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| Updated Chapters | |
| Chapter Title | Details |
| Safe Use of the Internet, Social Media and Photographs | This chapter has been refreshed and additional links have been added into Further Information. |
| Female Genital Mutilation | A new Section 8, Other Harmful Practices has been added. The Health and Care Act 2022 has made it illegal to carry out, offer or aid and abet virginity testing or hymenoplasty in any part of the UK. It is also illegal for UK nationals and residents to do these things outside the UK. Information has also been added on Breast Flattening which is an offence as set out in CPS So-Called Honour-Based Abuse Legal Guidance. |
| Drugs and Substance Misuse | Information has been added to reflect the reclassification of nitrous oxide as a Class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (as amended). |
| Smoking and Alcohol | This chapter has been refreshed. |
| Leadership and Management | Section 2.2, Appointment of Manager has been updated in line with updated Ofsted Guidance - Social Care Common Inspection Framework: Children's Homes. |
| Staffing and Safe Recruitment | New subsections 2.8, Prospective Staff Spending Time in the Home and 2.9, Carrying Out Interviews have been added in line with updated Ofsted guidance. |
| Preparation for Leaving Care - Leaving the Home | A link to Ofsted Guidance Children’s Homes that Provide Care and Accommodation for Adults has been added into Relevant Guidance. |
| Next update: December 2024 |
| Updated Chapters | |
| Chapter Title | Details |
| Providing Personalised Care | This chapter has been refreshed. |
| Equality and Diversity | This chapter has been refreshed. |
| Case Recording Policy and Staff Guidance | This chapter has been updated in relation to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. |
| Safe Use of the Internet, Social Media and Photographs | This chapter has been refreshed. |
| Advocacy, Independent Visitors and Independent Reviewing Officers | This chapter has been refreshed. |
| Education | This chapter has been refreshed. |
| Leisure and Activities | This chapter has been refreshed. |
| Health Care Assessments and Plans | Information in relation to allergies has been added into Section 3, Health Care Plans. |
| Health and Wellbeing, Health Notifications and Access to Services | This chapter has been refreshed. |
| Provision and Preparation of Meals | Information in relation to allergies has been added into Section 2, Responsibility and Risk Assessments. |
| First Aid, Household Remedies and Medication | This chapter has been amended in line with revised Keeping Children Safe in Education. A new Section 2, The Difference Between an Allegation of Harm and a Concern has also been added. |
| Use of Restraint and Physical Intervention | This chapter has been refreshed. |
| Bullying | This chapter has been refreshed. |
| Positive Relationships and Behaviour Management | This chapter has been refreshed. |
| Safeguarding Children and Young People and Referring Safeguarding Concerns | This chapter has been refreshed. |
| Allegations Against Staff and Volunteers | A new Section 2, Allergies has been added. |
| Self Harm | This chapter has been amended to include a link to Self-harm: Assessment, Management and Preventing Recurrence NICE Guidance in Further Information. |
| Surveillance and Monitoring | This chapter has been refreshed. |
| Staff Supervision and Appraisal | This chapter has been refreshed. |
| Care and Placement Planning | This chapter has been refreshed. |
| Looked After Reviews and Disruption Meetings | This chapter has been refreshed. |
| New Chapters and Features | |
| Chapter Title | Details |
| Supporting Children and Young People with Disabilities | This chapter has been added. |
| Staffing and Safe Recruitment | This chapter has been added. |
| Updated Chapters | |
| Chapter Title | Details |
| Contact with Parents and Siblings | Section 2, Supervised and Unsupervised Contact has been updated to reflect a finding by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman that the supervisor's observations of the contact must be clearly recorded in the child's record and shared with the parents within 3 months of the visit. |
| Searching Children/Bedrooms | This chapter has been updated. |
| New Chapters and Features | |
| Chapter Title | Details |
| Recording and Reporting of Accidents | This chapter has been added. |
| Female Genital Mutilation | This chapter has been added. |
| Health and Safety | This chapter has been added. |
| Risk Assessment and Planning | This chapter has been added. |
| Leadership and Management | This chapter has been added. |
| Updated Chapters | |
| Chapter Title | Details |
| Staying in Touch and the Safe Use of the Internet and Social Media | A link has been added to a toolkit produced by Childnet to support parents and carers with supporting young people with technology. |
| Education | This chapter has been amended throughout to reflect Keeping Children Safe in Education Statutory Guidance and the outcome of Ofsted’s thematic report, Review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges. Please see Section 5, Safeguarding in Schools. New Sections 2.1, Placing the Child and Section 2.2, The Role of the Virtual Head (VSH) have been added and additional material has enhanced Section 2.3, Personal Education Plans (PEPs). Section 5, Safeguarding in Schools has been updated to reflect the importance of sharing allegations or concerns about an adult’s behaviour as set out in Keeping Children Safe in Education. |
| Use of Restraint and Physical Intervention | A link has been added to Ofsted guidance, Positive Environments Where Children Can Flourish. |
| Countering Bullying and Peer Abuse | This chapter has been amended to reflect Keeping Children Safe in Education Statutory Guidance, the outcome of Ofsted’s thematic report, Review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges and the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. See Section 2, Definition of Bullying and Peer Abuse and Section 3, Responding to Bullying. |
| Allegations Against Staff and Volunteers | KCSIE highlights the importance of sharing and responding to any concerns, about the behaviour of an adult who works with children, no matter how small. This chapter has been revised to also consider low level concerns, with a new section added in relation to the differences between an ‘allegation’ and a concern. |
| Referrals, Placements and Admissions | This chapter has been amended to note the importance of a child’s belonging’s being transferred in appropriate luggage and to add a link to the NYAS ‘My Things Matter’ Report – support and respect care-experienced children and their belongings when they move (see Section 4, Planning). |
| Moving to Another Placement | This chapter has been amended to add a link to the NYAS ‘My Things Matter’ Report – support and respect care-experienced children and their belongings when they move (see Section 2, Arrangements for the Transfer or Discharge). |
| Updated Chapters | |
