Example values and behaviours framework for residential children’s care in Wales

• Use this example framework to think about how each of the values and behaviours could apply to your workplace culture and what you expect from your staff members.

• Involve your staff and children and young people in discussing the values and behaviours that matter most to them in your setting. Get their feedback and use it to make a framework relevant to your setting.

• Make sure your values and behaviours framework reflects and describes your culture in language that means something to staff, children, and young people.

• Use language they’d use on a day-to-day basis when living and working together.

• Make sure your leaders and managers are committed to adopting and using the framework, and the language of the values and behaviours, when they manage staff and make decisions.

• Communicate and share the new values and behaviours with your staff members, and the children and young people in the care home.

• Plan how to start to embed the new values and behaviours into all aspects of your recruitment and management processes using the 5 As values-based recruitment model.

You could use our mapping tool to look at how those values align with the example residential childcare values to find ways to articulate them differently for your care home. The mapping tool is explained below

You could use the mapping tool to map your own values and behaviours onto the framework and ask:

• are there any gaps?
• are there any values or behaviours you could add to your framework to make it better?   

Once you’ve updated your framework, share it with your leaders and managers and make they share the same language, are committed to embedding it in your setting.  

Review and reflect on how well you’ve communicated and shared your framework with existing staff, staff you are recruiting, and with children and young people. Ask:

•  could you do anything more to communicate the values and behaviours clearly to staff and children and young people?   
•  are you using the values and behaviours in the most effective way when you recruit and manage your staff?   

Our behaviours

This means we:

• put children and young people at the heart of everything we do

• get to know, and actively listen to, children and young people to understand what matters to them

• give children and young people opportunities to share their perspective and listen without judgement

• are committed and passionate about doing anything we can to make children and young people’s lives happier and easier, and to set them up for success in life

• have patience and empathy, understanding how children and young people’s backgrounds and experiences impact on them, and help them build on their strengths

• make sure children and young people get the care and support that meets their individual needs

• show our commitment to the rights of the child and fully involve children and young people in matters that affect them

• create a warm, kind, homely and friendly environment for children and young people

• give children and young people our full attention, being interested in them and what matters most to them

• are a champion for the young person and their needs and help advocate across organisational structures

• support positive behaviour in line with agreed organisational policies and procedures, using restrictive physical intervention as a last resort.

Our behaviours

This means we:

• treat everyone with dignity and respect regardless of their culture, religion, age, race, sexual orientation, neurodivergence or disability

• are authentically warm, kind, empathetic, reliable, and compassionate to everyone we work with and support

• respect the views, wishes, feelings and rights of children and young people and their carers

• promote the well-being, voice and control of children and young people and their carers, while supporting them to stay safe

• respect children and young people’s rights while making sure that their behaviour doesn’t harm themselves or other people

• take account of individual’s preferred way of communicating and change how we communicate approaches to meet their needs

• respond to children and young people compassionately and respectfully when they’re withdrawn, angry, or distressed

• answer children and young people’s questions and concerns sensitively and appropriately

• let children and young people know how information about them is shared and decisions are made

• understand that this is a child’s or young person’s home

• show empathy for their challenges, and respect their need for privacy

• respect the position of trust we have with children and young people.

Our behaviours

This means we:

• always act with integrity, honesty, and trustworthiness

• meet the standards in the Code of Professional Practice

• are accountable for the quality of our work

• take personal responsibility for providing safe, high-quality care and support to children and young people

• are flexible and proactive – we respond calmly to what goes on in the day and are willing to change to meet the needs of the service and the children and young people

• take responsibility for maintaining and developing our knowledge and skills

• treat children, young people, and families’ personal information with discretion while appropriately sharing information in line with the organisation’s information sharing policies

• follow the organisation’s policy on professional boundaries, and have clear and appropriate boundaries in all relationships with children and young people

• get support and take sensitive action where a child or young person misreads or becomes confused about a situation or relationship

• recognise and work within the limits of our competence

• take responsibility for looking after our well-being, and get advice from managers and colleagues

• are open and honest if we make a mistake, self-reflecting and willing to learn from our mistakes

• raise concerns or challenge others when we’re worried about the quality or safety of the care and support being given to children and young people.

Our behaviours

This means we:

• aim to establish and maintain trust and confidence in our relationships with children and young people and their carers and families

• understand our own role, responsibilities and contribution to the team and play our role in the team

• understand everyone else’s roles and responsibilities in the team, and respect and value everyone’s contributions

• listen to other people’s needs and priorities, and respect different people’s priorities and ways of working

• support others in the team and offer help and guidance when they need it

• manage disagreements constructively, giving feedback to people in a supportive and compassionate manner

• use agreed communication methods to reflect with other team members and share information in handovers, to support a co-ordinated, consistent and safe service

• prepare for, and contribute positively to, meetings and team-working opportunities

• model positive behaviours and ways of working when we work with other people

• develop local networks and involve other professionals when we need to for extra information and support.