Children's Home run by Bethel Children’s Care Ltd in Hertfordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2785784 1 Registered provider: Bethel Children’s Care Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private company and provides care for up to three children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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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: 11 December 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: 2785784 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/12/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2785784 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, three children were living at the home. Two children have moved into the home since the last inspection. Two children contributed to the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

For most of the children, this is their first time living at a children’s home. Staff understand the children’s past experiences. They talk about the children with pride. The staff take their roles seriously and are committed to helping children achieve their ambitions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise building meaningful relationships with children. Interactions between staff and children are warm and based on mutual respect. Children speak highly of the support that they receive from staff. One child said, ‘Staff are perfect, fair and have helped me settle into the home.’ Children make good progress because of these strong relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Despite some staff being relatively new to their roles, they understand how to communicate effectively with children. Regular meetings and planned conversations take place with the children. These discussions cover a wide variety of topics, including helping children to express their feelings. Leaders and managers have sought interpreters to make certain children fully understand the information being shared with them. This ensures the children’s views are central to the decisions made at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children with their education. They regularly communicate with education providers and virtual headteachers. All the children were out of education for a significant period before moving into the home. Children are supported to engage with education arrangements tailored to their learning needs. This has helped children progress with their learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff care about children’s health and well-being. The staff have encouraged one child to access specialist help to manage complex health needs. This helps the child to develop skills in managing their well-being and develop healthier routines. As a result, this child’s health has considerably improved and no longer affects their day- to-day life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s diverse cultural and identity needs are well considered. Children are encouraged to explore and celebrate their own heritage. Staff make sure children have their preferred products and clothing. Staff cook children authentic meals. Children benefit from being cared for by a diverse staff team. This provides children with a strong sense of self and increased self-esteem. Inspection report for children’s home: 2785784 4 Staff help children to participate in a range of activities and experiences, including short breaks to the seaside, trips to the cinema, theme parks and go-karting. The children are encouraged to share experiences with others and enjoy life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals provided unanimously positive feedback about the quality of care, good communication and overall positive impact on the children’s lives.

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

Staff use considered, person-centred approaches to help children understand dangers. This approach has been positive, and as a result, significant incidents have decreased.

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

Staff work closely with external agencies and professionals. They take an integrated approach in supporting children to make more positive choices. When children struggle with their emotional well-being, staff take effective action to keep them safe. Reflective conversations and encouragement to develop healthier coping skills are prioritised by staff.

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

Staff do not physically intervene with children. When incidents have the potential to escalate, staff use their relationships with children to reduce any risks. Children acknowledge the positive progress they have made in becoming safer.

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

Children benefit from nurturing staff and structured routines. Staff use natural consequences as part of a wider approach to behaviour management. This helps children to reflect on their behaviours and consider how they can manage things more appropriately. The manager reviews and monitors interventions to ensure that these are effective. However, the staff do not celebrate positive behaviour enough with the children to help reinforce safe and healthy decision-making.

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

When there have been incidents of children going missing from home, staff respond in line with the missing-from-home protocol to help find and return children as soon as possible. Staff share concerns with professionals, including the local police, to help protect children. However, the manager has not always confirmed that return home interviews have been offered to children. This means opportunities to understand reasons children have been missing may be missed. This was raised at the last inspection and has been reinstated.

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

Staff educate children regarding the impact of substance misuse. The manager has made referrals to support agencies on behalf of children to provide ongoing support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by an experienced manager who is working toward an appropriate qualification. Leaders and managers have a particularly good understanding of children’s journeys. Inspection report for children’s home: 2785784 5 The manager is enthusiastic about her role, the staff team and the children. Staff morale is positive regarding the support from leaders and managers. Leaders and managers have created an open culture in which staff feel valued and appreciated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Safer recruitment processes are followed. Managers involve children in interviewing new staff. Children influence some of the decisions made about their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

New staff benefit from helpful inductions that include comprehensive training. However, existing staff do not have specific substance misuse and child criminal exploitation training. This means that they may lack knowledge in these areas.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers use basic systems for auditing and monitoring records. This helps them identify and address areas requiring further exploration. Monitoring and review help managers to understand how children are progressing. However, the records of missing-from-home incidents, room searches and consequences lack detail. This gap in oversight increases the potential for staff errors to occur.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Information in the independent visitor’s report and the manager’s review does not reflect the events at the home. The scrutiny of admissions, record-keeping and incidents are not reviewed. The quality of care review fails to evaluate the impact of the care provided. This limits the capacity for leaders and managers to have a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the care provided. Inspection report for children’s home: 2785784 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs. (Regulation 5 (b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure challenge and escalation to ensure that children are offered return home interviews after being missing from the home and that the information from these is shared with the home. 21 August 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that scrutiny of the home in regulation 44 and 45 reports includes reports being reflective of the day-to-day running of the home. They should ensure that the quality of care review includes evaluation of the impact of care provided to children to support continuous improvement. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person should ensure that all staff consistently follow the home’s policies and procedures when recording details of missing-from-home incidents, consequences and room searches. Reports must contain all relevant information. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.20)  The registered person should ensure that staff access appropriate training in relation to children’s needs, in particular child criminal exploitation and substance

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Recommendations

misuse. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should ensure that the home’s staff recognise, record and celebrate the achievements of their children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 31, paragraph 6.7) Inspection report for children’s home: 2785784 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: 2785784 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bethel Children’s Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 61a Bridge Street, Kington HR5 3DJ

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Inspector

Lexi Mitchell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2785784 9 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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