Children's Home run by Milestones Care Homes Ltd in Wirral

Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2483789 1 Registered provider: Milestones Care Homes Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run children’s home is registered to provide care for up to three children. The provider states in its statement of purpose that it provides care for children who may have social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is currently no registered manager in post.

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Information about this children’s home

Date of last inspection: 13 December 2022

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Information about this children’s home

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At these inspections, the inspector evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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’. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2483789 2

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Findings from the inspection

We identified the following serious and widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance inspection:

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Findings from the inspection

 Risk management plans do not provide clear guidance for staff to follow to keep children safe.  Monitoring and oversight of children’s online activities are not sufficiently robust to keep children safe.  Staff do not always take appropriate action to safeguard children following incidents of concern, and concerns had not been shared with relevant professionals.  One child’s access to their bedroom was restricted by staff as a behaviour management strategy.  There is currently no registered manager in post and arrangements to ensure oversight of the day-to-day running of the home are ineffective.

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The care of children

Three children have remained living in the home since the last inspection. They like living in the home and have been supported to develop positive relationships with staff. However, shortfalls in management oversight and a lack of clear guidance for staff limits the progress that children are able to make, and their experiences are varied.

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The care of children

Education is a strength for children living in this home. Children are self-motivated and committed to their own learning. All children are enrolled in full-time education and their attendance is good. Staff liaise with relevant educational professionals to ensure that children’s educational needs are being met.

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The care of children

Since the last inspection, changes have been made to improve the home environment. Thumb turn locks have now been fitted to external doors, meaning that children would be able to leave the home independently in the event of an emergency. One child has also had their bedroom redecorated.

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The care of children

Two children have keys to their bedroom doors and one child does not. It has been common practice in the home for staff to lock one child’s bedroom and prevent them from accessing their room until the child has attended to their personal hygiene. This unnecessarily limits the child’s access to their own safe personal space and differentiates them from other children living in the home. The team had not recognised this as restrictive practice or considered the emotional impact of this behaviour management strategy on the child until it was raised by the inspector. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2483789 3

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The safety of children

Risk management plans do not provide staff with clear information to manage children’s risks safely and effectively. Plans do not include the strategies for staff to follow to keep children safe. This was raised as a requirement at the last inspection and has not been addressed.

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The safety of children

At the last inspection, concerns were raised in relation to the lack of robust measures in place to ensure children’s safety online. Insufficient action has been taken to address these concerns, meaning that children have continued to be at risk of harm. Staff told the inspector that checks were undertaken on one child’s mobile phone due to concerns for their online safety. However, there is no record of these checks having taken place. Furthermore, these measures failed to identify further concerns as the child was able to access the internet via another device that remained unchecked.

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The safety of children

Concerns for children have not been responded to appropriately. Leaders and managers have failed to follow their own child protection procedures or record all relevant information. Medical attention was not sought for a child who had suffered a head injury during an assault in the community. Following another serious incident, there was no evidence that concerns had been shared with a child’s social worker or that the police and other relevant agencies had been informed. This leaves children at risk of significant harm and limits oversight of safeguarding practices in the home by external agencies.

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The safety of children

When children go missing from this home, staff take appropriate action to find them and encourage their return. However, concerns regarding missing information were identified during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

There have been changes to the management arrangements since the last inspection. There is currently no registered manager in post and the interim manager has recently left the organisation. The lack of management oversight has led to ineffective action to address shortfalls in practice and ensure that children’s safety is prioritised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers are not operating the home in a way that is consistent with the aims outlined in the home’s statement of purpose. The inspector found that leaders and managers had failed to ensure that all risks had been suitably assessed, or provide staff with clear strategies to follow to minimise risks to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers do not have consistent oversight of incidents in the home. There is a lack of evaluation when incidents have occurred, and no evidence of the action taken as a result of the incident. It is unclear what understanding leaders and managers have of practice in the home and what improvements are required. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2483789 4 There are shortfalls in the training of staff. Staff have not received training to support them to understand and manage children’s behaviour effectively. Not all staff have had training that is relevant to the specific individual needs of the children living in this home. Training for new staff who join the organisation is not prioritised in a timely way.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Arrangements in place to recruit and induct new staff are poor. One newly recruited, inexperienced member of staff had not received any training prior to working on shift with children living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers have not taken sufficient action to address shortfalls raised at the home’s last inspection. Four requirements were repeated at the home’s last inspection and remain unmet.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/12/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 23/06/2021 Full Good 17/07/2019 Full Good 25/02/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2483789 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, 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

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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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all strategies to minimise risks are recorded in children’s plans.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 14 May 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— 14 May 2023 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2483789 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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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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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

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)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the home has sufficient experienced and qualified staff to care for children, and that there are effective monitoring systems in place to ensure that oversight of all aspects of the day-to-day running of the home is undertaken.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and

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Requirement Due date

is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)(b)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

The provider must ensure that they take swift action to recruit a registered manager. 28 May 2023

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— 28 May 2023 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2483789 7 receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (1)(a) (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensure that the home’s manager receives regular supervision, and that induction activities for new staff are effective.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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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.

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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

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 14 May 2023 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2483789 8 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))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that measures are clearly recorded, and that there is oversight from the registered person to ensure that they are proportionate, monitored for effectiveness, and demonstrate consultation with children.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 28 May 2023

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Requirement Due date

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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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children; 28 May 2023 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2483789 9 The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (2)(a) (5))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that reports include feedback from stakeholders.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)  The registered person should ensure that each child has their own personal space, which will usually be their bedroom. The registered person should ensure that children have a key to their bedroom door. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.18) Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2483789 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Milestones Care Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 32 Fieldway, Maghull, Liverpool, Lancashire L31 5NB

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Inspector

Genevieve O’Reilly, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2483789 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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