Percy Hedley Foundation

Percy Hedley Foundation

Residential Services

HouseH

Bradbury View

Child Protection Policy

Context

Ensuring the safety and welfare of children / young people at Bradbury View is a primary concern and central to achieving positive outcomes for children / young people. Each child / young person will be treated as an individual and their rights and preferences respected. It is the job of all staff and managers to ensure that children / young people are protected from harm and are able to make choices to keep themselves safe. This document outlines the practice that is followed in Bradbury View to ensure transparent and supportive working that reduces the likelihood of harm to children / young people, as well as procedures to be followed and responding to any allegation or concern in relation to a child / young person. All Bradbury View staff have read this guidance and follow it at all times to protect our young people, to support each other and to provide the best possible care within the home.

This Safeguarding policy and guidance is specific to Bradbury View and should be used in conjunction with the LSCB Safeguarding guidance in general (specifically - Sections B, C, F & D), the National Minimum Standards (2011) & Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015, and Working Together to Safeguard Children (2015), Keeping Children Safe in Education 2015, as well as the Percy Hedley Foundation Policies & Procedures, all of which are available on the home.

The document is divided into two main sections:

Section 1. Guidance and procedures

-provides guidance on the procedures to follow when any concern about the safety or welfare of a child / young person is raised

-includes quick reference flowcharts for steps to be taken

Section 2. Safeguarding children / young people at Bradbury View

-outlines measures used to minimize risks and to protect children / young people from the risk of harm

-links to The Percy Hedley Foundation Policies and Procedures which all staff should use to support and guide their work with children / young people

-emphasizes specific responses to concerns over CSE (Child Sexual Exploitation)

Barbara Bolam

Head of Residential Services

June 2015

Terms of reference within this policy:

Registered person – replaces the term registered manager or unit manager

LADO – Local Authority Designated Officer (responsible for overseeing allegations against a member of the Children’s Workforce, including those working in a voluntary capacity)

Designated person – representative of the LADO who receives and investigates allegations of harm

(Usually a senior manager)

Standard # - refers to the Standard or Standard section from the National Minimum Standards for Children’s Homes, 2011

Reg # - refers to the Regulations set out under that section in the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations, 2015

Child / Young person – any individual resident within Bradbury View

Contents

Section 1. Guidance & Procedures

Procedures & Guidance

All people working within Bradbury View are entrusted with the welfare of the children / young people who live here. It is our responsibility to promote the safety and welfare of the children / young people and to ensure that any allegations or suspicions of harm, or potential harm, are responded to quickly and appropriately, with the welfare of the child / young person as the primary focus. Individuals should be confident and professional in taking concerns forward, and always choose to actdecisively – it is better to be sure. Having effective and clear systems for safeguarding children / young people is essential to their welfare (Munro Review, 2011).

The immediate safety of children / young people should always be addressed and staff will be fully supported in following the guidance outlined in this policy.

Failure to comply with this policy and guidance could result in disciplinary action.

The following pages provide details of who to contact if concerns arise and flowcharts showing steps to be taken when:

-a concern, allegation or suspicion of abuse is identified concerning members of the children’s workforce (referred to the LADO)

-there is a safeguarding concern, suspicion or allegation of potential harm or abuse concerning a child / young person (referred to the young person’s social worker and social work team manager.

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These procedures should be read in conjunction with NTC LSCB Safeguarding Procedures (2014) and NTC LSCB Child Sexual Exploitation Protocol (September 2014) - available within the home.

