Safeguarding Andchild Protection Policy

Crossroads CareSafeguarding and child protection policy

C.01a

Safeguarding andchild protection policy

1.0SCOPE

1.1This policy, accompanying procedure , guidance for staff and guidance for volunteers(C.01b, C.01c and C.01d) outline Crossroads Care’s approach to safeguarding children and young people aged 17 and under.Please see the separatesafeguarding adults policy documents (B.05a, B.05b, B.05c and B.05d) regarding people aged 18 and over.

1.2The intended outcome of these documents is to safeguard and promote the welfare of vulnerable children and young people who are in receipt of a service from Crossroads Care.In particular, this relates to:

children and young people who have an illness or a disability and for whom Crossroads Care provides care
young carers to whom Crossroads Care provides support services
family circumstances that present challenges for the child or young person, such as substance abuse, adult mental health, domestic violence
any child or young person who is showing early signs of abuse and /or neglect.

1.3 This policy will be read in conjunction with the following Crossroads Care policy documents:

confidentiality and disclosure (D.11a, D.11b, D.11c and D.11d)
whistleblowing (E.09a, E.09b and E.09c)
children’s behaviour management (C.05a, C.05b and C.05c).

1.4This policy is written in accordance with:

Department for Education and Skills (DFES) publication ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ (2013)
All Wales Child Protection Procedures 2008
Information Sharing: Guidance for Practitioners and Managers (HM Govt.2008)
the Wales Accord for Sharing Personal Information (WASPI).

1.5 Crossroads Care recognises the added value that volunteers can bring to its services and this is reflected by the wide variety of roles they perform. However, the nature of the organisation’s relationship with volunteers is very different to the one it has with paid employees. Volunteers will not:

provide personal care services / support with medication in a child or young person’s home (see Crossroads Care’s policies on personal care and medication)
undertake roles where the prompt attendance of the volunteer at a specified time / venue is essential to the safety or well-being of a child or young person with care needs.

For further information on the use of volunteers, refer to the guidance available at HT.01.

1.6 Where reference is made to ‘staff’ within this policy, the term will include volunteers as appropriate to the context and their use within individual schemes.

2.0 RESPONSIBILITIES OF TRUSTEES

2.1 Trustees have a responsibility to promote a culture within their scheme that fosters autonomy and respect for children and young people using services and shows zero tolerance of abuse.

2.2 Trustees are required to familiarise themselves with thesafeguarding and child protection policy, procedure, guidance for staff and guidance for volunteers.

2.3 Trustees are responsible for ensuring managers have systems in place to meet the requirements listed below.

Staff work according to the safeguarding and child protection policy, procedure, guidance for staff and guidance for volunteers at all times.
Staff liaise with and report to all relevant local authorities.
Local authority inter-agency requirements have been adopted and are being used by thescheme.
New staff are selected, recruited and vetted in compliance with current legal requirements and good practice – see Crossroads Care’s protecting children and adults through good recruitment practices (ET.02a).
Staff receive all necessary supervision, support and trainingrelevant to their role within the organisation, including following a safeguarding or child protection incident.

2.4 Trustees are responsible for ensuring that a senior staff member (suitably trained and competent to handle safeguarding and child protection issues that may arise within their scheme) is nominated as child protection officer.

2.5 It is also recommended good practice to appoint a suitably trained / experienced member of the board of trustees to act as safeguarding and child protection lead. Their role is to work with the scheme’s nominated child protection officer to ensure all necessary safeguarding protocols are in place and to bring to the board’s attention where they need revising following any issue/incident that identifies weaknesses or policy implications. In the absence of such an appointment the role falls by default to the chair of the board.

3.0 Policy Statement

3.1Crossroads Care aims to improve the outcomes of vulnerable children and young people through offering effective and efficient services to promote opportunity, prevent problems and act early when concerns arise.

4.0 LEGAL FRAMEWORK

4.1 Crossroads Care is committed to comply with:

the Children Act 1989
the Human Rights Act 1998
Protection of Children Act 1999
the Children Act 2004
the Health and Social Care Act 2008
The Equality Act 2010
the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012.

5.0BACKGROUND

5.1 All those working on behalf of Crossroads Care have a responsibility to safeguard and promote the well-being of children and young people, by being responsible for the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of their work.

5.2 Under Working Together to Safeguard Children (DFES 2013),safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined as:

protecting children from maltreatment
preventing impairment of children’s health or development
ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care and
taking action to enable all children to have the best life chances.

5.3 Crossroads Care’s services for children and young people seek to operate within the UnitedNations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Our policies are written to ensure that our services enable children and young people to exercise their rights under the UNCRC and additionally, for those in Wales, the Welsh Government’s (WG) seven Core Aims for Children and Young People.

