and mangers, who are visible in the home. They receive good-quality supervision. In relation to support provided from managers, feedback from a new carer is positive. The carer feels listened to and valued. Carers say that managers support their learning and development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Moves for children are comprehensively planned and managed. Managers carefully consider the needs and personalities of all children, the location of the home and the Inspection report for children’s home: 2528486 5 skills of carers before agreeing that this is the right home for the child. Introductions are planned well, which allows managers and carers time to spend with the child to build relationships and introduce them to their new home. Planning for a child to move out of the home was well thought out. Carers sought advice on how to do this therapeutically, which limited the upset experienced by the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers make continuous improvements to benefit children. The implementation of a new recording system has streamlined the recording of information. They are aware that while the children living in the home are settled, this could change. They are forward thinking, and plans are in place to upskill the relatively new team of carers to prepare them for every eventuality.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are regular and inclusive. Managers and carers discuss all aspects of the home and the children. Actions and who should complete them are clearly set out. The progress of actions is reviewed at the next meeting. These meetings support team learning and development. Recently, a carer delivered an interesting and relevant presentation for the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Recruitment is safe and staff are provided with training that is relevant to their roles. Additionally, optional training is offered. Inspection report for children’s home: 2528486 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

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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that risk assessments only attribute risk to a child if there is evidence or other reason to support this.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, ensure that appropriate measures are taken to de-escalate incidents. This includes listening to children’s wishes and feelings and not using blaming or negative language. 15 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2528486 7

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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: 2528486 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Mutual Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Northams, St Marys Road, Portishead, Bristol, Avon BS20 6QP

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Inspector

Carla Simkiss, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2528486 9 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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