Children's Home run by Abundantia Care Limited in Doncaster

Inspection report for children’s home: 2710734 1 Registered provider: Abundantia Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and operated by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for up to two children who may have emotional or social difficulties. The home is currently operating as a solo placement and is providing care for one child.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager were registered with Ofsted in May 2023. This is the first 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2710734 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child was supported to spend time with the manager and staff in the community where they lived before moving into the home. This enabled the child to develop positive relationships and paved the way for a positive move, which has supported progress. This allowed the manager and staff to gain a good understanding of the child and their needs before the move.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have identified clear boundaries which are communicated appropriately to the child. The child is not used to boundaries, but staff have delivered the messages with respect to help the child to understand the purpose. This fosters a sense of predictability and safety for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child had been out of education for some time when they moved into the home. The manager has worked alongside the local authority and virtual school to ensure that the child has access to appropriate education. The child accesses education that interests them and staff provide support to encourage regular attendance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s physical and emotional health needs are well met. Staff support the child to attend appointments. This supports the child to be physically well. The child’s plans incorporate recommendations from health professionals. When specialist support may benefit the child, this is promoted.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Independence appropriate to the child’s age and ability is promoted by staff. This supports the child to gain skills to increase confidence and promotes positive routines.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is clean and well kept. The child’s bedroom is homely with pictures and keepsakes displayed on the walls. Maintenance is managed well to ensure that the home remains homely.

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

Staff have worked hard to understand the child’s life experiences and the way these may impact their understanding of the world. This has supported the child to develop positive and trusting relationships with most staff members. The child is comfortable sharing any worries and is supported to discuss issues that are important to them. The child often seeks reassurance from staff and staff provide this appropriately.

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

Professionals who work with the child have commented positively about the stability the move to this home has given the child. They praised the commitment from staff towards the child. This level of nurturing has supported the child to feel safe, even when in crisis. Inspection report for children’s home: 2710734 3 Staff have a good understanding of the risks present for the child. Detailed risk assessments provide staff with clarity in the strategies to use to support the child. These are reviewed after any incident and align to the therapeutic approach outlined in the home’s statement of purpose. There are limited incidents and physical intervention has not been used.

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

Positive behaviour is promoted through incentives and rewards. Staff have only needed to apply a consequence once. The child’s room is searched when staff feel this is necessary, and the child is usually involved in this.

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

Regular conversations take place with the child around issues that are important and support progress. Conversations are usually instigated by the child, but there is a clear plan around what issues should be discussed. Actions identified from these conversations are not always followed up. This is a missed opportunity to further develop the child’s confidence and trust in staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by leaders and managers. There have been ongoing issues in relation to staffing sufficiency, which have resulted in the manager and responsible individual working shifts. This helped to achieve consistency for the child and prevented the need to use workers the child was not familiar with. There is now a full staff team in place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has worked hard to build positive relationships with professionals. Statutory paperwork is available and aligns to the plans for the child. The manager seeks statutory documents from the local authority when these are not readily shared.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff understand their obligations in relation to safeguarding. They are confident in the manager to address concerns and know how to whistle-blow if they need to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is appropriately experienced and leads by example. She is reflective and child focused in her approach. However, there is a lack of management evaluation and analysis in records and documents, such as the quality-of-care review.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place regularly, which include reflection of staff practice and the child. However, the actions set during meetings are not reviewed, which means there is no clarity on whether actions have been met or whether further actions are needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision meetings take place regularly. However, for one member of staff, this was not in a timely way. Probation reviews have taken place but not all documents were signed by staff. This may lead to ambiguity around expectations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Recruitment of staff takes place in line with safer recruitment. However, gaps in employment for one member of staff have not been documented by the manager. Inspection report for children’s home: 2710734 4

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that supervision and probation reviews take place in a timely way, to support the development of staff. Staff should sign supervision and probation notes to ensure they agree with the recordings that have been made. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4)  The registered person should ensure that any actions identified within work, such as conversations with children or staff team meetings, are appropriately monitored to ensure that actions are completed in a timely way. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.23)  The registered person should ensure that when discussions around gaps in employment take place, these are appropriately recorded within the relevant person’s personnel file. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the

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Recommendations

quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that analysis and rationale are appropriately captured to provide clear evidence around decisions that have been made. This will also support the manager to evidence the progress and learning in the six- monthly report. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4)

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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: 2710734 5

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Abundantia Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Office 43, The Cobalt Building, 1600 Eureka Park, Lower Pemberton, Ashford, Kent TN25 4BF

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Michael Reynolds

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Inspector

Joanna Beal, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2710734 6 regulates 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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