Regulation 44 Independent Visits
Cherry Lane Therapeutic Services offers child focused, thoughtful, constructive and supportive Regulation 44 independent visits.
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Elena Balzer-Harwood
• NCFE Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement
• OCR Level 4 Award in the IQA of Assessment Processes and Practice
• OCR Level 3 Assessing Competence in the Work environment
• City & Guilds Level 4 NVQ Health and Social Care - Children & Young People
• City & Guilds Level 3 NVQ Caring for Children and Young People
About Elena
Elena is a highly skilled and experienced professional with over 20 years experience in residential childcare and qualified to assess and quality assure at all levels. Starting her career in 2003, Elena worked through varying roles within the residential childcare setting, to include Registered Manager under Ofsted. Since then, she has become a centre manager for NCFE registered assessment centre and has developed a high level of expertise in auditing, analysis. Elena has undertaken Regulation 44 visits since 2009 to ensure competency in all the homes she visits.
Elena’s inspections are rigorous and her reports are comprehensive, the standard of care and well-being of children and young people being at the heart of her work. As a ‘critical friend’ Elena acts with integrity when she challenges and questions practice, ensuring her feedback is fair and constructive.
Elena is supervised by Kerry Shoesmith, who has assisted homes in achieving outstanding and consistently achieved this with her team as a Registered Manager for many years.
Jo Docherty
I am an experienced Regulation 44 Visitor with over 15 years in the residential childcare sector, including 5 years specialising in conducting independent Regulation 44 visits and producing high-quality, compliant reports for children’s homes.
My career began within residential childcare, where I spent 10 years working directly with children and young people, progressing to Registered Manager of a 3-bedded home. This frontline and leadership experience provided me with a strong understanding of the challenges, responsibilities, and rewards of residential care, and continues to inform my approach to independent monitoring.
Alongside my Regulation 44 work, I am also a qualified midwife working within the NHS as part of a specialist Young Parents Team. In this role I provide continuity of care and support to young parents aged 21 and under, with a focus on reducing health inequalities through the development of positive, trusting, and empowering professional relationships. This clinical experience further enhances my safeguarding knowledge, my understanding of vulnerability and risk, and my ability to engage with young people in a compassionate, respectful, and trauma-informed manner.
I am passionate about promoting the voice of the child, safeguarding best practice, and supporting providers to achieve continuous improvement in the quality of care they deliver. Skilled in carrying out robust and independent Regulation 44 visits, I provide balanced analysis, identify strengths, highlight areas for development, and ensure compliance with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and Quality Standards.
My approach is professional, thorough, and child-focused, with the aim of supporting homes to provide safe, nurturing, and high-quality environments in which children and young people can thrive.