Children and families services: For all other users

Regulating children and families services

Our regulation of children and families services covers children’s social care.

We register children’s social care services to:

protect children and young people
ensure that the services meet the requirements of the relevant legislation
ensure that providers and managers deliver high quality outcomes for children and young people that keep them healthy and safe, ensure they enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and develop skills for the future
provide information about the quality of the provision to a range of key stakeholders, including children and young people, parents and carers, and commissioners.

We register five types of children’s social care.

children's homes
residential family centres
independent fostering agencies
voluntary adoption agencies
adoption support agencies.

This is what happens when someone applies to provide children’s social care.

A prospective provider uses our guide to help them apply for registration.
Before sending their application to us, the applicant needs to have all documents and procedures in place; have a Criminal Records Bureau disclosure for everyone who needs one; and have their premises ready.
The applicant completes all the forms in the children’s social care application pack. The person who will manage the children’s social care service must also complete an application. The applicant sends the forms to us with the application fee.
When we get the application and fee, we will process it. We carry out checks and get references for each person connected with the application to make sure they are suitable. We carry out interviews and visit the premises that will be used. This can take up to: 16 weeks for a new service; 10 weeks for a new manager for a service that is already running.
When we have completed the registration visit, all the checks are complete and, where necessary, the applicant has completed any actions required, we will decide whether to grant registration or refuse it.

Granting registration

If we decide to register the applicant we issue a certificate of registration. A provider cannot begin running a children’s social care service until they have their certificate. The provider must display the certificate where people can see it.