Children's home run by Mangrove Care Limited in Newcastle-under-Lyme

Inspection report for children’s home: SC068261 1 SC068261 Registered provider: Mangrove Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This private home provides care for up to four children who may have complex social and emotional needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager and responsible individual have been in post since the home registered in October 2006. They both hold a level 4 qualification in leadership and management.

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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: 10 February 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC068261 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/02/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 27/07/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 23/07/2019 Full Good 13/11/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC068261 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The two children who live in the home are settled and told the inspector that they like living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to attend education and employment. Managers work well with professionals to develop plans to support children to overcome barriers to their learning. For example, one child has an individualised timetable. Another child has recently completed GCSE exams and has enrolled on a course at college. He is due to start a part-time summer job.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children contribute to the day-to-day decisions about the home. They choose meals and plan activities they want to do. This practice helps children to feel involved and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to develop their independence skills. For example, one child makes appointments and attends the barbers by himself. Another child is being supported by staff to travel independently to a local group. This means that children develop confidence and skills that will help them in adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to keep in touch with people who are important to them. Managers and staff work hard to understand children’s friendship groups, and promote positive friendships. As a result, children feel able to invite friends to visit them at home. When there are concerns about who children spend time with, managers work well with professionals to manage risks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff are very nurturing. This makes the home feel warm and welcoming, despite some areas of the home requiring redecoration and furniture upgrading.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers identify when children need specialist support to help them with their emotional health and well-being. They make referrals to external agencies and support assessments. Due to excessive waiting times for treatment, the responsible individual has agreed to commission direct therapy for one child through a private organisation. This means the child will receive emotional support earlier.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to access health services. However, staff have not helped children to understand the importance of attending routine oral health checks. As a result, one child has been deregistered and can only access emergency treatment. There has been a delay in one child’s general health being assessed. This means that staff do not have up-to-date information about how to support the child’s health needs. Inspection report for children’s home: SC068261 4

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

Praise and incentives are used to help children to develop positive behaviours. Staff speak to children about behaviours that are viewed as challenging. On rare occasions, sanctions are used to discourage behaviours that could potentially have a negative impact on children or others.

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

Managers and staff know children well. They understand children’s risks and respond well. For example, staff identify when a child is at risk of hurting themselves. They increase supervision and appropriately seek support from emergency services. This helps to keep children safe.

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

On some occasions, children have gone missing. Staff share concerns with relevant people and work hard to try to locate children. Arrangements are made for children to speak with an independent person about their time away from the home and the reason for absence. Information obtained is used to prevent and manage further incidents. As a result, the frequency of children going missing is reducing.

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

Complaints or allegations are rare. However, when they are made, managers respond well and information is shared with relevant individuals, allowing oversight from external organisations.

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

Children benefit from positive relationships with managers and staff. This helps children to feel comfortable to speak to staff about things that are worrying them.

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

The quality of children’s risk assessments is not evaluated by managers. As a result, they do not always capture the early warning signs, triggers and strategies that staff use to keep children safe. The lack of scrutiny and evaluation means that areas that require improvement are not always known.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have a good understanding of the children and are very child-focused. They maintain relationships with children who have moved out and wish to stay in touch. One child who previously lived in the home told the inspector that her experience of living in the home was very positive and very different from other care experiences. She believes that part of her success is due to the support she received while living in the home and the commitment of managers and staff and the relationships she formed with them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision and have their performance appraised annually by managers. These opportunities provide staff with time to reflect on their practice and how they contribute to the care of children who live in the home. This practice helps staff to feel valued and supported by managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are held regularly. These meetings provide a safe space for staff to speak openly, and their views are valued by managers. Staff contribute to discussions about the care children receive and the operation of the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC068261 5 Children are cared for by a consistent and experienced staff team. Most staff hold a suitable qualification. Additional training courses are completed by staff to ensure that their learning is kept up to date. The registered manager has not identified that the staff team would benefit from training in suicide prevention. This has the potential to affect the response children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring systems used by managers are not always effective. For example, managers have not identified that some medication kept in the home has specific storage requirements. In addition, on one occasion, the amount of medication recorded in the child’s records was different from the actual amount of medication kept in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC068261 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 health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans.

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Requirement Due date

understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding.

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Requirement Due date

take part in activities, and attend any appointments, for the purpose of meeting the child’s health and well-being needs. that each child is registered as a patient with a general medical practitioner and a registered dental practitioner. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager should ensure that children are registered at a dentist and that staff support children to understand the importance of attending routine dental appointments.

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Requirement Due date

Furthermore, the registered manager should ensure that medication is stored safely and that staff keep accurate records of what medication is kept in the home. 15 September Inspection report for children’s home: SC068261 7 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 manager should ensure that monitoring systems used identify gaps in information in children’s risk assessments. 15 September

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs. This is specific to the registered manager ensuring that staff receive training in suicide prevention. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should ensure that the home environment must meet children’s basic day-to-day needs and physical necessities. Staff should seek to meet the child’s basic needs in the way that a good parent would. In particular, some areas of the home require decoration. Furniture and fixtures around the home need to be well maintained. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)

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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: SC068261 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Mangrove Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: c/o 11 Clayton Road, Newcastle Under Lyme, Staffordshire ST5 3AF

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Inspector

Helen Malanaphy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC068261 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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