Child & Adult Protection Safeguarding Policy and Procedure

 

Notice to staff and volunteers using a paper copy of this guidance, the Food in Community Dropbox holds the most recent version of this guidance. Please use the most recent.

 

Author: Safeguarding Lead, Chantelle Norton

Deputy Safeguarding Lead, David Markson

 

 

Document purpose/summary	The purpose of this policy is to provide clear guidance for staff and volunteers on how to identify, raise concerns and respond to safeguarding matters by implementing this procedure.
Review date and frequency	Two years after publication, or earlier if there is a change in evidence

 

Introduction

Food in Community is a welcoming and inclusive community. We run the following activities:

• Surplus food collection, sorting and distribution for households in need in Totnes and villages, and not for profit organisations in Devon.
• Community pay what you feel cafes and community event catering.
• Educational cooking workshops, with lunch sometimes taken together afterwards.
• Convene community home cooking groups.
• Social gleans of surplus crops from fields and orchards

We run activities that sometimes include vulnerable children and adults. Safeguarding training delivered to staff emphasises the need to stay alert to indicators of possible abuse, avoiding assumptions and understanding how communication barriers might impact on the presentation of possible abuse.

Safeguarding relates to children, young people and adults at-risk and means protecting their health, wellbeing and human rights, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect, including protecting children and young people who are vulnerable or at-risk of being radicalised.

Responsibilities

Staff must be clear about their own role and that of others in providing a caring and safe environment for all children and adults at-risk and must know how they should respond to any concerns about an individual that may arise. Food in Community has a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) who has overall responsibility for child protection and adult safeguarding. In the absence of the DSL, the deputy DSL will undertake the DSL’s duties.

The DSL has a responsibility to:

• Liaise with the LA, Social Services, Police and other agencies on individual cases of suspected or identified abuse.
• Be responsible for co-ordinating action within Food in Community on safeguarding issues
• Liaise with staff on a ‘need to know’ basis so that at-risk peoples’ rights to confidentiality are ensured
• Oversee the planning of any activities that involve at-risk people
• Refer cases where a crime may have been committed to the Police as required
• Add safeguarding as an agenda item at Board meetings.

The DSL will

• Undertake training in order to fulfil their role which is updated every two years and is responsible to the Trustees of Food in Community.
• Review and update this policy and any related policies/procedures at least annually, or as required by updates to legislation and national guidance.
• Oversee the development and implementation of robust safeguarding procedures across the organisation
• Report to Trustees on a termly basis regarding safeguarding data and related matters
• Ensure that DBS record checks are maintained on file.
• Support people involved in reporting incidents.
• Ensure the Deputy Safeguarding Lead is up to date in terms of training and is fully involved and supported in decisions made.

All staff will

Maintain an attitude of “it could happen here” in order to remain vigilant to the possibility of abuse and ensure that any and all safeguarding concerns are acted upon in the appropriate manner.

Maintain professional relationships with at-risk people at all times.

How to recognise abuse

Abuse can take a number of forms:

• Physical: causing physical harm to an risk person by hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating or some other method. Physical harm can also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of or deliberately induces illness in a child or adult at-risk.
• Emotional: the persistent emotional maltreatment of a person at-risk in a way likely to cause severe and persistent negative effects on that person’s emotional development.
• Sexual: forcing or enticing a person at-risk to take part in sexual activities, whether or not that person is aware of what is happening. Sexual abuse includes both physical contact and non-contact activities.
• Neglect: the persistent failure to meet a person at-risk’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of that person’s health and/or development.
• Financial: being denied access to funds, having funds misappropriated or misused by others, being pressured or manipulated into giving money away or using it in a way the vulnerable person does not wish.
• Institutional: the mistreatment, abuse or neglect of a person at-risk by an organisation or collective of individuals.

It is important to recognise the multitude of abusive situations that overlap within these definitions. Children and adults at-risk may be at-risk of abuse through such varied issues as bullying (including cyberbullying), substance misuse, child sexual exploitation, female genital mutilation, forced marriage, radicalisation and extremist behaviour, abuse related to protected characteristics e.g. racism/sexism/homophobia, domestic abuse, gang violence, sexting and others.

It is also important to recognise that safeguarding issues can manifest themselves via peer on peer abuse. This is most likely to include, but may not be limited to, bullying (including cyberbullying), and child criminal and/or sexual exploitation, gender-based violence/sexual assaults and sexting.

