17.2.2 Child protection

Supported Lives is fully committed to safeguarding the welfare of all children and young people. It recognises its responsibility to take all reasonable steps to promote safe practice and to protect children from harm, abuse and exploitation. Supported Lives acknowledges its duty to act appropriately to any allegations, reports or suspicions of abuse.

Staff will endeavour to work together to encourage the development of an ethos which embraces difference and diversity and respects the rights of children, young people and adults.

In implementing this child protection policy Supported Lives will:

• Ensure that all workers understand their legal and moral responsibility to protect children and young people from harm, abuse and exploitation;
• Ensure that all workers understand their responsibility to work to the standards that are detailed in these Child Protection Procedures and work at all times towards maintaining high standards of practice;
• Ensure that all workers understand their duty to report concerns that arise about a child or young person, or a worker's conduct towards a child/young person, to the organisation's named person for child protection;
• Ensure that the named person understands his/her responsibility to refer any child protection concerns to the statutory child protection agencies (i.e. Police and/or Social Work);
• Ensure that any procedures relating to the conduct of workers are implemented in a consistent and equitable manner;
• Provide opportunities for all workers to develop their skills and knowledge particularly in relation to the welfare and protection of children and young people;
• Ensure that children and young people are enabled to express their ideas and views on a wide range of issues and will have access to the Complaints Procedure;
• Ensure that parents/carers are encouraged to be involved in the work of the organisation and, when requested, have access to all guidelines and procedures;
• Endeavour to keep up-to-date with national developments relating to the welfare and protection of children and young people.

Introduction

These procedures have been designed to ensure that the welfare and protection of any child and/or young person who accesses the services provided by Supported Lives . The procedures recognise that child protection can be a very difficult subject for workers to deal with to the extent that it is sometimes easier to close your eyes to what is happening or believe that it is somebody else's problem to deal with. Supported Lives is committed to the belief that protecting children and young people is everybody's responsibility and therefore the aim here is to provide guidelines that will enable all workers and volunteers to act appropriately to any concerns that arise in respect of a child/young person.

Recognising the Signs and Symptoms of Abuse

Supported Lives will ensure that all staff members undertake training to gain a basic awareness of the signs and symptoms of child abuse.

It is equally important that your procedures provide some detail about how concerns about a child or young person's safety can come to light. For example:

• A child or young person alleges that abuse has taken place or that they feel unsafe
• A third party or anonymous allegation is received
• A child or young person's appearance, behaviour, play, drawing or statements cause suspicion of abuse and/or neglect
• A child or young person reports an incident(s) of alleged abuse which occurred some time ago
• A report is made regarding the serious misconduct of a worker towards a child or young person

Named Person(s) for Child Protection

Supported Lives has an appointed individual who is responsible for dealing with any child protection concerns. In their absence, a deputy will always be available for workers to consult with. The named persons for Child Protection within Supported Lives are:

Named Person for Child Protection: Mandy Corby
Work telephone number: 01274 377 104
Mobile number: 07738 941 734
Emergency contact no: 07805 708 094

Deputy: John Drury
Work telephone number: 01274 377 104/7
Mobile number: 07913 915 370
Emergency contact no: 07805 708 094

The role and responsibilities of the named person(s) are:

• To ensure that all staff are aware of what they should do and who they should go to if they are concerned that a child/young person maybe subject to abuse or neglect
• Ensure that any concerns about a child/young person are acted on, clearly recorded, referred on where necessary and, followed up to ensure the issues are addressed
• The Named Person(s) will record any reported incidents in relation to a child/young person or breach of Child Protection policies and procedures. This will be kept in a secure place and its contents will be confidential

Procedure when abuse is suspected

Supported Lives recognises that it has a duty to act on reports or suspicions of abuse. It also acknowledges that taking action in cases of child abuse is never easy. However Supported Lives believes that the safety of the child should override any doubts or hesitations. When worrying changes are observed in a child's or young person's behaviour, physical condition or appearance staff will:

Stage 1

• Initially talk to a child/young person about what you are observing
• It is okay to ask questions, for example: "I've noticed that you don't appear yourself today, is everything okay?" But never use leading questions
• Listen carefully to what the young person has to say and take it seriously
• Never investigate or take sole responsibility for a situation where a child/young person makes a disclosure
• Always explain to children and young people that any information they have given will have to be shared with others
• Notify the Named Person for Child Protection
• Record what was said as soon as possible after any disclosure
• The person who receives the allegation or has the concern should complete the pro-forma and ensure it is signed and dated
• Respect confidentiality and file documents securely

