Sleeping In and Night Security

Children's Homes should be staffed at night, at or above the minimum level required to meet the Home's Statement of Purpose. The number of care staff required to be on duty by night, and whether they are required to be waking or sleeping in, should be specified in the Home's Statement of purpose. Children should not share rooms.

1. The Home's Statement of Purpose should specify the number of care staff required to be on duty by night, and whether they are required to be waking or sleeping in. However, additional night-time staff should be provided if the need arises;
2. Staff sleep-in rooms should not be part of the communal living area, but should be located close to children's bedrooms so that members of staff are able to respond to children's night-time needs. Where more than one staff member sleeps in on the same night, there are separate sleeping-in rooms;
3. There should be agreed start and finishing times for night staffing and staff should know which children and adults are sleeping in the house each night;
4. The Home's rules should state the agreed bed-times for children/young people, and these should be reasonable and appropriate to the ages of the children/young people;
5. Bedtimes should be regularly discussed at both residents and staff meetings to ensure that they are appropriate to the needs of the children/young people.

1. All children and young people must be made aware of their appropriate bed-times and the need to adhere to them;
2. All staff must be consistent in applying the bed-time rules;
3. Staff on duty must remain awake at night, if they are aware that children/ young people in the building are awake;
4. Two staff should always be on duty at any one time at night;
5. Staff on duty at night should not enter children's rooms alone at night, except in an emergency;
6. If it is necessary for staff to wake children/young people, they should not enter the child/young person's bedroom alone;
7. If children/young people wake during the night to use the bathroom or toilet, staff should not enter the bathroom or toilet being used by the child/young person, except in an emergency.