Regulation 44 visit: A Regulation 44 visit is a monthly independent visit to a children’s home, required by the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015, in which an independent person assesses whether children are effectively safeguarded and the home is well run.
The visitor is independent of the home’s management, speaks to children, staff and where appropriate their families and social workers, reviews records, and produces a written report.
The report goes to the registered person, the responsible individual and Ofsted, and it is one of the first things an inspector reads. A pattern of reports raising the same issue month after month, with nothing changing, is damaging in a way the original issue often was not.
Treated properly it is an early warning system rather than a compliance chore: it is the cheapest opportunity a home gets to find a problem before Ofsted does.
Related terms
- Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015
- Quality Standards (Ofsted)
- Responsible Individual (Ofsted)