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Safeguarding Children and Adults at Risk of Harm Policy

Statement of Principles

Diverse Church is committed to the protection of children, young people and adults at risk of harm.

 

For the purposes of this policy a child is defined as anyone under the age of 18 or up to 21 if they are or have been in care.

 

Under the Care Act (2014), an adult at risk is someone over 18 years old who:

  1. has care and support needs

  2. is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect

  3. as a result of their care and support needs is unable to protect themselves against the abuse or neglect or the risk of it

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Organisational Statement

It is the policy of Diverse Church to safeguard the welfare of all Children, Young People and Adults At Risk Of Harm with whom we come into contact, by working to protect them from all forms of abuse.

 

Diverse Church will keep Children, Young People and adults at Risk Of harm safe by adopting appropriate safeguarding guidelines and a code of behaviour for staff and others acting on behalf of Diverse Church.

 

Diverse Church believes in confidentiality for everyone involved with the organisation.  Information will not be disclosed to a third party or discussed inappropriately within the organisation.  Confidentiality will, however, be breached ifit is felt that a child/young person or adult at risk of harm is in need of safeguarding..  If practical the child/young person or adult at risk of harm and their carer will be informed prior to any action being taken or if not possible as soon as is considered appropriate.

 

Diverse Church is committed to fostering a culture of openness so that staff, volunteers, parents, carers, children, young people, adults at risk of harm and others can share concerns about the conduct of people within the organisation and those acting on its behalf in the assurance that these will be received and dealt with in a reasonable and sensitive manner.

 

Everyone in the organisation will have access to a copy of this policy and it will also be easily accessible via the organisation’s website. Staff and volunteers will be well supported to implement this policy and procedures.

 

Principles

In order to ensure proper support for children/ adults at risk of harm, families and staff it is necessary to establish a set of workable procedures, which are based on the principles outlined below:

 

  1. The welfare of the child or adult at risk is paramount. The Safeguarding policy takes precedence over all other Diverse Church policies and procedures.

  2. Effective training and adequate resources will be provided for staff and volunteers to ensure that they have skills, knowledge and resources to recognise and respond to safeguarding needs.

  3. Children/ adults at risk of harm have the right to be listened to, consulted and involved in decisions whenever possible.  They shall be kept informed of decisions and actions taken unless to do so places them at further risk.

  4. DSOs should make contact with the relevant Local Authority or Gateway Service to make referrals and seek advice where necessary:

  5. Where concern exists that a person in contact with Diverse Church may be a risk to children or adults at risk of harm, the organisation will ensure that their services are not be used pending an investigation and that the appropriate authorities will be informed.

  6. Diverse Church believes that in order to have an effective safeguarding service all agencies involved should work together and have a shared mutual understanding of aims, objectives and good practice.

 

Responsibilities

 

  1. All staff and volunteers will be subject to our selection procedure. Those with unsupervised access to children and vulnerable adults will be subject to a DBS check every 3 years.

  2. All staff (paid and unpaid) and service providers of Diverse Church are subject to and must be aware of the Child Protection/ Adults At Risk Of Harm Policy.  It is the responsibility of the board of trustees and the Director to ensure that the policy is annually reviewed, freely available and implemented.

  3. Diverse Church will ensure that any organisation acting on its behalf that has unsupervised or substantial access to children, young people and adults at risk of harm will have been assessed and approved through appropriate checks (risk assessment, etc.) and have a valid and an acceptable safeguarding policy in place.

  4. No staff or volunteer should deal with an incident of child abuse on their own except in the most extreme emergencies. Advice and consultation with the DSO, managers or colleagues should be sought.

  5. Diverse Church will appoint a Designated Child Protection Officer (DSO) who will act as advisor for Child Protection issues.

  6. Diverse Church will ensure that all Child Protection concerns are reported to the appropriate Local Authority.

  7. When abuse is suspected this must be raised immediately and discussed with the DSO. Staff and volunteers should record all allegations a child, young person or adult at risk of harm makes.

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Statement

It is the responsibility of all Diverse Church staff and volunteers to take seriously any suspicion, disclosure or any signs of abuse both past and present that is affecting or may affect children, young people or adults at risk of harm.  It is important to consider that information about abuse, no matter how dated, may indicate that other children may be at risk.

 

Concerns about abuse may be immediate or on-going.  Abuse may come to the attention of staff members, volunteers and young people in the following ways:

 

  • Direct observation

  • Observation of signs and symptoms

  • Information provided by a third party

  • Disclosures by a child, young person or adult at risk of harm themselves.

 

Concerns

If a staff member has suspicions, evidence or it has been disclosed that a child/ adult at risk of harm is, or has been abused, then the situation must be discussed with a DSO. 

All reports should be completed within 24 hours and sent on to the relevant DSO or authority. All records must be signed, dated and timed. Records should be an account of factual information and any view/judgement expressed about these facts should be clearly qualified as such.

Concerns and any action taken must be recorded and then reported to the Director who will store it securely.

 

Disclosure

Children/young people/adults at risk of harm rarely discuss the subject spontaneously - it may take weeks or months for a child to talk about their experiences.  Never promise to keep information a young person/child/adult at risk of harm is giving you a secret.  If they are telling you it is because they want it to stop.  Carefully explain that in order to help, you will have to pass the information on, and to whom. Children/ adults at risk of harm should feel that they have some measure of control over the action you take.  Always let them know who you are going to tell and the implications of telling them.

 

  • Stay calm and reassuring

  • Find a quiet place to talk, informing colleagues that this is occurring ensuring that actions cannot be mistaken for collusion.

  • Take seriously what you are told.

  • Listen but do not press for information

  • Acknowledge the child/young person’s/ adult at risk of harm’s feelings, stressing that it is not their fault.

  • Do not attempt to deal with the matter further on your own. Inform the child/young person/ adult at risk of harm of your intended actions and the reasons for them.

  • Record the conversation as soon as possible.

  • All relevant records must be made using the child/young person/ adult at risk of harm’s own words

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This policy has been approved by the Diverse Church Trustees, and will be updated in line with new legislation and guidance as necessary.

21st October 2024.

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