Safeguarding Policy

Policy & Procedures

1. Background

1.1 The recent guidelines; Working Together to Safeguard Children (DCFS, 2010) addresses practitioners and frontline managers who have particular responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and to senior and operational managers in;

  • •Organisations that are responsible for commissioning or providing services to children, young people, and adults who are parents/carers; and
  • •Organisations that have a particular responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people

1.2 The Charity Commissions guidelines (2009) also states that

‘Charity trustees are responsible for ensuring that those benefiting from, or working with, their charity are not harmed in any way through contact with it. They have a legal duty to act prudently and this means that they must take all reasonable steps within their power to ensure that this does not happen. It is particularly important where beneficiaries are vulnerable persons or children in the community.’

1.3 This policy is intended for use by lchtv.com and any provider or services it commissions or contracts. It has been produced in line with the Working Together to Safeguard Children guidelines (DCSF, 2010) and should be read in conjunction with lchtv.com Professional Boundaries Policy and Safe Recruiting practice.

2. Policy Statement

2.1 lchtv.com is fully committed to safeguarding the welfare of all young people who come into contact with its services, by protecting them from physical, sexual or emotional harm and neglect.

2.2 It is the responsibility of all Trustees, employees or volunteers, paid or unpaid to safeguard the welfare of all young people and their families who have contact with the services provided.

3. Definitions

3.1 A Young person or children are defined as being anyone who has not reached their 18th Birthday.

3.2 Safeguarding has been defined as;

•All agencies working with children, young people and their families taking all reasonable measures to ensure that the risks of harm to children’s welfare are minimised; and

  • •Where there are concerns about children and young people’s welfare, all agencies taking appropriate actions to address those concerns, working to agreed local policies and procedures in full partnership with other local agencies. (Safeguarding Children, 2005)

3.3 Child Protection forms part of safeguarding and promoting welfare and refers to any activity taken to protect children who are suffering or at risk of suffering significant harm.

3.4 Emotional Abuse is the persistent emotional ill treatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent effects on the child’s emotional development and may involve;

  • •Conveying to children that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person
  • •Imposing developmentally inappropriate expectations
  • •Causing children to feel frightened or in danger – e.g. witnessing domestic violence
  • •Exploitation or corruption of children.

3.5 Physical Abuse may take the form of;

  • •Hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning or suffocating a child.
  • •It may also be caused when a parent or carer feigns the symptoms of, or deliberately causes, ill health to a child. This unusual and potentially dangerous form of abuse is now described as fabricated or induced illness in a child.
  • •It may also include children suffering from obesity, or over use of medication.
  • 3.6Sexual Abuse involves;
  • •Forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities whether or not the child is aware of what is happening and includes penetrative and non-penetrative acts.
  • •It may also include non-contact activities such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of pornographic materials, watching sexual activities, or encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways.
  • 3.7Neglect involves;
  • •The persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health and development.
  • •This may involve failure to provide adequate food, shelter or clothing, failure to protect fro m physical harm or danger or failure to ensure access to appropriate medical care, or treatment. It may also include neglect of a child’s basic emotional needs.

4. Aims of the policy

4.1 Provide clarity to all Trustees, employees or volunteers, paid or unpaid on how to safeguard and promote welfare of young people and their families;

4.2 Ensure all Trustees, employees or volunteers, paid or unpaid are clear as to their responsibilities to safeguard and promote children and young people’s welfare;

4.3 Provide a check that there are no known reasons or information available that would prevent staff and volunteers from working with children and young people;

4.4 Outline procedures for dealing with allegations of abuse against members of staff, trustees and volunteers;

4.5 Provide a framework for all Trustees, employees or volunteers, paid or unpaid to follow in the event of a child protection or disclosure situation;

4.6 Ensure all staff receive appropriate training that helps them do their job well;

4.7 Ensure effective and collaborative partnership working.

5. Means of delivering the aims

In order to address the aims of the safeguarding policy lchtv.com will;

5.1 Ensure that all Trustees, employees or volunteers, paid or unpaid receive a copy of the Safeguarding policy and a signed declaration of commitment will be held centrally;

5.2 Deliver basic training on interpreting the safeguarding policy to all new Trustees, employees or volunteers, paid or unpaid, and how it relates to their specific post;

5.3 Monitor and review the policy annually to ensure it complies with current guidelines;

5.4 Ensure all Trustees, employees or volunteers, paid or unpaid conform to the Professional Boundaries Policy and Data Protection Policy in relation to data collection and information sharing;

5.5 Identify key personnel i.e. Safeguarding Officer, within lchtv.com who will be responsible for managing the policy and who will also act as the Charities point of contact when dealing with safeguarding or child protection issues with external organisations;

5.6 Review the training needs of all Trustees, employees or volunteers, paid or unpaid and deliver or commission training when necessary and to the appropriate level;

5.7 Undertake measures in line with the Safe Recruiting Policy that ensures the recruitment process is safe, fair and conforms to current vetting guidelines;

5.8 Ensure all Trustees, employees or volunteers, paid or unpaid follow the correct procedure in the event of a child protection or disclosure incident.

