Policies
CHILD PROTECTION POLICY
Harrogate Malayalee Association believes that it is always unacceptable for a child or young person to experience abuse of any kind and recognises its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of all children and young people, by a commitment to practice which protects them.
We recognise that:
• the welfare of the child/young person is paramount
• all children, regardless of age, disability, gender, racial heritage, religious belief, sexual orientation or identity, have the right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse
• working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and their agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.
The purpose of the policy:
• To provide protection for the children and young people who receive (Harrogate Malayalee Association’s) services, including the children of adult members or users.
• To provide staff and volunteers with guidance on procedures they should adopt in the event that they suspect a child or young person may be experiencing, or be at risk of, harm.
This policy applies to all members or anyone working on behalf of Harrogate Malayalee Association.
We will seek to safeguard children and young people by:
• valuing them, listening to and respecting them
• adopting child protection guidelines through procedures and a code of conduct for members and volunteers
• recruiting members and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made
• sharing information about child protection and good practice with children, parents, members and volunteers
• sharing information about concerns with agencies who need to know, and involving parents and children appropriately
• providing effective management for members and volunteers through supervision, support and training.
We are also committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually.
Harrogate Malayalee Association
CHILD PROTECTION PROCEDURES
Harrogate Malayalee Associations recognises that all children have a right to protection from abuse. Harrogate Malayalee Association 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.
These guidelines set out how the organisation will respond to allegations of abuse, including those made against staff and volunteers. Harrogate Malayalee Association recognises the need to build constructive links with the child care agencies and 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 procedures are consistent with Working Together (2010).
The Child Protection 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.
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 feign 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 the designated child protection person who is nominated by Harrogate Malayalee Association to act on their behalf in referring allegations of suspicions of neglect or abuse to the statutory authorities.
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.
2. If the suspicions relate to the designated person, then the deputy designated person or social services 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 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.
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, social services 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 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:
1. Contact the Social Services or Police Child Protection Team 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 social services and/or the police to discuss putting into effect safety measures for the child so that they do not return home
4. Any records relating to child protection concerns will be recorded in accordance with this policy and stored in a signed and sealed folder and locked away in a secure filing cabinet.
5. Allegations against staff or volunteers will be investigated. The procedure for managing allegations made against staff and volunteers is as follows:
• Harrogate Malayalee Association will ensure that any allegations made against members or member of staff, volunteer or trustee will be dealt with swiftly.
• Where a member of staff/volunteer/trustee is thought to have committed a criminal offence the police will be informed. If a crime has been witnessed the police should be contacted immediately.
• Where the allegation involves alleged abuse of a child or young person, a referral should be made following the process in this document.
• The safety of the individual(s) concerned is paramount and it should be ensured that they are safe and away from the person(s) who are the alleged perpetrators.
• The designated person will liaise with the Children’s Safeguarding Manager to discuss the best course of action.
• 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.
CONTACT DETAILS
NORTH YORKSHIRE CHILDRENS SOCIAL SERVICES
Complaints against staff and volunteers
Local Authority Designated Officers (LADO)
LADO Western Area
(Harrogate and Craven) Nick O’Brien
General Manager
c/o Marina Yewdall Telephone: 01609 798735
marina.yewdall@northyorks.gov.uk
North Yorkshire and City of York
Multi-Agency Public Protection Unit
01904 698920
Harrogate Malayalee Association