Safeguarding Policy

ABOUT THIS POLICY

Carers’ Support East Kent is committed to providing a service where robust procedures are in place to safeguard the welfare of children, young people, and adults at risk of harm.

We will give equal priority to keeping all children, young people and adults safe regardless of their age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

This Policy is informed by our Strategic Plan and identifies the legal and contractual obligations held in respect to safeguarding by Carers’ Support East Kent, and the framework in place to ensure that safeguarding is a principle embedded within all aspects of our governance, service delivery and practice.

Safeguarding is everyone’s business and this policy forms the basis for creating a culture in which anyone connected with the charity can raise a concern.

WHAT IS SAFEGUARDING?

Safeguarding means protecting people’s health, well-being and human rights and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse, and neglect. It is a fundamental principle guiding all health and social care provision.

SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN: The welfare of a child is paramount, as enshrined in the Children Act 1989, and the reform of children’s services based on the legislative spine of the Children Act 2004. Safeguarding children and child protection legislation applies to all children and young people up to the age of 18.

Safeguarding children means: –

protecting children from abuse
preventing harm to children’s health or development
ensuring children grow up with the provision of safe and effective care
taking action to enable all children and young people to have the best outcomes

Awareness is also necessary in relation to how some children may be additionally at risk of harm because for example of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency or communication needs.

Within the context of services provided by Carers’ Support East Kent, safeguarding of children applies to any child with whom any employee, or volunteer may come into contact, directly or indirectly, in the course of their duties.

SAFEGUARDING ADULTS

Safeguarding adults means recognising the fundamental principle that all adults have a right to be able to live in safety, free from harm, abuse and neglect. (An adult is defined in law as anyone aged 18 years or over) All staff at Carers’ Support East Kent will ensure that the core principles of adult safeguarding are applied when working with adults in all settings with whom staff may have contact. These principles are as follows: empowerment, protection, prevention, proportionality, partnerships and accountability (Care Act 2014).

Adults may be harmed, taken advantage of, or exploited by someone who holds a position of power over them. Many adults rely on other people to help them in their day to day living. As such, this may place some adults in a position of being at risk of harm. It is recognised that abuse of adults may occur anywhere – in people’s own homes, in the community, in care homes, day centres, hospitals or other health and / or social care services.

As an organisation that works to support Carers, all staff must be mindful that Carers may experience intentional or unintentional harm from the person that they care for or other family members. Equally, they may intentionally or unintentionally harm the person they care for. Adult to adult abuse within the context of personal relationships may not always be easily recognised or understood as abuse. To safeguard adults, people and organisations must work together to prevent the risk of harm. It is important to make sure that people’s wellbeing is promoted, and at all times take into account individual views, wishes, feelings and beliefs.

PRACTICE GUIDANCE

A consensus on what constitutes abuse can be applied to both children and adults at risk of harm. In the context of safeguarding therefore, abuse may be defined as being within any, or all, of the following types of abuse:

Physical abuse
Sexual abuse
Psychological / Emotional abuse
Neglect or acts of omission (including self-neglect)
Domestic abuse
Financial or material abuse
Modern slavery
Discriminatory abuse
Organisational abuse
Exploitation (including cuckooing and County lines)

Abuse may occur as the result of deliberate intent, negligence, or ignorance.

Abuse may consist of a single act or omission, or repeated acts or omissions.

Abuse may consist of a single act, or repeated acts, and may be directed towards one child or adult, or to more than one child or adult. Abuse can occur in any relationship and any setting, and may result in significant harm to, or exploitation of, the child or adult subjected to it.

Committing an act of abuse may constitute a criminal offence.

The relevant legislative framework with specific regard to safeguarding includes the following:

Children Act 1989; and Children Act 2004
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1991
Human Rights Act 2010
Sexual Offences Act 2003
Care Act 2014
Mental Capacity Act 2005

In addition to the legislative framework for protection, safeguarding procedures and training, Carers’ Support East Kent will also promote awareness and understanding amongst its’ staff, Trustees, and volunteers of:

Sexual Exploitation. An increasingly high-profile issue in terms of raised awareness, there is clear evidence of the need for increased understanding of how children and adults may be sexually exploited.