6. Child Protection Procedure

6.1 All Trustees, employees or volunteers, paid or unpaid should be aware of the procedure to follow;

•if you suspect a young person is or has been abused or neglected

•if a young person is about to disclose abuse or neglect

And;

•what to do after a disclosure

•who to contact

6.2 If you suspect abuse or neglect;

•Discuss your concerns with the appropriate person. This will be the appointed Safeguarding Officer - Do not discuss with anybody who does not need to know.

•Your Safeguarding Officer will offer advice regarding the next stage of the process. This will be either contacting Social Services immediately, or logging the concerns. The choice will be determined by the nature of the abuse i.e. whether it is significant harm

•Record any FACTS, which support the suspicion

•Ensure the appropriate information is handed to the Safeguarding Officer. It will be filed confidentially in the appropriate designated place

•If you are unable to follow these procedures due to not being able to contact the Safeguarding Officer  it is essential that you seek advice from Social Services immediately

•If after discussing the incident with the Safeguarding Officer it is felt that no further action is required then this should be documented and the Safeguarding Officer should retain for future reference.

6.3 If a young person discloses or is about to disclose information;

•Explain clearly ‘CONFIDENTIALITY’. You have the responsibility to notify the appropriate Safeguarding Officer or Social Services in the event of a disclosure. Never promise that the information will remain a secret;

•Allow the young person to speak, never interrupt. Do not ask leading questions, never put words, or finish the sentence for the young person. However difficult this may be, the information needs to come direct from the young person, in the eyes of the law;

•Never question the young person or attempt to investigate;

•Try to alleviate feelings of guilt and isolation, remain non-judgemental, offer support – most importantly – LISTEN.

6.4 What to do after a disclosure;

•All information relating to an incident of child abuse is strictly confidential; it should only be discussed with:

•lchtv.com  Safeguarding Officer

•Social Services

•The Police

•NSPCC

•Within 24 hours of a verbal referral to any of the above authorities you should submit a written report; the ‘Child Protection Report form’ is designed to provide as accurate report as possible to the necessary authority and is based on the Common Assessment Framework used by Social Services. The report should be sealed and marked confidential and sent through a secure method ie. Secure email or hand delivered. All notes need to be made within 24 hours of the disclosure otherwise they may not be admissible in court

•Seek supervision, support from the Safeguarding Officer. Dealing with child abuse can be one of the most difficult and distressing areas of working with young people. Do not underestimate how it may make you feel.

6.5 Who to Contact;

lchtv.com Safeguarding Officer

Name -  Elizabeth Hirst                                        Phone - 07713538666                                      

Email – uppermidhope@googlemail.com

NSPCC Web: http://www.nspcc.org.uk/  Phone: 0808 800 5000

  • 6.6See Appendix 1 for diagram representing the correct Child Protection Procedure

7. Training Provision

7.1 lchtv.com is fully committed to ensuring appropriate safeguarding and child protection training for all Trustees, employees or volunteers, paid or unpaid.

7.2 JTV will adopt a 3 level approach to training as indicated by the Working Together to Safeguard Children (DCFS, 2010) guidelines;

  • •Level 1 training will be delivered to all Trustees, employees or volunteers, paid or unpaid and will form part of the induction process. Training at this level will be basic and will consist of familiarisation of all relevant policies and procedures within lchtv.com.
  • •Level 2 training will also be delivered ‘in house’ and will benefit those who have regular contact with children, young people and their families. The training will consist of the following topics;
  • •What is abuse
  • •Definitions of abuse
  • •Recognising abuse
  • •Responsibilities
  • •Responding to allegations of abuse
  • •Working to a Code of Conduct
  • •Level 3 training will be offered to selected staff that are likely to deal with the child protection issues or allegations and complaints. This will be directed from the Safeguarding Officer and will be commissioned from an external training provider.

8. The role of the Safeguarding Officer

•This person is responsible for disseminating and implementing safeguarding procedures within the organisation;

•They will receive information from staff, volunteers, children and young people, parents and carers, about child protection concerns and maintain records of this information;

•They will assess this information promptly and take appropriate action;

•They must be familiar with the social services and police procedure for investigating child abuse;

•They must also know how to signpost staff to the correct contact in their your local area and the relevant people within social services or police;

•They will work with HR to assess training needs and deliver appropriate level to training to all Trustees, employees or volunteers, paid or unpaid;

•They will monitor the number of safeguarding concerns; keep records at their disposal and feed back to the organisation on the quality of their safeguarding work.

9. Safeguarding yourself

9.1 This policy in conjunction with the Professional Boundaries Policy will not only protect the young people lchtv.com work with, but will serve to protect all Trustees, employees or volunteers, paid or unpaid as well.

Please refer to the Professional Boundaries policy for issues regarding code of conduct and forming appropriate relationships with service users.

If you require further assistance with the Safeguarding Policy then please contact the Safeguarding Officer.