Children's Home run by A Wilderness Way Limited in Northumberland

Requires improvement

The children's home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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The children's home provision requires improvement because:

 Young people’s care plans lack detail and are not comprehensive. They are not reviewed often enough and planned work to address young people’s difficulties is inconsistent and poorly recorded.  Staff do not make sufficient effort to ensure that young people eat a healthy diet.  Young people’s risk assessments are often out of date, lack detail and are not routinely reviewed or evaluated. The restriction of young people’s access to communications in order to keep them safe is not risk assessed or regularly reviewed.  The recording of missing from home episodes is poor. Records of sanctions and physical restraint do not follow a consistent format and sometimes omit important details.  Management oversight is inconsistent. Monitoring reports have not been sent to Ofsted within the required timescales.

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The children's home strengths

 Young people have made substantial progress in their educational attendance and achievement.  Young people have excellent relationships with staff. They trust the staff to advocate for them and promote their welfare. Staff listen to young people and involve them in decisions about the home.  Staff are proactive and flexible in enabling young people to keep in touch with their families.  As a result of living here, young people are, and feel, significantly safer.  The registered manager is committed to the welfare of the young people. She has recruited a number of new staff, which gives capacity to redress the shortfalls identified.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

14. In order to meet the care planning standard, with particular reference to ensuring that individual work with young people is carried out in accordance with their plan and that the plan is reviewed and updated as necessary, the registered person must ensure that children— (1)(a) receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home. 30/09/2016

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Requirement Due date

10. In order to meet the health and well-being standard, with particular reference to supporting young people to eat more healthily, the registered person must ensure that— (1)(c) children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. 30/09/2016

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Requirement Due date

12. In order to meet the protection of children standard, with particular reference to risk assessing and reviewing decisions to restrict a child’s access to communications, the registered person must ensure that staff— (2)(a)(i) assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. 30/09/2016

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Requirement Due date

12. In order to meet the protection of children standard, with particular reference to reviewing, updating and evaluating risk assessments and behaviour management plans on a regular basis, the registered person must ensure that staff— (2)(a)(i) assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. 30/09/2016 The registered person must maintain records for each child which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3, specifically full details relating to each incident when a child goes missing or is absent from the home. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)) 30/09/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— (a) 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— (i) the name of the child; (ii) details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure; (iii) the date, time and location of the use of the measure; (iv) a description of the measure and its duration; (v) details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure; (vi) the name of the person who used the measure (‘the user’), and of any other person present when the measure was used; (vii) the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and (viii) a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure; (b) within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to

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Requirement Due date

do so (‘the authorised person’)— (i) has spoken to the user about the measure; and (ii) has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and (c) 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)) 30/09/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (‘a quality of care review’) at least once every 6 months. After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (‘the quality of care review 30/09/2016 report’). The registered person must supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. The system must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (3) (4)(a) and (5))

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation:  Ensure that the home provides a domestic and homely environment, specifically that children are not routinely required to sign consent forms. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Information about this children's home

The home provides accommodation for up to three children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is operated by a private company.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

29/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Requires improvement

Both young people currently resident are in full-time education. One young person is predicted to do well in forthcoming GCSEs. For both young people, this represents significant progress. This improvement has come about because of the persistence of staff in motivating young people as well as working with other agencies. For example, the registered manager has overcome challenges in working in partnership with three different local authorities to secure a school place for one young person. In general, young people are in good health. They are able to access the services that they need to address their physical and emotional well-being. This includes specialist counselling from the child and adolescent mental health services. The home needs to do more to promote healthy eating. Staff keep food diaries to track what young people eat. These are sometimes not completed, or lack detail, and what is recorded shows a distinct nutritional imbalance. Young people would

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Requires improvement

benefit from extra support, such as better monitoring of their weight or the input of a dietician, and additional motivation from staff to become healthier. Staff enable young people to take part in stimulating and enjoyable activities. For example, horse riding, walking, climbing and ghyll scrambling are available. This kind of activity provides exercise as well as enhancing young people’s self-esteem. Staff value the views of young people and encourage them to express their views. They do this both through formal meetings and also individual conversations. Young people are involved in the recruitment of staff, giving them a sense of involvement in the running of the home. Young people enjoy spending time with staff. One young person said, ‘We have a right laugh with the staff.’ Another young person said, ‘I trust staff to look out for me. I get on with my key worker like a house on fire.’ One young person described how her key worker advocated with

