Child Safeguarding Policy

Policy Statement

Kids Inspire is committed to ensuring the safeguarding of all the children and young people with which we work; to this end, our approach is always child-centred and considerate of what is best for each young person.

We aim to achieve this by:

• Ensuring that the responsible adults are aware of the need for young people to be protected from harm and the risk of harm.

• Creating a non-abusive culture for all of those involved with Kids Inspire.

• Having knowledge of what to do if it is thought that a young person may be at risk of harm (See section 5. Procedures).

• Creating a secure, safe and healthy environment.

• Respecting the rights of young people.

• Where possible working in partnership with parents and carers.

• Understanding that young people should be listened to.

• Having a Designated Lead for child protection; Sue Bell OBE (CEO and Clinical Director) and five Deputy Designated Leads; Vicky Haylock (Chief Operating Officer), Penny Lavis (Deputy Clinical Director – Services), Sarah Norton (Deputy Clinical Director – Team), Louise College (Volunteer and Mentoring Project Manager) Christine Vincent (Clinical Administration Manager).

• Having a dedicated reporting email address for any concerns – safeguarding@kidsinspire.org.uk

• Respecting all of the young people regardless of their backgrounds.

• Endeavouring to ensure that the physical environment is safe.

• Providing proper and consistent supervision of the young people.

• Continuing to keep knowledge and awareness current.

• Endeavouring to ensure that the young people maintain age-appropriate awareness of personal safety.

• Understanding the need to be aware that parents, co-workers or trusted adults can and may abuse children, or put them at risk of harm.

• Developing and maintaining strategies to try and ensure that (child-on-child) bullying does not take place.

• Creating a culture of mutual self-respect between all of those involved with Kids Inspire.

• Advising all parents/carers that any abusive behaviour towards young people, staff and/or volunteers of Kids Inspire will not be tolerated.

• Making all parents/carers, staff and volunteers of Kids Inspire aware that it may be necessary to refer a child who is thought to be at risk of abuse to social services.

• Ensuring all volunteers and staff will receive training in child protection.

• Recognising Kids Inspire’s responsibilities in terms of the law, government guidance and procedures

• On an annual (or more frequent if necessary) basis reviewing Kids Inspire’s child protection policies and procedures.

• Acknowledging the reciprocal right of staff and volunteers not to be abused by the young people.

• Ensuring that internal policies and procedures correspond with their local, regional and national equivalents.

For a glossary of terms relating to this policy, please see Appendix* 1.

The Legal and Procedural Framework for Safeguarding Children

There is government guidance set out in Working Together (HMG, 2018) on how agencies must work in partnership to keep children safe. This guidance places a shared and equal duty on three Safeguarding Partners (the Local Authority, Police and Health) to work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children in their area under multi-agency safeguarding arrangements. 

In Essex, Southend, Thurrock and Suffolk the statutory partners are the Councils, the Police and the Clinical Commissioning Groups covering the county. In Southend, the arrangements sit under the Southend Safeguarding Partnership (SSP), in Essex under the Essex Safeguarding Children’s Board (ESCB) and in Thurrock under the Thurrock Local Safeguarding Children Partnership (TLSCP). In Suffolk under the Suffolk Safeguarding Partnership. In London, each borough has a Safeguarding Children Partnership.

In Essex, Southend and Thurrock all professionals must work in accordance with the SET Procedures (2022). In London, this is the London Safeguarding Children Procedures (2022).

From time to time, professionals may disagree on the course of action that is in the child’s best interest. Local escalation procedures will be applied in this instance to ensure that nothing is overlooked in getting the best outcome for the child.

See Appendix* 2 for a full list of documents that Kids Inspire works in accordance with.

Kids Inspire’s Accountabilities Framework

This policy applies to all trustees, staff, students and volunteers. Any allegation or concern about abuse must be responded to. Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everybody’s responsibility although our individual roles in the process may be different. Kids Inspire staff understand that in line with the Children Act, children who are at ‘significant risk of harm’ must be protected.

If a staff member has concerns about the attitudes and /or behaviours of a Kids Inspire colleague or volunteer, they have a duty to comply with Kids Inspire’s Whistle Blowing policy and procedures.

A referral will be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service if there are concerns that a person in the employ or volunteering with Kids, or who has been dismissed or left during a safeguarding or disciplinary investigation, has caused harm or poses a risk of harm to children or vulnerable groups.

It is the responsibility of managers to identify any differences between this policy and procedures and that of their Local Safeguarding Children Board (which will take precedence) and to ensure all staff, students and volunteers are fully aware and informed of them.

See Appendix 3* for the full Accountability Framework for Kids Inspire’s Team.

The Designated Safeguarding Lead for Kids Inspire is Sue Bell (CEO and Clinical Director).

The Deputy Designated Leads are Victoria Haylock (Chief Operating Officer), Penny Lavis (Deputy Clinical Director – Services), Sarah Norton (Deputy Clinical Director – Team), Louise College (Volunteer and Mentoring Project Manager) and Christine Vincent (Clinical Admin Supervisor). safeguarding@kidsinspire.org.uk  

Types of Abuse

Physical harm

Physical harm is defined as physical contact that results in discomfort, pain or injury. It may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating, or otherwise causing physical harm. Supplying drugs to children, or the use of inappropriate or unauthorised methods of restraint, also fall under this definition. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces or causes, illness in a child. This situation is commonly described as ‘factitious illness by proxy’ or ‘Munchausen syndrome by proxy’.