Contact Information

Use these contact details if you have concerns for the welfare or safety of a young person within Bradbury View;the important thing is that you contact someone as soon as practically possible

TheRegistered Manager/A senior designated officer within the Percy Hedley Foundation

The Home Manager is usually the first contact when a member of staff has concerns:

Beyond office hours contact numbers can be found in the Staff Telephone Directory within the home.

a)Where neither person is contactable, it is acceptable to contact another registered person

b)If it is impossible or inappropriate to contact any of these people, contact:

*In Angela Glenn’s absence:

• Issues for the LADO – contact Sue Burns (LSCB Manager) 0191 6437391

c)You can also contact The Front Door 0345 2000109

d)Out of normal working hours you can contact the Emergency Duty Team (EDT) who will inform the Duty senior of the concern:

Out of Hours (OOH) service: 0191 2006800

Other possible contacts:

The police

0191 2146555 or 999 if it is an emergency

An officer of HMCI (Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector – responsible for Ofsted)

0300 123 3155 (Ofsted’s whistle-blowing hotline: Mon-Fri 8.00a.m. – 6.00p.m.)

An officer of the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children)

0808 800 5000

Text: 88858

N.B. If at any time you are dissatisfied with the response given by an agency or individual, please seek confirmation that your concerns are being addressed and contact others for help if necessary

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Percy Hedley Foundation

Residential Services

HouseH

Flowchart 1. Responding to allegations or suspicions of harm involving a member of the children’s workforce (including volunteers)

1. Complete the Safeguarding (Child Concern) Log, including the date time and nature of concern raised, the circumstances in which it became known/suspected, and the names of the individuals involved as well as what action is taken to pursue the allegation
2. The wishes and safety of the young person should always be considered; young people should always have a choice in who they wish to speak to and be advised about timescales involvedthis would need to be based at the child/young person’s level of ability / understanding.
3. In all instances the LADO must be informed immediately and will advise on police involvement. Out of hours, EDT should be informed and they will contact the LADO, or provide advice via a senior manager

Flowchart 2. Responding to allegations or suspicions of harm or safeguarding concerns regarding a Young Person

1. Complete the Safeguarding Log, including the date time and nature of concern raised, the circumstances in which it became known/suspected, and the names of the individuals involved as well as what action is taken to pursue the allegation
2. The wishes and safety of the young person should always be considered; young people should always have a choice in who they wish to speak to and be advised about timescales involved.
3. Bradbury View will cooperate fully with any safeguarding procedures or investigation initiated and respond to developments to ensure the continued safety of the young person

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Percy Hedley Foundation

Residential Services

HouseH

Contents

Section 2. Minimising risks

Significant Harm

The Children Act (1989) introduced the concept of significant harm as the threshold that justifies compulsory intervention into family life in the best interests of the child, and brought a duty for local authorities to make enquiries to decide whether action is necessary to safeguard or promote the welfare of a child (or young person) who is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm.

Significant harm is any physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, or accident caused by negligence. Here harm is ill treatment or impairment of health and development. This was later amended to include harm caused by seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another.

Categories of Abuse

Working Together 2015 defines abuse as;

A form of maltreatment of a child. 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 institutional or community setting by those known to them or, more rarely, by others (e.g. via the internet). They may be abused by an adult or adults, or another child or children.

A child can be abused by parents, wider family members, and an adult know to them (such as a family friend or teacher or care worker), a stranger, a staff member or another child. There are four forms of abuse, including neglect, which are defined briefly below. They can occur in isolation or in a combination with other categories.

Physical Abuse

Definition:

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 or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness in a child. Signs of physical abuse may include:

• Unexpected bruising, marks or injuries on any part of the body.
• Bruising which reflect hand marks or fingertips ( from slapping or pinching)
• Cigarette burns.
• Bite marks.
• Two bruised eyes.
• Scalds.
• Explanation inconsistent with injury.
• Unexplained fractures.

Emotional Abuse

Definition:

The persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development.

It may involve conveying to a child that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person. It may include not giving the child opportunities to express their views, deliberately silencing them or ‘making fun’ of what they say or how they communicate.

It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children. These may include interactions that are beyond a child’s developmental capability, as well as over protection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child participating in normal social interaction.

It may involve seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another. It may involve serious bullying (including cyber bullying), causing children frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child, though it may occur alone.

Signs of possible emotional abuse might include:

• Withdrawn/aggressive or bizarre behaviour
• Developmental delay.
• Being unable to play.
• Self-harm.
• Wetting / soiling.
• Difficulty informing relationships
• Attention seeking behaviour.

