Control With Care in Children's Services
Chapter List:
Discipline and control can prove difficult even in the best-run families. Parents may have different values and their approach to given situations inevitably differ.
These issues provide an even more substantial challenge for residential care staff who support children and young people on behalf of Cheshire Social Services.
Many young people have experienced rejection, abuse or loss. They are among the most deprived and disturbed in the community. In these circumstances, exercising effective and caring control is one challenge which can present particular difficulties for professional carers.
In theory, the most effective means of maintaining control is by building sound relationships which help generate a level of mutual respect and encourage young people to develop acceptable responses. In practice, however, there is an inevitable need for some form of practical control.
The aim must be to create an environment which gives a firm structure and sense of order to the lives of these children, in which they can develop and be educated. If that and the associated control and discipline are lacking they are likely to experience further difficulties when they leave care.
In residential homes, practical control is assisted by the use of sanctions. In the interest of both carers and young people concerned, Government regulations require Social Services throughout the UK to provide policy guidelines on the issue of control.
A leaflet like this can only highlight the main points and should be read together with the full guidelines contained in Volume 4 Section 4 Procedure 3 "Control of Children" and the Regulations themselves (Department of Health "National Minimum Standards, Children's Homes Regulations 2001" made under the Care Standards Act 2000).
The regulations make it clear that:
- There are no circumstances under which corporal punishment can be used as an option against children and young people in local authority care.
- Any ‘sanctions’ that are adopted must avoid intimidating, humiliating or frightening the individuals concerned.
- Sanctions, or other measures of control, have to be agreed by the local authority to maintain high standards and consistency.
This leaflet has been produced by Cheshire Social Services to provide a summary of guidance as it applies to Cheshire's residential care centres.
The basis for all good practice is the total and unconditional commitment from carers to those in their care.
These guidelines are not a substitute for good practice. Neither are they intended to impose an inflexible regime of punishment.
They provide a flexible guide to those measures on the control of children, including those children with a disability, which are available to carers in Cheshire.
The response to a particular situation should be appropriate and take full account of the child's individual circumstances, including age, background and understanding.
The purpose of guidelines…
- The guidelines provide a framework within which appropriate measures can be selected and applied. They achieve a number of objectives:
- They build on existing good practice in Cheshire and provide a clear policy statement on how unacceptable behaviour can effectively be managed while avoiding demeaning and intimidating solutions.
- They confirm that certain responses are not acceptable. These include measures – implied or real – that may result in emotional harm, such as corporal punishment, intimidation or any abuse of adult power.
- They help eliminate confusion and support the development of creative alternatives in more difficult cases.
- They receive the full support of the County Council.
- They represent a framework within which carers can exercise an appropriate and consistent level of personal judgement, in line with individual needs.
The issues of sanctions and their implementation will be regularly reviewed at central level in the light of experience.
Sanctions must be:
- Appropriate
- Strictly time-limited
- Flexible enough to be reviewed and rescinded at any time
The selection of any of the sanctions listed below should take account of the appropriateness of the sanction to the misdemeanour, and of the age, maturity, understanding, physical condition and situation of the child or young person.
This provides a natural range of acceptable sanctions, including the temporary delaying of pocket money, supervised spending and financial compensation.
This sanction is based upon delay, not deprivation: withheld money may be retained until its return is considered suitable. The payment of pocket money should normally be reinstated within one month.
DO ensure the child has an opportunity to have the sanction lifted by demonstrating correct behaviour.
DON'T withhold more than two-thirds of the pocket money
DON'T use monetary fines
One appropriate reason for withholding pocket money is to compensate for damage or loss. Compensation should be reasonable with regard to the young person's means rather than necessarily seeking to cover the cost of the damage or loss.
DO ensure that the amount and period of payment is within the age and understanding of the child.
The child can be required to undertake a task or action to compensate for a misdemeanour.
DO ensure that the task or action takes full account of the child's age, abilities and circumstances, and the child understands why they are doing it.
