Children's home run by Able Health Care Ltd

Inspection report for children's home: 2529815 1 Registered provider: Able Health Care Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2022.

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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: 7 February 2024

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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: 2529815 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/02/2024 Full Good 13/12/2022 Full Good 24/06/2021 Full Good 20/11/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 2529815 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, four children were living at the home. The children have lived together at the home for nearly two years. No children have moved in or out since the last inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s attendance at school or college is excellent. Staff encourage children to understand the importance of education. Children attend careers events with staff. This helps children to develop clear and positive aspirations for their future. When children experience challenges at school, staff work with education professionals to create bespoke plans. This has helped children make progress and achieve formal qualifications.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to practise skills to prepare them for adulthood, in line with their age and stage of development. Staff discuss and agree plans with children to help incentivise and reward their development of new skills and healthier routines. One young person has recently turned 18 and the manager has arranged for them to stay at the home until they have completed their college course. This advocacy has meant there is now stability for the young person at a crucial stage in their education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively encourage children to explore their individual identities. Children are celebrated by staff and encouraged to feel confident and proud of who they are. Staff organise and attend trips to cultural and rights-based events with children. As a result, children are helped to develop a positive sense of self, have a greater understanding of societal discrimination and feel connected to their communities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children understand the risks from smoking, drinking alcohol and using illegal substances. Specialist agencies hold group workshops at the home in collaboration with staff. These sessions raise children’s awareness of the harms associated with substance misuse. As a result, children receive the most up-to-date information about risks and strategies to reduce harm. Staff sensitively challenge and take effective action to remove any smoking materials from children’s bedrooms.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are routinely consulted and contribute to plans about their day-to-day care. Staff gather children’s views and use these to plan new and enjoyable experiences. One child has been on their first trip abroad. The other children have been to special interest events in London and to castles and museums.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to see people who are important to them. Managers consider children’s relationships and create clear plans to ensure children experience positive visits with family and friends. Photos of children’s time spent with family are collected in thoughtfully captioned memory books. Inspection report for children's home: 2529815 4

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

Children experience positive relationships with staff, who care about them. Children say they are confident to tell the staff if they are worried or upset about something. There have been some serious incidents at the home involving staff and one child. Carefully assessed staff ratios mean that children who are not involved in incidents are not adversely affected.

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

Children rarely go missing. When children have been considered missing, staff take effective action to ensure their safe return. Staff work closely with relevant agencies to share important information about children’s safety in the community. Information gathered from return-home interviews is used to inform children’s plans. Staff talk to children to try and disrupt any negative influences and offer them positive alternative activities.

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

Staff understand the vulnerabilities and challenges that children experience. Staff have regular conversations with children about healthy relationships, sexual health, online behaviour and positive coping strategies. These conversations support children’s safety in the community and build children’s emotional resilience.

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

Children know how to make a complaint. When one child raised a concern about a member of staff, managers notified the relevant agencies and took effective action to keep children safe while investigations took place. This incident had a destabilising effect on a small number of staff. Leaders and managers understand the impact of this incident and have worked sensitively to reassure children and staff.

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

Children’s plans are detailed and provide guidance for staff. However, there is inconsistent information in some documents, and others are incomplete. This means that staff may not have the most up-to-date information to support children and limits the effectiveness of managerial monitoring.

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

The manager uses a natural consequences approach to behaviour management. Managers talk to children about hurtful behaviours and the impact this has on them and others. However, records of these measures are not always clear about how these decisions have been made, who by, and whether they have been reviewed with the child’s input. This means staff and children are not always clear on agreed boundaries and responses.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is qualified, experienced and risk aware. Her nurturing and balanced approach has a calming effect for staff and children. The manager has high expectations for the quality of care staff should provide.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A small number of serious incidents have contributed to staff absences and, at times, low morale. Agency staff have been used frequently to continue to provide a high staffing ratio. Most of the time, individual agency staff are regulars at the home and are Inspection report for children's home: 2529815 5 well known to children. The manager is realistic about the challenges and changes in the staff team and is aware of the emotional impact of incidents on some staff. Leaders and managers have worked hard to improve staff reflection on their response to incidents. This has contributed to improvement in staff practice and, consequently, children’s experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager assertively challenges other professionals when she feels they are not acting in a child’s best interests. The manager has been instrumental in ensuring one child stayed at the home for an agreed period when they turned 18. Social workers and education professionals say that managers and staff have demonstrated resilience and always keep them updated. A parent said that the progress their child has made at the home is ‘amazing, and not to be underestimated’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are trained in meeting the individual needs of children at the home. They receive training in understanding the impact of foetal alcohol disorder, mental health awareness, child exploitation and self-harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision and team meetings provide regular opportunities for staff to discuss their practice. A therapeutic practitioner has begun to work with the staff individually and as a group to encourage and monitor the use of therapeutic approaches. However, agency staff do not receive supervision of their practice by a professional who knows the home. This reduces the manager’s capacity to fully review and monitor the quality of care provided to children. Inspection report for children's home: 2529815 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

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iv)(vi)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that consequences are clearly recorded, reviewed for effectiveness, and that children’s views about the measure are included in the record. 31 March 2025 Inspection report for children's home: 2529815 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s case records are accurate and kept up to date. Records must be signed and dated by the author of each entry. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)  The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff, including agency staff, receive regular supervision of their practice. This supervision should allow staff and agency staff to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: 2529815 8

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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

Natalie Day, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2529815 9 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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