Speciality

Children's Homes IT Support

IT for children's homes, built around what Ofsted inspectors ask: web filtering and monitoring for each young person, secure Wi-Fi, managed phones and encrypted email, from a team where everyone is enhanced-DBS checked.

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QLine IT has supported children's homes for more than ten years, from single homes to groups with sites across the country. Our filtering, monitoring and device management are designed around the expectations of Ofsted and the Care Inspectorate in Scotland.

We are a listed filtering and monitoring integrator with the UK Safer Internet Centre, self-certified against its Appropriate Filtering and Monitoring criteria, and a commercial partner of Scottish Care.

What we provide for children's homes

Web filtering and monitoring

Filtering set for each young person, on every device in the home, with alerts for concerning searches made on the home's computers, and reports an inspector can read.

Secure Wi-Fi

An individual, filtered Wi-Fi network for each young person, personalised to their history and court order.

Encrypted email

Medical records and social-services reports go to social workers and local authorities daily. Encrypted Microsoft email is the only safe way to send them.

Mobile phone management

Young people are not always aware of the dangers of chat rooms and social media. MDM puts sensible limits on company-owned phones and tablets.

Hardware provision

Laptops, phones, monitors and desktops chosen to be cost-effective, compatible with what you already own, and lockable for a young person.

IT asset management

Every device in every home recorded, tracked and accounted for, so an inspection or an insurance claim is a list, not a search.

How it works

We set your homes up to one standard. We install and configure the equipment in each new home to our standard, and bring existing homes up to it, so an inspection at any of your homes finds the same arrangements.
Each young person gets their own Wi-Fi. Their own network, password, filtering and internet times, set to match their placement plan and risk assessment. Young people cannot use VPN or proxy apps to get round the filtering.
Your managers make everyday changes themselves. Adding a young person's new phone or console, changing internet times or switching one young person's Wi-Fi off takes a minute in our app, on a phone or a computer. Each manager sees only their own homes, and every change is recorded: who, when and what it was before.
We watch every home. If a home's internet or Wi-Fi drops, our monitoring raises a ticket, usually before anyone has to ring us. Each home's network settings are backed up every week.
Phones are covered too. Young people's phones can be locked down so protections cannot be removed, and a missing phone can be located, out of hours as well.

Anything else, from email and laptops to new staff, goes through the same team and the same ticket, so your homes have one number to ring.

What homes ask us for

Over the last three months, about a third of the requests from the children's homes we support were about Wi-Fi: adding a young person's new phone, TV or games console, changing internet times for school days, holidays and weekends, unblocking an app for one young person, or putting right a connection problem. Phones came next, then everyday office IT such as email, laptops and accounts for new staff.

That is why the Wi-Fi, the phones and the office IT sit with one provider: a request is dealt with by people who already know the home.

Download our brochure

Four pages: how it works, what we provide for children's homes and care homes, and our prices. PDF, 1.3 MB.

Download the brochure (PDF)

Ofsted web filtering and monitoring, explained

Inspectors do not accept a policy document on its own. They ask who is responsible for filtering and monitoring, how you know it works, when it was last reviewed, and what happens when a concerning search is flagged.

Our filtering blocks illegal content using the Internet Watch Foundation and Home Office counter-terrorism lists, applies age-appropriate settings for each young person, and monitors searches about self-harm or suicide on the home's computers, alerting us in real time so we can tell your managers straight away. Searches and blocks are reported, so the evidence is there when the inspector asks.

How our web filtering works · The six questions Ofsted inspectors ask

A children's home living room with a laptop on the table

Why children's homes choose QLine IT

Whether you run one home or many, we set up the same standard in every one, so an inspection at any site finds the same arrangements and the same records.

Every member of our team holds an enhanced DBS check, including office staff. All staff are trained in GDPR and data security, and we hold Cyber Essentials Plus, which is independently assessed every year.

If you already have an IT provider you are happy with, we can provide filtering, monitoring, secure Wi-Fi or encrypted email alongside them. If you want one provider for everything, we provide full managed IT support as well.

Is your home ready for the online safety questions?

Our free Digital Safeguarding Checklist puts every requirement on two pages, mapped to what inspectors ask. It is the same list we work through with every new home.

Get the free checklist

See it working: a children's home in Leeds

A separate Wi-Fi network for each young person, timed access, and the ability for staff to switch one young person's internet off without affecting anyone else.

Read the case study

Care homes and supported living

We provide the same managed Wi-Fi for adult care homes and supported living: separate networks for residents, staff and visitors, monitored by our team.

Wi-Fi for care homes and supported living

Questions we're asked

What does Ofsted expect from web filtering in a children's home?

Inspectors look for filtering and monitoring that is appropriate for each young person, a named person responsible for it, regular documented reviews, and a clear record of what happens when a concern is flagged. Our article on the six questions inspectors ask sets out model answers and the evidence to have ready.

Can you restrict internet access for one young person but not another?

Yes. Each young person has their own filtered Wi-Fi network and settings, so a court order or risk assessment for one person never limits the others.

Can our managers make changes themselves?

Yes. Managers use our app, on a phone or a computer, to add or remove a young person's device, change internet times, change a Wi-Fi password, or switch one young person's Wi-Fi off. Each manager sees only their own homes, and every change is recorded. Staff Wi-Fi is protected, so it cannot be switched off by mistake.

What happens if a home's internet goes down?

Our monitoring tells us when a home's internet or Wi-Fi drops and raises a ticket straight away, usually before anyone in the home has noticed or had to ring us.

Does the filtering cover phones, consoles and smart TVs?

Every device that connects to the home's Wi-Fi goes through the same filtering, including consoles, tablets and smart TVs. Phones owned by the home can also be managed with mobile device management.

Are you listed with the UK Safer Internet Centre?

Yes. QLine IT is a listed filtering and monitoring integrator, self-certified against the UKSIC Appropriate Filtering and Monitoring criteria. Our responses are published on the UKSIC website: filtering and monitoring.

Do your staff have DBS checks?

Every member of the QLine IT team holds an enhanced DBS check, including office staff.

We already have an IT company. Can you just do the filtering?

Yes. Filtering, monitoring, secure Wi-Fi and encrypted email can each be provided alongside another IT provider.

What does it cost?

Web filtering is £50 per site per month plus VAT, reduced to £15 per site per month for homes on a full IT support contract. Secure Wi-Fi has a one-off hardware cost and the same monthly price. Mobile device management starts at £4 per device per month. Full IT support starts at £130 a month for five computers.

Talk to the team other children's homes use

Tell us how many homes and devices you have, and we will come back with a fixed monthly price.

Get a fixed price