Children's Home run by Able Health Care Ltd in Suffolk

Inspection report for children’s home: SC408714 1 SC408714 Registered provider: Able Health Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company operates this children’s home. The home is registered to provide care for up to six children with complex needs and who require specialist support. The registered manager has been in post since October 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 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: 31 October 2022

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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: SC408714 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/10/2022 Full Good 01/02/2022 Full Outstanding 14/05/2019 Full Outstanding 28/11/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC408714 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the inspection in November 2022, three children have left the home. One child has returned home, one has moved to foster care and another has moved into semi- independence. The staff remain in contact with the children who have left. Three children have moved into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The house is a large Victorian home. Staff ensure that the home remains homely. There are currently four children living there. The home is nicely decorated with children’s artwork displayed for visitors to see.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff and management listen to the children’s wishes and help them to take ownership and feel a sense of belonging. Children are provided with opportunities to have their walls painted and are supported with personalising their rooms with comic book art and tropical fish to care for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The management and staff work hard to support the children’s education. One child, who was not attending education when they moved in, is now in college full time. They have made great progress with attendance at 100% and are working towards achieving a distinction. Other children have a mixture of face to face and online education and are waiting to start school after the Easter holidays.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children participate in a range of activities away from the home and have enjoyed going go-karting, bowling and swimming. They are members of clubs in the local area. The children also spend time together playing online games. The staff see the importance of group activities and take measured risks to enable children to share positive experiences.

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

The children are supported in a safe environment by caring and vigilant staff who keep them safe. The staff have built strong trusting relationships with children. The children want to be around staff and will talk to them when they have worries and concerns. One independent reviewing officer said, ‘[child] reaches out to me less now, because of the bonds he has built with the management team.’

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

Staff support the children to find ways to express themselves emotionally. Children no longer go missing from the home and incidents in the home have reduced since the new manager has been in post. Children say they feel safe, and that staff have helped them to find new ways to manage their feelings and emotions, such as boxing and meditation.

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

When children raise concerns, staff take these seriously. The children have been consulted with throughout the entire process, which has led to change. The staff follow procedures to show children they are valued and listened to in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC408714 4 The children get along well in the home, and there are no instances of bullying. Any incidents that take place between the children are dealt with quickly by staff allowing the children to talk about their issues with one another.

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

The staff allow children to take measured risks. The new management team is willing to explore options for children that were not available to them previously. The members of the management team recognise when children make progress and allow them opportunities to explore their potential, while being aware of and mitigating potential risks.

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

Risk assessments are not always up to date. One child’s risk assessment implied that historical risks were current, when they related to a previous home the child lived in. For another child, recent progress and reductions in risk have not been reflected in the risk assessment. This increases the potential for inaccurate and negative representations of the children’s risks and experiences being attached to them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is newly registered with Ofsted and working towards her level 5 qualification. The manager has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is alert to the staff’s training needs and manages these well. The manager makes sure the team are equipped with the skills needed to support children in their care. For example, all staff trained in exploitation, as well as ADHD and autism.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has introduced new ways of capturing the progress children have made. These complement the existing folders that contain photos and messages for staff to write to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager makes careful, child-centred decisions about who moves into the home. She gathers good, detailed information about the children’s likes and dislikes and uses these to enable as smooth as possible a move into the home. She has created a beautifully illustrated children’s guide, which is produced in a spiral bound book, short in length and child friendly. These approaches further contribute to children feeling valued.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from external professionals is strong. A social worker said, ‘All I can say is a massive thank you for the work that they have completed with [child]. He is doing extremely well and has worked incredibly hard with the support of the home.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervisions. Some supervisions of high quality with good support for staff. However, on other occasions, they do not consistently enable staff to reflect on their practice or encourage them to consider their approaches when managing children’s behaviour. In addition, managers were unable to provide access to some supervision records because of electronic storage issues. Inspection report for children’s home: SC408714 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that supervision enables all staff to reflect and act on how their own feelings and behaviour may be affected by the behaviour of the children they care for. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.15)  The registered person should ensure records are kept up to date. In particular, ensure that risk assessments provide an accurate and current picture of the risk relating to individual children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)  The registered person should ensure that electronic information can be easily accessed by anyone with a legitimate need to view it and, if required, be reproduced in a legible form. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 14.2)

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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: SC408714 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Able Health Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: c/o Argyle House, 3rd Floor Northside, Joel Street, Northwood Hills HA6 1NW

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Inspector

Dan Williams, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC408714 7 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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