Agenda item

The Head of Service – Futures For Families will provide a presentation on the Regulation 44 report.

The Head of service provided an update on Children’s Home Regulations 2015.

Regulation 44 visits are when an Independent Person visits a children’s residential home on a monthly basis. It is the role of the Regulation 44 Visitor to write a report that talks about how the home is being run. The person checks that the children are being kept safe and how well their wellbeing is being promoted. This means that they need to check that the rules that the children’shomes have to follow (The Children’s Homes Regulations) are being done.

This includes making sure that the wishes and feelings of the children in the home are being listened to and that there are meetings happening in the home for them to have their say.

The Regulation 44 visitor does not have to say if they are visiting and may come “unannounced” 

They will look at the files of the children who live in the home. They will need to check they

have the child’s permission to do this as well as the permission from the social worker.

The visitor will also look around the home to check that it is a safe place to live and that

there are fire alarms and extinguishers in place. They will also make sure it is decorated 

well and that the children and young people have comfortable bedrooms and places to relax

The visitor will also ask to speak to the children and young people, on their own if they want

to find out if they are happy living in the home and the things that are written in their files are

happening. Since Covid the visits have been a virtual tour of the homes.

The Head of Service advised that there is a focus and the Regulation 44 visitor will look at 9 aspect:

• The quality and purpose of care standard (see regulation 6)
• The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard (see regulation 7)
• The education standard (see regulation 8)
• The enjoyment and achievement standard (see regulation 9)
• The health and well-being standard (see regulation 10)
• The positive relationships standard (see regulation 11)
• The protection of children standard (see regulation 12)
• The leadership and management standard (see regulation 13)
• The care planning standard (see regulation 14)

There are very few recommendations from Regulation 44, however since April 2020 there have been two recommendations which related to a young person with behavioural issues and the other with substance misuse issues:

Recommendation - Care team meeting to explore D2 and the approach in relation to police involvement.

Recommendation - consider how often staff should discuss the option of CAMHS and substance misuse support with D1 and to evidence these discussions.

The Head of Service further went on to explain some of the positive feedback received from social workers and young people. One that the Board noted was that from a Child who outlined: “I feel safe and enjoy the activities that we do”.

The Manager finally outlined that the presentation did not fully capture the essence of Regulation 44 reports, which are 24 pages long and go into depth about the services offered to young people. It was therefore recommended that Regulation 44 reports are presented to Corporate Parenting Panel on a Monthly basis. This would allow for scrutiny and discussions to be held surrounding recommendations and good practice examples.

Agreed-

·         That the information be noted

·         That the Regulation 44 reports are presented to Corporate Parenting Panel on a Monthly basis. This will allow for scrutiny and discussions to be held surrounding recommendations and good practice examples.