Children Living Away from Home (including Children and Families Living in Temporary Accommodation)
Related guidance
Amendment
This chapter was updated in June 2026.
Every environment in which children live must provide the same robust safeguards against abuse, underpinned by an approach that promotes their overall wellbeing, takes into account their wishes and feelings, protects them from harm and upholds their dignity and respect at all times.
The National Minimum Standards and Quality Standards set out specific requirements on safeguarding and child protection for each regulated setting where children live away from home.
These standards provide the framework for agencies and providers to deliver safe, high-quality care, and form a critical part of the multi-agency approach to protecting children in residential, foster care, boarding, and other accommodation settings.
Children living away from home are at increased risk of abuse by adults or their peers. Limited and disrupted contact with family and carers may affect a child's ability or confidence to disclose what is happening to them. Given that children may live away from home because of concerns about their home environment or the ability of their parents or carers to safeguard their welfare, it is particularly important that robust safeguarding measures are provided and their welfare is protected by the agency or provider responsible for their care.
All agencies and settings must ensure that:
- Children are valued and respected and their self-esteem and emotional wellbeing is promoted;
- There is openness and transparency and readiness to engage with independent scrutiny and oversight, including regular contact with families (where appropriate) and access to the wider community
- Staff and foster carers are trained in all aspects of safeguarding children, can understand children's vulnerabilities and identify signs of abuse, and know when and how to implement safeguarding children procedures;
- Children are actively listened to, and their views and concerns are acted upon
- Children have access to a trusted adult outside their care setting, e.g. a family member, social worker, independent visitor or children's advocate. Children should be made aware of independent advocacy services, mentoring schemes, and Childline;
- Staff and carers recognise the importance of understanding and seeking the wishes and feelings of children and are also skilled in communicating with children who may express themselves through non-verbal means
- Complaints procedures are clear, inclusive, and child–friendly and are accessible,, including children who are affected by a disability and those for whom English is not their first language
- Bullying is effectively addressed
- Recruitment and selection procedures are rigorous and create a high bar for entry to deter individuals who pose a risk to children, and there is effective supervision and support. These standards must apply equally to temporary staff and volunteers
- Contracted staff are properly vetted, supported and supervised when on site or in contact with children;
- Clear whistleblowing procedures and support systems are in place to enable staff and carers to raise concerns about colleagues in a safe and supported manner
- There is respect for diversity, and sensitivity shown to children’s individual identities, including their race, culture, religion, gender identity, sexuality and disability
- Staff and carers remain alert to the risks of harm to children in the external environment from individuals or groups prepared to exploit the additional vulnerability of children living away from home.
The most important aspect is the need to listen to children and ensure that they are supported to share concerns with people who they trust and who will act on the child's concerns.
Where there is reasonable cause to believe that a child has suffered, or is likely to suffer, Significant Harm, a referral must be made to Children's Social Care, in accordance with the Referrals Procedure. The local authority for the area in which the child is living has the responsibility to convene a Strategy Discussion/Meeting, which must include representatives from the provider or setting where the child resides and the local authority that placed the child, if this is different from the host authority.
At the Strategy Discussion/Meeting it should be decided which local authority will take the lead responsibility for the next steps, which may include undertaking an Assessment and initiating a Section 47 Enquiry to determine whether the child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm.
Whether a child is in foster care, privately fostered, in a residential setting, hospital, custody or living in temporary accommodation with their family, the duty to safeguard and promote their welfare is the same. The local authority has a duty to undertake an Assessment which may progress to a Section 47 Enquiry where there are concerns about significant harm.
Specific issues to consider in different settings are as follows:
Where there is reasonable cause to believe that a child in foster care has suffered or is at risk of suffering significant harm in the foster placement, a Strategy Meeting will be held.
In these circumstances, enquiries should also consider the safety of any other children living in the household, including the foster carers' own children, grand-children or any children cared for by the foster carers in their home, as well as any children whom the foster carers may be caring for or working with outside their home in a voluntary or professional capacity e.g. teaching, faith or youth work, scouts or sports teams.
As foster care is undertaken in the privacy of the carers' own home, it is important that children have a voice outside the family. Social Workers are required to see children in foster care on their own at regular intervals.
Private fostering is the term used when someone other than a parent or close relative is looking after a child under 16 (or under 18 if the child has a disability) for 28 days or more in that person’s own home. Privately fostered children are a diverse and potentially vulnerable group which can include:
- Children sent from abroad living with another family, for educational opportunities
- Teenagers who are estranged from their parents, are living with friends or other non-relatives
- Children living with another family whilst their parents are in hospital, prison or serving overseas in the armed forces
- Language students living with host families.