| Chapter Title | Details |
| Residential Child Care - Our Ethos and Key Principles | This chapter has been given a general refresh. |
| Staying in Touch and the Safe Use of the Internet and Social Media | Links have been added to the NSPCC Report Remove Tool and the UK Council for Internet Safety (UKCIS) Digital Passport. |
| Staff Qualifications and Employment Checks | A note has been added regarding the checks which employers must carry out to ensure that any person applying to work in the home has the right to work in the UK. See Section 3, Safe Recruitment and Employment Checks. |
| Updated Chapters | |
| Chapter Title | Details |
| Blood Borne Viruses (BBVs) | The guidance in this chapter has been reviewed and updated as required. |
| Recognising Abuse and Neglect | This guidance has been updated to reflect changes from the revised statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children. |
| Referring Safeguarding Concerns | This chapter has been updated to reflect changes from the revised Working Together to Safeguard Children. |
| Allegations Against Staff and Volunteers | A fourth bullet point has been added into Section1, Introduction to reflect the revised guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children. The new bullet point means this procedure now also covers situations where an individual has behaved or may have behaved in a way that indicates they may not be suitable to work with children. This is to capture concerns around transferable risk; for example where a person who works in the home is involved in a domestic abuse incident and this may have implications for their suitability to work with children. |
| Preparation for Leaving Care - Leaving the Home | A link to a DfE and MHCLG publication on Joint Housing Protocols for Care Leavers: Good Practice Advice has been added into the relevant information section. |
| New Chapters and Features | |
| Chapter Title | Details |
| Child Criminal Exploitation and County Lines | This new guidance provides information on Child Criminal Exploitation, including county lines. It describes the signs and indicators that children are being exploited, and offers guidance for staff in Children's Homes on how they can respond to keep children safe from harm linked to criminal exploitation. |
| Updated Chapters | |
| Chapter Title | Details |
| Notification of Serious Events | This procedure has been updated to reflect the latest Ofsted guidance for social care providers on the types of incident which they consider to be serious, and which therefore will require notification to the regulatory authority. New sections on the quality of notifications and learning from notifications have been added. |
| Staff Qualifications and Employment Checks | This guidance has been reviewed throughout and updated as required. Section 3, Safe Recruitment and Employment Checks is new. |
| New Chapters and Features | |
| Chapter Title | Details |
| Surveillance and Monitoring | This new chapter provides guidance on the use of surveillance and monitoring equipment in Children's Homes. It is based on information published by Ofsted. |
| Updated Chapters | |
| Chapter Title | Details |
| Allegations Against Staff and Volunteers | This guidance has been reviewed throughout and updated as required. |
| Updated Chapters | |
| Chapter Title | Details |
| Recognising Abuse and Neglect | Section 6, Sexual Abuse and Section 8, Bullying (including Online/Cyberbullying) have been reviewed and completely updated. |
| Notification of Serious Events | This procedure has been reviewed throughout and extensively updated as required to reflect the latest advice from Ofsted in relation to the notification of serious events. |
| Organisational Structure and Manager Contacts | This information has been reviewed locally and updated as required. |
| Care and Placement Plans Guidance | This guidance has been updated throughout. Information in relation to Pathway Plans has been updated to reflect that care leavers can request support from local authorities up to the age of 25 years. |
| Moving to Another Placement | This guidance has been reviewed throughout and updated as required. Section 2, Arrangements for the Transfer or Discharge has been updated to include a note on the actions placing authorities are required to undertake if a young person is moving from the home into an unregulated placement. |
| Updated Chapters | |
| Chapter Title | Details |
| Case Recording Policy and Staff Guidance | Section 1, Records Must be Kept on All Children has been updated to include comments made in a recent Family Court case about best practice in case recording / note taking; practitioners must make contemporaneous notes which form a coherent, contemporaneous record. The notes should be legible, signed and dated and record persons present during the meeting/conversation in question. The notes should be detailed and accurately attribute descriptions, actions and views etc. In some instances, sketches/diagrams may be helpful in establishing the veracity of explanations given, e.g. with regard to how injuries were sustained, etc. Section 10, Records Must be Written Clearly using Plain Language and Avoid Prejudice has also been updated to remind all staff that thought should be given to the use of language in children’s case records. A link has been added to Language that Cares a publication by TACT which summarises research with young people about the use of language by professionals and contains a suggested list of terms / vocabulary to help ensure that the language used by practitioners is accessible, clear and sensitive to young people. |
| Education | This guidance has been updated to reflect amendments introduced by the Children and Social Work Act 2017 and associated statutory guidance. These changes relate to the status of ‘Previously Looked After Children ’. A Previously Looked After Child is one who is no longer looked after in England and Wales because they are the subject of an Adoption, Special Guardianship or Child Arrangements Order which includes arrangements relating to with whom the child is to live, or when the child is to live with any person, or has been adopted from ‘state care’ outside England and Wales. A new Section 5, Safeguarding in School has been incorporated. |
| Preparation for Leaving Care - Leaving the Home | This guidance has been reviewed and updated throughout to reflect the Children and Social Work Act and recent Department for Education publications on Corporate Parenting Principles and extending Personal Adviser support. |
| Updated Chapters | |
| Chapter Title | Details |
| Information Sharing and Confidentiality | This guidance has been reviewed throughout to reflect the Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). |
| Case Recording Policy and Staff Guidance | This guidance has been reviewed and updated following publication of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018. |
| Access to Records | This guidance has been reviewed throughout to reflect the Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). |
