1. Terms of Reference

1.1 This policy is applicable to all staff, partners, freelancers, employers and volunteers who work or come into contact with children and adults. 

Employers, partners, freelancers and volunteers will be expected to comply with legislation when working with children or adults.

Employers, partners, freelancers and volunteers will be expected to abide by our safeguarding policy.

1.2 A child is defined as under 18 years of age, and an adult is defined as over 18 years of age.

1.3 An adult might be considered at risk if they are aged 18 years or over and has: needs for care and support (whether or not the local authority is meeting any of those needs) is experiencing or at risk of, abuse (inside and outside of the home), neglect, or suffering financial hardship; and as a result of these care and support needs is unable to protect themselves from risk, or the experience of abuse, neglect, suffering financial hardship.

See this guidance from the gov.uk for additional information 

1.4 Service user is anyone who benefits from or encounters our services/staff /volunteers. 

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2. Introduction

We have developed this policy in consultation with two other youth organisations, including one that works within schools. These are Football Journeys & Reform Radio, both registered charities working directly with young people including those under 18 years of age. 

We are committed to actively encouraging the safety and wellbeing of children and young people, by creating an environment and culture which supports this. We believe children and young people should be: 

• Listened to and heard 
• Valued and respected as individuals 
• Respected for their identity and uniqueness 
• Encouraged and praised 
• Involved in decisions as appropriate of gender, race, religion or belief, age, disability, sexual orientation, material status, gender reassignment or pregnancy and maternity. 

We confirm our commitment to making sure that children and young people are protected and kept safe from harm. And commit to:

• Sharing information about protection and good practice with other charities/schools/youth organisations/schools and our business partners.

• Sharing information about concerns with agencies who need to know and involving parents, headteachers, carers, adults at risk of harm. and children appropriately

• Making sure our core staff who interact with young people and children are level 1 safeguarded, trained and made aware of this policy & process including actively training staff on any updates and including safeguarding training and awareness of this policy in our staff meeting on a quarterly basis and following any updates. 

• Providing effective management for staff through supervision, support and training. 

• Regularly reviewing our policy and best practice procedures including external scrutiny of our processes from a suitable safeguarding professional.  

• Nominating a Designated Safeguarding Lead(s) and Key Worker(s) to coordinate Day One’s policy and procedures for the protection of adults and children. Listed at the top of this document. 

• Keeping all children and adults who use our organisation safe, this document is constantly being reviewed and updated as we develop our organisation and services.

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3. Background

The Children’s Act 1989 deals with the care, upbringing and protection of children. It reformed and harmonised the public and private law relating to children, in a single understandable framework. 

Later other legislation came out further protecting children and young people. The Children Act 2004, and Adoption Act 2006 and Safeguarding vulnerable groups act 2006 and the children and young persons act 2008. 

Key principles in child care law and best practice are protection and a recognition that the welfare of the child must be paramount and overrides all other considerations. The principle is that children should be safe and should be protected by intervention if they are in danger. 

Under legalisation there are minimum requirements and best practices in place that support the following which we will at Day One follow and support.

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4. Definitions of abuse

There are several different categories of abuse officially defined in government guidance.

Abuse occurs when a child or adult at risk of harm is neglected, harmed or not provided with proper care.

Because children and adults can be abused in a number of ways the harm caused cannot always be easily categorised. However, harm can be caused by a number of factors.

Types of abuse for adults as outlined in the Care Act 2014:

Physical Abuse 

This relates to any form of malpractice involving an individual’s physical wellbeing. More commonly known examples include hitting or kicking a patient or adult in a care setting, but can also extend to misuse of medication and inappropriate use of restraint. 

Emotional/Psychological Abuse 

Usually a repeated form of verbal abuse, where an individual is subjected to threats of harm, isolation or seclusion from services, harassment or intimidation, as well anything that alters the person’s behaviour from the way they’d like to live.

Financial Abuse 

Where someone in a caring role misuses the finances of the individual they care for. This could be for personal gain or in a way originally intended to help the adult receiving the care, but using someone’s money without their consent is a crime.

