Services

Every visit covers the two questions the regulations put to the independent person: are children being effectively safeguarded, and does the conduct of the home promote their wellbeing?

• Conversations with children and young people, in private where they want that
• Conversations with staff on shift and with the registered manager
• Review of key records: incidents, missing episodes, restraint, complaints, medication, sanctions and rewards
• Walk round the building, inside and out
• Progress check on recommendations from the previous report
• Written report to the registered person, with a copy for Ofsted and placing authorities as the regulations require

Visits can be announced or unannounced. Most homes ask for a mix across the year.

If you are opening a home, we can visit before your first child arrives. That gives you a baseline report, a fresh pair of eyes on policies and the building, and a visitor who already knows the home when the monthly cycle begins.

Sometimes a home needs a deeper look at one area. We can shape a visit around a particular theme while still meeting the Regulation 44 requirements, for example:

• Safeguarding culture and how children raise concerns
• Missing from care and return home interviews
• Use of physical intervention and de-escalation
• Education, health and preparation for independence
• How the home has responded to an Ofsted requirement or recommendation

For providers with more than one home, we can produce a quarterly summary across your homes: common themes, where recommendations are being closed quickly, and where the same issue keeps coming back. Useful for Responsible Individuals and boards.