Staff may become aware of abuse in a number of ways, including:

• Disclosure by a person at-risk, or disclosure or remarks by others around them.
• Discovery of bruising or marks on their body
• Unexplained changes in behaviour or personality
• Evidence of disturbance or explicit detail in drawing, writing or play
• Evidence of neglect in terms of cleanliness, personal hygiene, failure to thrive or apparent exposure to unnecessary risks
• Persistent lateness, poor or irregular attendance or persistent absence

 

Providing a safe environment

Food in Community safeguard people at-risk by

• Ensuring provision is designed to acknowledge the potential vulnerability of at-risk people to being abused, particularly the additional vulnerability of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
• Supporting people to be confident and have good self-esteem, both through learning experience and a culture at Food in Community that meets their emotional and mental health needs.
• Listening and responding to and valuing all forms of communication, including non-verbal communication and behaviour, including challenging behaviour.
• Operating effective systems to enable people to communicate that they feel safe or unsafe.
• Fostering an environment at Food in Community of mutual respect, tolerance, and understanding for all, regardless of religion, race, gender, culture or ability.
• Ensuring staff understand, through regular training, the many different forms that abuse can take.
• Ensuring staff are aware of the possibility of abuse in any form and are supported to know how to address this.
• Having clear procedures as detailed in this document for reporting and responding to allegations and concerns about abuse.
• Operating a Safeguarding Policy to ensure decisions are arrived at through informed discussion, whilst respecting confidentiality and involving agencies if necessary.
• Carrying out Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks to the appropriate level for staff working with at-risk people.
• Including safeguarding when risk assessing activities.
• Operating a comprehensive and regularly reviewed suite of Health & Safety policies and procedures and ensuring that staff are trained in all relevant aspects of health and safety practice.

 

Working with at-risk people

Food in Community some years ago took the decision to not run group activities for unaccompanied young people. Young people we work with will come with appropriate ratios of their own teachers and support workers as part of a school visit, and it is made clear to the school or organisation making the booking that this is the basis upon which the services are provided. Likewise, vulnerable adults that are learning disabled come to volunteer or participate in activities with a 1:1 support worker.

Keeping relevant, up-to-date information about people at-risk is a key aspect of effective safeguarding. If we have any under 18s volunteering with us, perhaps if taking part in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, or vulnerable adults volunteering with us, or participating in activities unaccompanied, we will request the following information:

• Names and contact details of parents or guardians if children or young people
• Names and contact details of emergency contact
• Details of transport arrangements or any other factors that impact their safety or welfare

Information provided will remain confidential. Staff will be given relevant information only on a “need to know” basis in order to support the person.

We are, however, under a duty to share any information which is of a safeguarding nature, as noted in Keeping Children Safe in Education (2019) which states “The Data Protection Act 2018 and GDPR do not prevent the sharing of information for the purposes of keeping children safe. Fears about sharing information must not be allowed to stand in the way of the need to promote the welfare and protect the safety of children.” We understand that this duty applies to both children and adults at-risk, and that information sharing in this context is in the best interests of the at-risk person and overrides any other duties we have regarding confidentiality and information sharing. If we are working with another organisation, for example, Totnes Caring, to deliver classes for older people, some of whom would be vulnerable adults, we clarify in advance who is responsible for collecting this information.

 

We ensure that electronic records which relate to safeguarding work undertaken by us or our partners stored securely and only accessible to key members of staff.

Transport is a key area where we might need to think through how to protect vulnerable people. If we need to transport a vulnerable adult or child, a licenced taxi company is the most straightforward solution. The local authority licencing regime demands Enhanced DBS and other checks on all drivers before a licence is issued. An alternative is to use one of our drivers who are using a company vehicle, and who has a clear Enhanced DBS performed within the past year. When booking on people to activities that require transport, e.g. a glean on a remote farm, we will ask about their transport arrangements and record it.

Important contact information

Safeguarding lead at Food in Community: Chantelle Norton, telephone 07528 665712

Address: C/O Food in Community CIC, 3 Holly Villas, Ashprington. Totnes TQ9 7UU.

Deputy safeguarding lead at Food in Community: David Markson, telephone 07702 727009

Address: As above.

 

For under 18s:

Devon MASH on 0345 155 1071.  mashsecure@devon.gov.uk.

Torbay Safeguarding Hub on 01803 208100. mash@torbay.gov.uk

Out of normal working hours the Out of hours Duty Teams for the respective area should be contacted:

Devon – 0845 6000 388

Torbay – 0300 456 4876

For over 18s:

All reports of concerns or alerts should be reported to Devon Safeguarding Adults Services via Care Direct on 0845 155 1007(if the matter has already been reported to the Police then they can do this for you). You can also email: csc.caredirect@devon.gov.uk.

Care Direct is open to take calls between 8.00am to 8.00pm Monday to Friday and from 9.00am to 1.00pm on Saturdays. Out of normal working hours the Emergency Duty Team should be contacted on 0845 6000 388.

