Safeguarding Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults Policy
“Staff” are all members including directors, freelancers, volunteers or anyone working on behalf of Be Kind Movement. “Directors” are those Be Kind Movement members who hold a company share of Be Kind Movement. “Safeguarding” a proactive measure to ensure all Be Kind Movement's systems and policies help minimise the risk of harm to all children, young people and vulnerable adults. “Child Protection” is the reactive response to an individual child, young person or vulnerable adult who may be suffering significant harm or has made a disclosure. “Disclosure” refers to information given by a child, young person or vulnerable adult that they are or have been harmed or abused, or to being informed of such a disclosure by a staff member, partner or member of the public.
INTRODUCTION
Be Kind Movement believes that it is always unacceptable for a child, young person or vulnerable adult to experience abuse of any kind and we recognise our responsibility to safeguard the welfare of all children, young people and vulnerable adults that we come into contact with by a commitment to practice which protects them.
We recognise that:
• The welfare of the child/young person/ is paramount
• All children, regardless of age, ability, gender, race or ethnic origin racial heritage, religious belief, sexual orientation or identity, have the right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse
• Working in partnership with children, young people, vulnerable adults, their parents, carers and their agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.
• abuse of children, young people or vulnerable adults can take any of the following forms: physical abuse; emotional abuse; sexual abuse; or neglect. These forms of abuse include organised practices such as forced marriage, trafficking, child sexual exploitation and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
The purpose of the policy is:
• To protect the children, young people and vulnerable adults who come into contact with Be Kind Movement services, including the children of adult members or users.
• To guide staff and volunteers on procedures they should adopt if they suspect a child, young person or vulnerable adult may be experiencing, or be at risk of, harm.
We will seek to safeguard children, young people and vulnerable adults by:
• valuing them, listening to and respecting them
• adopting child protection guidelines through procedures and a code of conduct for staff and volunteers
• recruiting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring that all staff who are in contact with children young people or vulnerable adults have valid enhanced DBS checks to be renewed every 2 years; all staff undertake to safeguard training for practitioners every 2 years
• sharing information about child protection and good practice with children and young people and vulnerable adults, parents and carers, staff and volunteers
• sharing information about concerns with agencies who need to know, and involving parents and carers and children and young people appropriately
• Provide effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support and training. This policy applies to all staff, including directors, freelancers, volunteers or anyone working on behalf of Be Kind Movement. We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually.
SAFEGUARDING PROCEDURES
The following procedures apply to all people who are working on behalf of Be Kind Movement and come into contact with children, young people and vulnerable adults.
They are to be followed if a concern that a child, young person or vulnerable adult is at risk of significant harm or where disclosure or an allegation of abuse (physical, sexual, emotional or neglect) has been made by a child, young person or vulnerable adult against anyone whilst in the care of Be Kind Movement at any time.
If a Be Kind Movement staff, freelancer or volunteer observes any behaviour of a child, young person or vulnerable adult who raises their concern about the safety of that person or another vulnerable person in their environment, the Be Kind Movement staff is expected to take action as follows:
• if the child, young person or vulnerable adult seems at immediate risk of significant harm or someone they know is in immediate risk of significant harm to inform the local police and social services immediately;
• if this occurs on the premises and under contract of a partner organisation, to inform the Designated Safeguarding Lead of that organisation immediately – or the contact person that Be Kind Movement has been liaising with
• as soon as possible record the incident in writing – by hand or computer on a Be Kind Movement Concern Form and share it with Be Kind Movement's Designated Safeguarding Lead who will liaise with the relevant professionals and agencies.
