Guidance on Child Protection Policies

GUIDANCE ON CHILD PROTECTION POLICIES

INTRODUCTION

The North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board 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.

HELP WITH PREPARING A CHILD PROTECTION POLICY

The North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board would recommend "firstcheck" and "sportscheck" 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.

NORTH YORKSHIRE SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN BOARD

Procedures need to be drawn up in line with the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board Guidance and Procedures. They will check to ensure a policy is in accordance with the North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board Procedures. To be checked, your policy when complete, can be sent to the North Yorkshire Safegurding Children Unit, Jesmond House 31-33 Victoria Avenue, Harrogate, HG1 5QE for the attention of Pauline Martin, Manager.

The North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board has prepared the attached guidelines and draft policy to assist you. The 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.

OPERATION OF A 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
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
Contact details for local Children's Social Care and police, including out of hours contacts
Definitions of abuse

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
Staff/volunteer vetting process
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
Induction process
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. Details of the training that is being provided can be obtained from the Training and Development Coordinators at Jesmond House or on our website.www.safeguardingchildren.co.uk.

The North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Board also recommend 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 Safeguarding Children Board 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 Children's Social Care or the police.

DEFINITIONS OF ABUSE

PHYSICAL 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

1. 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 Children's Social Care or the police should be contacted at the numbers given below.

2. If the suspicions relate to the designated person, then the deputy or Children's Social Care should be contacted.

3. Suspicions should not be discussed with anyone, other than those named above.

4. 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:

1. The designated person should contact Children's Social Care. 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 Children's Social Care.

2. Where emergency medical attention is necessary it should be sought immediately. The designated person should inform the doctor of any suspicion of abuse.

3. If a referral is being made without the parent's knowledge and non urgent medical treatment is required, Children's Social Care should be informed. Otherwise, speak to the parent/carer and suggest medical attention be sought for the child.

4. If appropriate the parent/carer should be encouraged to seek help from Children's Social Care prior to a referral being made. If they fail to do so in situations of real concern the designated person will contact Children's Social Care directly for advice.

ALLEGATIONS OF SEXUAL ABUSE

In the event of allegations of sexual abuse the designated person will:

1. Contact Children's Social Care or Child Abuse Investigation Team Police directly. The designated person will not speak to the parents.

2. 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

1. 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.

2. Report your discussion as soon as possible to the designated person.

3. 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 Children's Social Care and/or the police to discuss putting into effect safety measures for the child so that they do not return home

4. You may include details of where and how child protection concerns will be recorded and stored.

5. 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 Children's Social Care 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.

6. Add additional policies/procedures, e.g. recruitment of staff.

CONTACT DETAILS

DESIGNATED CHILD PROTECTION PERSON

DEPUTY DESIGNATED PERSON

ANY NATIONAL OR SUPPORT BODY FOR YOUR ORGANISATION

NORTH YORKSHIRE CHILDRENS SOCIAL CARE

CHILD ABUSE INVESTIGATION TEAM POLICE