Bedrooms

Children/young people's bedrooms should be pleasantly furnished, equipped and decorated in a manner appropriate to their individual needs, interests and choices.

Children/young people should be encouraged to personalise their bedrooms, with posters, pictures and personal items of their choice. Whenever possible this should be done as part of the transitions process.

Children/young people of an appropriate age and level of understanding should be encouraged and supported to purchase furniture, equipment or decorations; preferably as part of a plan to prepare the child for independence.

Children/young people should have appropriate lockable storage for their belongings and medicines (if they are permitted to administer their own).

In all homes children's/young people's bedrooms will be fitted with a lockable door. Young people will be supplied with a key for their individual doors; this will be dependent on risk assessments and the young person's level of cognitive understanding. If a young person is given their own key they will be expected to sign a key contract outlining the expectations of keeping their own key safe. Keys should not be given to any other young person. Staff will have a main suited key, whilst on shift, that allows access to all young people's bedrooms.

Children/young people's privacy should be respected.

Unless there are exceptional circumstances, staff should knock the door before entering children/young people's bedrooms; and then only enter with their permission.

The exceptional circumstances where staff may have to enter a child's bedroom without knocking or asking permission are as follow:

• To wake a heavy sleeper, undertake cleaning, return or remove soiled clothing. In these circumstances, the child should have been told/warned that this may be necessary;
• To take necessary action, including forcing entry, to protect the child or others from injury or to prevent likely damage to property. The taking of such action is a form of physical intervention.

See Use of Restraint and Physical Interventions Procedure and Searching Children/Young People/Bedrooms Procedure.

Children/young people should have separate bedrooms, in exceptional circumstances it may be appropriate for siblings of the same sex to share. All bedrooms are for individual occupancy and no young person will be allowed to share a room within the home. Any request to change a bedroom should be given serious consideration by the home's manager.

Children/young people may not receive visitors in their bedrooms unless has been agreed by their social worker, the child's views and wishes have been obtained and considered and the arrangements are outlined in the relevant Placement Plan.

The placing authority must give consent in writing to any monitoring or surveillance in the home. The use of CCV is regulated by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 and the Surveillance Camera Code of Conduct (Home Office 2013).

If agreed, the home should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than 'institutional' impression.

To ensure the safety of young person or others, it may be appropriate to monitor exit and entry from a child's bedroom outside of normal waking hours with the use of a silent alarm that is triggered when a door is opened.

Such devices may only be used if outlined in the home's Statement of Purpose and the arrangements set out in relevant children/young people's Placement Plans.

If used, every effort must be made to ensure the child's privacy, dignity and rights whilst the system is in use.

• Their use is assessed on an individual basis and agreed to in the Care Plan by a social worker;
• The child is made fully aware of their use and the reasons why the decision is made;
• The use of the door alarms is reviewed regularly as to their appropriateness of use.