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

Inspection report for children’s home: 2778925 1 Registered provider: A Wilderness Way Limited

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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 four separate buildings. This is a multi-building children’s home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered as a multi-building children’s home in January 2024. This is the home’s first inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is registered with Ofsted. She is suitably qualified.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded, and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor, and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2778925 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s care is compromised by poor safeguarding practice and ineffective management oversight. These shortfalls have affected children’s overall safety, progress and experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Four children were living in the home at the time of the inspection. Another child recently moved out of the home. This was an unplanned ending and does not demonstrate that each child has a positive experience living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff do not provide children with age-appropriate routines or structure to their day. Some children spend lots of time in their bedrooms without any encouragement from staff to engage in daily routines to develop their confidence and life skills. This does not help children to feel safe, secure and comfortable in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff do not have clear plans in place to support children to make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential. There are limited daily routines for staff to follow to encourage children to engage in educational activities or informal learning. This does not support each child’s educational and developmental needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Leaders, managers and staff do not consistently manage behaviour effectively. On occasions, they ignore children’s inappropriate behaviours and language. This does not demonstrate that training provided to staff is effective and does not enable children to develop socially aware behaviour.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s plans are not consistently updated and they contain conflicting information. This does not ensure that staff are provided with clear actions to support children to make progress in key areas of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff do not help all children to attend necessary health appointments and some health assessments are outstanding. Despite information in children’s plans including information about promoting each child’s health needs, some staff have not taken action to address the health risks associated with smoking cigarettes, including e-cigarettes. This could have an adverse impact on children’s health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Some children said that they have a good relationship with staff and like living in their home. One child said, ‘If I am worried, I can talk to staff. I know they care.’ Another child said, ‘Staff do care and listen to me.’

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

Leaders and managers do not adequately respond to safeguarding incidents or implement safe strategies to consistently protect children. There is a lack of robust Inspection report for children’s home: 2778925 3 management oversight, with limited and conflicting strategies in place for the staff to manage and reduce risks to children.

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

Leaders and managers do not provide staff with clear strategies to reduce the risk of harm to children. For example, staff do not always carry out relevant checks on a child. As a result, the child was able to leave the home overnight on more than one occasion without staff knowledge. This left the child at risk of significant harm in the community.

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

Children’s risk management plans contain conflicting and insufficient information to support staff to safely manage and understand children’s individual vulnerabilities. Leaders and managers do not update plans with significant information to support staff to protect children from the risk of harm. For example, the risk management plans for e- cigarettes, self-injurious behaviours and the use of mobile phones do not provide clear actions for staff to reduce these risks. This does ensure that staff practice is safe and consistent.

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

Complaints and allegations are not understood by leaders, managers and staff. Leaders and managers do not recognise when children have made a complaint or an allegation. Therefore, they do not take sufficient action to address this. This leaves children vulnerable to harm.

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

There have been times when staff have conducted room searches and removed items from children’s bedrooms. However, records do not include the rationale for the measure used or a record of any items removed. Furthermore, the registered manager has not reviewed or evaluated the effectiveness or appropriateness of the actions taken. This does not demonstrate good safeguarding practice.

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

Not all staff have the skills to manage and de-escalate children’s behaviour safely. Leaders and managers say that some staff are frightened of some children. This means that high-risk behaviours are not consistently addressed by staff.

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

Incidents of restraint are rare. There has been one occasion when restraint was used. However, the staff who held the child did not have the relevant training to ensure that this was conducted in line with the home’s policies and procedures. In addition, managers did not ensure that debriefs were conducted individually with staff and the child to identify any learning opportunities.

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

There are gaps in staff training in respect of restraint practice. Agency staff working in the home do not have the relevant training to use the provider’s chosen method of restraint. This leaves children and staff at risk of harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers are not leading and managing the home in a manner that is consistent with the aims outlined in the statement of purpose. They do not ensure that staff understand their roles and responsibilities in keeping children safe. This has had an adverse impact on children’s safety and overall experiences. Inspection report for children’s home: 2778925 4 Management oversight of the home is poor. Leaders and managers do not ensure that the quality of care provided to children is appropriately reviewed and evaluated. The oversight, review and evaluation of incidents are poor. There is no reflection or robust evaluation of safeguarding incidents to improve the practices of staff and children’s safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers do not ensure that staff have the necessary skills to support the children’s individual complex needs. Some staff have not had training in supporting the specific needs of the children that they care for. For example, not all staff have had training in gang affiliation, risks involved in county lines, autism and substance misuse, despite these being known risks for some children. As a result, the manager and staff do not always have the knowledge and skills to keep the children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff do not receive regular supervision and team meetings are poorly attended. This does not provide all staff with opportunities to reflect on their learning and developmental needs and to discuss care practices. When the registered manager identified shortfalls in staff practice, a plan was drawn up to increase direct supervision sessions. However, this plan was not put into action. This is a missed opportunity to develop staff and monitor poor staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff morale is variable across the individual homes. Some staff say that they are not well supported by the management team and this has impacted on staff morale, which is reported to be low. Some staff say there is a blame culture from leaders and managers, which means that not all staff feel confident in making important decisions to help children make progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Due to the serious and widespread concerns identified at this inspection, compliance notices were issued under regulation 12, the protection of children standard, and regulation 13, the leadership and management standard. Inspection report for children’s home: 2778925 5

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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 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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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;

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help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm;

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(e)) 3 June 2024

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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— 3 June 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2778925 6 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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lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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

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

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ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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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demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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

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The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— 3 June 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2778925 7 that staff—

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help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child’s learning. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(viii)(b))

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In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that education is promoted in the home. Children must be encouraged to access meaningful education, including informal learning opportunities.

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

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achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding; 3 June 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2778925 8 take part in activities, and attend any appointments, for the purpose of meeting the child’s health and well-being needs; and

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well-being;

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure that children are supported to understand the impact of smoking cigarettes and e- cigarettes.

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The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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positive responses to other children and adults.

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

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meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and mangers must ensure that consequences and rewards are appropriate and evaluated as to their effectiveness. Leaders and managers must support children to understand acceptable and appropriate behaviour. 3 June 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— 3 June 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2778925 9 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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a description of the measure and its duration;

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

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

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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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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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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 (2) (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that accurate records are made of all incidents of restraint in the home. Furthermore, records must be evaluated and demonstrate that all staff involved have been spoken to about the measure used and are appropriately trained.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. 3 June 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2778925 10 (Regulation 39 (3))

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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: 2778925 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: A Wilderness Way Limited

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Katherine Hughes

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Inspectors

Judith Birchall, Social Care Inspector Nichola Croft, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2778925 12 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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