Safeguarding

The aim of the Darnall Well Being Child & Vulnerable Adult Protection Policy is to safeguard the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and promote good professional practice.

This policy applies to all staff, students and volunteers who are in contact with children or vulnerable adults.

Policy Statement

 The welfare of every child or vulnerable adult who comes into contact with our service is paramount to the way we work and operate.
 Darnall Well Being has a duty of care to safeguard all children and vulnerable adults involved in our activities.
 All children and vulnerable adults have a right to protection.
 Darnall Well Being will recruit, train and supervise its staff, students and volunteers to adopt the best practice to safeguard and protect children and vulnerable adults from abuse and themselves against wrongful allegations.
 All suspicions and allegations of abuse or poor practice will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately.

Good Practice Guidelines

 All staff, students and volunteers will report concerns to their line manager at their earliest convenience.
 All staff, students or volunteers that have the potential to come into contact with children or vulnerable adults will undergo an enhanced DBS check and references will be sought.
 Always work in an open environment.
 Always maintain a safe and appropriate distance with children.
 Demonstrate exemplary behaviour in order to protect from false allegations.
 Be a role model – use only appropriate language, do not smoke.
 Treat all young people equally, with respect and dignity, regardless of their cultural background, sexual orientation, race, gender or ability.
 At least one member of staff present should hold a first aid certificate. This should include first aid for children.
 Parents/carers should be informed of any emergency and what, if any medical treatment was administered.
 Incident report forms should be completed if any accident or incident occurs and shared with parents or guardians.
 Consoling a child who is upset or administering first aid is acceptable and necessary behaviour. Staff should endeavour to minimise any possible misunderstanding of their actions by working in an open environment.
 Staff will meet the required adult:child ratio. (Ratio changes with age)
 Staff should never be left to work alone.
 If a parent/carer does not collect their child then after trying all emergency contact numbers social services will be informed and advice will be followed.
 Staff will not use any form of physical intervention unless it is necessary to prevent injury.
 Staff should be alert to bullying and report such incidents and be aware of the anti bullying policy.
 Staff should avoid transporting children and vulnerable adults in their car.
 Written parental consent is required to transport children in staff vehicles and another adult should be present. Seatbelts must be worn.
 All staff, student and volunteers will undertake safeguarding awareness training in house.

Practice to be avoided

 Never offer a child or vulnerable adults a lift in your car alone.
 Do not spend time alone with a child or vulnerable adults away from others
 Do not engage in rough or sexually provocative games
 Never allow or engage in any form of inappropriate touching.
 Do not allow children to use inappropriate language unchallenged.
 Do not make sexually suggestive comments to a child.
 Do not reduce a child to tears as a form of control.
 Do not invite children or vulnerable adults to your home.
 Do not allow allegations made by a child or anyone to go unrecorded or not acted upon.
 Do not do things of a personal nature e.g. dressing/toileting for children that they can do for themselves.

If any of the following occur you should report it immediately to your line manager and record the incident:

 You accidentally hurt a child
 If a child seems distressed by your manner
 If a young person appears to be sexually aroused by your actions
 If a young person misunderstands or misinterprets something that you have said or done

Responding to suspicions or allegations of abuse against Darnall Well Being staff:

 It is not the responsibility of anyone working at Darnall Well Being to decide whether child abuse has taken place.
 There is a responsibility to act on any concerns a member of staff may have.
 Darnall Well Being will assure all staff that it will fully support and protect anyone who in good faith reports concerns that a colleague is or maybe abusing a child.
 Where there is a complaint against a member of staff there maybe three types of investigation: – criminal, child protection, disciplinary/misconduct.
 Every effort should be made to ensure that confidentiality is maintained for all.
 If a member of staff, student or volunteer’s suspect’s abuse is occurring or has a disclosure from a child or vulnerable adult, they should make a record of the incident and report it to their manager immediately. It is not the responsibility of Darnall Well Being to investigate these incidents. Advice and guidance can be obtained from Sheffield Safeguarding Children’s Board Help Desk on 0114 205 3535.

Internal enquiries and suspension

 Senior management will make an immediate decision about whether any individual accused of abuse should be temporarily suspended pending further social services or police enquiries.
 Irrespective of the findings of such an investigation, the senior management will assess all individual cases to decide whether a member of staff can be reinstated. The senior management must base this decision upon the available information which could suggest that on a balance of probability; it is more likely than not that the allegation is true.
 The welfare of children should always remain paramount.