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 manager registered with Ofsted on 8 February 2023.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: SC068261 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/08/2022 Full Good 10/02/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 27/07/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 23/07/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC068261 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three children were living in the home at the time of the inspection. Since the last inspection, one child has moved in. Plans to support and prepare the child to move in included meeting the people who would be caring for them and visiting the home. This helps children to settle and reduces their anxieties.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are registered with local health services and are supported to access them. One child who is preparing to live independently now makes their own appointments and seeks support from staff when he needs it. Managers advocate well on children’s behalf when they need additional services. Two children now have access to psychological support. The registered manager is challenging the decision not to offer one child support from the adolescent mental health service.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide opportunities for children to have fun, which helps the children form positive relationships with staff who care for them. Children feel able to share concerns and worries with staff. The registered manager works with external professionals and family members to ensure that children are supported to keep in touch with people who are important to them. This promotes children’s identity and respects their views, wishes and feelings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s education is promoted by staff. Two children attend school and are making some progress with their learning. The registered manager works well with teachers when there are barriers to a child’s learning. One child is currently waiting to start a further education and training programme. Staff are encouraging him to find employment to enable him to develop new skills that will help him in the future.

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

The registered manager and staff have a good understanding of children’s risks and behaviours. Children understand what is expected of them and consistent routines help them to feel safe and secure.

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

The registered manager and staff understand and can identify potential risks and vulnerabilities relating to child exploitation. They share their concerns with professionals who are involved in the care of the child. The registered manager challenged delays in coordinating a professionals’ meeting to review risk. As a result, a meeting was held and strategies to reduce risk were agreed and implemented. There have been no further concerns.

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

Sometimes, children have not been where they are expected to be. The registered manager and staff work well with partner agencies and the frequency of these episodes has reduced in recent months. On one occasion, staff did not look for a child who did not return home at the expected time. The registered manager did not Inspection report for children’s home: SC068261 4 identify when reviewing the records that staff had not followed the child’s plans. This does not help staff to reflect on practice so improvements can be made.

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

Staff encourage children to develop their social skills. A bonus reward scheme is used to motivate children to develop new skills in line with their goals. Usually, children receive additional money for their achievements. On one occasion, a member of staff deducted reward money that a child had already earned in response to an incident when the child displayed aggressive behaviour. This response undermined the sense of achievement previously experienced by the child.

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

When children use offensive language in the home, staff implement an agreed plan to reduce children’s time watching television or using the internet. The measure appears to be effective and incidents have reduced. However, such measures are not reflected in records.

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

Staff occasionally use physical intervention to prevent harm to a child or others. Records kept by staff are not always clear. However, this has not been identified by the manager’s monitoring.

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good

Monitoring systems used by the registered manager are not effective in identifying areas for development. The manager’s reviews of records do not identify gaps in information and evaluations are not always accurate. This means that staff do not receive help to fully understand children’s plans and what is expected of children.

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good

There have been delays in replacing internal doors at the home. Areas of the home that require redecoration have not had the work done. This does not provide a nurturing and supportive environment for children to live in. Furniture in the main living areas is tired and worn. Some of the sideboards and dressers have handles missing. In one child’s bedroom, furniture was not well secured. As a result, it fell forward, causing a minor injury to the child.

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good

The registered manager and senior management team ensure that all staff receive regular supervision. Team meetings take place monthly. These meetings provide staff with an opportunity to discuss the children and the care they receive and reflect on the day-to-day arrangements in the home. The registered manager is keen to involve team members in the home’s development. However, staff have not received annual appraisals.

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good

Staff complete training to support them to meet the individual needs of children who live in the home. The registered manager has not assessed the risk of two staff who are not trained in physical intervention. These staff have not been involved in using physical intervention and there are always two staff working who are trained.

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good

There has been a change in ownership of the company and a restructure of the management team since the last inspection. This has been managed sensitively, to Inspection report for children’s home: SC068261 5 ensure children receive consistent care from managers and staff they know well. The new registered manager is working towards completing a suitable qualification in leadership and management. 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, 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 manager should ensure that monitoring systems are used effectively to develop a reflective culture that will contribute to improving children’s experiences. This includes ensuring that learning is always taken from incidents. 23 August 2023

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children.

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(vii)) 23 August 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC068261 7 This relates to providing a homely environment for children to live in and that when maintenance work is required, it is undertaken without long delays.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home’s behaviour management strategy is understood and applied at all times by staff, and must be kept under review and revised where appropriate. In particular, rewards earned by children should not then be removed as a consequence. Staff should keep records when consequences are used to manage children’s behaviours. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.34)  The registered person should ensure that all staff have their performance and fitness to carry out their role formally appraised at least once annually. This appraisal should take into account, where reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and of children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)

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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: SC068261 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Mangrove Care Limited

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Inspector

Helen Dunn, 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 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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