Vulnerable Person & Child Protection Safeguarding Policy, Procedure and Guidance

Owner/s: Harambee Pasadia CIC
Companies House Reg 11309255
Version: 3
Review Frequency: Full review every 2 year, annual interim checks to identify amendments required due to changes in legislation.
Next Review Date: April 2022
Sensitivity: Open
Circulation: Public (via website) All Staff (via email) Executive Directing Team

Introduction

1. Protecting Children and Vulnerable persons is everyone’s responsibility. Disabled children are particularly vulnerable to abuse, so it is especially important to keep a watchful eye for signs of abuse or neglect.
   
2. Staff and Volunteers have a duty to be vigilant in monitoring the welfare of Children, Vulnerable persons and families who are receiving services or participating in any project/event/workshop lead by Harambee Pasadia CIC.
   
3. This policy applies to everyone who works for Harambee Pasadia CIC whether in a paid or voluntary role.   
   

What this Document Contains and How to Use it

1. Harambee Pasadia CIC Vulnerable Person & Child Protection Policy, Procedure and Guidance should support your work in protecting children and Vulnerable Persons.  It will also help you to developing good practice and safeguard children and vulnerable persons.
   
2. In order to do this effectively, you should also undertake awareness raising or child protection training appropriate to your role.  Some roles will require you to undertake more detailed training.
   
3. This documents outlines the Policy about protecting children and vulnerable persons and the principles the organization supports.  It tell you about the procedures that you must follow if you do have a concern about a child or vulnerable persons, and what your responsibilities are and how to respond.
   
4. It also states Harambee Pasadia CIC procedures to running safe activities and events.
   

Policy Statement and Overview

1. Harambee Pasadia CIC recognizes that the welfare of all children, young people and vulnerable persons is of paramount importance. All children have the right to be protected from abuse.  Harambee Pasadia CIC will not unfairly discriminate in any way for example on the grounds of age, disability, gender, reassignment, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. 
   
2. Safeguarding their welfare is the responsibility of every Harambee Pasadia CIC worker, whether salaried or voluntary, whatever their role or status. It is also the responsibility of our partners, in the UK and overseas.  In accordance with the NSPCC Safeguarding Standards and Guidance for the Voluntary and Community Sector 2017, we have adopted the term Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO) and designated a role for every event/activity.
   
3. Safeguarding to Harambee Pasadia CIC means: 
   
   1. Protecting children and vulnerable persons from maltreatment;
      
   2. Preventing impairment of children’s and vulnerable persons health or development;
      
   3. Taking action to enable all children and vulnerable persons to have the best outcomes
      
4. Harambee Pasadia CIC staff, volunteers and workers have a responsibility to report concerns of suspected abuse or poor practice to a designated person for child protection within Harambee Pasadia CIC.
   
5.  Harambee Pasadia CIC are committed to promoting the following:
   
   1. Being healthy
      
   2. Staying safe including being free from: abuse, victimization and exploitation, negligent treatment, physical or emotional abuse, accidental death or injury, bullying or harassment, discrimination, extremism and radicalization, crime and anti-social behavior 
      
   3. Enjoying, learning, and achieving
      
   4. Making a positive contribution and being listened to
      
   5. Achieving economic well-being
      
   6. Security, stability, and a respect for the human rights of children
      
6.  Each child and vulnerable persons should be treated as an individual, encouraged to express its own needs and wishes, and be listened to by the worker.
   
7. Children’s and vulnerable person’s complaints and concerns should be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately.
   
8. All workers who have direct contact with children and vulnerable persons and their families will be recruited, trained and supervised to ensure that they are properly equipped to: 
   
   1. Identify where there may be a concern 
      
   2. Know how to obtain speedy and professional advice 
      
   3. Refer concerns appropriately to specialist workers as necessary 
      
   4. Contribute to the maintenance of a safe working environment and protect themselves from allegations of abuse 
      
9.  Harambee Pasadia CIC will ensure that those who work with children and vulnerable persons and their families are subject to the appropriate level of criminal records and other checks prior to their appointment, in line with government policy. 
   
10.  Everyone working, Volunteering or applying to work for Harambee Pasadia CIC is to be made aware of our policy for children’s welfare. Furthermore, this document should be issued to all staff and other people who are likely to have contact with children as part of their work with us. 
    
11. This policy and procedure will be reviewed annually.
    

What to do if a child tells you about abuse or if you are concerned about a child’s welfare?

1. The meaning of ‘tell’ is very broad in this context. Often, it is not what a child says or signs, but what s/he does, or does not do, that alerts you. A child may be frightened to talk or sign about what is happening at home. Sometimes, communication difficulties have made speech impossible. A child may display sudden or strange changes of behaviour, for example angry outbursts or complete withdrawal. A child might become unusually dirty or dishevelled, may lose weight dramatically or look exhausted. Changes in behaviour or appearance that worry you must be passed on. It may be that what is happening has nothing to do with child protection, but there may still be a need for support in other ways. So the agencies that can offer this help need to be alerted. 
   
2. Listen Carefully. Most children find it difficult to talk about abuse. If they have summoned up the courage to talk to you, it is because they believe you can help. Now is not the time to be working out whether what you hear can possibly be true. 
   
