Children’s home records serve several purposes at once. They support day-to-day care, preserve a child’s history, show why decisions were made and allow the registered person, placing authority and Ofsted to understand how the home operated.
Regulations 36, 37 and 38 of the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 set different but connected duties. Regulation 36 covers each child’s case record. Regulation 37 covers other records about the home. Regulation 38 lists key documents and records that must be kept in an accessible manner and confirms that they may be electronic.
This guide explains what belongs in each category, how long records must be retained and how to design a system that is accurate, secure and usable.
Key point:
Accessibility and security must coexist. Authorised people should be able to find the right record promptly, while children and staff remain protected from inappropriate access, alteration or loss.
Images in this guide are AI-generated illustrations, not photographs of Welcare premises or evidence of a particular home’s facilities.
The three regulations at a glance
Three processes are sometimes confused.
Regulation 37 requires the registered person to maintain the other records in Schedule 4, keep them current and retain them for at least 15 years from the last entry.
Regulation 38 requires specified policies, plans, reports and records to be kept accessibly. They may be held electronically.
The duties overlap with medicines, restraint, complaints, monitoring and review. A provider should therefore operate one coherent information system, not a collection of disconnected folders.
Regulation 36 case records
Each child’s case record must contain the Schedule 3 information and documents.
The Schedule includes four broad areas:
The record is not limited to daily notes. Schedule 3 includes information such as the child’s name, date of birth, religion, ethnicity, cultural and linguistic background, previous and onward address, legal basis for accommodation, placing authority and social worker contact details.
It also includes information about missing episodes, measures of control or restraint, contact arrangements, education plans and reports, the placing authority’s care plan, the placement plan and review outcomes.
The provider should check the current Schedule itself rather than rely on a locally shortened list.
Up to date, signed and dated
Regulation 36 requires case records to be kept up to date and each entry to be signed and dated by its author. In an electronic system, a secure user identity and audit trail can provide the equivalent of a signature if the system reliably links the entry to its author.
A sound record should answer:
who made the entry
when it was recorded
what was observed or reported
what action was taken
why a decision was made
who was informed
what follow-up is required
If an entry is made after the event, the record should make that clear. Backdating an entry to make it look contemporaneous damages reliability.
Managers should define what “up to date” means for different records. An urgent safeguarding incident requires immediate action and prompt recording. A routine summary may follow a planned timetable. Delay should never obscure risk or leave the next shift without necessary information.
Writing records with and for children
A child’s file may be read by the child now or later in life. Language should therefore be respectful, specific and understandable.
Staff should:
distinguish fact from opinion
explain the source of second-hand information
avoid labels and sarcasm
record the child's words where important
include strengths, relationships and achievements
explain decisions and not only outcomes
capture the child's view, including disagreement
avoid unnecessary repetition of traumatic detail
correct mistakes transparently
The purpose is not to produce a decorative map. It is to understand exposure, access and protective factors.
Records should help preserve a rounded life story. A file containing only incidents and risks can misrepresent the child’s experience of living in the home.
Children should be supported to understand what is recorded, subject to lawful limits and the rights of other people. Where a child disputes an entry, their view should be recorded and the accuracy issue considered.
Case record retention periods
Regulation 36 sets long retention periods:
For a child who does not fall within the death-before-18 exception, this means retaining the case record until their 75th birthday.
Retention settings should be calculated from the child’s date of birth or, in the exceptional case, date of death. They should not be based on the date the placement ended.
A Retention Calculation in Practice
For an illustrative child born on 15 May 2010 who does not fall within the death-before-18 exception, the Regulation 36 retention date is their 75th birthday, 15 May 2085. It is not 75 years after leaving the home.
If a child dies before 18 on 10 November 2026, the Regulation 36 period instead runs for 15 years from that death, to 10 November 2041. These examples explain the statutory calculation, not an automatic instruction to destroy records: check other applicable duties, preservation requirements and the provider’s authorised retention process first.
What happens if the home closes?
