1. Introduction
The North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board would recommend that every organisation whose members come directly in contact with children have a Child Protection Policy. Each policy will need to reflect the activities of the organisation and the individuals involved. It is therefore important that each organisation design its own policy. It is impossible for the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board to be prescriptive in respect of a policy. The enclosed checklist and draft procedure are designed for guidance only.
2. Help with preparing a child protection policy
The North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board would recommend "first check" and "sports check" which are step by step guides for organisations and sport organisations to safeguarding children. They include guidance on child protection policies. They are available from the NSPCC at Publications, NSPCC National Training Centre, 3 Gilmour Close, Beaumont Leys, Leicester LEA IEZ www.nspcc.org.uk/inform
If you are part of a national organisation, you should contact them as there may already be a procedure, or they may be able to offer advice specific to your organisation.
3. North Yorkshire LSCB
The North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board has prepared the attached guidelines and draft policy to assist you. The North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board would recommend that you include all the elements in the guidance, which are relevant to your organisation. There may be things which you need to add owing to the nature of your organisation.
4. Operation of the policy
A policy must be an agreed protocol for the entire organisation. It must be known and accessible to everyone. Parents and young people should be consulted. Ideally, everyone in your organisation will be involved in drawing the policy up. To be effective it must give clear instructions on what action is to be taken, when and by whom. It must be supported by adequate supervision and training. The North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board would recommend that your organisation appoint a child protection officer/designated person.
A Child Protection policy should help prevent abuse and protect children. It is a very important document and the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board would wish to support your organisation in keeping children safe.
Check List
The Child Protection policy should be a statement of intent that demonstrates commitment to safeguarding children involved with the organisation.
It should be:
- Written in a clear and easily understandable way;
- Publicised, promoted and distributed to the relevant audience;
- Approved and endorsed by the relevant management body;
- Be mandatory for staff and volunteers;
- Be kept under review.
The policy should include:
- The name and purpose of the organisation;
- Who the policy applies to;
- Step by step guidance on what to do if children need protecting (Refer Section 5, LSCB Procedures);
- Identify roles and responsibilities;
- Identify lines of communication;
- Set out a system for recording information;
- Establish a system for dealing with and recording allegations against staff/volunteers/other young people (Refer Section 10, LSCB Procedures);
- Contact details for local social services and police, including out of hours contacts (Refer Appendix 2, LSCB Procedures);
- Definitions of abuse (Refer Section 4, LSCB Procedures);
- Policy for the safe recruitment and induction of staff and volunteers ( Refer Section 11, LSCB Procedures);
- Acceptable Use Policies for internet use ( E Safety Guidance – LSCB Website)
- Complaints and whistle blowing procedures.
It may also be relevant to include information on:
- Policies on transporting children;
- Guidelines on photographs and videos;
- Guidance on the storage of information;
- Guidance on camping and residential activities;
- Health and Safety Standards;
- Guidance on supervision;
- Code of ethics in respect of acceptable adult behaviour to children including guidance on physical contact;
- An equality policy;
- Information on helplines, e.g. NSPCC Child Protection Helpline;
- Details of Child Protection Training
The North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board would recommend that a designated person or persons should be identified with a clearly defined role in relation to child protection and who is responsible for implementation of the Child Protection Policy. They should have appropriate training in relation to child protection. They should be identified as a person who an organisation member can talk to about child protection. The North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board do provide child protection training, but not on an individual basis. Click here to see details of the training that is being provided.
The North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board also recommends that your organisation has a complaints process for dealing with complaints and unacceptable or abusive behaviour towards children.
To safeguard children, the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board advises your organisation to have policies or procedures for recruiting staff or volunteers who have contact with children and for assessing their suitability to work with children.
DRAFT CHILD PROTECTION POLICY
Name of Organisation
Location
Purpose of organisation
POLICY STATEMENT ON SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN
E.g. This organisation recognises that all children have a right to protection from abuse (Name of organisation) takes seriously its responsibility to protect and safeguard the welfare of children and young children. We will:
- Respond swiftly and appropriately to all suspicions or allegations of abuse, and provide parents and children with the opportunity to voice their concerns
- Have a system for dealing with concerns about possible abuse
- Maintain good links with statutory child care authorities.
THE POLICY
Name of organisation recognises that many children and young people today are the victims of neglect, and physical, sexual and emotional abuse. Accordingly ………. has adopted the policy contained in this document (hereafter "the policy"). The policy sets out agreed guidelines relating to responding to allegations of abuse, including those made against staff and volunteers ………. recognises the need to build constructive links with the child care agencies. These guidelines have been prepared in accordance with the North Yorkshire Area Child Protection Procedures. They will be kept under review and be supported by appropriate training.
