This informal CPD article ‘Reducing Restrictive Practice in Children's Residential Care Begins with Training’ was provided by Omega Life Training, a provider of training programs in the fields of health, social care, and education.
Restraint is one of the most difficult areas of practice in children's residential care. The law permits it only in narrow circumstances, and only where it is necessary and proportionate. Under the Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015, restraint may be used solely to prevent injury to any person, serious damage to property, or a child in a secure children's home from absconding [1]. The regulations also set out what may never be used as a measure of control, including corporal punishment, the deprivation of food or drink, intentional sleep deprivation, and punishing a group of children for the behaviour of one [2]. The boundaries are clear on paper. What is far harder is applying them in a moment of genuine distress, at speed, with a young person whose behaviour is escalating.
This is why training on restraint cannot stop at explaining the rules. Knowing the list of prohibited measures is not the same as knowing how to hold a situation before it reaches the point where any physical intervention is considered. The most important part of restraint reduction happens well before restraint is contemplated, in the ordinary quality of relationships and communication on shift.
Ofsted guidance on restraint
Ofsted has been explicit about this. In its commentary on restraint and restrictive practices, the inspectorate notes that such practices can negatively affect children's mental health and well-being, and sets out its expectation that providers ensure staff are appropriately trained to engage and communicate meaningfully with children [3]. The emphasis falls on the everyday interaction rather than the incident. Staff who can read early signs of distress, who understand what a particular child's behaviour is communicating, and who have the confidence to stay alongside a young person rather than manage them, will reach for restrictive options far less often.
Importance of communication
Communication needs deserve particular attention. Ofsted states that staff caring for disabled children have a responsibility to understand each child's individual communication style, and that disabled children and children who communicate without speech have the right to be consulted about their experience of restraint and restrictive practice. Strong providers use children's individual communication systems as part of everyday practice, and Ofsted also sees independent advocacy services being used to gather children's views meaningfully [3]. The training implication is significant. Generic de-escalation training, delivered once and applied to every child in the same way, will not meet this expectation. Staff need learning that is specific to the children they actually support.
Creating the right environment
The environment matters as much as the individual skill. Ofsted expects leaders to create settings that offer children as many freedoms and flexibilities as possible, keeping them safe through the least intrusive means available, and reports a move away from bedroom-door alarms and locked doors, with children now having more control over their daily choices and experiences [3]. Decisions of this kind are cultural, and they are made by leaders. This aligns directly with the leadership and management standard, which requires the registered person to enable, inspire and lead a culture that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential and promotes their welfare, and to ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child [4].
Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015
Keeping thorough records
Recording is the third element, and it is often the weakest. The regulations require providers to record the reason for using restraint or restrictive practice, the manager's response, and the communication with the child. Ofsted is candid that it can be too easy to focus on recording and the quality of report writing rather than on the impact and understanding of restraint, and that inspectors will always try to gather information directly from children, carers and leaders first and foremost. The challenge it sets providers is to make sure records show the child's point of view and experience alongside the staff's response, rather than blaming children or focusing solely on a compliance matter [3]. Writing that way is a skill. It requires staff to describe their own decision-making honestly, including what they might do differently, which most people find uncomfortable without practice and without a culture that makes it safe.
Current regulations in practice
The mechanisms for developing all three elements already exist within the regulations. Every employee must undertake appropriate continuing professional development, receive practice-related supervision from a person with appropriate experience, and have their performance and fitness to perform their role appraised at least once a year [5]. These are not administrative obligations. Used properly, supervision and appraisal are where a member of staff works through the incident they are still thinking about, tests their judgement against someone more experienced, and adjusts their practice.
The scale of the sector makes this a pressing concern. As at 31 March 2025 there were 4,010 children's homes of all types registered in England, offering 15,700 places, a 15 per cent increase on the previous year [6]. Of all children's homes given a full inspection in 2024 to 2025, 81 per cent received a good or outstanding judgement for how well children and young people are helped and protected, while 74 per cent did so for the effectiveness of leaders and managers [6]. The gap between those two figures is worth reflecting on. It suggests that the harder challenge is not frontline intention but the leadership, oversight and learning culture that hold practice consistent across a team.
Final thoughts
Reducing restrictive practice is therefore a training question, a leadership question and a recording question at the same time. Services that treat it as a single annual course will continue to meet the letter of the regulations while missing their purpose. Those that build restraint reduction into supervision, into reflective discussion after every incident, and into the way leaders talk about risk, will give staff something far more useful than a certificate. They will give them the confidence to make better decisions in the moments that matter most to children.
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References
[1] Legislation.gov.uk (2015) 'The Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015, regulation 20: Restraint and deprivation of liberty'. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/541/regulation/20
[2] Legislation.gov.uk (2015) 'The Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015, regulation 19: Behaviour management and discipline'. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/541/regulation/19
[3] Ofsted (2025) 'Restraint and restrictive practices: positive environments for children'. Available at: https://socialcareinspection.blog.gov.uk/2025/07/30/restraint-and-restrictive-practices-positive-environments-for-children/
[4] Legislation.gov.uk (2015) 'The Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015, regulation 13: The leadership and management standard'. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/541/regulation/13
[5] Legislation.gov.uk (2015) 'The Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015, regulation 33: Employment of staff'. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/541/regulation/33
[6] Ofsted (2025) 'Main findings: children's social care in England 2025'. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childrens-social-care-in-england-2025/main-findings-childrens-social-care-in-england-2025