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 consolidates UK legislation relating to slavery, human trafficking, forced labour, and domestic servitude. It is recognised as a global problem, with organised criminal groups who systematically exploit large numbers of individuals.

Extremism and Radicalisation. The Counterterrorism and Security Act 2015 places a statutory obligation on organisations with regard to ‘The Prevent Duty’. This places specific duties on schools and childcare providers to help them protect children from the risk of radicalisation. It should be understood as being within the context of wider safeguarding issues relating to the protection of children and adults at risk of harm.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) There is a mandatory duty for all regulated health and social care professionals, and teachers / teaching staff, to report any ‘known’ cases of FGM in under 18’s which they might identify in their work. (‘Known’ is defined as when a girl informs the person that an act of FGM – however described – has been carried out on her, or where the person observes physical signs on a girl appearing to show an act of FGM has been carried out.)

Forced Marriage. Forced marriage is when physical, emotional and or psychological pressure is brought to bear to make one person marry another. Forced marriage is illegal in England and Wales and this includes (i) taking someone overseas to force them to marry (whether or not the forced marriage takes place) (ii) marrying someone who lacks the mental capacity to consent to the marriage (whether they are pressured to or not).

Hate Crime. Hate crimes and incidents can be directed against a person, or property – and is motivated by the offender’s hatred of people who are perceived as different to themselves. An adult or child may be a victim because of their race, religion, disability, age, sexuality or gender.

Mate Crime. This occurs when someone ‘makes friends’ with someone and then abuses or exploits that relationship for criminal purposes. The founding intention of the relationship from the point of view of the perpetrator is likely criminal from the outset, and adults and children with learning disabilities are especially vulnerable to this type of exploitation.

Cuckooing. This occurs when a vulnerable individual is exploited in their home by groups or individuals so they can use the property for criminal purposes. This may range from using the premises to store, supply and cut drugs and other criminal behaviours. The term comes from the behaviour of cuckoo birds who take over the nests of other birds. Victims of cuckooing are usually targeted by individuals looking to exploit vulnerable people.

County lines. County lines is a type of criminal exploitation. Urban gangs persuade, coerce or force children and young people to store drugs and money and/or transport them to suburban areas, market towns and coastal towns.

MENTAL CAPACITY ACT 2005

The Mental Capacity Act (MCA) is designed to protect and empower people, 16 or over, who lack capacity. The primary purpose of the MCA is to promote and safeguard decision-making within a legal framework by empowering people (carers and those that are cared for) to make decisions for themselves wherever possible, and by protecting people who lack capacity by providing a flexible framework that places individuals at the heart of the decision-making process. Every adult is presumed to have the capacity to make their own decisions unless proven otherwise.

The Act’s five statutory principles are the benchmark and must underpin all acts carried out and decisions taken in relation to the Act. All staff, and volunteers must have a working knowledge and understanding of the Act, the Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice, and the amendments to the act including the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. (DOLs). Trustees must have awareness and understanding of the guiding principles of the act.

SAFEGUARDING – ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Carers’ Support East Kent will always ensure there is a named person responsible for safeguarding.

Recruitment. Carers’ Support East Kent has robust recruitment and selection processes to ensure that all legal and contractual checks and vetting procedures are made when recruiting staff, trustees and volunteers throughout the organisation (refer to Recruitment and Selection policy).

Maintaining Professional Boundaries. Carers’ Support East Kent will ensure all staff, trustees and volunteers have clear guidance in relation to maintaining professional boundaries. This is to ensure that everyone is working within clear agreed parameters in terms of providing safe care to the service users or others with whom they may come into contact. Codes of professional conduct exist to set out best practice.

Training, Supervision and Support. Carers’ Support East Kent will provide effective management for all staff, trustees and volunteers through supervision, support and training. Training on Safeguarding, Mental Capacity Act, and recognising and understanding forms of harm is recognised as essential for all staff, trustees and volunteers. This will be covered within the induction framework for new staff, volunteers and trustees, with training refreshed on a regular basis.

