Children's Home Policies and Procedures: The Complete Guide

Search online for "what policies do I need to open a children's home?" and you will quickly find packages containing 40, 60, 80 or more policies. These may contain useful documents, but there is an important question to ask: which of those policies are actually required by regulation?

"Useful policy to have" is not the same thing as "the Children's Homes Regulations require a standalone policy with this exact title." The Regulations explicitly require policies in a number of important areas, including protection from abuse or neglect, missing children, prevention of bullying and behaviour management. Regulation 39 separately requires a procedure for considering complaints.

Ofsted's current registration guidance then specifically requires applicants to submit a missing child policy, positive behaviour support policy, safeguarding policy, prevention of bullying policy, and complaints procedure alongside other application documents.

That gives a much better starting point than simply buying a generic policy pack.

This distinction can save providers from creating huge amounts of unnecessary paperwork.

What policies are actually for

A useful policy should explain what we believe or require, and how we approach this issue. A procedure then explains what somebody actually does.

For example: a policy says children should be protected when they go missing and staff should respond according to the child's individual vulnerabilities. A procedure says if a child is missing, step one is check known locations, step two is contact the relevant people, step three is notify the appropriate authority, and so on.

Some organisations combine these into one document. That is fine. The Regulations generally care much more about whether the home has and implements the required arrangements than whether the document has a particular corporate template.

The five core policies required with the SC1 application

These are not invented best practice policies. They come directly from the Regulations and current Ofsted registration requirements.

Safeguarding and missing children policies

Regulation 34 requires the registered person to prepare and implement a policy intended to safeguard children accommodated in the home from abuse or neglect. The DfE statutory guide explains that the home's protection policies should set out safeguarding arrangements, clear referral procedures and missing-child arrangements. It also says the child-protection policy should address allegations involving staff, online safety and risks relating to self-harm and suicide.

Ofsted's current registration guidance says the safeguarding policy should reflect relevant local authority safeguarding and child-protection protocols and explain how the home works with the placing authority where concerns arise.

Name the safeguarding responsibilities clearly. Current Ofsted registration guidance specifically asks who the safeguarding lead is and how safeguarding responsibilities are allocated. The policy should identify the DSL, deputies, and the escalation route.

Local protocols matter. The safeguarding policy must reflect the host local authority's safeguarding arrangements, not a generic template. If the local authority has a specific missing child protocol, the home's missing policy should align with it.

A good missing child policy needs individualisation. It should not just describe the notification process. It should explain how the home assesses individual risk, what triggers a search, who is involved, and how the home works with police and the placing authority. See our guide to missing from care for the full framework.

Behaviour, bullying and complaints policies

Positive behaviour support policy

Regulation 35 requires the registered person to prepare and implement a behaviour management policy. The DfE statutory guide says this should include the home's approach to promoting positive behaviour, how sanctions and rewards are used, arrangements for restraint and restrictive practice, and how children are involved in understanding the approach.

A behaviour policy should cover: the home's approach to promoting positive behaviour; how behaviour is understood as communication; de-escalation; the use of sanctions and rewards; restraint and restrictive practice (including when it is and is not used); staff training; and how children are supported to understand the approach. See our guides to positive behaviour support and sanctions and consequences for the full framework.

Prevention of bullying policy

Regulation 34 requires a policy on the prevention of bullying. Bullying is wider than physical intimidation. It includes verbal, relational, online and prejudice-based bullying, and bullying between children, between children and staff, and from outside the home. The policy should address prevention, response, support for victims, and work with those who bully.

Complaints procedure

Regulation 39 requires a procedure for considering complaints. The DfE statutory guide says children should understand the complaints system and have access to independent advocacy. The procedure should cover how complaints are made, received, investigated, responded to, and escalated, and how children are supported through the process. See our guide to complaints and advocacy for the full framework.

Children should understand the complaints system. A complaints procedure that only works on paper is not a complaints procedure. The Children's Guide should explain it in a way children can actually use.

The four-level policy framework

Beyond the five core policies, the Regulations contain many requirements for arrangements, procedures, records, assessments, plans and management systems that need to operate reliably. Some providers create standalone policies for these areas. Others incorporate several into broader documents. The title is less important than making sure the regulatory duty is actually covered.

Level 1 covers the explicit regulatory policies: safeguarding, missing child, prevention of bullying, behaviour management, and complaints. Level 2 covers the same core five documents required at registration, plus other non-policy documents including the Statement of Purpose, Children's Guide, location assessment, financial viability evidence, planning evidence and insurance evidence. Do not confuse required registration documents with policies: they are overlapping lists, but not the same thing.

Level 3 covers areas where the law requires the home to do something properly, but does not necessarily say you must create a standalone policy called X. For example, Regulation 32 requires staff to be recruited using procedures designed to ensure children's safety. A provider might have a safer recruitment policy, or combine this within a recruitment and selection policy. The important requirement is that recruitment actually meets Regulation 32.

Level 3: Recruitment, workforce and operational procedures

These are areas where a clear procedure is essential, even if the Regulations do not require a standalone policy with a specific title.

Safer recruitment

A safer recruitment procedure should address: how identity is verified, how employment history and gaps are explored, what references are obtained and verified, who needs which DBS check, how claimed qualifications are verified, how suitability to work with children is tested at interview, how concerning discrepancies are handled, and what evidence is retained. See our guide to safer recruitment for the full process.

Workforce plan

The DfE statutory guide says the registered person should have a workforce plan addressing the workforce requirements associated with the Statement of Purpose. It should cover management and staffing structure, staff experience and qualifications, training requirements, induction, probation, core training, poor-performance management, supervision arrangements and continuing professional development. The workforce plan is a statutory-guidance expectation, not a regulatory policy requirement. See our guide to staffing ratios, rotas and qualifications.

