Guidance Notes for the Safeguarding Self Assessment Tool

Guidance notes for the Safeguarding Self Assessment Tool

Questions 8-12: Child Protection Policy & Procedures

This part of the questionnaire is to ensure that your group/organisation understands its Child Protection responsibilities.

Your Child Protection Policy should have the following:

1. A clear policy statement that sets out: your organisation’s commitment to Safeguarding Children; who your nominated person for safeguarding children is; how, in broad terms, you intend to safeguard children; who it applies to; how it relates to other policies. (You may wish to have an Action Plan that states how you will ensure that everyone, including children, is aware of and understands your safeguards). 2. Written Procedures: A Child Protection Procedure is a set of detailed guidelines that tells everyone what to do if they are concerned about a child. It is important that you have clear instructions to ensure that there is a speedy and effective response for dealing with concerns about a child. The written procedures should include: a. Purpose and aim of the procedure; b. A description of the different categories of abuse. These are physical, emotional, sexual abuse, and neglect. (If you require more information contact Doreen Gwilliam); c. How to recognise the signs of abuse? (For more resources on this please contact Doreen Gwilliam); d. How to respond to sign or suspicions of abuse? Include details of who should tell whom, what the named person will do, and the actions to take, including contact numbers. It should be clear who staff, parents and children should talk to if they are worried. e. How to respond to allegations of abuse against a member of staff, other worker or volunteer; f. How to respond to a child telling you about abuse; g. How information will be recorded; h. Confidentiality policy: The legal principle that the “welfare of the child is paramount” means that taking action to safeguard the child is most important. Privacy and confidentiality should be respected, but if doing this leaves a child at risk of harm, the child’s safety has to come first. So legally, it is fine to share information if someone is worried about the safety of a child. When a concern or worry is raised, not everyone needs to know about it. This respects the child’s family’s and/or staff’s rights to privacy. So only people who ‘need to know’ should be told about it; i. Sharing Information: Even if it is not a Child Protection Issue but the child/family need extra help then it is possible to complete a

1 Common Assessment Form (CAF) - you may wish to mention how and when you would ‘share information’ with other services.

Questions 13-16: Training

Training is an important element of ‘keeping children safe’. All workers should be given the opportunity to learn about child protection and keeping children safe, and this training should be kept updated. Barnsley Safeguarding Children Board offers a series of Multi-Agency Training Opportunities that are free to Barnsley’s Third Sector. This ranges from basic on line Child Protection Courses to more in depth specific courses. For further information regarding this, please contact either Doreen Gwilliam at VAB or follow the links on the Safeguarding Children Board Website: www.safeguardingchildrenbarnsley.com

Question 17-20: ‘Employing the right people’

This section is about ‘employing the right people’. Legislation has changed in recent years to make it harder for people who are abusers to find opportunities to work with children. As an organisation who works with children/young people, you will need to ensure that you are following ‘safer recruitment practices’. This could include:

1. Define the Role: Consider the tasks and skills necessary for the job and what kind of person is most suited; 2. Selection criteria: Decide how the person should behave with children and what attitudes you want to see. Develop a list of essential and desirable qualifications, skills and experience and select against this; 3. Recruitment publicity: Circulate all vacancies widely and ensure you advertise your organisations commitment to Safeguarding; 4. Written Application Form: This should include personal details, past and current work/volunteering history (question any gaps in the history); 5. Follow Criminal Records Bureau Checks, including ISA Vetting & Barring Scheme procedures when available; 6. References: Always gain at least two references prior to starting a new employee/volunteer; 7. Identification: Ensure that you ask for photographic documentation to confirm identity; 8. Check qualifications if required; 9. Interview process: preferably at least two representatives from the group should meet with the applicant to discuss information contained in their form, and to explore their attitudes towards working with children. This also provides an opportunity to discuss your child protection policy and to ensure that the applicant has the ability and commitment to meet the standards required.

2 Further information regarding ISA:

Under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) was established to make decisions on who should be barred from working with children and/or vulnerable adults (C/VA). The new Vetting & Barring Scheme will be phased in during 2010. All people who are deemed as suitable to work with C/VA will become ISA registered following the necessary checks by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). If they have relevant cautions, convictions or there is other information which the ISA decides would make them unsuitable to work with vulnerable people they will be placed on a Barred List – there will be criteria for people working with children and criteria for people working with vulnerable adults. The individual concerned will be informed if this is the case and will have a right of appeal. Employers and volunteer organisations who deal with children and/or vulnerable adults always need to check a person’s ISA status before employing them or using them as volunteers. You cannot take their word that they are registered and neither can you allow them to start work – even supervised- before you know the outcome of the check. It is your organisation’s responsibility to check a potential employee or volunteer’s status. If an applicant is not ISA registered they have either not applied or are on an ISA Barred List.

