What's the Key? A Website About Locks and Safes

Running a group home for troubled kids is no cakewalk. In fact, it takes a lot of locks, keys, and safety measures to make sure everyone remains safe. If you are going to open and operate such a group home, it would be very wise of you to hire a locksmith. Here are all the services you will need a locksmith to perform.

Locks on Bedroom Doors

A lot of the kids that may be coming to you come from places and homes where it was terrifying to go to sleep at night. As such, you can afford them some privacy and plenty of security by putting locks on all of the bedroom doors. You alone would have the keys to check on the kids at night and make sure they are sleeping and safe, ensuring them that you would only be opening their doors a crack and then locking their doors again. This builds trust over time and helps these kids feel safe. 

Locks on Medicine Cabinets

All medicines, regardless of where they are stored, need to be locked up. Your locksmith can install locks on cabinets and/or install special locks on file cabinets that double as med cabinets. If you keep the med cabinets inside a closet inside a closed room, put locks on the closet door and another locking handle on the door of the room itself. It keeps potentially suicidal kids from getting a hold of medicines they could use to harm themselves, and it keeps other kids from getting a hold of medicines that they could sell on the street. Additionally, you might want to keep all sharp objects locked up in the same closet. 

Locks on Food Cabinets and Cleaning Cabinets

Occasionally, you might have a child come to stay with you that either hordes and steals food or has a special condition, such as Prader-Willi Syndrome. If that is the case, food pantries and food cabinets will need to be locked as well to avoid theft of food meant for the whole house and/or consumption of too much food. Understandably, some of these troubled children may not have been fed enough at home with their parents, but it still presents a challenge for ensuring that everyone gets a decent meal three times a day.

There is also the issue of cleaning supplies. Cleaning supplies may need to be locked up as well. Have them in a place where laundry is done but locked up in cabinets to protect kids with suicidal ideations. 

For help with these locks or others you may need in your group home, contact a local locksmith from a company like The Lock Shop.