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 with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, there were three children living in the home.

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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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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: 1235653 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/08/2022 Full Good 22/02/2022 Full Good 06/01/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/08/2019 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

The home has a welcoming family feel. Children receive good-quality care from staff who understand their individual needs and vulnerabilities. Children’s individual care needs are reflected in their care plans and they are supported well to make good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive support from staff to engage in education. For children not attending formal education, alternative arrangements, such as tuition, are in place. One child who was accessing alternative arrangements has been successful in securing a place for further education at college. Another child has been supported to return to mainstream education and to embark on GCSEs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are committed to the children and celebrate their achievements. Staff record praise and comments in individual books for each child. Photos are kept and given to the children when they leave, which document their experiences while living at the home, and include photos of children and staff taken on the home’s first trip abroad.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to personalise their bedrooms and learn the necessary skills to care for themselves, such as cooking and doing their washing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The trusted and positive relationships between staff and children are a strength of this home. Children are encouraged to participate and share their views at regular house meetings. These are opportunities for children to plan their daily activities and make meal plans together with staff. One child has worked with the home’s cook to teach them how to improve the menu so that it is culturally diverse. The child and the cook regularly make meals together for staff and children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are resilient and motivated and respond appropriately to children’s complex needs. Staff demonstrate consistency and empathy when responding to concerns or enforcing the house rules. This provides children with a sense of security and structure, which helps them to feel safe and settled at the home. A social worker said he is ‘really impressed by the compassionate and kind approach that the manager and staff have’, adding that the staff ‘do not give up on the child’.

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

Children say that they feel safe living in the home. Children’s risk management plans support staff to understand triggers for certain behaviours and give them strategies to manage situations and prevent escalation.

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

Safeguarding incidents are managed well. Effective and appropriate action is taken in response to incidents and clear management oversight is recorded. Restorative conversations are held with children to address incidents of concern. Managers and staff work proactively with agencies and partners in response to safeguarding Inspection report for children's home: 1235653 4 concerns. This ensures that information is shared and that a holistic approach and plan of support can be agreed to promote the child’s welfare and well-being.

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

When children are missing from home, staff are proactive and attempt to locate them. Staff follow missing-from-care protocols appropriately and maintain regular contact with children to encourage their safe return home. Staff work collaboratively with key professionals and families, which has led to a reduction in missing-from- home incidents.

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

Staff understand risks well and identify patterns and escalation in risks to children. This is reflected and updated in children’s individual risk management plans. However, these updates are not always consistently reflected in the child’s individual care plan. This means that staff may miss important information about children.

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

Staff receive effective training to support children. They complete safeguarding training during their induction and undertake ongoing training that includes risk management, internet safety, contextual safeguarding and de-escalation techniques. The training has created a knowledgeable and skilled team of staff who support children well, which increases children’s safety.

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

Staff demonstrate a good knowledge of the policies and procedures relating to the management of allegations against staff and whistle-blowing. This helps to keep children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An experienced and suitably qualified registered manager manages the home. She shows empathic understanding and commitment to the children in her care. One social worker said the manager and staff are ‘great advocates’ for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team has been strengthened with the appointment of a new deputy manager and support from an executive manager. Managers have implemented a quality assurance monitoring tracker to monitor children’s progress and achievements. This tool also ensures that risks are identified, and information is regularly shared with all team members. It can be used to identify trends or patterns to support the development of the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The current workforce development plan needs to be reviewed. It lacks detail regarding staff induction, probation and supervision processes. This does not support a clear process for staff development and the arrangements for management oversight of performance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Case management discussions are effective. They take place regularly, which gives staff a greater understanding of children’s individual circumstances and their vulnerabilities. Action plans are agreed to support positive behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported. They have access to an external consultant child psychotherapist who helps the team to reflect on their practice and build their Inspection report for children's home: 1235653 5 resilience. This supports staff to continue to offer good care for children with complex needs . Regular team meetings and supervision provide staff with opportunities to discuss children’s progress, reflect on their practice and help to identify training needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers know the children well and are committed to improving children’s lives, experiences and progress. They share an ambitious vision for the home and show enthusiasm and commitment to giving children safe and good- quality care. 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, The 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 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must monitor and improve the quality of key documents, including a detailed and accurate workforce development plan. 15 October 2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that when there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan must be updated, including details of the steps the home may take to manage these risks on a day-to-day basis. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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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 7

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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

Amanda Burrows, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1235653 8 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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