PLEASE NOTE: New Standards Published

April 2011: The Standards no longer apply, Tri.x have published a web enabled version of the new Children’s Homes and Fostering Standards, please follow this link:

www.minimumstandards.org

3. Complaints and Protection	Size:
Complaints and Representation

	OUTCOME Any complaint will be addressed without delay and the complainant is kept informed of progress.
	STANDARD 16
16.1	Children know how and feel able to complain if they are unhappy with any aspect of living in the home. Any complaint is addressed seriously and without delay, and a complaint will be fully responded to within a maximum of 28 days, and children are kept informed of the progress.
16.2	Children, and where appropriate their families, significant others and independent visitors, are provided with information on how to complain, including how they can secure access to an advocate. Where necessary, this access is to an advocate who is suitably skilled (e.g. in signing or in speaking the complainant’s preferred language)
16.3	The home’s complaints procedure:
	enables children, staff, family members and others involved with children of the home outside the home, to make both minor and major complaints precludes any person who is the subject of a formal complaint from taking any responsibility for the consideration of or response to that complaint expressly forbids any reprisals against children or others making a complaint includes provision for both informal attempts, such as negotiation, arbitration and mediation, at resolving the complaint and for the child and any complainant to have the matter pursued further if not satisfied with the proposed informal resolution provides appropriately for the handling of complaints against the manager of the home requires a written record to be made and kept of the person making the complaint, date of the complaint, nature of the complaint, action taken and outcome of the complaint does not restrict the issues they may complain about provides for relevant issues to be referred promptly to other procedures, including the local social services authority where child protection issues are involved provides appropriately for the handling of any complaint made against the registered person of the home is accessible to disabled children in a suitable form enables people other than the child to make complaints on behalf of the child, provided the child consents to this provides for complainants to be kept informed about the progress of their complaints and to be provided with details of the outcome, in an accessible format, at the earliest opportunity.
16.4	There is a procedure for handling external complaints, e.g. those from local shopkeepers, neighbours, the police, etc.
16.5	The registered person has provided the home with a written policy and procedural guidelines on considering and responding to representations and complaints in accordance with legal requirements and relevant government guidance. The policy clearly includes the right and the means for all children placed by an authority to access the complaints procedure of their placing authority, the right of children, parents, staff, others working in the home, and placing authorities to make complaints to the National Care Standards Commission, and details of how they may contact the Commission. The policy is provided in suitable summary or format(s) to children at the home, their parents and placing authorities, and to all staff and others working at the home (any of whom are provided with a copy of the full procedure on request).
16.6	All staff receive training in the complaints procedures covering the following areas:
	what constitutes a complaint what the procedure is for dealing with an informal complaint in the home and how this is recorded to whom a complaint is made outside the hom the procedure to be followed should a complaint not be resolved promptly by informal means, including who should be notified and the keeping of record how the child can be assisted in making a complaint, including situations where the child has a communication impairment.
16.7	The registered person of the home regularly reviews the records of complaints by children or concerning the welfare of children, to check satisfactory operation of the complaints procedure, and to identify both patterns of complaint and action taken on individual complaints. The registered person takes any appropriate action from such a review in relation to the home’s policies and practices, as well as taking any necessary further follow up action in relation to individual cases. [Regulations 24 and 27]