What Children’s Homes Really Need: Rhiannon Hughes on Staffing, Trust and Therapeutic Care (Part 2)

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What Makes a Great Children’s Home?

In Part 2 of this powerful two-part Able to Care Podcast conversation, Behaviour Specialist Andy Baker continues his discussion with care-experienced professional and recruiter Rhiannon Hughes.

Building on the personal story shared in Part 1, this episode shifts focus towards the future of children’s residential care. Drawing on both her lived experience and years working within the care sector, Rhiannon explains what separates an average children’s home from one that genuinely changes lives.

From recruiting emotionally resilient staff to preparing young people for adulthood, this conversation explores the everyday decisions that help children feel safe, valued and capable of building successful futures.

In This Episode You’ll Discover:

• What Rhiannon looks for when recruiting staff beyond a CV.
• Why emotional consistency matters more than qualifications alone.
• The difference between working in a children’s home and changing a child’s life.
• How therapeutic relationships are built through persistence, patience and trust.
• The hidden impact of parentification and becoming the eldest protector.
• The remarkable story of rescuing her sister from homelessness and addiction.
• Why care leavers need better preparation for independent adulthood.
• How lived experience can strengthen leadership within children’s services.
• The culture every children’s home should strive to create.
• Why no child should ever feel they are “too much”.

The Power of Showing Up

One of the strongest themes throughout this episode is consistency. Children who have experienced trauma often expect adults to leave, reject them or give up when behaviour becomes challenging. Rhiannon explains why the professionals who make the greatest difference are often those who simply keep turning up, remain calm and refuse to stop caring.

Andy and Rhiannon also explore how children’s behaviour should never be taken personally, and why therapeutic care requires adults who understand trauma rather than simply manage behaviour.

Leadership Through Lived Experience

Rhiannon shares how growing up in care inspired her successful recruitment business and why she is now working towards opening her own children’s home. Her vision is built around kindness, emotionally intelligent leadership, meaningful relationships and preparing young people for life beyond care.

Rather than simply filling vacancies, she believes recruitment should focus on finding adults who can become trusted, consistent figures in a child’s life.

Who Should Listen?

• Residential childcare staff and managers
• Registered Managers and Responsible Individuals
• Foster carers and kinship carers
• Social workers
• Children’s home providers
• Recruitment professionals in health and social care
• Teachers and behaviour specialists
• Anyone passionate about improving outcomes for care-experienced young people

A Message of Hope

Although this episode explores difficult themes including addiction, homelessness, trauma and mental health, it is ultimately a story about hope. Rhiannon demonstrates how lived experience can become one of the greatest strengths a person carries, transforming pain into purpose and creating better futures for the next generation of children in care.

Recommended Training

If you’re supporting children affected by trauma, attachment difficulties or adverse childhood experiences, you may also find our Youth Mental Health Training Course valuable.