Providing Personalised Care & Promoting Equality & Diversity
Scope of this chapter
Children's homes must provide personalised care that meets each child's needs and takes account of their background.
Regulations and Standards
Homes are required to provide personalised care to meet the needs of individual children. A child's needs will be identified in their Care Plan, Initial & Review Health Assessments, Education, Health and Care Plan (if they have one) and any other plan prepared by the placing authority.
Personalised care is defined as:
Care which meets each child's needs and promotes their welfare, taking into account the child's gender, religion, ethnicity, cultural and linguistic background, sexual identity, mental health, any disability, their assessed needs, previous experiences and any relevant plans.
The child's plans will form the basis of all care provided by the home. The child's plan must take account of all information available on gender, ethnic origin, religion and cultural and linguistic background, sexual identity, health including mental health and disability, and these issues should be considered again each time the child's Care Plan is reviewed.
Homes should be welcoming to all children and young people and others significant to their care and wellbeing. Services provided will recognise and build on the strengths of individual children and young people. Maintaining links with the child's home and community will be an important part of meeting individual need.
All staff working in the home should complete Equality and Diversity training and are expected to challenge attitudes, behaviour and language that are non-inclusive and discriminatory.
Home's managers should identify local community resources that contribute to meeting the needs of individual children and young people, for example hairdressers who specialise in braiding or cutting African Caribbean hair.
Home's managers should also look for ways in which diversity can be promoted in the home, for example through food preparation and menu choices. Children will be offered opportunities to try out new experiences.
Managers will monitor the range of children and young people placed within the home in terms of ethnicity, sexual identity, gender and disability.
Ethnic origin, language, faith / religion, gender, sexuality and culture are important to the developing identity of all children and young people.
Homes can take practical steps to ensure that they provide care which supports the ethnic, cultural, religious and language needs of children. These include the need for multicultural resources, reading and display materials (e.g. pictures) in order to:
- Provide an environment in which all children feel comfortable;
- Promote positive black, Asian and minority ethnic images and role models;
- Provide visual illustrations which promote discussion of issues of difference, ethnicity, culture, religion and language;
- Assist in discussion of issues concerning identity.
Homes can display materials such as wall charts with a translation of words like "hello" into other languages, posters with black, Asian and minority ethnic children as well as white children featured in them, a calendar of religious festivals, black, Asian and minority ethnic books and other ethnic play materials. Wherever possible, books used in direct work should include black, Asian and minority as well as white characters.
Assessments and on-going work with children should explore their birth and extended family, their ethnic and cultural origins, any experience of racism and the role of religion in their lives. The child's view of his/her own identity and any identity confusion should also be explored.
Choice of diet - when children are placed in homes having access to familiar food assists with continuity and will demonstrate that their culture and religion are valued. Homes should discuss with the child and the parent/carer what food they like and are familiar with and find ways of accommodating the child's preferences.
Issues around differences in food can be used to promote discussion within a group of young people about living in a multicultural society.
Choice of clothing and toiletries for skin and hair care - children should be provided with the opportunity to buy clothes appropriate to their cultural backgrounds.
A range of toiletries should be purchased which meet the needs of black, Asian and minority ethnic children. For example, African and Caribbean children may specialist hair products.
Girls, boys and transgender young people living in children's homes should receive equal opportunities and encouragement to pursue their talents, interests and hobbies. Sexist stereotypes or behaviour must not be imposed or condoned. These principles will be achieved by:
- A wide range of activities being offered to both sexes and attempts being made to overcome peer group pressure, if it prevents a child pursuing his or her interests;
- Having equal expectations that boys and girls will participate in domestic tasks;
- Providing information and sex education advice to all young people, regardless of gender. All young people have a right to information and counselling around sexual health issues, including pregnancy, infections and Blood Borne Viruses;
- Encouraging staff to model behaviour to children that demonstrates that there are no specifically male and female roles. Whilst individual members of staff will have different talents, interest and skills, the imposition or toleration of sexually stereotyped roles is not acceptable;
- The resources and physical environment of the home should promote positive and varied images of girls and boys. The display or circulation of sexist or pornographic material, either by adults or young people, is totally unacceptable.
