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

Inspection report for children's home: 2689047 1 Registered provider: A Wilderness Way 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

This home provides care for up to six children across four buildings under one single registration. This is described as 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 one registration.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, no children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered since August 2023.

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

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 17 October 2023

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2689047 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/10/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2689047 3

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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

Since the last inspection, some children have experienced positive moves out of the home. However, one child has moved out of the home because staff were unable to meet the child’s needs. This was not a positive experience for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff told inspectors that there has been a high turnover of staff and there are several staff vacancies across the homes. The staff shortages mean that children are not receiving a consistent level of care that helps them to fulfil their potential. Children are not always cared for by people they know well and who understand their needs and plans. This is compromising the children’s ability to build stable and secure relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Feedback from parents is varied. Some parents stated that their child had made good progress in a short period of time establishing routines and boundaries. However, one parent said that there was inconsistent communication. Another parent said that changes in staffing had impacted on their child and that they were not informed of these changes. This impacted on the child, who was reported to be ‘upset and let down’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

In one of the homes, locks were found on doors. This means children are unable to access all areas of the home. This impacts on the children’s sense of belonging and accessibility in the home. Additionally, when one child became inquisitive and wanted access to parts of the home that were locked, this led to a physical intervention that was poorly managed and could have been prevented.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Some children have been subject to court-directed orders. The manager did not have access to the final copy of the order for one child, including the agreed permissive restrictions. This did not enable the staff team to have access to relevant and important information to protect the child. The manager did escalate this to the local authority and received a copy several months later.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Since the last inspection, some children have made progress in their education outcomes. The children have access to an on-site tutor, who has completed relevant assessments to understand their starting points and to develop plans to support their progress. The tutor spends time with children to build necessary relationships and establish educational routines. Inspection report for children's home: 2689047 4

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

Leaders and the manager do not demonstrate that there is a strong and proactive response to safeguarding. This does not promote a strong safeguarding culture and reduce risks.

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

Managers and staff do not understand their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding children and have failed to provide sufficient support in line with the children’s needs. For example, on one occasion, staff supported a child on a two-to-one staffing ratio in the community. During the trip, the child gained access to paracetamol and a pencil sharpener from a shop. This led to a significant safeguarding incident, and the child required medical attention. This does not demonstrate appropriate safeguarding practice.

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

Children’s risk management plans are regularly updated and shared with the staff. However, some plans contain insufficient information to support staff to safely manage and understand the children’s individual vulnerabilities. For example, the risk management plans for e-cigarettes, self-injurious behaviour and the use of mobile phones do not provide clear actions for staff to reduce these risks. Additionally, staff do not always complete off-site activity risk plans in line with the organisation’s policies and procedures. These occasions have put children at risk. This does not ensure that staff practice is safe and consistent.

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

Leaders, managers and staff do not always take appropriate action when children make an allegation about the adults caring for them. This leaves children vulnerable to harm and is not in line with the company’s own safeguarding policies and procedures.

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

Some children’s behaviour support plans do not always contain suitable de-escalation techniques, and there are occasions when the police have been called to help staff manage children’s behaviour. This could lead to children being criminalised in the future.

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

Physical intervention has been used on several occasions. On one occasion, staff restrained a child. This was not used in line with the behaviour management policy and was not used to safeguard the child. On another occasion, a child who spent time in hospital due to concerns around their emotional well-being was restrained on several occasions. These records of restraint are poor and unclear and do not meet regulatory requirements.

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

Incident recording is poor. Records of incidents are unclear and fail to provide accurate details of incidents in relation to self-injurious behaviour, and there is limited evaluation by the registered manager. This is a missed opportunity to fully understand any triggers for these incidents, to improve staff safeguarding practices. Inspection report for children's home: 2689047 5

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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. Effective action has not been taken to 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.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

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 and review of incidents are poor. There is a lack of robust evaluation of safeguarding incidents to improve the practices of staff and ensure children’s safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There have been incidents and allegations made by children that have not been shared with the regulator or relevant professionals in a timely way. This does not enable others to have sufficient oversight of safeguarding matters.

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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 needs. Not all staff have received training in supporting the specific needs of the children that they care for. For example, not all staff have had training in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and deprivation of liberty safeguards despite these being known risks for 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

Leaders and managers do not have effective monitoring and review systems in place. For example, there are no internal systems in place for the auditing of the home, and the last quality of care report has not been sent to the regulator. This limits continuous improvement in the quality of care. Additionally, the recommendations made by the independent visitor were not prioritised to improve care practices in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Feedback from staff was variable. Some staff report that they receive management support, but this was not the experience of all staff. This does not ensure that all staff feel valued and receive support in their role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff morale varies across the homes. Feedback from surveys submitted to the regulator highlights concern about poor leadership and a lack of communication. This has led to several staff leaving the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Supervision is not being conducted in line with the organisation’s own policies and procedures. There are limited opportunities for staff to critically reflect on their practice and development needs, as well as for managers to assess staff performance and continued suitability. When concerns about staff practice are identified, the registered manager fails to manage this appropriately, allowing poor practice to continue. Leaders and managers have not met several of the requirements from the previous visit. This does not demonstrate that improvements have been made to the quality of care that children receive. Inspection report for children's home: 2689047 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 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;

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Requirement Due date

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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manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iv)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement has not been previously met and therefore is restated. 5 January 2025 Inspection report for children's home: 2689047 7 *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

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 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; and

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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)(a)(c)(d)(e)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement has not been previously met and therefore is restated. 5 January 2025

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The care planning standard is that children—

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

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have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— 5 January 2025 Inspection report for children's home: 2689047 8 that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

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

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This specifically relates to ensuring all children have all required local authority documents in place on arrival.

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children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (1)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that all locks are removed in the properties to allow children full access to all parts of the home. 5 January 2025

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The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 5 January 2025

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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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the name of the child; 5 January 2025 Inspection report for children's home: 2689047 9 details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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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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has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to restraint practices being proportionate, necessary and recorded fully in line with regulation.

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The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there; 5 January 2025 Inspection report for children's home: 2689047 10 a child protection enquiry involving a child —

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concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that the regulator is notified of all serious incidents and that these are sent in a timely way.

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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.

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In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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the quality of care provided for children;

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the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

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 report").

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)(3) (4)(a)) 5 January 2025

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report for children's home: 2689047 11

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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: 2689047 12

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: A Wilderness Way Limited

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Inspectors

Judith Birchall, Social Care Inspector Lisa Summers, His Majesty Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2689047 13 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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