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Requires improvement

her social worker for her to be allowed a mobile phone. These kinds of relationships make it easier for staff to gain young people’s trust and more likely that young people will listen to their advice. The quality of relationships enables staff to have a good knowledge of young people’s needs and issues. Unfortunately, placement plans which should underpin the work completed by staff are of mediocre quality. They are not updated at regular intervals and are poorly presented, making them difficult to follow. Actions to address identified needs are not specific, do not have identified staff who are accountable for them and lack timescales for review. In some cases, tasks which have been allocated to key workers to complete have not even been started. These shortfalls mean that it is difficult for the staff team to work consistently in helping young people to overcome their challenges. Many young people are placed here at a distance from their home areas. Also,

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Requires improvement

because of their circumstances, there are frequently risks for them around keeping in contact with family and friends. Nevertheless, staff are good at helping young people to stay in touch with people who are important to them. Staff are flexible in facilitating whatever arrangements are necessary, for example, transporting young people to family meetings or hosting visits in the home itself. Staff often need to supervise such contact to ensure safety and make written records afterwards, which are shared with social workers. This work is useful in evaluating the quality of family contact and informing decisions about future arrangements and the potential for rehabilitation.

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Requires improvement

The home is effective in keeping young people safe. The number of staff on duty at any one time ensures that there is always sufficient support and supervision for young people. Compared to the risks in their daily lives that they faced prior to coming here, young people are now significantly safer. It is rare for them to go missing and the vigilance of staff (for example, in managing access to social media) ensures that child sexual exploitation is not an issue. One young person said, ‘I feel safe here, deffo. Staff make it safe.’ Another young person commented, ‘Staff supervise me, like when I phone my mum. But I know why they do that and it’s okay. I know it’s because they want to keep me safe.’ Staff set clear boundaries for behaviour, which young people understand and, in general, accept. One young person said, ‘The rules are good. There’s no problems with them. If I have any issues I can raise them in the young people’s meeting and

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Requires improvement

they can be changed.’ Sanctions are not often used, staff preferring to reward good behaviour. Similarly, it is rare that staff need to restrain a young person. However, the recording of both sanctions and restraints is poor. The way in which the record is completed is untidy and difficult to follow. Sometimes, not all of the information required by regulation is included. For example, the duration of a restraint or the evaluation of the effectiveness of a sanction. Such deficiencies reduce the accountability of the record and introduce the possibility that inappropriate staff practice will go unnoticed. Shortfalls in documentation extend to the records of young people who go missing. Incidents are recorded in several different formats, making it difficult to establish the chronology of what happened and who did what and when. It is not clear in every case whether staff requested an independent person to come and interview

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Requires improvement

the young person on their return or, if they did, what the young person had to say. This lack of clarity makes it more difficult to evaluate incidents and learn lessons for the future. Staff are generally good at managing risk within and outside the home. This is in spite of written risk assessments, which lack detail and clarity. They are not always reviewed in accordance with the home’s own policy. For example, one behaviour risk management plan has not been updated since December 2015. Staff therefore need to rely on the passing on of largely verbal information from their colleagues. Only in this way can they be aware of how any risks to the young people, and strategies to manage them, may have changed. This creates the possibility of error and inconsistency in how staff manage threats to young people’s safety. To ensure that young people are safely cared for, it is sometimes necessary and appropriate to restrict their access to social media and other communication such

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Requires improvement

as the home’s telephone. As this practice is a restriction of liberty, staff need to include it in the young person’s risk assessment and review it regularly to determine whether it remains necessary.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager has been in post for several months but has recently given notice to leave. An experienced and qualified interim manager has been appointed and intends to register with Ofsted. The home has been through an unsettled time, with a number of staff leaving. However, new staff have been appointed and a new post of deputy manager has been established. These developments increase the home’s capacity to address its shortcomings and make improvements. Many of the shortfalls found at this inspection are as a result of some ineffective management oversight of staff’s work. Only very recently has a case file audit been introduced, which has identified some of the issues with young people’s plans and risk assessments. The registered manager’s monitoring reports have been submitted to Ofsted well beyond the required timescale. This reduces the ability of the regulator to have effective scrutiny of the home’s operation.

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Requires improvement

All of the staff members bar two are qualified. They have access to a range of training, which is regularly refreshed to maintain their skills and knowledge. Staff are supported through regular formal supervision from the registered manager and other senior staff. Supervision is of excellent quality, focusing on the needs of the young people and encouraging the member of staff to reflect on their practice and how they might improve it. The premises are well maintained and provide a pleasant environment, which gives young people a sense that they are valued. Young people are able to add their own personal touches to their rooms, particularly important when they are so far from home. The work of staff in providing welcoming and non-institutional surroundings is rather undermined by the practice of requiring young people to sign documents, such as internet access agreements.

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against ‘Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection’.

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What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children's home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children's home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children's home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of children looked after is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place. However, the children's home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children's home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

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What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or that result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children's home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the children's home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people whom it is trying to help, protect and look after. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the Children's

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Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’. the guidance ‘Raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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, workbased learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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