Regulation 36 contains specific transfer duties when a children’s home closes or stops operating as a children’s home.
If the registered provider continues to run one other children’s home, case records from the closing home must be transferred to that home. If the provider runs more than one other home, the records must go to the other home nearest to the closing home.
If the provider will not continue to run another children’s home, records for a looked-after child must be transferred to that child’s placing authority. For a child who is not looked after, the route depends on whether the child has an education, health and care plan or a statement of special educational needs. The current text of Regulation 36 should be followed for the particular case.
Closure planning should start early. It should identify every record, receiving organisation, secure transfer method, confirmation of receipt and the person responsible. A business closing does not end the retention duty.
Regulation 37 other records
Schedule 4 lists records about the operation of the home. The registered person must maintain these in the home, keep them up to date and retain them for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry.
The Schedule covers:
"At least 15 years" is a minimum. A provider should also consider other legal, contractual, insurance and safeguarding requirements before destroying a record.
Planned and actual staff rosters
Schedule 4 specifically requires both a copy of the staff duty roster and a record of the actual roster worked. This is important when sickness, overtime, agency cover or shift changes mean the planned rota differs from reality.
The actual record should show who was present and when. It can support review of incidents, first aid coverage, staffing continuity and leadership decisions under Regulation 31.
Replacing the planned rota with the amended version may remove evidence of the change. A system should preserve both the original plan and actual deployment.
Visitor records and privacy
The visitor record must include the names of visitors and reasons for the visit. The home should record enough to meet the legal purpose and support safeguarding without collecting unnecessary information.
Visitor procedures can distinguish professional visits, maintenance, deliveries, family time and visits to individual children. Access to the record should be controlled because it may reveal sensitive relationships or service use.
The home should also consider how visitors sign in discreetly. A paper book visible to every visitor may expose personal information.
Fire records
Schedule 4 requires a record of every fire drill or fire alarm test. The record must include any deficiency in procedure or equipment and the steps taken to remedy it.
A tick showing that a test occurred is not enough when something went wrong. The record should identify the issue, immediate control, responsible person, deadline and completion evidence. This links directly with Regulation 25 fire precautions.
Regulation 38 accessible documents
Regulation 38 says the following items may be electronic but must be kept in an accessible manner:
- the statement of purpose;
- the children’s guide;
- placement plans for children who are not looked after under Regulation 18;
- the safeguarding, anti-bullying and missing-child policies;
- the behaviour management policy;
- records of control, discipline or restraint;
- children’s case records;
- the other records required by Regulation 37;
- the complaints procedure and complaint records;
- independent-person reports under Regulation 44;
- quality-of-care reviews under Regulation 45; and
- annual location and premises reviews under Regulation 46.
Accessible does not mean open to everyone. It means the records can be found and used by people who are authorised and need them.
A cloud folder known only to one manager, an encrypted archive with no recoverable password or a paper policy locked away from the staff who need it is not meaningfully accessible.
Secure electronic records
Electronic systems should be chosen and configured around confidentiality, integrity, availability and accountability.
Useful controls include:
- unique user accounts
- role-based access
- multi-factor authentication
- encryption in transit and at rest
- automatic screen locks
- audit logs
- reliable backups
- tested recovery
- controlled export and printing
- secure mobile access
- prompt removal of leavers’ access
- retention controls that prevent premature deletion
Shared logins make it difficult to identify who made or changed an entry. Editing should preserve the original information, correction, author, date and reason.
The provider should know where data is hosted, who supplies the system, how incidents are reported and how records can be exported if the contract ends.
Paper records
Paper remains permitted, but it needs equivalent controls. Records should be protected from unauthorised access, fire, water, loss and accidental disposal.
A paper system may require:
- lockable storage;
- a controlled key list;
- sign-out arrangements;
- rules for taking files off site;
- secure transport;
- scanning or copying controls;
- archiving labels;
- environmental protection; and
- confidential destruction when lawful.
Hybrid systems need a clear master record. Otherwise, staff may update one copy while another becomes dangerously out of date.