Stage 2

• The Named Person(s) will take immediate action if there is a suspicion that a child has been abused or likely to be abused. In this situation the Named Person will contact the police and/or Bradford's local authority children's department. If a referral is made direct to the Bradford Children's Department this must be followed up in writing
• The named person can also seek advice and clarity about a situation that is beginning to raise concern through the NSPCC National Child Protection Helpline on 0808 800 5000
• Specific advice about issues concerning South Asian children can be sought on the NSPCC National Child Protection Asian Helpline on 0800 096 7719

Managing Allegations made against a member of staff

Supported Lives will ensure that any allegations made against members of staff will be dealt with swiftly and in accordance with these procedures:

• The worker must ensure that that the child is safe and away from the person against whom the allegation is made
• The named person for child protection should be informed immediately. In the case of an allegation involving the named person, alternative arrangements should be sought to ensure that the matter is dealt with by an independent person. (Note: this could be a committee member, director or anyone within the organisation that is in a senior position within the organisation and believed to be independent of the allegations being made)
• The named person should contact the local authority designated officer (who is based at the Child Protection Unit) for advice on how to proceed with the immediate situation. Outside of working hours the Emergency Duty Team can give advice and/or in the event of an emergency situation arising, the police
• The individual who first received/witnessed the concern should make a full written record of what was seen, heard and/or told as soon as possible after observing the incident/receiving the report. It is important that the report is an accurate description. The named person (if appropriate) can support the worker during this process but must not complete the report for the worker. This report must be made available on request from either the police and/or social services
• Regardless of whether a police and/or social services investigation follows, Supported Lives will ensure that an internal investigation takes place and consideration is given to the operation of disciplinary procedures. This may involve an immediate suspension and/or ultimate dismissal dependant on the nature of the incident

Appendix 1 - Definitions

Definitions of Abuse as cited in: Working Together to Safeguard Children (HM Government 2006, Chapter 1, pp.37-38)

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 fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces illness in a child.
Emotional abuse	Is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child's emotional development. It may involve conveying to children 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 children. These may include interactions that are beyond the child's developmental capability, as well as overprotection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child participating in normal social interaction. It may involve seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another. It may involve serious bullying, causing children frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child, though it may occur alone.
Sexual abuse	Involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, including prostitution, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including penetrative (e.g. rape, buggery or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts. They may include non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual online images, watching sexual activities, or encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways.
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. Neglect may occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal substance abuse. Once a child is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to: Provide adequate food, clothing and shelter (including exclusion from home or abandonment) Protect a child from physical and emotional harm or danger Ensure adequate supervision (including the use of inadequate care-givers) Ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child's basic emotional needs.

Appendix 2 - Flow Chart

Appendix 3 - Useful Contacts/Support Organisations

If you have concern that a child is being harmed as a result of abuse or neglect, you must not keep these concerns to yourself. Keeping children safe is everyone's responsibility. You need to ensure that you speak to the appropriate organisations who can listen to and record your concern, and then take appropriate action.

In Bradford, these are the numbers that you can ring for advice and to make a referral:

• During office hours (8:30-5:00 Monday to Thursday, 4:30 on Friday) call Children's Social Services Initial Contact Point - 01274 437 500 to refer any child in need, including child protection concerns.
• Bradford Area Child Protection Unit -for consultation about child protection concerns - 01274 434 343
• At all other times, Social Services Emergency Duty Team - 01274 530 434
• If you have reason to believe that a child is at immediate risk of harm, contact the police on 999

NSPCC Child Protection Helpline

The NSPCC Child Protection Helpline is a free 24-hour service that provides counselling, information and advice to anyone concerned about a child at risk of abuse. Telephone: 0808 800 5000; Email: help@nspcc.org.uk

NSPCC Asian Child Protection Helpline

The NSPCC Asian Child Protection Helpline is a free, multilingual service for the UK's Asian communities providing counselling, information and advice to ANYONE who is concerned about the welfare of a child, including:

• Parents, carers or relatives who need advice
• Children or young people in need of help and advice
• Education, health and social welfare professionals seeking culturally sensitive advice and information.

This document was updated in July 2007

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