• if there is no immediate risk of significant harm, or the disclosure refers to historic harm that is not currently a risk of harm to anybody, record the details of the disclosure or concern in writing – by hand or computer on a Be Kind Movement Concern Form – and inform the project partner and Be Kind Movement's Designated Safeguarding Lead who will take next steps depending on what the child, young person or vulnerable adult wishes to do; the Designated Safeguarding Lead may consult with the Local Safeguarding Board on next steps
The following steps are recommended by Be Kind Movement Safeguarding Team in the event of a child, young person or vulnerable adult disclosing to staff working with them:
• Listen, stay calm, do not appear shocked or disgusted
• Accept what the child says without judgement
• Do not ask leading questions because they could interfere with police investigations
• Let the child, young person or vulnerable adult know that you will need to tell someone
• Record what has happened without interpretations; use quotation marks
• direct words of the child, young person or vulnerable adult as much as possible
• Reassure but be honest and don't make promises
• Give the child, young person or vulnerable adult as much information & choice as possible
• Stay with the child, young person or vulnerable adult if possible
In the case that Be Kind Movement needs to escalate a safeguarding concern and make a referral to the relevant local authority; Be Kind Movement is committed to providing the highest level of emotional and practical support to the child/young person or vulnerable adult concerned. This may include escorting them to interviews with the police or meetings with social workers and will be agreed on a case-by-case basis.
Recognition of Abuse or Neglect
Abuse or neglect of a child, young person or vulnerable adult is caused by inflicting harm, or by failing to act to prevent harm. Abuse may occur in a family or an institutional or community setting: by those known to the victim or more rarely by a stranger.
Physical Abuse
Physical abuse may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating, or otherwise causing physical harm to a child, young person or vulnerable adult. Physical harm may also be caused when a person feigns the symptoms, of, or deliberately causes ill health to a child, young person or vulnerable adult whom they are looking after. This situation is commonly described using terms such as fabricated illness by proxy or Munchausen Syndrome by proxy.
Emotional Abuse
Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional ill-treatment of a child, young person or vulnerable adult such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development. It may involve conveying to a child, young person or vulnerable adult that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only in so far as they meet the needs of another person. It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on the child, young person or vulnerable adult. It may involve causing the child, young person or vulnerable adult frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of a child, young person or vulnerable adult. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of ill-treatment of a child, young person or vulnerable adult though it may occur alone.
Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child, young person or vulnerable adult to take part in sexual activities, whether or not the child, young person or vulnerable adult is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including penetrative (eg rape) or non-penetrative acts. This may include non-penetrative acts. They may include non-contact activities, such as involving a child, young person or vulnerable adult in looking at, or in the production of, pornographic material, watching sexual activities or encouraging a child, young person or vulnerable adult to behave sexually inappropriately.
Neglect
Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child, young person or vulnerable adult’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the person’s health or development. It may involve a parent or carer failing to provide adequate food, shelter and clothing, failing to protect a child, young person or vulnerable adult from physical harm or danger, or the failure to ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment. It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child, young person or vulnerable adult’s basic emotional needs. It is good practice to be as open and honest as possible with parents/carers about any concerns. However, you must not discuss your concerns with parents/carers in the following circumstances:
• where sexual abuse is suspected
• where organised or multiple abuse is suspected
• where fictitious illness by proxy (also known as Munchausen Syndrome by proxy) is suspected
• where contacting parents/carers would place a child, yourself or others at immediate risk.
Professional boundaries
Be Kind Movement staff will always be aware of the need to manage careful boundaries in the way they relate to participants. This will be particularly relevant where staff members are closer in age to young people e.g. young volunteers or young facilitators that might support the delivery of a Be Kind Movement project.
Be Kind Movement staff will be aware that any sexual relationship or sexual behaviour with a young person under the age of 16 is illegal and will be dealt with through disciplinary procedures as gross misconduct – this includes any actions which might encourage sexual behaviour; any sexual relationship or sexual behaviour with participants aged 16-25 will generally be considered inappropriate and dealt with as gross misconduct In situations where Be Kind Movement staff including volunteers or young facilitators already have a relationship with participants before starting a piece of work, they will immediately inform the Be Kind Movement team about this.
Where a participant appears to be developing an attraction towards a Be Kind Movement staff member including a young volunteer/facilitator or where they are showing inappropriate sexualised behaviour, the staff member will inform one of the Be Kind Movement directors immediately to agree together on the next steps of keeping staff and the child, young person or vulnerable adult safe.
Other professional considerations
Be Kind Movement will assess participants to adult ratios when working with groups on a case-by-case basis and dependent on the specific needs of each group. Details will be included in the risk assessment for each event. Allegations against Be Kind Movement staff, freelancers, volunteers or other professionals.
