Brathay Trust
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BRATHAY TRUST CHILD PROTECTION AND SAFEGUARDING POLICY & PROCEDURES [INCLUDING SAFEGUARDING VULNERABLE ADULTS] DESIGNATED CHILD PROTECTION OFFICER: GODFREY OWEN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE CONTACT DETAILS: MOBILE PHONE: 07739 646144 EMAIL: [email protected] 1 DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT RECORD CHILD PROTECTION POLICY & SAFEGUARDING PROCEDURES (REPLACES PREVIOUS SAFEGUARDING POLICY, DATED Dec. 2011) Originated: November 2011 Next Full Document Review Date: March 2017 Document Status Issue Date Notes Originator Authorised by: 1 January 2011 Draft Document issued for Leadership Team Jon Owen n/a consultation 2. February 2011 Document issued to Trustees for review and Godfrey J. Burdon-Bailey signed off in principle Owen (Chair) 3. February 2011 Document issued to Management Group for Jon Owen Godfrey Owen review 4. March 2011 Document issued to Leadership Team for final Jon Owen Godfrey Owen sign-off 5. 21 April 2011 CEO sign-off; Document distributed to staff via Jon Owen Godfrey Owen email 6. 23 November Two new draft sections added: Child Sexual Jon Owen n/a 2011 Exploitation & Use of Reasonable Force; Draft issued for Leadership Team consultation 7. 12 December New policy signed off by Leadership Team and Jon Owen Godfrey Owen 2011 Mgmnt Group; distributed to staff via email 8. December Policy review commenced by Director of Young Dale Godfrey Owen 2013 People Services Tomlinson 9. February 2014 Policy review completed. Policy reviewed by Godfrey Owen CEO and circulated to Management Group for review 10. March 2014 Management review completed and final Godfrey Owen version circulated to entire organisation 11 March 2014 Policy circulated to Trustees Godfrey Owen 12 February 2015 Edits made: double waking night cover, Dave Godfrey Owen overnight supervision at venues, instant Harvey messaging guidelines, staff recruitment sections 13 November Incorporated Lone Working policy & procedure Godfrey Godfrey Owen 2015 into a procedure of main policy and placed as Owen appendix. 14 March 2016 Edits made: inclusion of safeguarding YP from Jenni Godfrey Owen extremism and radicalisation McDuff 15 Sept 2016 Inclusion of section, Information Sharing Godfrey Godfrey Owen Owen 2 CONTENTS PAGE Document Management Record 2 Policy statement 4 Responsibilities 5 Designated Child Protection Officer 5 Convening ‘Lessons Learnt’ panels 5 Other relevant Brathay policies 5 Guidance: 1.1 One to one situations 6 1.2 Transporting young people 6 1.3 Looked After young people 7 1.4 Social contact with young people 7 1.5 Youth work using digital media 8 1.6 Recordings 9 1.7 Confidentiality 10 1.8 Ethical conduct in youth work 10 1.9 Working with sexually active young people 11 Fraser Guidelines 12 1.10 Child Sexual Exploitation 13 1.11 Extremism & radicalisation 14 1.12 Use of reasonable force 15 2.0 Overnight supervision 23 2.1 Accommodation security 24 2.2 Contractors 24 2.4 Staff recruitment 25 2.2 Definition of a vulnerable adult 26 Disclosure of abuse made by young people 27 Flowchart of disclosure procedures 28 Handling information from third parties 29 Flowchart of third party procedures 31 Allegations of abuse against Brathay staff 32 Flowchart of allegation procedures 35 Concerns about young people 36 Appendix A: Common requirements of organisations 37 Appendix B: Law relating to this policy 38 Appendix C: Definitions of abuse 39 Appendix D: Signs and symptoms of abuse 40 Appendix E: Common Assessment Framework 41 Appendix F: Useful external contact details 42 Appendix G: Lone Working procedures 43 Appendix H: Information Sharing, supporting information 50 Glossary 51 3 POLICY STATEMENT Brathay Trust is fully committed to safeguarding the welfare of all children, young people and vulnerable adults by taking all reasonable steps to protect them from neglect, physical, sexual or emotional harm. All staff, associates, trustees and volunteers will at all times show respect and understanding for the rights, safety and welfare of all children and young people with whom the Trust comes into contact, and conduct themselves in a way that reflects our principles. The above will be achieved by: • A proactive approach to safeguarding which constantly reviews our practice and responds to issues and potential vulnerabilities immediately and robustly. • Close liaison and joint working with statutory child protection agencies to ensure that practice meets the best possible standard for all those we work with. • ensuring that all staff, trustees, associates, and volunteers are carefully recruited, trained and supervised; • carefully assessing all risks that children and young people encounter and taking all necessary steps to minimise and/or manage them; • listening to children, and understanding