Children's home run by Mutual Care Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 2528486 1 Registered provider: Mutual Care Ltd

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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 and children with physical disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

The manager of the home is registered 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: good

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good

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

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/07/2023 Full Good 24/08/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/06/2022 Full Inadequate 04/01/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 2528486 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is warm and welcoming. All areas of the home are well kept and furnished. Photos of the children add to the homely feel. Children’s bedrooms are decorated to their taste and house their treasured possessions. One child has a pet hamster in their bedroom. The home has ducks and chickens who roam the large, well-kept garden spaces. Essential adaptions have been made to the home environment to meet a child’s needs. During the inspection, all children who live in the home were seen and spoken to. Two of the children were spoken to alone. The registered manager was present in the home for most of the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who live in the home make progress. Carers acknowledge the need for children to acquire essential skills for independent living. They follow clear plans that detail what they need to do to meet children’s needs. Two children have developed independence skills such as cooking, cleaning and budgeting. Their ability to make positive decisions has also improved. Another child’s progress is in relation to their communication skills and ability to engage in and enjoy new activities. One parent said that their child is making safer and better choices. Another parent said their child is more proactive in helping around the home and cooking.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers recognise the importance of children receiving an education. They talk to children about their accomplishments and aspirations and devise ways to support them to achieve. Carers advocate for children, ensuring that they are allocated the right educational provision for their needs. Two teachers said that carers work well with their schools and maintain good levels of communication. They believe that carers provide a good level of care to the children. One teacher said that a child is much happier since moving to the home and loves the experiences they are provided.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to understand their health needs. They choose to talk to carers about their health and any related concerns. Carers take children to appointments and support them to take essential medications. They have promptly and sensitively addressed concerns in relation to a child’s mental health. One child needs high levels of support due to their complex health needs. Carers hold documents containing vital information for the event of a medical emergency. They work closely with the large multi-disciplinary team to ensure that essential information is gained and shared and that the child’s overall health and daily care needs are met. Managers are proactive in requesting meetings and identifying training to upskill carers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers recognise the importance of family relationships. When children have expressed wishes to spend more time with their family, carers have advocated for this to happen in a safe and positive way. Carers strive to build and maintain positive relationships with children’s family members, acknowledging that this is in the best Inspection report children’s home: 2528486 4 interests of the children. By building these relationships, children have benefited from aligned care and their parents’ attendance at important events.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers and children have access to an array of picture symbols to aid communication. Carers have used the picture symbols to devise documents for a child to access, aiding their understanding of their routine and events that happen in their life. They have extended the support to the child’s parent, enabling them to gain a better understanding of family time arrangements. Symbol cards are readily available for all children to use to express their feelings if they wish to do so.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child experienced a positive move out of the home. Carers worked with other professionals to share information. When necessary, they raised concerns and requested meetings to discuss them. Conversations between carers and the child were sensitive, acknowledging the difficult decisions that had been made and how difficult endings can be.

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

Children who live in the home said that they feel safe and that they can talk to carers. They feel listened to and have positive experiences, such as a trip to a theme park and trips to the local cinema. Carers have built caring and trusting relationships with children. Children choose to speak to carers about their lives, relationships and worries. This allows carers to provide them with the care and guidance that they need. One child has reflected on the support that they received from carers to make safer choices. They chose to share their learning with another child who lives in the home, wanting them to benefit from their experiences. Two parents said that they believe that their children are safe, happy and receive good-quality care.

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

Five professionals said that they are confident that children are safe in the home and that risks are managed effectively. They all identified strengths of the home including the pro-active nature of the manager, communication, that it works as part of a multi-disciplinary team, that it supports family relationships and promotes safeguarding. They all said that children receive a good quality of care.

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

Carers have a good knowledge and understanding of risk. They know the children well and are committed to keeping them safe. When concerns are raised in relation to a child’s safety or behaviours, carers talk to children, supporting them to understand why they are concerned and to educate them on the potential consequences of their actions. Carers are guided by robust assessments of risk and documents that contain essential information on how to keep children safe. Some risks are attributed to children when there is no evidence that the risk is present, which risks labelling children and may be confusing for carers. Action has been taken to address this concern.

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

Planning to meet children’s needs and keep them safe is comprehensive. Incidents rarely take place in the home. The children who live there are settled. Children have not gone missing from care, and no restraint has been used. When incidents do take Inspection report children’s home: 2528486 5 place, carers talk to children to gain their perspective. They use known techniques and strategies to support children to express how they are feeling. Consequences given to children in response to negative behaviours are proportionate and natural.

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

Safeguarding concerns, including concerns about bullying, are quickly addressed. Carers provide children with understanding, care and nurture, understanding the lasting and detrimental impact that these negative experiences can have on children. The children who live in the home have positive relationships and are encouraged to complete joint activities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, the manager has registered with Ofsted. He leads a robust and experienced management team. Together, managers strive to achieve the best outcomes for children. They do this by forming positive, trusting relationships with children, other professionals and the carers. These relationships are evident within the home. Managers monitor the progress that children make. They are currently devising more effective ways of recording this. Clear planning for the development of the home is in place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have oversight of all incidents and safeguarding concerns. This provides thorough reflection and identifies where practice is good or where it could be improved. Managers speak to children and carers following incidents. This promotes reflection and learning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Carers like working in the home. They describe their work as rewarding, particularly when seeing positive outcomes for children. They spoke positively about the culture in the home, particularly in relation to the focus on sharing information. Carers said that managers provide them with the support that they need to provide children with the care and support that they need.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers provide carers with regular supervision, which covers the children who live in the home, the carers’ well-being and their learning and development. Managers promote reflection and in-depth practice discussion and encourage carers to have a voice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and carers regularly meet as a team to discuss the home and practice. Additional managers’ meetings ensure that decision-making is collaborative. Written recordings of these meetings give a good insight into what was discussed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Concerns in relation to the practice of carers are managed appropriately. Leaders and managers take concerns seriously. When necessary, concerns are shared with external professionals. An informal complaint from a parent was dealt with as if it were an official complaint. This ensured that a full investigation into their concerns was completed. Learning taken from investigations is shared with the team, with the aim of preventing further occurrences and improving practice. Inspection report children’s home: 2528486 6 Carers receive a wealth of training. This has allowed them to provide children with the level of care and support that they need. Training needs are anticipated in advance. Recruitment practice ensures that checks necessary to determine whether carers are safe to work with children are completed. Inspection report children’s home: 2528486 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that carers understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. In particular, carefully consider the appropriateness of recording information using the first-person narrative. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that carers follow the home’s policies and procedures to benefit the children who live there. There should be clear lines of accountability. In particular, the registered person should ensure that documents detailing supervisions and team meetings show the discussion and reflection that take place. Also, they should ensure that any actions resulting from team meetings and supervisions are reviewed to ensure that they have been completed. (‘Guide

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Recommendations

to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.20)  The registered person should ensure that risks are only linked to children if there is evidence or another reason to support this. (‘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 children’s home: 2528486 8

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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 children’s home: 2528486 9 and 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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