4.7.12 Guidance on Risk Assessing Bedroom Arrangements for Looked After Children Living in Foster Care |
Contents
1. Practice Issue
There are several foster carer homes where looked after children have bedrooms that are not on the same floor level as the foster carers. There are various permutations of this arrangement and they arise due to loft extensions, garage conversions and the apparent trend towards building houses and apartments with three or more floor levels. Where children and young people are accommodated in these circumstances, this may give rise to concerns about health and safety due to increased risks from hazards in the home and from the potential reduction in supervision and monitoring, by the foster carer, of the children, especially during the night time.
There may also be occasions where unrelated children may be sharing bedrooms and where a risk assessment needs to be undertaken to identify any potential hazards arising from this arrangement either in the foster carer's home or indeed when the carer is proposing taking the children of the household away on holiday
In which case, in addition to sleeping arrangements in a foster carer's home being assessed and recorded as appropriate, an assessment of the sleeping arrangements on family holidays, whether this be camping, rented accommodation, hotels, caravans or second homes, must also occur.
When arranging holidays of any duration, an overnight stay, a weekend or longer, consideration must be given by foster carers to the sleeping arrangements and the management of any risk and will necessitate a review of the bedroom sharing risk assessment.
2. Good Practice Guidance
The National Minimum Standards (NMS) relevant to this issue are as follows:
NMS 10.6;
In the foster home, each child over the age of three should have their own bedroom. If this is not possible, the sharing of a bedroom is agreed by each child's responsible authority and each child has their own area within the bedroom. Before seeking agreement for the sharing of a bedroom, the fostering service provider takes into account any potential for bullying, any history of abusive behaviour, the wishes of the children concerned and all other pertinent facts. The decision making process and outcome of the assessment are recorded in writing where bedroom sharing is agreed.
NMS 4.1;
Children's safety and welfare is promoted in all fostering placements. Children are protected from abuse and other forms of significant harm (e.g. sexual or labour exploitation)
NMS 4.6;
Refers to foster carers being trained in appropriate safe care practice, including skills to care for children who have been abused.
NMS 3.9;
Each foster carer is aware of all the necessary information available to the Fostering Service about a child's circumstances, including any significant recent events, to help the foster carer understand and predict the child's needs and behaviours and support the child within their household. The Fostering Service follows up with the responsible authority where all such necessary information has not been provided by the authority.
NMS 11.2;
Children are carefully matched to a foster placement. Foster carers have full information about the child as set out above.
NMS 15.2;
...The Fostering Service follows up with the responsible authority any gaps in the information provided to them on the child or the child's family, which may hinder the foster carer in providing a safe caring environment that meets the needs of the child and enables them to keep the child, other children in the fostering household and the foster carer safe.
3. Procedure
It is proposed that in every circumstance where children and young people have a bedroom that is not on the same floor level as the carer, this arrangement can only commence, or continue, following consideration of a written risk assessment.
In general, the most hazardous of the arrangements are those where the foster carer is sleeping on a floor level that is above the looked after child and especially if the child is on the ground floor of the house with easy access to a kitchen, external doors and other potentially hazardous areas of the home. These situations should be discouraged as longer term bedroom arrangements for looked after children. However, there may be circumstances involving older mature young people where this arrangement may be acceptable, but all decisions concerning this issue should be determined by a risk assessment and consensus between every one involved and not least the child/young person and their social worker.
4. Risk Assessments
The Health and Safety Executive describes a risk assessment as follows:
A risk assessment is simply a careful examination of what (in your work) could cause harm to people, so that you can weigh up whether or not you have taken enough precautions or should do more to prevent harm. Workers and others have a right to be protected from harm caused by a failure to take reasonable control measures.
Here perhaps the key expression is "reasonable control measures"
In general there are five elements to a simple risk assessment, as follows:
- Identify the hazards;
- Decide who might be harmed and how;
- Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions;
- Record your findings and implement them;
- Review your assessment and update if necessary.
Things that are relevant to each of these elements in this context could be:
Identify hazards
Child:
- Age, development, maturity;
- Disability and mobility;
- How long have they lived in the home and what is their status e.g. permanence, short term?
- Known behaviour, i.e. offending, absconding, bullying and general safeguarding issues especially violence and sexual abuse;
- Health issues which may impact on ability to settle at night time and to remain asleep.
- Does the child need access to a bathroom during the night time?
- If more than one child on the same level how will they be monitored and supervised?
- Are there any risky contacts whereby children could be persuaded to allow access to the home?
Environment:
- Fire escape and fire exit plan;
- Are doors/ windows to the outside of the home to be locked?
- Access to rooms on the same floor as the child, i.e. kitchen, garage and so on;
- Where do pets sleep in relation to the child?
- Stairs;
- Lighting;
- Access to the carers in an emergency.
Decide who might be harmed and how
- Usually the child(ren);
- Foster carers and any other person in the home;
- Members of the public;
- Pets in the home.
Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions
- Ask the social worker for information and their opinion;
- Visit and walk around the home, inspect the accommodation and sleeping arrangements;
- Consider all of the available relevant information and assessments.
Precautions could be;
- To leave a light on at night time;
- Have a written escape plan of which every-one is aware;
- Decide that a room, such as the kitchen may need to be locked so long as it is safe to do this;
- May need to lock away alcohol, car keys, knives (and other sharp implements) and so on.
Record your findings and implement them
See pro forma blow which should be attached to the household Safer Caring Statement.
Review your assessment and update if necessary
- Following any incidents or new information;
- At the time of any household changes, new placements and so on;
- For the annual review.
N.B. In the event that it is considered that any of the risks identified in the risk assessment process are not realistically possible to minimise, then a strategy or planning meeting should be convened to determine whether the placement is to be ended or whether it is possible to provide additional supports that will assist the continuation of placement.
Click here for the Bedroom Sharing Risk Assessment
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