Medicines

Regulation 23 requires the registered person to ensure the proper arrangements are made for the control, storage and administration of medicines within the home. A medicines procedure should cover how medicines are stored, who can administer them, how they are recorded, how errors are managed, and how controlled drugs are handled. See our guide to medication management.

Health and safety

A health and safety procedure should cover risk assessments, COSHH, accident reporting, maintenance, and the general safety of the premises. This is a wider legal duty, not a specific Children's Homes Regulations policy requirement.

Fire safety

Regulation 25 requires adequate precautions against fire. A fire safety procedure should cover detection, escape routes, evacuation, staff training, fire drills and risk assessment. See our guide to fire safety and Regulation 25.

Supervision and appraisal

The DfE statutory guide expects regular supervision and appraisal. A supervision procedure should cover frequency, content, recording, and how supervision links to training and performance management.

Training and development

A training procedure should cover induction, core training, mandatory training (safeguarding, first aid, etc.), continuing professional development, and how training needs are identified and recorded.

Level 3: Safeguarding-specific procedures

These procedures sit underneath or alongside the safeguarding policy and address specific safeguarding risks.

• Whistleblowing: how staff can raise concerns about practice, and how those concerns are handled. The statutory guide and wider employment framework create this expectation.
• Allegations against staff: how allegations are managed, the role of the LADO, and the interface with Regulation 40 notifications. See our guide to allegations, LADO and whistleblowing.
• Online safety: how children's online access is managed, risks are assessed, and incidents are responded to. The statutory safeguarding guide expects this within the safeguarding framework.
• Self-harm and suicide: how risks are identified, assessed and responded to. The statutory safeguarding guide expects this within the child-protection policy.
• Search procedures: how and when searches are conducted, the legal basis, and how children's privacy and dignity are protected. See our guide to privacy, bedrooms and searches.
• Exploitation: how the home identifies and responds to exploitation risks, including CSE and criminal exploitation. This is model-dependent: a home specialising in exploitation will need a far more detailed procedure than a home that does not.
• Substance misuse: how the home responds to substance misuse, including prevention, response and support. This is model-dependent.

Level 3: Care, rights and records procedures

• Admissions and matching: how placements are considered, how matching is assessed, and how admissions are managed. See our guide to admissions and discharges.
• Care planning: how care plans and placement plans are developed and reviewed. See our guide to care planning under Regulation 14.
• Contact with family and friends: how contact is arranged, risk-assessed and supported. See our guide to contact and communication.
• Children's rights and participation: how children are involved in decisions about their care and the running of the home. See our guide to views, wishes and feelings under Regulation 7.
• Equality, diversity and anti-discriminatory practice: how the home promotes equality and responds to discrimination. This is a wider public-sector equality duty, not a specific Children's Homes Regulations policy requirement.
• Notifications (Regulation 40): how and when the home notifies Ofsted of events. See our guide to Regulation 40 notifications.
• Records and record keeping: how records are created, stored, retained and shared. See our guide to children's records and Regulation 36.
• Confidentiality and information sharing: how information is handled, when it is shared, and the legal basis. This sits within wider data protection law.
• Monitoring, surveillance and technology: how CCTV and other monitoring is used, the legal basis, and how privacy is protected. See our guide to monitoring, surveillance and CCTV.
• Staff conduct or code of conduct: the standards expected of staff, and how breaches are managed.

Policy design and your Statement of Purpose

Your Statement of Purpose describes the home's model of care, the children it supports, and the services it provides. Policies should be consistent with that. If the Statement of Purpose says the home cares for children aged 10 to 17, the missing child policy should not refer to young people aged 16 to 18.

Avoid duplicate policies. If the safeguarding policy covers online safety, you do not need a separate online safety policy unless the home's model requires more detail. If the behaviour policy covers restraint, you do not need a separate restraint policy unless the home's model requires it. Duplicating policies creates inconsistency and makes review harder.

Should policies quote regulations? Some providers include the full text of the relevant regulation. Others simply reference it. What matters is that staff understand what the policy requires them to do, not whether the policy reproduces the legal text.

Writing and managing good policies

Use plain English. Policies written in dense legal language are less likely to be read, understood and followed. Staff need access to policies, and they should not sign policies they have not understood.

Policies should answer real scenarios. A policy that says "staff will respond appropriately" does not help. A policy that says "if a child goes missing, the staff member on shift will check known locations, contact the manager, and notify the police and placing authority within the timescales set out in the local missing child protocol" does help.

Every policy should have a named policy owner, a review date, and version control. Old policies should be archived, not destroyed. Do not quietly change policies after incidents: if a policy is changed following a serious incident, the change and the reason for it should be documented.

Policy is not the same as training. A policy tells staff what to do. Training helps them develop the skills to do it. Both are needed. Policy is not the same as practice. A perfect policy cannot rescue unsafe practice. If Ofsted asked three staff members what to do when a child goes missing, would they all give broadly the same answer? If not, the problem is bigger than the wording of the policy.

The CHH Policy Matrix

The matrix below sets out the policy framework, the regulatory basis, whether the document is currently required with the SC1 application, and the priority or urgency. Not every row is a mandatory policy: the label matters.

The Hub uses three labels to keep this trustworthy: a regulatory label for policies the Regulations explicitly require, an Ofsted label for documents currently required at registration, and a Hub label for recommended operational documents.

The CHH Policy Audit and final test

Common policy mistakes include: buying a generic pack and not adapting it; creating policies that contradict the Statement of Purpose; duplicating policies so the same issue is covered differently in two places; writing policies in language staff cannot follow; never reviewing policies; quietly changing policies after incidents; and assuming a policy on the shelf means the practice is safe.

Before registration, you should be able to answer: