Children’s Guide

Each children’s home must produce a Children’s Guide.

The Children’s Guide must be made available to all children when their placement in the home is agreed (or on arrival at the home if the placement is made in an emergency).

The Children’s Guide must be age appropriate and provided in an accessible format. Workers in the home should go through the guide with each child to make sure they understand it.

The Children’s Guide should help children to understand the following:

• The day to day routines of the home (‘what happens in the home’);
• The information which the home keeps on them and why including who it might be shared with;
• Their right to access their case file;
• The care and support they will receive while living in the home;
• The homes’ Statement of Purpose;
• How to make a complaint in line with the home’s Complaints procedure;
• How to access an Advocate or Independent Visitor; Sheffield Advocacy Service: advocacy@sheffield.gcsx.gov.uk 01142 288520
• How to contact the Office of the Children’s Commissioner.

The Children’s Guide should be reviewed regularly; this review should incorporate feedback from children and young people living in the home.

Children/Young People, Parents, Carers, Social workers and other professionals will be provided with a copy of the homes Children’s Guide for specific residential homes within Sheffield upon request when the home is being considered for a child or young person to be admitting into. Requests can be made to the home directly or through the residential inbox - childrens.residential@sheffield.gov.uk

The Children’s Guide can be printed out and taken to a young person as part of the admission process once a placement has been agreed with the young person’s social worker. This allows the child/young person to read through the information and ask any questions about the home.