Working Together. Carers’ Support East Kent will ensure that any safeguarding concerns are shared appropriately with all agencies who have a need to know, in line with statutory guidance for the protection of children and adults at risk of harm and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Lead responsibility. Kent County Council (KCC) is the lead authority for safeguarding children and adults at risk in Kent.

KCC’s Specialist Children’s Services and Adult Care and Support Service conduct inquiries into allegations of abuse and neglect, determine if abuse has occurred, and take appropriate action to protect children or vulnerable adults.

KCC collaborates with other key agencies, such as the Kent and Medway Safeguarding Adults Board (KMSAB) and the Kent Safeguarding Children Multi-Agency Partnership (KSCMP), to promote the welfare and safety of children and adults at risk.

REPORTING SAFEGUARDING CONCERNS

Safeguarding concerns must be reported immediately, in accordance with the safeguarding reporting procedure, to the named safeguarding lead for that day (information included in daily brief), and to your line manager.

Details of how to contact the named Safeguarding lead will be made available to all staff and volunteers on a daily basis.

All staff, volunteers, and trustees must ensure their awareness of the role of the relevant statutory agencies for dealing with safeguarding.

Safeguarding concerns can be reported to Social Services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; information on how to do this is included in the Safeguarding Reporting Procedures.
Further information, contact details, and Kent and Medway Safeguarding Procedures can be found online at:
https://www.kent.gov.uk/social-care-and-health/information-for-social-care-professionals/adult-safeguarding-for-professionals and/or www.kent.gov.uk/education-and-children/protecting-children

If any member of staff, a trustee or a volunteer has reason to believe an adult or child is at immediate risk of serious harm/there is danger to life they must telephone emergency services – 999.

Managing concerns around persons in positions of trust (PiPoT) – If any member of staff, a Trustee or volunteer has a Safeguarding concern involving another member of staff, a Trustee or a volunteer at Carers’ Support East Kent, these concerns must be reported immediately to your line manager and in line with the safeguarding procedure.

Failure to report a concern of which one had knowledge of, or believed to be a safeguarding issue, is a serious neglect of our duty of care. As such, failure to report concerns or failure to follow identified procedures may result in disciplinary action being taken in accordance with Carers’ Support East Kent Disciplinary Procedure & Rules.

MANAGING REPORTED SAFEGUARDING CONCERNS

Once a safeguarding concern has been reported, the safeguarding lead will provide direction and identify any actions to be taken. A named worker will be designated for each safeguarding case and it is expected that this named worker be responsible and accountable for managing their own cases as directed by the safeguarding lead.

The Head of Services, Safeguarding Manager and Service Delivery Management team will ensure that safeguarding management procedures are adhered to, with current safeguarding cases discussed regularly within the management team to ensure effective case management.

All safeguarding concerns reported to the safeguarding lead will be recorded on the safeguarding log. The log is used to provide a current summary of cases. The Chief Executive Officer and the safeguarding lead for the Board of Trustees have access to the safeguarding log. It is expected that the Chief Executive Officer will be informed of any serious concerns that the safeguarding lead or management team may have re: safeguarding.

According to the nature of concerns raised, a safeguarding investigation may need to be undertaken. All staff, volunteers and trustees are required to cooperate fully with any investigation required, including complying with any requirements made by statutory agencies.

Safeguarding will be a regular agenda item/Board topic. This will be with reference to summarising of issues and concerns reported on the safeguarding log, identification of any patterns/trends or with reference to any action that the Board may need to take within the scope of safeguarding and/or charities commission reporting.

CONFIDENTIALITY

The need to report safeguarding concerns super-cedes the duty of confidentiality. All staff, trustees, volunteers, and stakeholders need to be aware that the right to confidentiality owed by the organisation to others cannot be upheld in cases where it is believed that harm to a child or adult may have occurred, be occurring, or is believed likely to occur.