5.4Under the UNCRC, all children and young people have the right to:

survive and grow
participate and be heard
fulfil their potential
receive an education
be healthy
be treated fairly
have a childhood.

5.5 WG Core Aims are that children and young people will:

have a ﬂying start in life and the best possible basis for their future growth and development
have access to a comprehensive range of education, training and learning opportunities, including acquisition of essential personal and social skills
enjoy the best possible physical and mental, social and emotional health, including freedom from abuse, victimisation and exploitation
have access to play, leisure, sporting and cultural activities
be listened to, treated with respect, and be able to have their race and cultural identity recognised
have a safe home and a community that supports physical and emotional wellbeing, and
not be disadvantaged by child poverty.

5.6 Therefore, Crossroads Care will:

ensure senior managers are committed to safeguarding children and young people
be clear about people’s responsibilities and accountability
have a culture of listening to children and young people

implement safe recruitment practices for all staff working with children and young people – see ET.02a for details
make checks against and referrals to the Disclosure and Barring Service in accordance with Department of Health guidance – see ET.32a for details
have protocols in place for safeguarding children and young people
have protocols for dealing with allegations against and concerns about staff

have agreements about working with other organisations, including information sharing
work in accordance with local arrangements and systems for the protection of children as set out by the relevant Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) relevant to the area/s covered by the schemeand, in addition, for schemes in Wales, in accordance with the All Wales Child Protection Procedure.

6.0 RECOGNISING THE VULNERABILITY OF DISABLED CHILDREN

6.1 Staff will be made aware that disabled children are at increased vulnerability of suffering significant harm because they are likely to:

be in contact with more service providers than non-disabled children
be in receipt of intimate personal care
spend more time away from their families, for example in short break care or residential care
experience social isolation
be subjected to abusive practices that go unrecognised, such as behaviour management models, neglect and inadequate care
not be consulted or listened to.

7.0 RECOGNISING AND REPORTING CONCERNS

7.1 All Crossroads Care staffmust be vigilant regarding the welfare of all children and young people with whom their work brings them in to contact. Staff involved in any way with service provision(including staff working solely with adults), will be trained to recognise the earlysigns of abuse in relation to children and young people. See accompanying guidancefor staff and guidance for volunteers (C.01c and C.01d) for details of the different forms of abuse.

7.2 Early Intervention is paramount to reducing the risk of significant harm. Local Safeguarding Children Boards are required to have pathways in place documenting the process for early help and assessment, including the ‘Common Assessment Framework’ which brings together parentcarer and multi-agency plans for interventions to improve the circumstances for the child or young person. Staff are required to be familiar with and followthese local systems and arrangements.

7.3 Any staff member who knows or believes that abuse is occurring MUST report the matter to their line manager / the nominated child protection officer / the person on call as quickly as possible. The child protection officer will determine what action to take in accordance with local authority requirements.

7.4 Staff will be trained to recognise the importance of takingspeedy action so that a problem does not escalate. If a senior manager cannot be located and a member of staff has safeguarding concerns about a child, then the member of staff must immediately report the matter to the local authority Social Care Duty Team using the referral protocols in their area.

8.0 ALLEGATIONS OF ABUSE AGAINST STAFF

8.1 Managers willensure that any allegations of abuse or neglect are listened to and taken seriously and are reported to the following:

the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) within Children’s Services
the Care Quality Commission or the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales
the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) where a play scheme or service for children out of their own home is registered with Ofsted
the police if a crime may have been committed
the Crossroads Care scheme board of trustees (details anonymised)
Crossroads Care insurance brokers (Watson Laurie).

See the accompanying safeguarding and child protection procedure (C.01b) for further details.

9.0 LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT

9.1 General learning and development requirements relating to the child protection policy, procedure and guidance for staff are contained in the learning and development policy, procedure and guidance (E.13a, E.13b and E.13c).

9.2Managers will make sure that all staff involved in the planning and provision of care have mandatory induction and ongoing training in safeguarding and child protection, including those staff who work solely with adults, as their role may bring them into contact with children or young people who are, for example, living or regularly visiting service users’ homes.

9.3 Managers are responsible for assessing the roles undertaken by volunteers (including trustees) within their scheme and the level of briefing / induction those volunteers require in relation to the safeguarding and child protection guidance for volunteers (C.01d).

10.0 review AND ADOPTION BY BOARD OF TRUSTEES

10.1 The scheme’s board of trustees is required to formally adopt this policy and to ensure that a documented record is kept of their decision to do so.

10.2 Full details of the policy (namely its title and reference number) and the date it was adopted will be documented in the minutes of the appropriate trustee board meeting as evidence of the decision taken. The minutes will be signed by the chair of the trustees on behalf of the board.

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Policy/Safeguardingchildren/2012/05/APc001a Last updated April 2014