If your children’s home has an inspection coming up, you can be almost certain the inspector will ask about online safety. Since the introduction of the Social Care Common Inspection Framework, inspectors have been trained to look closely at how homes protect young people on the internet, and they ask pointed, practical questions rather than accepting a policy document at face value.
This article sets out the questions registered managers tell us they are asked most often, with a model answer for each. The wording of your own answers will differ, but if you can answer all six honestly and show the evidence, your filtering and monitoring arrangements are in good shape.
1. Who is responsible for filtering and monitoring in this home?
The inspector wants a name, not a job title buried in a policy. Filtering and monitoring need a clearly identified senior person who understands how the system works, reviews the alerts and reports, and acts on them.
Model answer: Our registered manager holds overall responsibility for filtering and monitoring. Day to day alerts go to the senior on shift, and our IT provider maintains the system itself. Every member of staff knows who to escalate a concern to, and this is covered in induction.
2. How do you know your filtering actually works?
This is the question that catches homes out. A filter that was set up two years ago and never tested is not evidence of safeguarding, it is evidence of an assumption.
Model answer: We test the filtering regularly by attempting to access blocked categories on the young people’s network, and we keep a record of each test. Our provider is a member of the Internet Watch Foundation, so illegal child abuse content is blocked at source. We also review the browsing logs and alert reports, which show us the filter blocking attempts in practice.
3. When were your arrangements last reviewed?
Inspectors expect filtering and monitoring to be reviewed formally and regularly, not just when something goes wrong. A review that is documented and signed off carries far more weight than a verbal assurance.
Model answer: We review the filtering and monitoring arrangements every three months. The review checks that the filtering levels still match each young person’s placement plan, that alerts are being actioned, and that any new devices in the home are covered. The review is recorded and signed off by the registered manager.
4. What happens when a concerning search is flagged?
A filtering system that generates alerts nobody reads is worse than useless, because it creates a written record of concerns that were ignored. The inspector wants to see a clear path from alert to action.
The escalation path
Model answer: Alerts for concerning searches, such as references to self harm, suicide or contact with unknown adults, go to the senior on shift immediately. The senior records the alert, speaks with the young person where appropriate, and updates the placement plan and risk assessment. Anything that meets our safeguarding threshold is referred on the same day, and the outcome is recorded against the original alert.
5. How do you manage each young person individually?
Children’s homes are not schools. Each young person has different needs, a different history and a different placement plan, and inspectors expect the internet arrangements to reflect that.
Model answer: Each young person has an individual WiFi profile, so we can apply age appropriate filtering, time limits or a temporary restriction for one young person without affecting anyone else in the home. The settings for each young person are recorded in their placement plan and reviewed with them, so they understand what is in place and why.
6. What about phones, consoles and smart TVs?
Filtering that only covers the computer in the office misses where young people actually spend their time online. Inspectors increasingly ask about the full range of devices.
Model answer: Every device that connects to our WiFi goes through the same filtering, including consoles, tablets and smart TVs. Devices owned by the home are managed through mobile device management, which controls apps and content. Each young person’s own phone is handled according to their placement plan and risk assessment, and those arrangements are recorded.
The evidence to have ready
Answers are stronger when they are backed by paper. Before an inspection, make sure you can produce: your online safety policy, the most recent documented filtering review, a sample of alert logs with the actions taken, the record of individual arrangements for each young person, and your staff induction material covering online safety.
Common pitfalls we see
The same weaknesses come up again and again: a single shared WiFi password for the whole home, filtering that was never tested after installation, alerts going to an email inbox nobody checks, guest and contractor devices on the same network as the young people, and reviews that happen in practice but are never written down. Every one of these is fixable in days rather than months.
Check your own home in ten minutes
We have put every requirement in this article, and the rest of the digital safeguarding picture, into a free two page checklist mapped to the questions inspectors ask. Tick off what is in place, and anything left unticked becomes your priority list.
Download the free Digital Safeguarding Checklist for Children’s Homes.
QLine IT provides secure WiFi, internet filtering and full IT support designed for children’s homes, with enhanced DBS checked staff and Cyber Essentials Plus certification. If you would like a free, no obligation review of your home’s setup, call 0330 1700 092.
