Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy

Aim

The purpose of this policy is to protect the children and young people, who receive emotional support from Forest Flourish, from harm, to respond to any allegations and/ or any concerns relating to the welfare of a child or young adult for whom Forest Flourish provides emotional support services to and to state the ongoing training Forest Flourish will undertake to ensure that safeguarding protocols are up-to-date and understood by all.

This policy will be reviewed and updated on an annual basis, or earlier if there is a change in safeguarding protocols.

Responsibilities

At Forest Flourish, I have a responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of my clients. This responsibility includes:

  • Ensuring I have a DBS check completed each year.

  • Ensuring that I undertake appropriate safeguarding training at least once every two years.

  • Ensuring I  keep up-to-date with any new information about Safeguarding and Child Protection and updating this policy accordingly to include any changes.

  • Reporting Safeguarding concerns correctly to the relevant bodies, following the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB) procedures. The LSCB for Gloucestershire is the Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children Partnership (GSCP) and their procedures can be found here: https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/gscp/gloucestershire-safeguarding-children-partnership-multi-agency-safeguarding-procedure-manual/.

  •  If I am working with a child or young person remotely online, who lives in a different county, in the event of a safeguarding concern I will notify the Local Authority Safeguarding Lead for the county they live in. 

DBS checks

As I work independently, I will use a third party to have my own Enhanced DBS check (including child barred lists) completed on an annual basis. This year, this has been completed by UCheck and a copy of my DBS certificate can be viewed on request. 

Definitions of Abuse

The 1989 Children Act recognises four categories of abuse:

Physical Abuse - actual or likely physical injury to a child, or failure to prevent physical injury. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of or deliberately induces illness in a child.

Sexual Abuse – involves forcing or enticing a child or young person 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. Sexual abuse also includes non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at or in the production of sexual images.

Emotional Abuse - severe or persistent emotional ill treatment or rejection likely to cause adverse affect on the emotional and behavioural development of a child. It may involve seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child, though it may occur alone.

Neglect- the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, or the failure to protect a child from exposure to any kind of danger, resulting in the significant impairment of a child’s health or development, including failure to thrive.

Other recognised categories of abuse:

Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) - The manipulation, coercion, or control of a child under 18 to undertake activities that constitute a criminal offence. This often involves grooming, violence, intimidation, and bribery by individuals or groups. 

Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) - A form of child sexual abuse where an individual or group takes advantage of a power imbalance to coerce, manipulate, or deceive a child under 18 into sexual activity.

Historical Abuse - There may be occasions when a child will disclose abuse (either sexual  physical, emotional or neglect) which occurred in the past. This information needs to be treated in exactly the same way as a disclosure of current child abuse. The reason for this is that the abuser may still represent a risk to children now.

Domestic Abuse - This includes coercive, controlling or threatening behaviour or abuse. Concerns need to be recorded and in some situations, it may be necessary to inform First Response.

Online Safety

Forest Flourish is committed to providing a safe and positive environment. For sessions that take place online, Forest Flourish will ensure that the background for the call is professional and neutral (or blurred).

Both I and the client will be dressed appropriately for the session and sessions should be run in communal areas of the client’s house rather than a bedroom.

Parents will be aware of, and comfortable with, the one-to-one, online nature of the session. For younger children, a parent, carer or other responsible adult, should be within sight or sound of the sessions.

Communication will only be through the designated communication methods for Forest Flourish. No connections will be made on personal social media accounts.

Online sessions will not be recorded unless explicitly agreed upon by Forest Flourish and the client’s parent or carer.

If there are any concerns about the client’s use of the internet or if the client makes a disclosure then this will be reported as follows:

Reporting Safeguarding Concerns

If a client tells me that they or another child is being abused, I will: 

  • Show that I have heard what they are saying, and that I take their allegations seriously.

  • Encourage the child to talk, without prompting them or asking them leading questions. I will not interrupt when a child is recalling significant events and will not make a child repeat their account. 

  • Reassure the child that they can tell me anything that is worrying them, but that I cannot promise not to tell anybody because some things have to be passed on in order to keep them safe.

  • Explain what actions I must take, in a way that is appropriate to the age and understanding of the child. 

  • Record what I have been told, as soon as I can, using exact words where possible. 

  • Make a note of the date, time, place and people who were present during the disclosure. 

  • I will contact the Safeguarding Lead for the relevant Local Authority. 

  • If I am concerned that the child is in immediate danger, I will call the police. 

If I have suspicions of a safeguarding or welfare concern in relation to one of my clients, I will:

  • Contact the Safeguarding Lead for the relevant Local Authority. 

  • If I am concerned that the child is in immediate danger, I will call the police.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality is crucial to all our relationships, but the welfare of the child is paramount. The law does not allow anyone to keep concerns relating to abuse to themselves. Therefore, confidentiality may not be maintained if the withholding of information will prejudice the welfare of the child.

While it is unlikely that any paper documentation will be held, any paper documentation that has been collected on any child will be kept locked and secure and access will be limited to me and relevant agencies. Most information collected in order to work with the child/young person, will be stored digitally and password protected. Please see Confidentiality, Privacy and Data Retention Policy for further information relating to this.

In the event of an investigation it is essential that no information on child protection concerns relating to a child are disclosed inappropriately. Any such leaks could have serious consequences for both the child concerned and any investigation.

Whilst parents / carers have the right to see any records kept on their child, this might not always be appropriate and should not put the child at risk. 

Useful Contact Details

The following contact details would be used in relation to clients living in Gloucestershire or Herefordshire.  In the event of a concern for a client I am working with online, I would contact the appropriate Safeguarding Lead for the county they live in. 

GLOUCESTERSHIRE

HEREFORDSHIRE

  • Multi-agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) – (01432) 260800, email: ReferralsCYPD@herefordshire.gov.uk.

  • Emergency Duty Team (Out of Hours): (01905) 768020.

  • Herefordshire Constabulary Non Emergency Telephone Number: 101. Or Emergency Police contact 999. 

Training

I will undertake relevant training annually to ensure that I am up to date with current guidance. My most recent certificates can be provided on request.