DON'T impose sanctions which will result in the prolonged isolation of the child from peers or normal routine.
Closer supervision on and/or off the premises may be appropriate in some cases.
DO ensure that it is time limited and reviewed weekly
If a child's use of possessions such as a cassette, CD, radio or musical instrument causes significant annoyance to others, the items concerned can be removed for an appropriate length of time.
DO Ensure that possessions are returned on an undertaking of responsible use. Dangerous possessions should be confiscated and returned to parents or kept in a safe place and the action recorded.
Privileges which do not form part of a child's normal routine, such as excursions, activities, favourite pastimes, or edible treats may be withdrawn.
DO Ensure the sanction is specific and time-limited and flexible enough to be lifted as appropriate.
DON'T use denial of significant contacts or deprivation of normal food and drinks as a sanction.
A child's normal routine may be amended in a number of ways, all of which must be specific and time-limited.
DON'T send a child to bed at a time that might be considered wholly inappropriate.
- Exclusion from group and other activities
A child can be required to leave an activity and location, where the physical wellbeing of the individual or others is at risk.
DO ensure there is staff supervision so that the child is not unduly isolated.
- Restriction on visits to and from friends
It is recognised that staff may need to exercise some control over the place and timing of visits, and these may be delayed, curtailed or postponed.
DO keep this sanction under ongoing review
DON'T restrict access to, or visits from, family members, or in cases where a child has particular problems in developing relationships.
It may be totally appropriate for staff to tell young people that they are not allowed out or to restrict free movement around all parts of the centre or for staff to remove young people from areas considered to be inappropriate.
DO be specific and make the sanction time-limited
DON'T use this sanction to deprive a child of access to family or other important people in their lives, or to prevent their attendance at school.
The guidance which follows assumes adherence to the principles of the County’s policy on control and that all reasonable efforts have been made to avert and defuse the situation before any restraint is used. Staff need to be properly prepared for such situations and able to demonstrate that any restraint used was reasonable given the circumstances in which the decision was made, and the age, understanding, needs and ability of the child.
Situations where physical restraint may be appropriate:
- At the discretion of the member of staff present as an immediate course of action to prevent injury to the young person or others and to prevent serious damage to property
- Where individuals are at risk themselves or pose a persistent threat to others or their property, it may be necessary to agree at a review the nature of any restrictions, whether they will be physically enforced, or if extra staff are required.
- Exceptional circumstances not covered by the above may require permission from the County Manager.
Remember:
- Use only as much force as necessary when all other efforts have failed.
- Physical restraint should be attempted only when there is sufficient staff on hand to ensure that it can be achieved safely.
- Get help if possible to ensure effective intervention.
- Record any use of physical restraint in 'Restraints' book.
- Ensure the young person is counselled about the reasons which made the use of physical restraint necessary.
- Ensure the members of staff concerned are debriefed following an incident.
- Ensure periodic review of establishment's use of physical restraint.
- Read the full County Guidance and the Department Of Health Regulations.
There may be occasions when staff will have responsibility for detained children outside the secure unit or within an open children's home. In these situations staff should intervene positively if a child (subject to an appropriate court order) indicates or attempts to leave the home without authority.
Staff must take full account of the nature and seriousness of the offence that has led to the refusal of bail, in considering the kind of intervention and level of physical restraint that is necessary to prevent the child causing injury or serious damage.
The fact that a child is detained under a court order is in itself a proper basis for imposing requirements on the child which do not apply to all children in an open home.
When a child is within the confines of a secure unit, the criterion for physical restraint is the same as for a child in an open setting. Only if a child tries to run away do different criteria apply and staff should intervene physically, including restraining the child. In these circumstances the following principles apply:
- The staff member must have reason to believe that the attempt to escape has a realistic chance of success unless some sort of intervention is made.
- Physical restraint should be attempted only when there are sufficient staff at hand to ensure that it can be achieved safely.
- Physical intervention should not be substituted for waiting patiently when the child is unlikely to escape further, although some danger is evident, and physical intervention could create an even greater danger.
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