Visitors to the Home

Visitors to the Home may fall into several categories and can include social workers; parents / carers and relatives or friends of children; prospective employees; inspectors; neighbours or maintenance workers, delivery drivers, meter readers etc.

Adults should be vigilant when allowing visitors into the Home, ensuring identification is always authenticated and the Visitors log is completed and verified on arrival and departure. If the visitor is unable to prove their identity, the manager must be consulted and give approval before contact is permitted. 

Access will and can be refused if an adult is unable to verify the identity of the visitor.

The following applies to all visitors who are likely to remain in the Home or come into contact with children:

• Visits should normally be planned in advance and agreed by the manager or adults (e.g. for social worker visits). Visits to children by parents, relatives and friends must be planned as set out in Section 2, Parents, Relatives and Friends. As part of the placement planning process, a risk assessment must be undertaken in relation to contact with family and friends;
• Visitors should be welcomed by the adults on duty, who should act as a reference person for them during visit. The adults should ensure that the visitor's identity is authenticated as described above;
• The visitor should be briefed on practical matters such as fire precautions, the location of toilets, mealtimes, etc.
• Any regular visitors (such as contractors or maintenance workers) who have not had Disclosure and Barring Service Checks must not be left alone with a child at any point;
• The visit must be recorded in the individual child’s Daily Record.

Any visits between children and their parents, siblings, relatives or friends should be consistent with arrangements outlined in the child’s Care Plan.

Adults should take reasonable precautions to prove the identity of parents, relatives or friends before entering the Home. If the person is unable to do so or there is any doubt or concerns on the part of the adults, they may not come into the Home and should be politely referred to a manager.

See also Contact with Parents/Carers, Siblings and Others Procedure.

See: Section 1, General.

Before contractors are permitted to undertake work in the Home, the manager must ensure that they are properly briefed on the purpose and function of the Home, and that any parameters are agreed, preferably in writing e.g. which parts of the Home they may access, safe management of tools/equipment.

Adults must ask the visitor to prove their identity before entering the Home. If the person is unable to do so or there is any doubt or concerns on the part of the adults, they may not come into the Home and should be politely referred to a manager.

Under no circumstances may contractors have unsupervised contact with children.

See: Section 1, General.

Independent Visitors or Advocates who are likely to require unsupervised contact with children must firstly satisfy the manager of the Home that they have up to date Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service Checks.

Social workers, the police and representatives of Regulatory Authority will not be required to provide details of Disclosure and Barring Service Checks.

Should such visitors require unsupervised contact with children, this is acceptable but they will be encourage to complete there visit in a communal area within the home or outside of the property.

See: Section 1, General.

Adults and children not working/living at the Home must be treated as visitors, their arrival and departure must be recorded in the Daily record and Visitors log.  

On the rare occasion that family members of employees visit the Home, they must not be allowed to have unsupervised contact with any children and minimal access to the home is encouraged. Approval from the Registered Manager is required before this takes place.

It is understood that neighbours may, at times, have unsupervised contact with the children.

• Where possible the locations of the Homes is chosen to ensure that any adverse impact on local residents is minimised but, where this is not possible, physical measures are taken such as the erection of substantial fences or the double glazing of windows from which a noise nuisance might emanate;
• The Home should discourage behaviour patterns, which are likely to cause difficulties e.g. noisy activities or loud music in close proximity to neighbours' property;
• In new locations, contact should be made with neighbours at the earliest opportunity and regular contact after that should be maintained. All efforts should be made to build up goodwill and understanding as they are of assistance if difficulties do arise;
• Neighbours should be given practical advice on dealing with our children which might include not inviting them into their homes, not lending money or offering cigarettes, etc.

If an incident occurs, it must be taken seriously. All phone calls or visits should be dealt with calmly and politely, even if aggressive. A manager should call back as soon as possible and if at all possible, arrange a visit to the neighbour. If the neighbour wishes to make a complaint, the manager should refer to the relevant Complaints Procedure.

If a complaint is made by a neighbour to an adult, then this complaint should be communicated to the home manager. The home manager will liaise with the neighbour in question and an update from the outcome of this complaint should be communicated to the responsible individual. A detailed chronology should be created and stored securely for future reference.