The policy applies to all staff and volunteers who act on behalf of the organisation and who come directly into contact with children. Every individual has a responsibility to inform the designated person in respect of child protection or their deputy of concerns relating to safeguarding children. The designated person must decide if the concerns should be communicated to social services or the police.
DEFINITATIONS OF ABUSE
PHYSCIAL ABUSE
Somebody may abuse or neglect a child by inflicting harm, or by failing to act to prevent harm. Children may be abused in a family or in an institution or community setting; by those known to them, or more rarely by a stranger. Physical abuse may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating, or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent carer feigns the symptoms of, or deliberately causes ill health to a child whom they are looking after.
EMOTIONAL ABUSE
Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional ill treatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child's emotional development. It may involve conveying to the children that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the need of another person. It may involve causing children frequently to feel frightened or in danger, other exploitation or corruption of children. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of ill treatment of a child, though it may occur alone.
SEXUAL ABUSE
Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including penetrative (e.g. rape or buggery) or non-penetrative acts.
They may include non-contact activities such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, pornographic material or watching sexual activities, or encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways.
NEGLECT
Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child's basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child's health or development. It may involve a parent or carer failing to provide adequate food shelter and clothing, failing to protect a child from physical harm, or danger or the failure to ensure address to appropriate medical care or treatment. It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness, to a child's basic emotion.
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO IF YOU SUSPECT ABUSE
- You must report concerns as soon as possible to …. (designated child protection person) phone number ………… who is nominated by ………. to act on their behalf in referring allegations of suspicions of neglect or abuse to the statutory authorities. In the absence of the designated person, the matter should be brought to the attention of the deputy designated person ………… phone number ……. If it is an emergency, and the designated persons cannot be contacted, then social services or the police should be contacted at the numbers given below.
- If the suspicions relate to the designated person, then the deputy or social services should be contacted.
- Suspicions should not be discussed with anyone, other than those named above.
- It is the right of any individual to make direct referrals to the child protection agencies. We would hope that an individual would use this procedure. However, if you feel that the organisation has not responded appropriately to your concerns, it is open to you to contact the child protection agencies direct.
ALLEGATIONS OF PHYSICAL INJURY, EMOTIONAL ABUSE OR NEGLECT
If a child has an injury which may be a non-accidental injury, or symptoms of neglect and a referral is to be made then:
- The designated person should contact social services. If there has been a deliberate injury or where there are concerns about the child's safety the child's parents should not be contacted before first consulting with social services.
- Where emergency medical attention is necessary it should be sought immediately. The designated person should inform the doctor of any suspicion of abuse.
- If a referral is being made without the parent's knowledge and non urgent medical treatment is required, social services should be informed. Otherwise, speak to the parent/carer and suggest medical attention be sought for the child.
- If appropriate the parent/carer should be encouraged to seek help from the Social Services Department prior to a referral being made. If they fail to do so in situations of real concern the designated person will contact social services directly for advice.
ALLEGATIONS OF SEXUAL ABUSE
In the event of allegations of sexual abuse the designated person will:
- Contact the Social Services or Police Child Protection Team directly. The designated person will not speak to the parents.
- Under no circumstances should the designated person, or any other member of the organisation, attempt to carry out any investigation into the allegations or suspicions of sexual abuse. The role of the designated person is to collect the exact details of the allegations or suspicion and to provide this information to the child protection agencies that will investigate the matter under the Children Act 1989.
WHAT TO DO ONCE A CHILD HAS TALKED TO YOU ABOUT ABUSE
- Make a note immediately of what the child has said, writing down exactly what the child has said, write down what you said in reply, when they said it and what was happening immediately beforehand. Record dates and times of the events and when the record was made. Keep all notes secure.
- Report your discussion as soon as possible to the designated person.
- Once a child has talked about abuse the designated person must consider if it is safe for a child to return home to a potentially abusive situation. On a rare occasion it might be necessary to take immediate action to contact social services and/or the police to discuss putting into effect safety measures for the child so that they do not return home
- You may include details of where and how child protection concerns will be recorded and stored.
- Allegations against staff or volunteers will be investigated give details of procedure if there is one. Where there are concerns that a child has been put in danger of abuse, or has suffered abuse owing to the actions of a member of staff or volunteer social services or the police will be contacted. Details of any allegation which has not resulted in a referral will be kept securely in the same way as described in 4 above.
- Add additional policies/procedures, e.g. recruitment of staff.
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