Torbay safeguarding adult services are on 01803 219700 or email Safeguarding Alerts. Out of hours contact number: 0300 456 4876

Responding to concerns about individuals

All volunteers and participants at Food in Community activities must be able to place their trust and confidence in any staff member. They must feel sure that they can speak about any worries or concerns they may have and that they will be listened to, taken seriously and responded to appropriately. All staff must therefore know what to do if someone chooses to talk to them about any matter which raises safeguarding concerns.

When listening to an allegation of abuse, staff must:

• Listen without interruption or judgement to what is being said
• Avoid using leading questions. Open questions and phrases should be used as much as possible; for example, ask ‘What did you see?’ and not ‘Did you see…?
• Wait to seek help until after the disclosure has been made
• Respect the person’s right to privacy but not promise confidentiality
• Reassure the person making the disclosure that he/she has done the right thing in sharing
• Explain to the person that in order to keep him/her safe from harm the information that has been shared must be passed on
• Report what has been disclosed to the DSL as soon as possible, or in their absence, the DDSL, or else the Head of Trustees. The Trustees must be made aware of any allegations of abuse.
• Record in writing, as soon as is practicable, but within 24 hours what was said using the person’s actual words. Records must be signed and dated.
• Remember that if there is a risk of immediate serious harm a referral can and should be made to social care immediately and that anybody can make a referral. If the student’s situation does not appear to be improving, the staff member with concerns should press for re-consideration.
• Food in Community will stay closely involved and will check with the appropriate authorities that the allegation is being appropriately investigated.

 

How to record allegations and incidents

All emails should be encrypted or information provided in a password protected attachment, with the password sent separately.

In making contact with Social Services or the Police, the caller must note that the issue is one of suspected abuse or a suspected crime against a child or adult at risk.

Written statements must be provided to Social Services or, if appropriate, the Police, including the details of allegations or incidents observed. These must be provided as soon as possible, preferably on the same day. Copies must be provided to the DSL immediately.

Safeguarding files will be held electronically in folders only accessible to the DSL and Deputy DSL, and clearly marked as Confidential.

Information from records will only be used on a ‘need to know’ basis.

Immediate risk or danger

If an individual is at immediate risk, or in situations where there is forensic evidence, then the police and, if appropriate, other emergency services must be contacted immediately. In such cases the emergency services should be called before informing the DSL.

Requests for assistance by other agencies

Information about a child or adult at risk must be shared with police and social services on a ‘need to know’ basis. When telephone requests for information are received, maintain security by checking the telephone number listing and calling back. Always advise the DSL of any request for assistance from other agencies.

Managing allegations of abuse against staff

Allegations or concerns about a member of staff, worker or volunteer must immediately be notified to the DSL. The Trustees must be informed if the concern is about the DSL and the same principles of safeguarding applied as detailed elsewhere in this document.

The DSL should contact the relevant Safeguarding Team within one working day to discuss the matter and plan how to proceed. See above for contact details.

A referral should be considered if there is a concern that a member of staff or a volunteer who works with children or adults at risk has:

• Behaved in a way that has harmed a child/adult at risk or may have harmed a child/adult at risk
• Possibly committed a criminal related offence against a child/adult at risk
• Behaved towards a child/adult at risk in a way that indicates that they are unsuitable to work with children/adults at risk.

Following discussions, the DSL, or Trustees if the matter relates to the DSL, will decide on appropriate action, which may include:

• Suspension of the staff member;
• If suspension is not agreed, but there is an ongoing investigation, then a risk assessment should be carried out and agreed by the DSL.

Confidentiality is essential and information about an allegation must be restricted to those who have a need to know.

Informing the subject of an allegation

The DSL should inform the accused person about the allegation as soon as possible, but only after consulting about whether this is appropriate at this stage and what information can be given to the person.

The subject of the allegations (whether suspended or not) shall be: 1) treated fairly and honestly and helped to understand the concerns expressed, processes involved and possible outcomes, 2) kept informed of the progress of the case and of the investigation, 3) clearly informed of the outcome of any investigation and the implications and 4) provided with appropriate support as appropriate.

If, following the conclusion of child protection/safeguarding processes, further enquiries are pursued, they should be arranged in a way that avoids the repeated interviewing of vulnerable witnesses.

Food in Community will refer to the DBS anyone who has harmed, or poses a risk of harm, to a child or adult at risk where:

• the harm test is satisfied in respect of that individual;
• the individual has received a caution or conviction for a relevant offence, or if there is reason to believe that the individual has committed a listed relevant offence; and
• the individual has been removed from working (paid or unpaid) in regulated activity, or would have been removed had they not left