Sexual Abuse

Definition:

Involves forcing or enticing a child or child to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening.

The activities may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration (for example, rape or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching outside of clothing.

They may also non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, or grooming a child in preparation for abuse (including via the internet). Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males. Women can also commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children.

Signs of possible sexual abuse might include:

• Soreness or injury to genitals
• Eating disorder (bulimia/anorexia)
• Acting in a sexually explicit way towards adults
• Sexually transmitted diseases.
• Sleep disturbance, bed wetting, soiling.
• Self-mutilation, suicide attempts, drugs and alcohol.
• Anal/vaginal warts.
• Having nightmares.
• Fear of one person, or persons.
• Pregnancy

Neglect

Definition:

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. Neglect may occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal substance abuse. Once a child is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to:

• Provide adequate food, clothing and shelter (exclusion from home or abandonment);
• Protect a child from physical and emotional harm or danger;
• Ensure adequate supervision (including the use of inadequate care-givers); or
• Ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment.

It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic emotional needs.

Signs of possible neglect might include:

• Appearance of not being cared for e.g. dirty, smelly, unkempt,
• Loss of weight, or being constantly underweight.
• Developmental delay, particularly speech delay.
• Child thrives away from home.
• Inappropriately dressed.
• Not attending doctors or hospital appointments
• Being left alone or unsupervised.

The sustained abuse or neglect of children physically, emotionally or sexually can have major long-term effects on all aspects of a child’s health, development and wellbeing.

Therefore professionals, including those at Bradbury View, have a duty of care to act when a child is suffering from, or thought likely to suffer from, significant harm. This duty relates to causing investigations to be made into the welfare of the child.

The LSCB ( explains that significant harm sometimes relates to one acute episode but is more often an accumulation of events which interrupt, damage or change the child’s development. In deciding whether the harm suffered or suspected is significant, comparison of the child’s health and development is made with that which could reasonably be expected of a similar child.

Staff responsibilities and practice

(Duty of care, accountability & whistle-blowing)

Children / Young people who are in residence or in receipt of Short Breaks may have been or may become vulnerable to harm for a variety of factors. All people who work at Bradbury View are responsible for the welfare of the children / young people there, and have a duty of care to raise concerns when they consider a child / young person to be suffering from significant harm or likely to suffer from significant harm. Concerns should always be raised – remember that the duty is to cause investigation to be made so that people entrusted with that role can decide whether a child / young person is at risk of significant harm. Any incident which is apparently resolved through police intervention will also be raised through these procedures so that the child / young person’s welfare is ensured, as indicated by Working Together to Safeguard Children (2015).

It is always best to err on the side of caution – if you are unsure about something, you must discuss it.

This policy outlines a minimum standard of what is expected to keep our children / young people safe and staff and managers are responsible for ensuring that this is followed at all times. All staff are expected to be familiar with procedures and paperwork and to fully engage with training requirements, raising questions for their own development when they feel they could benefit from further discussion. Rather than feel unsure, all staff have a responsibility to understand the policies and practices and to ask for further support from management in supervision if they wish. The recent Munro review (2011) emphasises the importance of forming positive relationships with children / young people. It is expected that staff make every effort to form positive, trusting relationships with children / young people, actively promote their welfare and raise any concerns that a child /young person may be at risk of harm.This will encourage assurance that responses to a child / young person are sensitive to needs arising from race, culture, religion or linguistic background, and gender. Staff should be familiar with each child / young person’s care plan, their personalised risk assessments and any ensuing risk assessment so that they can respond appropriately to each individual.

It is essential to operate effective multi-agency partnerships to ensure safeguarding is a shared responsibility, to protect the safety of children / young people and to ensure swift response to concerns as well as ensuring that children / young people are aware of their rights and supports that are available to them beyond the home. Furthermore, it is essential that children / young people know how to raise concerns or make complaints and are always supported in doing so, as well as having channels through which they can seek help confidentially.