3. Let the child lead the pace. Try not to ask questions. Don’t jump in to fill pauses. Keep the conversation going with encouraging nods, attentive eye contact and repetitions of what has been said or signed. 
   
4. Once is enough. Once you know you will have to report what you have been told, don’t ask the child to repeat what s/he has said. Make sure the child knows that s/he is not alone, and that you are taking what s/he says seriously. You will be getting help from someone who knows what to do in this kind of situation. 
   
5. Be honest. Answer the child’s questions as honestly as you can; if you don’t know the answer, say so, but say you will try to find out. 
   
6. Don’t investigate, don’t confront. Your job will be to pass on the information, not to investigate. Don’t confront the alleged abuser; this will not be helpful and may cause difficulties for any investigation. 
   
7. Remember the boundaries of confidentiality. Never promise total confidentiality if you are told about possible abuse. You will almost certainly have to share the information in order to help keep the child safe. If a child wants to tell, but wants a promise of confidentiality first, tell the child that you will keep a secret if you possibly can, but if you believe that the child or anyone else might be harmed, you will have to tell someone. If the child is not able to say anything more, you can help them find some privacy and a telephone to contact Childline (0800 1111 or Textphone 0800 056 0566 for hearing impaired children). This is a totally confidential service. 
   
8. Seek advice. Explain to the child that this kind of thing happens to a lot of children; that’s why you are able to talk to people who know what to do to help. Enlist the support of your Designated Person in making a confidential report. Even if the account the child has given seems vague or unlikely, still take advice from the Children’s Social Care service in the area where the child lives. You can do this, if necessary, by discussing the situation without mentioning any names. 
   
9. Keep contact numbers handy. Some general contact numbers are given at the end of this document. But it’s useful to have the numbers for your local police, social workers and other useful organizations in your area ready to hand. 
   
10. In conclusion, your job is to listen, support and pass information on. Then let the experienced professionals take over, and cooperate with them in any way that you can to protect the child. 
    

What To do if you think a Child is harming another Child.

1. Be Aware of what is happening between children and young people. Good, but unobtrusive, supervision can prevent many problems from escalating. 
   
2. Don’t Overreact. However distressing the situation, stay calm and keep your language and behaviour neutral. The outcome for both children can be affected by the way that adults respond. 
   
3. Gather Information. It will be important to record the detail of what the alleged victim, the alleged perpetrator and any other children who were present have to say, without taking an investigative approach. 
   
4. Consider whether there is a need to make an immediate referral to the Police and Children’s Social Care. This might be important in the case of a very serious allegation of assault. 
   
5. Consider whether both children can remain at the event. This will depend to a large extent on whether both children can be kept safe. The views of the alleged victim (and their parents in the case of a young child) should be consulted and a risk assessment conducted. 
   
6. Consider, with the Designated Person, the need to report the matter to Children’s Social Care and the Police in respect of each child. If the alleged victim wishes a report to be made to the Police then this is what should happen. If they express a wish for this not to happen, this should still be considered, in the interests of the alleged perpetrator and other children. 
   
7. The needs of children and young people who abuse other children should be considered separately from the needs of their victims, and an assessment should be carried out by the statutory agencies in each case. They may also be in need of protection. The perpetrator of abuse should therefore also be referred to the statutory child protection agencies. Children who harm others should be considered as children in need but should also be held responsible for their actions. 
   

Standard on how to run safe activities and events

1. In order to carry out safe activities and events we have put the following steps in place:
   
   1. Provide an accident prevention policy and plan in our health and safety policy, which allows for a risk-benefit analysis of activities, and an up to date risk-benefit assessment prior to event/activity.
      
   2. Carry out regular checks on equipment used by vulnerable person and children.
      
   3. Policy on parental consent to activities where appropriate: asking for details about needs, keep details of parent/carers easily available, have access to phone.
      
   4. Keep a Lost children and Vulnerable adult Policy in place
      
   5. Have a designated Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO) and First aider at every event/activity.  
      
   6. Have adequate insurance for all circumstances. 
      
   7. Provide guidance to staff, service users, volunteers on safe use of equipment. Provide guidance on accident prevention and health and safety to staff and volunteers.
      
   8. Comply with regulations on fire safety, first-aid, food hygiene, hazardous substances, reporting injuries and diseases, staff rations and transport. 
      

How to Report Child Protection Concerns

1. If you have concerns about a child’s Welfare
   
2. Discuss with the designated person for child protection/ Safety co-ordinator as soon as possible.  Log the Concern and action.
   
3. If there is no more cause for concern, there may be other decisions to provide support services, make sure to record concern and actions taken.
   
4. If the concern continue:
   
   1. Parents or those with parental responsibilities should be informed of any decisions, unless this would endanger the child or the staff member/volunteer.
      
   2. Staff member/Volunteer should report to the designated person who would refer to Children’s social care/Police, with a follow-up in writing within 48hrs (with a copy to the manager.  
      