Questions 21-24: Complaints & Allegations

It is good practice to ensure that everyone knows and has access to your Complaints procedures. It is equally important that staff and volunteers know what to do if they have a concern about a colleague (Whistle Blowing Policy). All allegations about abuse should be taken seriously and you should have a named person who investigates concerns. If an allegation is substantiated and this leads to either a criminal investigation or dismissal from their work with children then you have a duty to inform the Independent Safeguarding Authority. This should be reported to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) at the Barnsley Children Services: 01226 772400.

‘The HM Government Guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children (2010) sets out the role of the LADO. Appendix 5 outlines the procedures for managing allegations against people who work with children.

The LADO is situated within children's services and should be alerted to all cases in which it is alleged that a person who works with children has:

 behaved in a way that has harmed or may have harmed a child  possibly committed a criminal offence against children  behaves towards a child in way that indicates they are unsuitable to work with children.

3 A LADO helps co-ordinate information sharing with the correct people. They monitor and track any investigation with the expectation that it is resolved as quickly as possible. The LADO is involved from the initial phase of the allegation through to the conclusion of the case.’

Questions 25 & 26: Integrated Working & Information Sharing

Every Child Matters aims to integrate services for children and young people from 0-19 so that all organisations including Third Sector Groups can work together to protect children and young people from harm and help them to achieve their maximum potential. The multi-agency approach focuses on prevention and early intervention and provides support for the child or young person, which is co-ordinated and tailored to their individual needs. To be effective, the agencies involved have to use common process tools and language. Some of these tools are as follows:

 Information Sharing: “Almost every public enquiry into the death of a child as a result of abuse or neglect since Maria Caldwell (1975) has identified the failure of professionals to share relevant information in a timely manner as a major contributory factor”. This statement demonstrates how important it is that practioners have clear understanding of when information about a child can be shared and an equal understanding of circumstances when sharing is inappropriate;  Contact Point: is a secure electronic database, which will hold a record of every child, up to the age of 18 who live in England. It will hold basic information but not any sensitive information and can be used to see which professionals the child or young person is in contact with. (Contact Point is one of the databases that the new government is reviewing);  Common Assessment Framework (CAF): The CAF is an approach developed nationally to help practioners to coordinate the delivery of services to children with additional needs. The CAF makes it easier for services to work together in a more effective and structured way because, once trained, practitioners across all agencies follow the same process, conducting standard assessments which can then be shared and understood by all agencies involved with that individual. For further information about CAF and access to the CAF Assessors’ Training please contact the CAF Coordinator on 01226 775878.

Questions 27 & 28: Bullying & E-Safety Awareness

Bullying may be defined as deliberately hurtful behaviour, usually repeated over a period of time from one person to another who finds it difficult to defend themself. It can mean verbal threats or intimidation and may be carried out using mobile phones or through chat rooms on the internet. The impact of bullying on a child’s physical, emotional and psychological wellbeing is often underestimated. Bullying can occur in any group of children or young 4 people whatever its type or size or the age of its members. There are many different forms of bullying; at one end of the scale it can be teasing and at the other it becomes serious assault or harassment. Verbal and psychological bullying can be just as harmful and hurtful as physical violence. Sexual and racial harassment are particularly serious forms of bullying as is Cyber- bullying.

Effects of bullying

The effects of bullying can lead to children and young people:

 becoming depressed - they actually become ill;  experiencing low self esteem;  becoming shy and withdrawn;  experiencing physical complaints, like constant stomach aches and headaches, which are brought on by stress;  feeling so anxious that they play truant from school.

One kind of bullying which causes great stress is spreading hurtful rumours, which in some cases has led to self harm or suicide.

E-Safety:

Abusive images of children, or child pornography, are defined as any representation, by whatever means, of a child engaged in real or simulated explicit sexual activities, or any representation of the sexual parts of a child for sexual purposes. The internet and other information communication technologies mean that children nowadays may be more vulnerable to abuse. Digital and phone cameras have made it possible for images of children to be distributed without their knowledge. Children may also be at risk of coming into contact with people who want to harm them through their use of internet chat rooms, instant messaging, social networks and text messaging. Barnsley Safeguarding Children Board have an E-Safety Sub Group who are driving e- safety messages across Barnsley. It is good practice for your organisation to nominate an E-Safety Co-ordinator who can link into the work of this Sub Group. For further information or guidance on the development of policies, training and the development of an e-safety culture, please contact Mark Roberts at [email protected]

And finally…

The Self Assessment Tool is for your organisation to measure if it is compliant with Safeguarding legislation. You can submit your completed questionnaire electronically using the internet by visiting the following page of the Voluntary Action Barnsley website: www.vabarnsley.org.uk/doclibrary.php#childrendocs

5 Alternatively you can send a paper copy to the VAB Participation Team, The Core, County Way, Barnsley, S70 2JW. If you require any further information or support, please contact Doreen Gwilliam on 01226 320106 or email [email protected]

We will distribute ‘Certificates of Completion’ in due course.