Children's Home run by A Wilderness Way Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report for children’s home: 2690778 1 Registered provider: A Wilderness Way Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home provides care for up to six children in up to four buildings, under one single registration. This a ‘multi-building children’s home’.

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Information about this children’s home

A multi-building children’s home allows the provider, in agreement with the placing authority, to make child-centred decisions about where each child lives and to ensure that their individual needs are met, under this one registration.

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Information about this children’s home

These homes offer short-term, intensive stays, lasting typically 17 weeks in length. One child lives in each home and is supported by two carers.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

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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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2690778 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2690778 3

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improvement to be good

This is the first inspection of the homes since registration. This service operates from four separate houses.

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improvement to be good

Children have made progress since living in the homes. Some children are proud of their achievements and identify how risks from their previous lifestyles have reduced. External professionals confirmed that risks have reduced, and some children are settled. However, this progress is not consistently captured in children’s care documents. This is a missed opportunity to celebrate the progress that children have made since moving into the homes.

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improvement to be good

Good partnership working between the care staff and education and health colleagues has ensured that children are now assessed appropriately to receive the specialist services that they require.

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improvement to be good

Children have access to a company therapist, children’s nurse, education tutors and outdoor education practioners. This is providing a service which treats each child’s needs holistically. However, the minutes from multi-agency meetings are not easily available to show how the agreed assessment will be progressed. This is a missed opportunity to demonstrate how children’s individual needs will be met and to help children understand what support is readily available to them.

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improvement to be good

Education is promoted in the homes. Staff understand the importance of children accessing educational resources and home tutors are provided, alongside creative learning opportunities. For some children, this is the first time they have engaged with education and learning for prolonged periods of time. Children talked excitedly about their aspirations for the future.

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improvement to be good

Most staff appear to have positive relationships with the children they are caring for. Some staff were observed spending quality time with the child in their care, sharing information about the day’s events and plans for the week ahead. Most children spoke positively about their staff team. Children talked about the range of experiences they have shared with the staff who are responsible for their care. However, children said that some staff are inconsistent, and staff confirmed that not all staff follow the routines and boundaries in place. This leads to confusion for children and has caused frustration for some staff.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand the importance of family time for children. They carefully assess family visits and readily take children to spend time with their family, friends and other people who are important to them. Despite the distance that some children live from their families, staff are creative in managing these visits well. Inspection report for children’s home: 2690778 4

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improvement to be good

Staff ensure that children are protected from harm, including abuse and exploitation. In most parts of the service, there is an appropriate response from staff to reduce the risk of harm. However, for some children who display self-injurious behaviours, environmental factors have not been carefully considered. This does not reduce the risk of harm for all children.

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improvement to be good

Risk management and behaviour management in the home are not robust. The content of assessments is confusing and, in some instances, factually incorrect. Risk assessments and behaviour management plans do not provide the staff team with effective strategies to manage children’s behaviour or minimise risk. This was brought to the attention of the responsible individual during the inspection and action was taken to rectify the shortfalls.

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improvement to be good

Children can identify a staff member they can talk to about their concerns or worries. They report that most staff members listen to them and take their concerns seriously. However, children say that they do not see managers on a regular basis to talk to them about their views, wishes and feelings on their care. This is a missed opportunity by managers to spend time with children to understand their lived experiences.

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improvement to be good

There is a lack of management oversight in the homes. For example, records of physical interventions and consequences do not contain a strong management evaluation and have not been signed off by senior staff. This has meant that shortfalls in staff practice have not been identified or addressed.

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improvement to be good

Staff have used physical intervention to support a child in crisis. Records lack key information and do not demonstrate that this practice is only used as a last resort. There is no evidence of a debrief with the child or the staff involved. This is a missed opportunity to monitor and support safe care practices.

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improvement to be good

Children are given both positive and negative consequences. However, practice is inconsistent in the individual homes. In some parts of the service, staff use a restorative approach and provide opportunities for children to earn back any items removed. However, for some children, consequences are not restorative in nature and repeated consequences are imposed with limited oversight from managers about their effectiveness. This does not demonstrate that all children have the same opportunities to learn from their behaviours.

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good

There is no registered manager in the home. The current manager has been in post since October 2022 but has not submitted an application to register. The current Inspection report for children’s home: 2690778 5 management arrangements are not effective and some staff report that they do not have access to managers to support and guide them in their role.

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good

Not all staff have supervision. Some staff have not had supervision for several months. This does not provide an opportunity for staff to reflect on their practice and identify any training or development needs.

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good

Staff have arranged team meetings in their own parts of the service. Staff report that managers do not attend these meetings to discuss children’s progress and experiences or to identify changes required in practice. Staff say that this is frustrating, and as they work across the homes can lead to confusion as structures are not clear. Staff will support each other when they are not on shift, as managers are not readily available.

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good

Managers are not consistently leading and managing the home in a manner that is consistent with the aims outlined in the home’s statement of purpose. Managers do not have sufficient oversight of the documentation regarding the experiences and progress of the children and have missed opportunities to support children to understand their journey through care.

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good

Managers have not implemented effective monitoring systems to understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child. They do not therefore have the understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided. It was evident that the operational manager had raised these shortfalls and areas of concern. However, no improvements have been made.

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good

Managers are not present in the homes on a day-to-day basis. Children and staff confirmed that managers are not visiting the homes regularly and some children said that managers do not spend time with them and they had only seen them on a limited number of occasions. Records also evidence that managers are not visiting the homes consistently to monitor the quality of care that children receive and check the environment in which children live.

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good

Senior managers took immediate action during the inspection to rectify concerns and issues as they arose. Important documents were updated and meetings were arranged to address care practices. They accept that the new quality assurance systems in place are not yet embedded in practice.

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good

` Inspection report for children’s home: 2690778 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, 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers need to ensure that children’s risk assessments reflect their risks and are updated as incidents occur. 31 March 2023

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child; 31 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2690778 7 understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(d)(e)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home;

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, leaders and managers must ensure that children and staff have access to children’s relevant plans and that children are supported to understand their plan during their placement. 31 March 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff are receiving supervision from an appropriate person who can support reflection on significant events and incidents and that there are training and development opportunities so that staff are able to improve their practice. 31 March 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy ("the behaviour management policy") which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home. 31 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2690778 8 The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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Requirement Due date

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—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (‘the user’), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

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 (1)(a)(b) (2) (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) Inspection report for children’s home: 2690778 9

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that the children’s home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children. This specifically relates to ensuring that children’s bedrooms are maintained to a high standard and any damage is repaired quickly so that it does not detract from the quality of the home environment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the

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Recommendations

quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 2690778 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: A Wilderness Way Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Stoneybeck Inn, Bowscar, Penrith CA11 8RP

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Inspectors

Michelle Edge, Senior His Majesty’s Inspector Claire Deary, Regulatory Inspection Manager Inspection report for children’s home: 2690778 11 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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