Voluntary Sector Information

Policy Guidance

Many organisations, both charitable and commercial, work with groups of children and young people.  These may be: sports clubs; Religious groups; theatre groups; outdoor activities etc.

It is good practice for organisations such as these to have a safeguarding policy and related procedures for their staff and volunteers.  Such policies and procedures will ensure good practice in relation to child protection and give a measure of protection to workers from placing themselves in a vulnerable position.

It is important that these organisations write their own policy and procedures, to suit their individual circumstances.  Worcestershire Safeguarding Children Board has produced a checklist of issues to be considered to support this process.

For guidance only

Guidance for writing policies and procedures for Safeguarding Children

This document has been prepared by the Worcestershire Safeguarding Children Board to help organisations to develop their own policies and procedures for safeguarding children. It is aimed at any organisation, be it voluntary, commercial, charity, religious or sporting which involves children and young people in its activities.

No organisation should be providing services for children without a policy and procedures for safeguarding children. This will not only help to protect children from abuse, but will also provide guidance to staff and volunteers in your organisation to ensure that they are acting appropriately at all times.

It is important that each organisation gives thought to safeguarding children and develops their own procedures which will fit their organisation. It is however recognised this can be a difficult task for those with no experience of writing such procedures This checklist is therefore designed to provide an indicator of what needs to be included. The policy and procedures must be developed to fit the organisation.

Safeguarding Children And Young People.

Writing the Safeguarding Policy.

This is a statement of your organisation’s aims and objectives in providing a service for children. This should include:-

• your responsibilities in safeguarding children
• what you intend to encourage in the children you will be working with
• what kind of environment/culture you intend to provide for the children.

This policy is only a brief statement and does not need to go into any detail about how you will achieve your aims. Remember that your procedures are a system for ensuring that your Policy is put into practice – so keep your Policy simple and realistic.

Writing the Safeguarding Procedures

In writing these procedures do not lose sight of their purpose and for whom they are intended. They are a tool for your members of staff and volunteers to use when they are concerned about a child. They need to be clear and concise. The basic principles should be as few as possible.

The procedures are designed to protect children from any harm or abuse, to ensure that children who wish to report any kind of abuse or harm are listened to and this is acted upon, to protect workers from placing themselves in vulnerable situations.

What The Procedures should include

• What course of action is to be taken if a child reports abuse happening at home or elsewhere outside of your organisation. Remember workers must not question the child, beyond clarifying what is being said. Professionals who are trained in interviewing children will do this.
• What course of action is to be taken if you suspect a child is being abused. Record keeping is important
• How are you going to deal with suspicions of abuse by a member of your staff or a volunteer? What are the lines of responsibility? What is to happen if the person suspected is the leader of your organisation.
• The welfare of the child is paramount and this overrides the need for confidentiality. The right of a child to be protected may mean that you must breach your organisation’s rules of confidentiality.
• Will your organisation have a designated person to whom concerns about children are reported and who will be familiar about the necessary course of action to be taken?
• What will your procedures have to say about recruitment and vetting of workers and volunteers
• What safeguards will you put in place to protect children (and workers) when they are supervising groups of children?
• Are children ever alone with a worker and how will you ensure this is a safe situation?
• How will you deal with allegations of abuse by other children in your organisation?
• How will you ensure that your policy and procedures are disseminated to all workers and volunteers?
• How will you deal with complaints?

Points to Remember

• Most children are not abused
• The best way to safeguard children is by working in partnership with parents and children
• Children rarely lie about abuse, so if they tell you something is happening to them, believe them, however unlikely or shocking it may seem.
• It is not your duty to investigate allegations of abuse, only to report them to Social Services or the Police
• Occasionally false allegations of abuse may be made, so don’t allow workers to put themselves in vulnerable positions. This protects children as well as staff.
• If someone feels uncomfortable about another worker’s behaviour they should share their concerns. It is often only by fitting together the jigsaw pieces of information that children are protected.
• It is better to discuss concerns about the welfare of a child with a duty social worker than to keep your worries to yourself.

This page was last reviewed 20 March 2013 at 15:20.
The page is next due for review 16 September 2014.