   3. Children’s social care acknowledges referral and decides next action.
      
   4. Assessment by children’s Social Care
      
   5. Make sure to record every step
      

Procedures
All newly appointed staff who will work directly with children, whether as volunteers or employees, and whose work meets the definition of regulated work are required to undergo an Enhanced DBS check.  Regulated work means: care or supervision of children if carried out by the same person frequently (once a week or more often) or on 4 or more days in a 30-day period or overnight. 

This policy should be read alongside our organisational policies and procedures, including: 
• Role of the designated safeguarding officer (found within this document)
• Lost Children and Vulnerable Adults Policy (please request by emailing harambeepasadia @ gmail . com)
• Anti-bullying policy and procedures (please request by emailing harambeepasadia @ gmail . com)
• Online safety policy and procedures for responding to concerns about online abuse (please request by emailing harambeepasadia @ gmail . com)
• Online privacy policy (which can be found on this website)
• Photography and image sharing guidance  (please request by emailing harambeepasadia @ gmail . com)

Contact Details: Yilis del C. Suriel, Executive Director
Email: harambeepasadia @ gmail . com
Designated Safeguarding Officer Roles and Responsibilities 

1. The Designated Person takes responsibility for the overview of child protection cases. Because of the ’jigsaw’ nature of child protection work, it is important that the Designated Person can keep clear up-to date records and be able to co-ordinate any information that is received from staff/volunteers and other sources. Confidentiality is important and fine judgements are necessary in many cases to assess what the staff/volunteers as a whole need to know and what needs to be kept confidential for the sake of the child and the family in line with data protection and information sharing protocols. 
   
2. Provide advice and guidance to employers and voluntary organisations
   
3. Liaise with the Police and other agencies
   
4. Monitor the progress of cases
   
5. Provide data to correct agencies within the area Harambee Pasadia CIC is working in
   

They ensure that all allegations or concerns about professionals or adults working or volunteering with children are recorded appropriately, monitored and progressed in a timely and confidential way. This is so that children are protected from those that might harm them.
It gives all agencies a central point of contact for them to discuss and make notifications falling within the Designated Safeguarding Office threshold criteria.

Responsibilities of Designated Safeguarding Officer:

1. All policies and procedures related to child protection within Harambee Pasadia CIC including making sure that the child protection policy is reviewed and update every 2 years, annual interim checks to identify amendments required due to changes in legislation. 
   
2. Making sure that all employees and volunteers within Harambee Pasadia CIC is using the child protection policy when there are concerns about the welfare of children. 
   
3. Gathering, managing and securely keeping all copies of child protection concerns from all employees or volunteers if necessary so that she/he has an overview of how the whole of Harambee Pasadia CIC is managing such concerns 
   
4. Intervening with any agency outside Harambee Pasadia CIC where there may be worries that concerns are not being taken seriously or managed in a timely way. 
   

Who can contact the Designated Safeguarding Officer?Anybody who has concerns about professionals or volunteers working with children should inform the Designated Safeguarding Officer. 
When should the Designated Safeguarding Officer be contacted?The Designated Safeguarding Officer needs to be informed when 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 or related to a child
  
• Behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates that he or she would pose a risk of harm if they work regularly or closely with children
  

The allegation can be:

• In connection with employment, voluntary activity or work placement
  
• Regarding the individual's own children
  
• Related to the community or private life of a partner, family member or other member of their household
  

Following an allegation the Designated Officer, in consultation with the Senior Manager, will determine the action required. There are three potential courses of action

• A police investigation
  
• Enquiries and assessment by social care
  
• Consideration by Harambee Pasadia CIC
  

Allegation Meetings are also convened by the Designated Safeguarding Officer to manage specific situations.

How to Contact the Designated Safeguarding Officer?
Please contact harambeepasadia @ gmail . com or see our event producer on site at our event or activity if you need to create a referral. 

Vulnerable Adult Procedures 

1. A person is described as a vulnerable adult if they have attained the age of 18 and receive any service or participate in any activity specifically for persons who have any form of disability. Protection procedures apply if someone is in receipt of a service where staff or volunteers are in a position of trust and people have a right to expect that trust will not be abused. The purpose of the term 'protected adult' is to distinguish the category of adult requiring protection and to avoid labelling adults solely on the basis of having a specific condition or disability. 
   
2. If an Harambee Pasadia CIC employee or volunteer was concerned that someone aged 18 or over who is in receipt of a service might be being abused by someone in their lives (outside of the Harambee Pasadia CIC setting) then it would be for the vulnerable adult to determine whether or not they wanted support or referral to the Police or Adult Social Care. It is not possible to make a referral without the consent of the person involved unless other people are at risk or the person is not able to act to protect himself or herself or does not have the mental capacity to make the specific decision to seek support. 
   
3. Where there is an allegation that an Harambee Pasadia CIC employee or volunteer or worker has harmed a vulnerable adult then action similar to that within the child protection policy should be undertaken. This should be with the consent of the vulnerable adult unless other people are at risk or the person does not have the capacity to make the specific decision. This means that the same processes should be followed as in the child protection policy but with the consent of the vulnerable adult being sought before referral unless other people are at risk or the person does not have capacity to make that decision. Referral would be to adult social care or the police. Advice can be sought from adult social care if the situation is unclear.