Interim Head of Care for Residential Special Schools

Losing the person who leads care in a residential setting is not the same as losing a leader anywhere else. The children living with you notice immediately. Staff who were already stretched start covering shifts. And somewhere in the middle of it sits a registration that depends on having the right person in post.

It is understandable that the first instinct is to fill the post quickly. Sometimes that is exactly right. But the settings we see come through this well tend to pause long enough to separate two questions: what does this person need to hold right now, and what do they actually need to change before a substantive leader arrives.

What does an interim head of care do?

An interim head of care takes the post rather than advising on it. From their first day they hold the accountability, they line manage the care team, and they make the decisions the role carries. That distinction matters more here than almost anywhere else, because care leadership is not something that can be held at a distance.

In a residential special school or a children’s home the post usually covers:

• The registered manager responsibilities, where the setting is registered as a children’s home, including the notifications the role carries
• The quality standards, and the evidence that shows how the home is meeting them rather than simply claiming to
• Safeguarding within the living environment, including missing from care, restraint and restrictive practice, and allegations against staff
• Care planning, placement plans, and the relationship between the care team and the education team
• Rotas, staffing ratios and supervision, which in a difficult period is usually where the pressure shows first
• The relationship with Ofsted social care, placing authorities and independent visitors

When does a residential setting need an interim head of care?

In our experience the call almost always follows one of these:

• The registered manager has resigned and the registration cannot be left without a credible plan
• A social care inspection is expected within the term and there is nobody in post to hold it
• Somebody has been stood down while a process runs, and the deputy is too close to the circumstances
• An inspection outcome has raised concerns that need experience in post now rather than advice
• A provider has acquired a home and needs steady leadership through the transition
• A new home is registering and the substantive appointment has not yet been made

Does an interim head of care need to be a registered manager?

That depends on your setting and on how long the arrangement is expected to last, and it is worth taking proper advice on your own circumstances rather than relying on a general answer. Where the provision is registered as a children’s home, the manager’s registration sits with the individual and with that home, so a change of person is not simply an internal matter.

What we can tell you plainly is what we look for before we introduce anybody: experience of actually running a home of a comparable size and complexity, the relevant leadership qualification for residential childcare or clear evidence of working towards it, current safeguarding training, and a track record they are willing to have tested. We will also tell you where somebody is less strong, because you should hear that from us rather than discover it in week three.

Who employs the interim head of care?

You do, and it is agreed and written down before anybody starts. The arrangements we see most often are a fixed term contract of employment, or a contract for services with the interim or their own limited company. Either way the interim answers to you for the work, which keeps day to day leadership where it belongs.

Safer recruitment stays with you as well. We check that everybody in our network holds an enhanced DBS, has verified references and is not subject to a prohibition order or a barring decision. That is a filter on who we introduce, not a replacement for your own process.

What does good interim care leadership look like?

Good practice, from the placements that go well:

• A written remit agreed before the start date, separating what to hold from what to change
• Authority levels written down, particularly around staffing and spend
• The children told, in a way that suits their understanding, by somebody they already trust
• Handover of live safeguarding matters done face to face, case by case, rather than by folder
• A named person from the provider meeting the interim weekly, not monthly
• Placing authorities and independent visitors told early, before they hear it elsewhere
• A handover document started in the first fortnight rather than the last

A common misconception

Boards sometimes worry that bringing somebody in signals to Ofsted, to families and to placing authorities that the home is in trouble. We see the opposite far more often. A credible, experienced leader in post quickly reads as a provider that has acted and put the children first.

What actually unsettles people is a long silence, or a run of temporary internal arrangements that nobody has explained. Those are the things that appear in an inspection report, not the decision to bring somebody in.

Questions for leaders and proprietors

• If our head of care left tomorrow, who would hold the registration position by the end of that week?
• What would we want to be different by the time a substantive leader arrives?
• Who will hold the interim to account, and do they genuinely have the time?
• Have we agreed who completes each part of safer recruitment?
• What will we tell the children, and who is the right person to tell them?

How can Jarvis Education help?

We introduce you to experienced care leaders from an extensive UK network we know, and we agree the arrangements with you in writing before anybody is approached. You employ the interim directly. There is one introduction fee on appointment and nothing ongoing.

Every setting’s circumstances are different. Tell us your timescale at the first call and we will give you an honest answer about whether we can meet it. We would far rather say no at the start than let you down in week three, when you have already told your staff and your children.