Sexual abuse 

If the adult in need of social care is subjected to sexual activity that they did not or could not consent to including anything from inappropriate touching touching to rape, the perpetrator is guilty of sexual abuse. 

Organisational abuse 

This is defined as a service, agency or care home putting its own needs before those of the service users. From imposing an inflexible daily routine to reorganising a staff rota to suit its own costs, organisations abuse can damage the service users’ lives.

Neglect 

Instances of a care worker ignoring the care needs of an individual and failing to provide the care services they require is neglect. Extreme cases can lead to irreparable psychological damage and even death 

Discriminatory Abuse 

Refusing to acknowledge the different care needed for each individual. This could mean purposely ignoring someone’s religion, personal beliefs, dietary views or any number of personal preferences.

Domestic Violence

Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are, or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality 

Modern Slavery 

The use of individuals working for little or no wages is now the business of the Safeguarding Adults boards across the country. This could be perpetrated by care service employers, the adult in need to care themselves, or someone connected to that person.

Self-Neglect 

Self-Neglect is a condition affecting behaviour, where the individual refuses to attend to their personal care and hygiene, their environment or even refusal of care services offered to them. Care workers should be educated on this condition and prepared to work with the individual to improve their situation

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5.  Making Referrals to the Local Authority

It is not always easy to recognise a situation where abuse may occur or where it has already taken place. It is unlikely that staff will be experts and it should be stressed that the local authority should be involved if abuse is suspected. Local authorities have a mandatory duty to investigate any children at risk that report to them.

• Where there is suspicion of a child being abused, we must immediately involve the local authority.

• Where there is a suspicion of an adult at risk of harm being abused, we will review the situation as a safeguarding team, ensuring the individual's right to privacy and confidentiality are respected. 

The definitions above relate to both children and adults where there has been a reduction in physical or mental capacity which has led to their reduced ability to protect themselves from assault, abuse, neglect or bullying

It must be recognised that it is not only adults who will cause abuse to children or adults at risk of harm. Peer abuse where the abuser is a child who is under 16 years of age does and will occur. This must be treated the same as in cases where the alleged abuser is an adult.

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6. Working with Schools and External Partners

We will be working with external partners, schools and employers who are all expected to comply with our safeguarding policy and be made aware of it when they join.

When working with schools we will familiarise ourselves as an organisation with their safeguarding policy and make sure we are aware of the procedures and processes in the event of a safeguarding incident. All Day One staff working in schools will be required to familiarise themselves with schools’ policy and processes and to actively uphold these. 

When working with students outside of school hours we will make sure we are adhering to our own (this) policy in the protection of children and adults and all incidents will be reported accordingly. We will report any incidents to the school when necessary to do so. We will review our own practices as an organisation around taking young people on “school trips” to businesses that support our work.  Whilst in term time we will follow all school risk assessments and safeguarding. For trips to employers outside of term time we will do this with young people over 18 and undertake a risk assessment.

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7. Working with Young People and Children

It is essential that all communication to young people is appropriate and transparent and follows through approved means. 

• Work Phones – we should avoid using personal phones and never give out personal details. If you have been given permission to use your personal phone as a work phone, it will be treated as a work phone in line with this policy. Day One will work towards ensuring that staff have work phones. 

• Emails – we should never use personal emails. 

• Messages via Day One approved social media sites – we should not communicate with young people via any personal profiles that they may have, nor should we initiate a conversation through Day One channels. 

• Tagging via Day One approved social media sites – We can post or share appropriate photos of young people but should not directly tag young people within these. 

• Day One events – we should not meet or communicate with young people outside an existing Day One event. All meetings with young people should be made in public places.

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8. Data Protection

The data protection act 2018 requires personal information to be obtained and processed fairly and lawfully and only disclosed in appropriate circumstances. The act allows for disclosure of information without the consent of the subject in certain conditions, including for the purposes of the prevention or detection of crime, or the apprehension or prosecution of offenders. The need to safeguard children and/or adults at risk of harm should be considered within these parameters.

The European Convention of human rights article 8 also addresses the need to disclose information for the ‘protection of health or morals, for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others and for the prevention of disorder to crime. Disclosure should be appropriate for the purpose and only to the extent necessary to achieve that purpose.

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