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 3 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

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

19/08/2025 Full Good 11/12/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2785784 3

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Summary of findings

The managers and staff are providing children with a good level of care. Staff understand their roles and show professional curiosity.

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Summary of findings

Staff encourage children to engage in age-appropriate activities, support children with their independence skills and education.

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Summary of findings

Children have bespoke plans in place that support staff in their approach and care. Staff have a good understanding of the children’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, 2 children were living at the home. Both children were spoken to. Children said that they feel supported by the staff, they like their bedrooms and know how to make complaints. Positive interactions between children and staff were heard and seen throughout the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved out of the home in a planned way. The child was supported to move to a semi-independent home. The child said that she felt supported with her independence and safety skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have important conversations with children that cover a range of topics. These help children’s learning and understanding. One child said that the staff ask them about their friends. The staff know children’s friends and have contact details for them that are used if needed. This curiosity shows a good level of care for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to engage in education. The staff have supported both children to apply for further education courses. Staff listen to the children’s views regarding college courses and help children to make personal choices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is welcoming and nicely decorated. The children have good sized bedrooms and their personal belongings. Both children have pets that they have the responsibility of looking after. Staff support children with pet care by printing off research and guidance about animal welfare.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff celebrate the children’s achievements with age-appropriate rewards. The children have their own scrap books which the staff write in and illustrate with photographs. One child attended their school prom. The staff went above and beyond to make this day special for her. Children and staff enjoy days out together and have an upcoming holiday planned. Inspection report for children’s home: 2785784 4

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

The children have trusting relationships with staff and engage well with the staff team. The staff are responsive and supportive when children need help. Children use key-work sessions well which have helped to educate them and keep them safer.

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

Staff support children to understand the risks regarding online safety, healthy relationships, exploitation and many more. Managers encourage the staff to research relevant topics to support the conversations that they have with children. The staff created a booklet about vaping risks. Another child has been made aware of the risks of misusing substances.

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

Children’s risk assessments are clear and kept up to date with any new concerns. These include direction for the staff to support children. When children have left the home without permission, the staff are proactive in following them and searching local and known areas. Staff make attempts to contact the children and call their friends and families to aid a safe return. The manager has good oversight of missing-from-home incidents. She advocates for children to have return-home interviews which have all taken place in a timely manner.

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

In most instances, the staff follow procedures for responding to safety concerns. However, on one occasion a child raised concerns that should have been reported to police. The concern was not reported to police in a timely manner which could have left the child unsafe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team is professional, reflective and knowledgeable. They are open to making improvements. The manager can identify the home’s strengths and weaknesses.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of the children’s needs and is invested in the children’s care. She advocates well for the children and keeps in regular communication with their professionals. One social worker said that if she struggles to engage the child in a meaningful conversation the manager will step in and support the child. This has resulted in the child being more open and the manager sharing information with the social worker.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff have regular and effective supervision sessions. These provide staff with a space to raise any concerns and reflect on their practice. When the manager recognises that staff need additional support this is shared in team meetings or supervision sessions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Several staff members have provided positive feedback about the management support. They have a good level of training opportunities to learn and develop in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Families and professionals provided positive feedback. Notably that staff keep children safe, children make progress and that communication is good. Inspection report for children’s home: 2785784 5 Most staff have relevant training to support their roles. However, one member of staff will not finish their level 3 qualification within 2 years as required. Other members of staff have not enrolled onto their level 3 qualification after working at the home for more than 2 years. This means that some staff may lack knowledge.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have not created a workforce plan that meets the requirements. The plan fails to include information in terms of induction, probation and does not have any information about poor performance. 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

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home. (Regulation 32 (1) (3)(d) (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)) 12 November 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children feel safe. Staff should support children to be aware of and manage their own safety both inside and outside the home to the extent that any good parent would. Staff should help children to understand how to protect themselves, feel protected and be protected from significant harm. In particular, report concerns raised by children to the police without delay. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.9). Inspection report for children’s home: 2785784 7  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs19 and 20) The plan should: detail the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve induction, probation and any core training (such as safeguarding, health and safety and mandatory qualifications); detail the process for managing and improving poor

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Recommendations

performance; detail the process and timescales for supervision of practice (see regulation 33 (4) (b)) and keep appropriate records for staff in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8).

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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

Abby Lynch, 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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