Children's Home run by Motherwell Care Ltd in Croydon

Inspection report for children’s home: 2689061 1 Registered provider: Motherwell Care Ltd

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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 who have social or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted on 7 July 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

One child was living in the home at the time of this inspection.

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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

Date of last inspection: 23 January 2024

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2689061 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/01/2024 Full Requires improvement Inspection report for children’s home: 2689061 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has a warm and welcoming feel. Staff use a therapeutic model of care that is at the forefront of practice. Staff build positive, trusting relationships with the child and this is obvious to see in interactions between the child and staff who care for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child said they were ‘very very happy’ living at the home and they trust staff. The child’s social worker commented that the relationships staff have developed with the child have supported the child to grow in maturity and confidence. Another professional said that the child ‘really enjoys and cherishes the staff and there is a real quality of care, compassion and professionalism’ at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child receives good, individualised care that is reflected in their care plans. This includes targeted therapy support from the in-house therapist. Staff are strongly committed to the child and celebrate their achievements and important milestones. This care supports the child to make good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to ensure that the child accesses educational opportunities. The child has a history of school exclusion and had been out of mainstream education for some years, but they are now attending mainstream college. This widens the child’s opportunities for their future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is encouraged to participate and regularly share their views. They have opportunities to plan their daily activities and meals and these conversations enable staff to check in with them about their well-being. The child can express their opinions freely. Staff respectfully listen to their views and advocate on the child’s behalf if needed. The knows how to make a complaint, and staff have arranged for them to have an advocate when required.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is supported to maintain positive and safe relationships with the people who are important to them. For example, staff welcome the child’s friends to the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well decorated and modern. Bedrooms are spacious and personalised. Staff encourage the child to engage in fun activities, such as going to the gym, playing basketball in the garden, go-karting and enjoying day trips. These factors all help the child to feel secure in the home, as well as supporting them to build their identity, resilience and self-esteem.

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

The child said that they feel safe at the home. Staff assess risk effectively and keep the child’s individual risk assessments up to date. Staff use these to regularly reflect on the child’s progress. Inspection report for children’s home: 2689061 4 Staff have planned and unplanned direct-work sessions with the child to address any incidents of concern. These discussions are objective, interactive, supportive and non- judgemental. This helps the child to better understand themselves and how they can contribute to their own safety. Staff also arrange support from external agencies if needed. This helps increase the child’s safety both inside and outside the home.

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

Records are inconsistent and the quality is variable. There is inconsistency in the child’s risk assessments, daily records and incident reports. Management oversight is also inconsistent in these records. These shortfalls hinder how leaders can share accurate information with safeguarding partners.

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

Leaders provide staff with training that is relevant to the child’s needs, as well as training that develops safeguarding understanding. This training has helped create a more knowledgeable and skilled staff team and increases children’s safety. Despite this training, some staff were not clear about the responsibilities of the local authority designated officer or the details of the home’s whistle-blowing policy.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An experienced and suitably qualified registered manager leads the home. She is supported by a suitably experienced responsible individual, who provides the home with appropriate oversight and management supervision. The organisation’s director is a further support to the management team and is knowledgeable and passionate about the care provided to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers work well together, are open to staff ideas and act on staff suggestions that will improve practice and care. Managers have systems to monitor practice and the regular review of the quality of care identifies appropriate and realistic goals for development. However, these systems have not yet ensured that records are consistently well detailed or well written.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Senior leaders demonstrate accountability and acknowledge the home’s strengths and areas for development. Managers aspire for the home to support children to succeed and consistently show positive regard for children. This means that staff see leaders modelling the ethos set out in the home’s statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by the management team. Staff said the organisation is ‘inclusive’, and that the family atmosphere created by managers makes it feel ‘like a home from home’. Leaders ensure that there are regular team meetings and supervision is held with staff. These opportunities are used to discuss the child’s progress, reflect on practice and help to identify training needs. In addition, the in-house therapist offers staff further reflective space to talk about the child’s needs and their work. These factors all support staff retention, so the child has familiar adults to care for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from a comprehensive training package. The opportunities for career development are valued by staff, with some enrolled on further courses leading to qualifications, sponsored by the organisation. Inspection report for children’s home: 2689061 5 Leaders share an ambitious vision for the home. They show enthusiasm and strong commitment to giving children safe care. One professional commented, ‘The strength of the home is authenticity and professionalism whilst having the skill set to make [name of child] feel cared for and happy in their life.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2689061 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

This relates to the provider ensuring that there is adequate management monitoring of the home.

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Requirement Due date

The provider must ensure that children’s records are evaluated with scrutiny to ensure there is sufficient detail and that any transferable information is put into risk management plans. 7 July 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the records of key-worker sessions are purposeful and evaluative, so that they are helpful to a child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that all staff consistently follow the home’s policies and procedures for the benefit of the children in the home’s care. This includes ensuring that staff understand the home’s whistle-blowing policy and managing allegations procedure. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.20) Inspection report for children’s home: 2689061 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: 2689061 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Motherwell Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 21-23 Croydon Road, Caterham, Surrey CR3 6PA

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Inspector

Amanda Burrows, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2689061 9 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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