In the event of any investigation taking place into possible safeguarding concerns, all staff, volunteers and trustees should be aware that the matter must not be discussed other than with those who hold responsibility for the managing of safeguarding.

SAFEGUARDING AND FUNDRAISING

We will ensure that:

We comply with the Code of Fundraising Practice, including fundraising that involves children.
Staff and volunteers are made aware of the Institute of Fundraising guidance on keeping fundraising safe and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) Guidance on vulnerable people and fundraising.
Our fundraising material is accessible, clear and ethical, including not placing any undue pressure on individuals to donate.
We do not either solicit nor accept donations from anyone whom we know or think may not be competent to make their own decisions.
We are sensitive to any particular need that a donor may have.

ONLINE SAFEGUARDING PROCEDURES

We will identify and manage online risks by ensuring:

Staff, Trustees and volunteers understand how to keep themselves safe online.
The online services we provide are suitable for our users.
The services we use and/or provide are safe and in line with our code of conduct.
We protect people’s personal data and follow the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) legislation.
We have permission to display any images on our website or social media accounts, including consent from an individual, parent, etc.
We clearly explain how people can report online concerns. Concerns may be reported using details outlined in Appendix 1 that accompanies this policy, or direct to a social media provider using their reporting process. If you are unsure, you can contact one of these organisations, who will help you.

AWARENESS OF THE SAFEGUARDING POLICY

All staff, trustees and volunteers must read this policy as part of their induction process.

This Policy must be read alongside the Safeguarding Reporting Procedure.
(Appendix 2 & 3) Managers must ensure that they are also familiar with the
Safeguarding Management Procedure.

This Policy must be read alongside the Whistleblowing policy.

This safeguarding policy will be reviewed and approved by the Board annually.

APPENDIX 1: ONLINE SAFETY GUIDANCE

The internet is an amazing resource which enables people to connect, communicate and access information and manage their lives in a variety of ways. However, it can also expose people to abuse and crime.

It is essential that children and adults at risk of harm are safeguarded from potentially harmful and inappropriate online material.

Through our work with Carers, concerns around online safety may be identified. This may occur via direct contact with Carers and the people they care for, through our own online use or via a third party.

It’s easy to feel anonymous online. It’s important to be aware that children and adults may be exposed to risk by their online activity, the information they share and the digital footprint they create on the internet. They may not be aware of who is able to view information they have shared.

The aim of this guidance is to provide:

awareness about online threats and risks
information about how to report a concern
resources that may be useful for employees, both in managing concerns about someone’s online safety and to support Carers and the people they care for to keep themselves safe online.

Protecting Children

Whilst all children should be protected, it is important to recognise that some groups of children, are potentially at greater risk of harm than others. The list below, is not exhaustive, but highlights some of those groups:

Children who need a social worker (Child in Need and Child Protection Plans)
Children missing from education or care
Elective Home Education (EHE)
Children requiring mental health support
Looked after children and previously looked after children
Care leavers
Children with special educational needs and disabilities or health issues
Children who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex or asexual. (LGBTQIA+)

People at greater risk online

We are all vulnerable at certain times of our lives, depending on our circumstances and life events.
When thinking of those more at risk than others, this could include a wide range of people e.g. those with physical disabilities or illnesses, care leavers, people with mental health difficulties, those with addictions, homeless people, those who are experiencing or have experienced Domestic Abuse, those in poverty, ex-offenders, ex-service personnel, minority groups, etc.

There may be a greater exposure to particular online risks for certain groups, e.g. a third of LGBTQIA+ people experience online hate crime; and for a number of reasons (including lack of staff awareness and lack of education), young people with learning disabilities are more susceptible than others to online grooming and sexual exploitation.