Access based on role and need
Not every worker needs access to every document. The provider should map access according to duties while ensuring staff can obtain information needed to care for children safely.
For example, a temporary worker may need current plans and emergency procedures but not unrestricted access to historical employment files. A maintenance contractor should not be able to view children’s records because a computer was left unlocked.
Managers should review access periodically and after role changes. Emergency access arrangements should be available and audited.
Data protection and children's rights
The UK General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018 apply alongside the children’s homes regulations. Providers need a lawful basis, clear privacy information, appropriate security and procedures for data rights and breaches.
The Information Commissioner’s Office provides current guidance on children’s information and data protection.
Important principles include collecting only what is needed, keeping information accurate, using it for clear purposes and retaining it no longer than required. The long statutory retention periods in Regulation 36 and Regulation 37 provide a legal reason to retain those records, but they do not justify unlimited duplication or access.
A request by a child to see information should be handled through the provider’s data protection process. The rights and information of other people may need consideration, but the request should not be dismissed simply because the requester is under 18.
Corrections and amendments
A factual error should be corrected without disguising the original record. Electronic systems should retain version history. On paper, the original should remain legible, with the correction dated, signed and explained.
A later change of professional view should normally be added as a new entry. Deleting the earlier view can remove the decision trail.
If a child disputes an opinion, staff should consider whether the record is inaccurate and should add the child’s perspective where relevant. The aim is a fair, transparent record, not an unchangeable institutional account.
Handover and information sharing
Handover should share the information required for safe care, but it should not replace formal recording. Important decisions and events need to be entered in the proper record.
When information is shared with a placing authority, police, health service or another provider, the home should record what was shared, with whom, when, why and through what secure method.
Over-sharing and under-sharing can both cause harm. Staff need guidance on safeguarding information sharing, consent and escalation when uncertain.
Auditing record quality
A good audit looks beyond whether fields are complete. It asks whether the record is accurate, timely, child-centred and connected to action.
Managers can sample:
- daily records;
- placement plans;
- missing episodes;
- medicines;
- restraints;
- complaints;
- significant incidents;
- contact and education records;
- staff rosters;
- visitor logs; and
- fire tests.
The audit should identify themes, owners and deadlines. It should then check whether improvements happened. Repeated low-quality entries may require coaching, supervision or a system change.
Business continuity and recovery
The home should be able to access essential records during a power, internet or supplier outage. The continuity plan should identify what must remain available, how temporary records are created and how they are reconciled after recovery.
Backups should be tested, not merely assumed. A provider may discover too late that an archive cannot be restored or that attachments were excluded.
For long retention periods, file formats and storage media also matter. Records should remain readable when software changes.
What Ofsted may examine
Ofsted’s social care common inspection framework for children’s homes allows inspectors to test how records support children’s experiences and leadership oversight.
They may compare case files, staff accounts, children’s views, rotas, incident records, notifications and monitoring reports. Gaps or contradictions can raise questions about practice as well as administration.
A record should show a clear line from information to assessment, action, review and outcome.
Common weaknesses
Frequent weaknesses include late entries presented as contemporaneous, unsigned paper notes, shared electronic accounts, planned rotas retained without actual deployment and incomplete closure arrangements.
Other risks are inaccessible archives, missing attachments, duplicate records with conflicting information, retention based on placement end date, untested backups and records that describe children mainly through incidents.
Regulations 36 to 38 audit checklist
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Usually for 75 years from the child's date of birth. If the child dies before 18, the record must be retained for 15 years from the date of death.
At least 15 years from the date of the last entry.
Yes. Regulation 38 expressly allows the listed items to be kept electronically, provided they are kept in an accessible manner. Security, audit trails and recovery remain essential.
A properly controlled account and audit trail can identify the author, but the provider should make sure the system reliably records identity and date and prevents untraceable alteration.
Regulation 36 sets specific transfer routes. The route depends on whether the provider continues to operate another children's home and on the child's legal and education-plan circumstances.
