The admission record is the evidence of how and why a young person came to be placed with you: the placement details, the contacts at the point of admission, and the checklist of what was done before they arrived.

Open the young person, then Admissions under Daily life & records.

Start the record before they arrive

Select Start admission. The modal is headed Start admission process: "Record the placement details, key contacts, and tick off each mandatory step before the child arrives."

Field	Notes
Planned admission date
Admitted at (leave blank if not yet admitted)	Leave blank — this is what keeps the record pending
Placement type	Planned, Emergency, Respite, Remand, Other
Room number
Placing authority (Local Authority)
Placement reason
Social worker at point of admission	Name, Phone, Email
Initial notes

Every field is optional. Then Create record.

Pending becomes active

The status is not something you choose. It comes from one field:

Status	When
Pending	No Admitted at date
Active placement	Admitted at is set

So the moment the young person actually arrives, reopen the record with Update and stamp Admitted at. The modal is then headed Update admission record and saves with Save changes.

The admission checklist

Eight steps, the same for every home:

Placement agreement signed
Risk assessment completed and reviewed
Initial health needs assessed
Emergency contacts recorded
Room allocated and prepared
Key contacts briefed (social worker, placing authority)
Initial care plan initiated
Child welcomed and oriented to the home

Tick them off in the Admission checklist section of the modal; the header counts n / 8 complete. On the record, the same count sits beside Checklist above a progress bar.

Nothing is blocked by an unticked step. The checklist is a record of what was done, not a gate — and a full bar is not the same as the underlying work existing. Ticking "Risk assessment completed and reviewed" does not create or check a risk assessment.

Manager sign-off

Sign off confirms the admission has been reviewed. It appears only on an active record that has not been signed off, and only to a manager.

Two refusals to expect: "Only an active (admitted) record can be signed off." if the record is still pending, and "This admission record has already been signed off." on a repeat. The record then shows a green Signed off badge and Signed off by [name] on [date].

If the record changed after the manager opened it, ARC refuses the sign-off and asks them to reload: "This record has changed since you opened it. Reload to see the latest version before you sign it off or send it back."

Sending a record back, or undoing a sign-off

A manager has two more buttons on an admission record.

Send back — opens Send back to staff. The manager chooses Send to (a member of the home; the person who created the record is pre-selected) and writes What is needed?. Both are required. That person gets an email, a notification and a dashboard alert, and the alert stays until they resubmit. They edit the record and select Submit for review again. While it is with them, the manager cannot send it back again or redirect it. The note is shown to the person it was sent to and to managers, not to other staff.
Undo sign-off — opens Undo sign-off and asks Why are you undoing the sign-off? (required). The record goes back to awaiting review, and the signed-off version is kept in its version history.

Send back is offered on a record that is not signed off; Undo sign-off on one that is. ARC refuses a send-back on a signed-off record ("This record is signed off. Undo the sign-off first, then send it back."). The person it was sent to, or a manager, can resubmit it.

Nothing signed is overwritten: each step is recorded as a version with who did it and why. Edits made after a sign-off are allowed, and managers see "Edited since it was signed off — the changes are in its version history."

Who can record

Any member of the home can view, create and update an admission record. Only sign-off, send-back and undoing a sign-off are reserved for the manager.