how their individual circumstances and life experiences may affect their vulnerability and risk. Then taking that into account in planning engagement and activities with that young person; • informing parents1, children and young people how to voice concerns or complaints about anything that they may not be happy with; • presenting parents, children, young people and accompanying staff with information about what we do and what can be expected from us. All Brathay’s trustees, staff, associates, and volunteers have a duty of care to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people. This also applies to third party delivery agents. All of the above groups should be familiar with these procedures, are expected to comply with them and have a duty to report any child protection or welfare concerns to the Chief Executive, who is the Trust’s Designated Child Protection Officer. For the purposes of this policy, the terms ‘young people’, ‘children’ and ‘child’ refer to all children and young people under the age of 18 and also to vulnerable adults. See page 26 for the Home Office’s definition of vulnerable adults, which Brathay has adopted. Child protection and safeguarding responsibilities and arrangements are set out in this document. This document replaces the previous policy and related procedures, dated December 2011. 1 In the context of this policy, ‘parents’ is taken to also mean guardian(s) and .all those with Parental Responsibility as defined by the Children’s Act (2004). 4 RESPONSIBILITIES Job Title Responsibility Chief Executive Overall responsibility for safeguarding and child protection arrangements throughout Brathay Trust Chief Executive Designated Child Protection Officer: responsible for this Policy and associated procedures, including training, implementation and reviewing Lead Signatory Responsibility for Disclosure & Barring Service process management All staff, trustees, associates and volunteers Responsibility for ensuring that young people and vulnerable adults are safeguarded Other Relevant Brathay Policies • Health & Safety Policy • Critical Incident Management Policy & Procedures: o Community Critical Incident Procedures o Training Critical Incident Procedures • Managing Risk to Individuals & Reducing Harm Policy & Procedures • Staff Handbook • Significant Risk of Harm Policy • DBS policy and procedures • Transport Policy • Lone Working Policy & Procedures (Young People) • Substance Misuse & Drugs Policy & Guidelines • Data Protection Policy • ICT Security Policy • Whistle-blowing Policy Continuous improvement: Learning from safeguarding related incidents. We are committed to a process of continuous review and improvement of our practice and procedures. To this end, in the case of all incidents resulting in formal recording via the Incident Management system, which are deemed by reviewing managers to have a safeguarding element; a Safeguarding Incident Panel (SIP) will be convened. This panel will be chaired by the Chief Executive or a deputised manager, and will consist of at least one member of staff with direct knowledge of the incident, a CYPS Manager and other staff as required at the discretion of the manager convening the panel. The panel will consider the incident and make such recommendations as to future practice, and any necessary changes or additions to practice as may be deemed necessary. The meeting will be formally minuted, and the outcomes recorded in the Incident Management system. 5 Working with Young People Introduction Staff2 should conduct themselves in such a way as to avoid compromising situations and to protect themselves against allegations of abuse. The following guidelines have been developed to support staff working in all settings to establish safe & responsible environments which safeguard young people3 and manage the risk of adults being unjustly accused of improper or unprofessional conduct. 1.1 One-to-One Situations Guiding Principle To ensure that staff can work with young people without the young person feeling vulnerable, and to manage and reduce the likelihood of allegations being made against staff. One-to-one situations will either be planned or unplanned. The following guidance is provided to ensure staff are aware of their responsibilities. Unplanned One-to-One Situations • Staff should avoid being alone with a young person when there is no-one else about; • On residentials, staff should not enter a young person’s bedroom alone when a young person is present. If this is absolutely necessary, then they should leave the door open; • Staff should not be in residence or at camp with children of the opposite sex, unless a member of staff or other responsible adult of the child’s sex is in residence or nearby. Planned One-to-One Situations In certain situations it may be unrealistic to state that one-to-one