Online Safety Issues

The breadth of issues classified within online safety is considerable and ever evolving, but can be categorised into four areas of risk:

content: being exposed to illegal, inappropriate, or harmful content, for example: pornography, fake news, racism, misogyny, self-harm, suicide, anti-Semitism, radicalisation, and extremism.
contact: being subjected to harmful online interaction with other users; for example: peer to peer pressure, commercial advertising and adults posing as children or young adults with the intention to groom or exploit them for sexual, criminal, financial or other purposes.
conduct: online behaviour that increases the likelihood of, or causes, harm; for example, making, sending and receiving explicit images (e.g. consensual and non-consensual sharing of nudes and semi- nudesand/or pornography, sharing other explicit images and online bullying, and
commerce: risks such as online gambling, inappropriate advertising, phishing and or financial scams.

Reporting

If you are concerned about the online safety of a child or adult at risk of harm, follow Carers’ Support East Kent’s Safeguarding Procedures and you will receive guidance on how to manage your concerns, any external reporting needed and how to support those you are concerned about.

Information about reporting online safety concerns:

Grooming or other illegal behaviour: If you want to report someone who is behaving suspiciously online towards a child, you should in an emergency contact the emergency services by calling 999, or otherwise make a report to CEOP, the Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre https://www.ceop.police.uk/ceop-reporting/.

Criminal content online:

Child sexual abuse images. If you stumble across criminal content online, you should report this to the Internet Watch Foundation. Criminal content in the UK includes child sexual abuse images, criminally obscene adult content as well as non-photographic child sexual abuse images. https://www.iwf.org.uk/report/
Online terrorism. You can report terrorism related content to the police’s Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit. https://www.gov.uk/report-terrorism.
Hate speech. Online content which incites hatred on the grounds of race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or gender should be reported to True Vision. https://www.report-it.org.uk/

Social Media Content

The UK Safer internet centre provides information on how to report concerns to the most popular social media apps: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, WhatsApp and Twitter. https://saferinternet.org.uk/guide-and-resource/social-media-guides

Scams

People can feel embarrassed about reporting a scam – scammers are clever and scams can happen to anyone.

Reporting a scam helps track down and stop scammers. This prevents other people from being scammed.

Citizens advice provide guidance on reporting different types of scams including when to report to the police and protecting from further risks: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/scams/reporting-a-scam/

All scams should be reported to Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud. https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/reporting-fraud-and-cyber-crime

Phishing

If someone has received a suspicious or obviously malicious email these can be reported to the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG).

The best way to do this is to simply forward the suspected phishing email to reportphishing@apwg.org

National Cyber Security Centre Information on reporting Phishing: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/phishing-scams

Useful Resources:

POSH (Professionals Online Safety Helpline): The Professionals Online Safety Helpline supports professionals working with children and young people. They can offer guidance on all aspects of digital and online issues such as those which occur on social networking sites, cyberbullying, sexting, online gaming and child protection online. For help and support: 0844 381 4772 or email: helpline@saferinternet.org.uk

Saferinternet.org.uk https://saferinternet.org.uk/: The UK Safer Internet Centre (UKSIC), established in 2011, is a leading global partnership helping to make the internet a great and safe place for everyone.
We provide support and services to children and young people, adults facing online harms, and professionals working with children. A bridge between Government, industry, law enforcement and society, we are the engine of the online protection landscape in the UK, dealing with both prevention and response.

Internetmatters.org https://www.internetmatters.org/: At Internet Matters, parents and professionals can find the most comprehensive and credible resources, information and support to keep children safe online.

Get safe online https://www.getsafeonline.org/

Keeping Safe Online – an Easy Read Guide for people with learning disabilities: https://changepeople.org/images/003-keeping-safe-online—easy-read-guide-qr.pdf

How to stay safe online guidance for adults and young people with learning disabilities: https://www.anncrafttrust.org/how-to-stay-safe-online-guidance-for-adults-and-young-people-with-learning-disabilities/

Staying safe and secure at home (including online safety) for people living with dementia: https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-support/staying-independent/keeping-secure-home

Appendix 2: Safeguarding reporting procedure flowchart

Image: Appendix 2: Safeguarding reporting procedure flowchart.

Appendix 3: Safeguarding reporting procedure – retail

Image: Appendix 3: Safeguarding reporting procedure – retail