Wick children's care home – Avonlea – closed this week
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Highland Council has confirmed that Avonlea – opened in Wick at a cost of £1.2 million eight years ago – has now been closed.
A council spokesman stated: "There continues to be careful planning for each child and those young adults involved."
He added that no further comments would be made on the situation.
A young adult resident told the Caithness Courier she had been allowed to continue to use the service until January 6, giving time to get furnishings for her own place.
Describing the whole process as "shambolic", she said: "I don’t see how losing more services is beneficial to Caithness in any which way – Highland has a higher than average number of young people in residential care, but there is a severe lack of foster carers in the area.
"The effect this decision has on us who lived at the service is great, but the greater effect is yet to come. If they now aren’t going to be providing outreach services for early intervention, what happens to all of the future young people that require to be cared for?"
She added: "If they continue to close residential homes in the Highlands and the need for care continues, but it isn’t available – what do they do then? Go back to sending young people out of the area?"
The residents were informed on December 6 that Avonlea in West Banks Avenue would be closing on Friday, December 16, however, the home stayed open as normal last weekend, closing on Monday this week. They were told they would be provided with aftercare support from the same staff up until March 12, 2023.
The council was served with an improvement notice by the Care Inspectorate on November 28, which gave them two weeks to make "significant improvement in provision of the service" or its registration of the facility would be cancelled. On the Care Inspectorate website Avonlea is now noted as a cancelled service.
Earlier this month a bitter dispute erupted at a council meeting in Inverness over accusations that members were not being told everything about the timing of the closure.
Recriminations over the issue were so severe that it provoked the resignation from the Conservative party of the former group leader, Wick and East Caithness ward councillor Andrew Jarvie, who said he could no longer do his job.
Read more: Councillor Andrew Jarvie quits Conservative group over Wick care home row
Wick care home, opened eight years ago at a cost of £1.2 million, could close by Christmas
Avonlea users still waiting for clarity on what 'temporarily vacated' will mean
