Children's home run by Abbey Green Therapeutic Children’s Services Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2791932 1 Registered provider: Abbey Green Therapeutic Children’s Services 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

This home is managed by a private company. It provides care for up to four children who have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Three children were living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

All three children were spoken with during the 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

Date of last inspection: 15 October 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: 2791932 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/10/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2791932 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The relationships between staff and children are very good. Staff continually build on their connections with the children. They consistently place the children’s needs and well-being at the heart of all care practice within the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children are making good progress. This is due to the consistent care and support provided by staff. Children do seek out different staff if they do not get the reply they wish for. However, the staff are clear regarding the expectations of children and provide firm and consistent behavioural boundaries.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive regular therapeutic support from a therapist that works in the organisation. This is integral to the progress that they are making. Children can safely explore their worries and are provided with strategies to help them manage their feelings and behaviour. External professionals acknowledge the value of the children having continuous therapy and how it has enabled children to develop their self-awareness and skills in emotional regulation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have developed a variety of ways to enable children to express their wishes and feelings. To better reflect the voice of the children, it would be beneficial if the staff recorded the actual words said by children to truly capture their voice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has recently moved into the home. The process was well managed. The children already living in the home were consulted and shared some details about themselves with the new child. The child has settled into the home and already established relationships with the carers and is happy to spend time with them. The child is benefiting from the personalised support she receives from the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have many opportunities to engage in a variety of enriching activities, both within the local community and further afield. These experiences provide valuable social interaction and help the children build their confidence and sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have been supported to see important people in their life. Staff have arranged this while considering the children’s specific needs, ensuring that family time is always positive and child centred.

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

Staff are attuned to the needs of the children. They can determine what actions children may do when they become dysregulated, and before children get to this place, they begin to offer distractions or extra support. This approach enables staff to safeguard the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2791932 4 Staff are appropriately trained to physically intervene with children, if this is required. Staff make the most of their positive relationships with children alongside therapeutic strategies to reduce the need for physical interventions. Over time, this has meant that physical interventions have reduced in frequency.

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

When incidents occur in the home, staff ensure that all appropriate information is captured. Staff and children are debriefed, and the manager has oversight of the incident. When further actions are needed, the manager ensures that these are undertaken.

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

Children’s risk assessments reflect each individual child and contain a good level of detail. These important documents equip staff with the information and approaches they need to respond to children appropriately and quickly. Managers need to ensure that all assessments have the correct details so that staff are very clear about interventions they can use to support children.

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

The children’s needs mean that they all require close supervision and support by staff. This means that children rarely go missing from care or participate in any bullying toward other children. However, there has been one instance when a child was not safe when online. Staff were able to identify the concern and took immediate action to keep the child safe. Individual one-to-one sessions were undertaken with the child to educate them about online dangers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Recently there has been a change to the leadership team. The registered manager has left, and a new manager and deputy have been appointed. These have been internal appointments and staff have felt assured about the transfer in leadership. Both these managers are keen to enhance the lives of children and for them to achieve positive outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There has also been a significant change with staff since the last inspection. Staff that have left the home have been replaced. The new staff members have undertaken the organisation’s induction programme prior to working in the home, so they are equipped with the basic information to undertake their role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have recognised the impact on children of new staff joining the team. They have worked hard with the staff to role model and advise them about how to intervene and support children. This has helped to provide the children with the consistent care they need.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff recognise that the home has been on a journey over the last year. They feel that managers have supported them, and they report that they appreciate the advice and guidance they receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff receive some form of supervision every month. However, at times staff do not appear to have individual time with their manager in order to allow them the opportunity Inspection report for children’s home: 2791932 5 to focus on their own development and knowledge or raise concerns they might have. In addition, when an issue was raised with a member of staff, the manager did not speak to the member of staff about this matter and ensure that no further action was required. Not all staff on probation are receiving supervision in line with the statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Information gathered from external professionals is overwhelmingly positive. They are of the view that they have a good working relationship with the staff and managers and always feel updated regarding the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2791932 6

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Recommendations

 Children must be consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Due consideration should be given to the child’s cognitive ability in the development and implementation of any consultation processes. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)  The registered person should ensure that the children’s documents contain the same information. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should have systems in place so that staff receive one-to-one supervision of their practice, which allows them to explore their own practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. In addition, staff on probation should

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Recommendations

receive supervision that reflects the homes statement of purpose. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has 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: 2791932 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Abbey Green Therapeutic Children’s Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 3, Mercia Court, Bingham, Nottingham NG13 8QX

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Inspector

Lizette Watts, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2791932 8 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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