All allegations of abuse made against any Be Kind Movement staff, freelancer or volunteer while carrying out work for Be Kind Movement will immediately be passed to Social Services and/or the Police, whether or not the child young person or a vulnerable adult and/or the alleged perpetrator is associated with Be Kind Movement. The client organisation (if not Social Services) will also be informed. For all allegations, the following procedures apply:
1. The Designated Safeguarding Lead at Be Kind Movement will be informed as soon as possible. If they are not available, another director should be informed;
2. An interview will be arranged with the person making the allegation and the Designated Safeguarding Lead. Details of the allegation must be taken down word for word and agreed upon at the time with the person making the allegation who may have someone accompany them to the interview for support or as a witness. Two adults must be present when this takes place to witness the statement. All statements will be signed to verify that they are accurate.
3. If the person making the allegation is not the child, young person or vulnerable adult concerned, the Director (in 1. above) and the Designated Safeguarding Lead will speak to the person concerned at the earliest opportunity.
4. The details of the allegation will be recorded in an electronic folder that is password-protected and will be kept indefinitely.
5. The Director and the Designated Safeguarding Lead will arrange to meet, at the earliest possible opportunity, the person or persons against whom the allegation has been made to obtain their statement of events.
6. Their statement will be recorded verbatim, signed and witnessed as in 2. above. The matter may either rest there or, if any of the parties are wanting to pursue the matter then a representative of the client organisation will be involved. Be Kind Movement will then inform the police and if necessary, Children's Services/Adult Social Services
7. If the Director and the Designated Safeguarding Lead are themselves the subjects of the allegation, then they will find a third party who will then follow this procedure in their place. On completion of the investigation, appropriate action will be taken to resolve the complaint. All parties will be informed in writing of any decisions and/or actions that will be taken.
8. Be Kind Movement is committed to providing the highest level of emotional and practical support to the child, young person or vulnerable adult making the allegation.
Recruitment Policy
1. The aim of the interview is to assess the applicant’s suitability for the job about the job specification. All candidates will be asked the same initial questions and allocated the same amount of time for their interview. Candidates may also be asked specifically about a matter arising from their application form, e.g. unexplained gaps;
2. Panel members must give the most careful consideration to their assessment of candidates. Each panel member is personally responsible for ensuring that they take adequate and legible notes of each candidate’s interview;
3. All candidates who are in contact with children or young people or vulnerable adults will be asked if they have valid enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate or will be asked to apply for a check. Offer to the applicant will be contingent on the production of a valid DBS check;
4. All candidates who are in contact with children, young people or vulnerable adults must have their DBS checks renewed every 3 years, and all staff undertake safeguarding training for practitioners every 2 years;
Data Protection
Be Kind Movement will record, store and use information professionally and securely in line with Be Kind Movement’s data protection policy, together with data protection legislation and guidance. Any document concerning a child, or young person or vulnerable adult that is being stored or transferred electronically will be password protected.
Online Safeguarding
Be Kind Movement will ensure that, as an organisation, it will operate in line with its values and within the law in terms of how online devices are used. For further details, please consult the Online Safeguarding Policy.
Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)
The Designated Safeguarding Lead: Shavy Makh
Second Reviewing Trustee: Jacqui Thomasen
It is the responsibility of the Designated Safeguarding Lead to:
• Coordinate any safeguarding action on behalf Be Kind Movement
• Liaise with other agencies about child protection or safeguarding concerns and referrals
• Offer support and advice to staff who may have concerns about children, young people
• Ensure there is a cover for the role of the DSL is absent
• Attend & contribute to safeguarding/child protection conferences if invited to
• Ensure that all staff, freelancers and volunteers as well as clients can access and understand the safeguarding policy
• Ensure that all staff undertake safeguarding training every 2 years, are aware of this policy and can recognise & report concerns
• Keep accurate, detailed & secure safeguarding concerns and child protection records
• Update training every 2 years
• Work with the relevant Governing body to ensure the Safeguarding policy is reviewed annually
Contact details for Shavy Makh:
07976150501
Contact details for Jacqui Thomasen:
07768 980008
This policy was last reviewed on: 5th October 2023
This policy will next be reviewed on: 5th October 2024