Young people who are experiencing gender identity issues should, in general, be given space and support to develop their own gender identity. However, it is important that they are protected from adverse effects such as bullying and discrimination.
In particular staff may need to support young people with the following:
- How to respond to young people sharing their issues;
- Recording a change of name and gender;
- Bullying;
- Inclusion in sport; and
- Access to toilets.
Children and young people experiencing gender identity issues may be subject to prejudice, discrimination and misunderstanding, all of which can have a detrimental effect upon quality of life, and physical and mental health. If staff have any concerns about the emotional well being of young people living in the home, specialist mental health support should be sought, including the Children and Family Support Team and CAMHS.
Where children in the home are lesbian, gay, bisexual or unsure of their sexual identity they should expect acceptance by and understanding from staff in relation to their sexual identity.
Counselling should be made available as required to young people who may identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual or are questioning their sexuality to help them with their uncertainties or feelings. Support is available at the Leicester LGBT Centre, including a youth group.
Under the and Equalities Act 2010, the care setting must make reasonable adjustments to ensure children with a disability are not placed at a substantial disadvantage to their peers. This may include providing additional staffing and accessible transport or ensuring the venue is appropriate to the needs of the child concerned. Design features that make it difficult for people with a disability should be avoided, and reasonable adjustments made to improve the environment for children, young people and visitors with disabilities.
Staff working in children's homes should minimise barriers for children and young people who have physical or mental health issues or long-term health conditions and they should be offered the same opportunities all other children and young people.
The delivery of the services within residential homes, must abide by the Council's 'Commitment to Equality' and the law. The Commitment relates to both the service delivery to the Children, Young People and their families and to the employees of the council.
Each home will strive to improve the provision of service whilst ensuring anti discriminatory practices are integral to the direct care, staff support and management and administration systems.
All practices which are felt by the individual to be unfair or discriminatory will be investigated, on receipt of a reported incident. Discriminatory practices of any kind will not be tolerated. After investigation, and explanation, a plan of learning or more formal procedures may be instigated.
It is essential that the residential homes regularly reflect upon practices of direct care, support to colleagues and the management and administration systems that are in place, so that routine, familiar practices can be re-examined and challenged. This is to avoid attitudes being complacent and practices becoming stagnant.
Staff and managers will be assisted to review and reflect upon their understanding of anti-discriminatory practices, in a manner that is conductive to their learning. This will often be in a guided, formal and supportive manner.
Staff will be expected to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding during the recruitment for the post, their induction period and throughout their day-to-day practices.
To actively promote anti discriminatory practices regular discussions will take place in formal supervision sessions and Team Meetings.
The residential homes will each have an Equal and Diversity Action Plan which will identify areas of practice, learning and service delivery relevant to the particular home. The Team Manager will regularly review the progress and promote it's understanding within the staff team.
The Heritage Model is a framework used by the Leicester City Council, to enable coherent discussions to take place, between professionals, carers, children and their families, so that the delivery of services are appropriate to all aspects of the identity of service users (Refer to Local Resources).
Within the residential homes the Heritage Model is used as an assessment tool to explore a all aspects young person's background, which will help to provide the appropriate support services and intervention. It is used in casework supervision, care planning meetings and staff meetings.
The Heritage Model is a complex concept and includes many aspects of a young person including their race, language, religion, age, gender, sexual identity and background life and experiences. It can also refer to family traditions, culture and material inheritance.
The model respects and celebrates individual diversity, it does not support racist or prejudicial behaviour, beliefs or concepts. It does however, encourage anti-discriminatory approaches and practices, which are strived for within the residential homes.
This model is based upon the understanding that barriers faced by disabled people are created by society and by the lack of recognition of the needs of disabled people in accessing goods, services, buildings, facilities and information.
The Social Model of Disability recognises and accepts the barrier first, not the person's impairment, and then responds positively, through consultation, involvement and decision making, so that a person's individual needs are fully met.
Within the residential homes this model is used within care planning meetings, casework supervision and team meetings, so that barriers such as people's attitudes, misconceptions, issues of access, choice and information can be fully scrutinised so that the practices and service delivery within the homes will improve the outcomes for all young people.
Last Updated: July 3, 2024
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