Under the Children Act 1989, private foster carers and those with Parental Responsibility are required to notify the local authority of their intention to privately foster or to have a child privately fostered, or when a child is privately fostered in an emergency.
Teachers, health and all professionals have a duty to notify the local authority of a private fostering arrangement that comes to their attention, where they are not satisfied that the arrangement has been or will be notified.
Once notified, it is the duty of every local authority to ensure that the welfare of children who are privately fostered within their area is being satisfactorily safeguarded and promoted. The local authority must also arrange to visit privately fostered children at regular intervals, including being seen alone. All arrangements and regulations in relation to Private Fostering are set out in the Children (Private Arrangements for Fostering) Regulations 2005. Children should be given the contact details of the social worker who will be visiting them while they are being privately fostered.
All residential settings where children and young people are placed, including children's homes and residential special schools, whether provided by a private, charitable or faith based organisation, or a local authority, must adhere to the Children's Homes Regulations 2001 (as amended by the Children's Homes (Amendment) Regulations 2015) and all other relevant statutory guidance and regulatory frameworks and to the Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations including the Quality Standards.
Clear records must be kept, and reviews and inspections must take place in accordance with the Quality Standards and the Regulations.
Children in such settings are particularly vulnerable and must be listened to.
All such establishments must have in place complaints procedures for children and young people, visiting and contact arrangements with social workers and Independent Visitors (for Looked After children), as well as parents, carers and significant others, and have access to independent advocacy.
Where there is reasonable cause to suspect that a child in a residential setting has been harmed or is at risk of harm, a referral must be made to Children's Social Care in accordance with the Referrals Procedure. The concerns may be related to but are not limited to: bullying, children who display harmful behaviour towards other children or allegations about the behaviour of staff or volunteers.
Children under 16 should not be cared for on an adult ward. Hospital admission data should include the age of children, so that hospitals can monitor whether children are being given appropriate care in appropriate wards.
Hospitals must safeguard and promote the welfare of children and have policies in place to ensure that their facilities are secure and regularly reviewed.
Any concerns about harm to a child within a hospital or health-based setting must be referred to the Children's Social Care in whose area the hospital is located.
When the child has been in hospital for 3 months or more, the hospital or health trust must notify the Responsible Authority i.e. the local authority for the area where the child is normally resident or, if this is unclear, where the child is currently accommodated. This is so that the local authority can assess the child's needs and decide whether services are required during or after the hospital stay, under the Children Act 1989.
No child known to Children's Social Care who is an inpatient in a hospital and about whom there are child protection concerns should be discharged home without a Discharge Planning Meeting and referral to assess and establish that the home environment is safe, the concerns by medical staff are fully addressed and there is a safeguarding plan in place for post-discharge care and support.
In all cases, the local authority in which a secure youth establishment is located is responsible for the overarching safety and welfare of the children in that establishment. Each secure establishment in an area must ensure that there are strong, formal links in place with the local Safeguarding Children Partnership and relevant local authorities, to ensure effective oversight, information sharing, and joint safeguarding responses.
Under the Legal Aid Sentencing & Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO), whenever children under 18 are remanded into youth detention, they become 'looked after' for the duration of their remand. This means the home local authority (i.e. where the child ordinarily resides) must visit them at statutory intervals and prepare a Detention Placement Plan (DPP). The DPP is reviewed in line with the same statutory requirements as a Care Plan for a Looked After Child.
Each secure establishment accommodating children aged under 18 must have in place an annually-reviewed Safeguarding Children Policy which promotes and safeguards the welfare of children, and covers all relevant operational areas as well as key supporting processes, and includes but is not limited to: Child Protection procedures, risk of harm, use of restraint, separation and isolation practices, staff recruitment, and information sharing protocols and multi-agency collaboration.
Children living in temporary accommodation are particularly vulnerable due to housing instability, inadequate living conditions, and restricted access to essential services. It is important that effective systems are in place to ensure that children from homeless families receive services from health and education, social care and welfare support services as well as any other specific services, because with frequent moves they may become disengaged from services increasing the risk of unmet needs and potential Significant Harm – for example where a child who needs specific medical treatment misses appointments due to frequent relocation, this may constitute or contribute to Significant Harm.
Temporary accommodation, for example bed and breakfast accommodation or women's refuges, may be in a location which is not secure and safe for children, and where unknown adults who are also residents may pose a risk to the child.
Multi-agency coordination is essential to maintain oversight, reduce risks, and ensure that no child falls through the gaps due to their housing situation.
All concerns about the welfare of a child or of Significant Harm to a child should be referred to Children's Social Care in accordance with the Referrals Procedure.
Last Updated: June 26, 2026
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