Emotional and psychological harm

Emotional harm is defined as action or inaction by others that causes mental anguish. It involves the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child, which causes 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. Such harm may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on a child. These can include interactions that are beyond the child’s development capability, as well as overprotection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child participating in normal social interaction. Emotional harm may also involve witnessing aggressive, violent or harmful behaviour towards another individual (e.g. domestic violence). It may also involve serious bullying, frequently causing a child to feel frightened or in danger, exploitation or corruption. Some level of emotional harm is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child (e.g. grooming, harassment, or inappropriate emotional involvement), though it may occur alone.

Sexual harm and exploitation

Sexual harm is defined as any form of sexual activity involving a child under the age of consent. It involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, including prostitution, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. Such activities may involve physical contact, including penetrative (e.g. rape, buggery or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts. They may also include non-contact activities, such as involving children in the looking at, or production of, pornographic material, causing them to watch sexual activities, or encouraging them to behave in sexually inappropriate ways. Downloading child pornography, taking indecent photographs of children, and sexualised texting, are all forms of sexual harm.

Neglect and acts of omission

Neglect is a persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, which is likely to result in 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 (including exclusion from home or abandonment)

• protect a child from physical and emotional harm or danger

• ensure adequate supervision and/or adequate care-givers

• ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment.

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

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a procedure where the female genitals are deliberately cut, injured or changed, without medical justification. It is also known as ‘female circumcision’ or ‘cutting’, and by other terms such as initiation, infibulation, sunna, gudniin, halalays, tahur, megrez and khitan. FGM is usually carried out on young girls between infancy and the age of 15, most commonly before puberty starts. It is very painful and can seriously harm the health of women and girls. It can also cause long-term problems with sex, childbirth and mental health. UK communities most at risk of FGM include Kenyan, Somalian, Sudanese, Sierra Leonean, Egyptian, Nigerian and Eritrean. Non-African countries that practise FGM include Yemen, Afghanistan, Kurdistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, Thailand (South) and Pakistan. FGM is a form of child abuse and is illegal in the UK. It is a mandatory duty for a regulated healthcare professional to report any concerns they have about a female under 18 years old, and to record when FGM is disclosed or identified as part of NHS healthcare. This is a personal duty: the individual professional who becomes aware of the case must make a report, and the responsibility cannot be transferred. The Home Office’s Multi-agency Statutory Guidance on Female Genital Mutilation offers comprehensive information on FGM; Mandatory Reporting of Female Genital Mutilation: procedural information gives guidance on when and how to report a case of FGM.

Fabricated Illnesses and Perplexing Presentations

A perplexing presentation is described as when the actual state of the child’s physical / mental health is not yet clear. A fabricated illness is a clinical situation where the child is likely to be harmed due to a parents’ behaviour or action carried out to convince the practitioner that the child’s physical or mental health is impaired. Where either of these are suspected, an onward referral would be made to statutory services, usually starting with the child’s GP.

Procedures

Kids Inspire works with key local partners to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm. This includes providing a co-ordinated offer when additional needs of children are identified and contributing to inter-agency plans which provide additional support (through a Child in Need or a Child Protection plan). These procedures also apply to Looked After Children. Contact details for the Social Worker assigned to each Looked After Child are clearly listed on their records.

All staff members have a duty to identify and respond to suspected / actual abuse or disclosures of abuse. Any member of staff, volunteer or visitor who receives a disclosure or allegation of abuse, or suspects that abuse may have occurred must report it immediately (within 24 hours) to the designated safeguarding team. An acknowledgement to Causes for Concern should be expected within 24 hours and if not received, this should be chased.

All action is taken in accordance with guidance from the local safeguarding body.

Any staff member or visitor must refer any concerns to the designated safeguarding team. Where there is risk of immediate harm, concerns will be referred by telephone to the relevant Children and Families Hub and/or the Police.

Less urgent concerns or requests for support will be sent to the Children and Families Hub via the Essex Effective Support portal or the MASH teams at Southend, Thurrock, Suffolk and the London Boroughs. Kids Inspire may also seek advice from Social Care or another appropriate agency about a concern, if unsure how to respond to it. Wherever possible, safeguarding concerns, or an intention to refer a child to Children’s Social Care, will be shared with parents or carers. However, not where it is felt that to do so could place a child at greater risk of harm or impede a criminal investigation. On occasions, it may be necessary to consult with the Children and Families Hub and/or the Police for advice on when to share information with parents/carers.

If a member of staff continues to have concerns about a child and feels the situation is not being addressed or does not appear to be improving, all staff understand they should press for re-consideration of the case with the designated safeguarding lead.

If, for any reason, the designated safeguarding lead (or deputy) is not available, this will not delay appropriate action being taken. Safeguarding contact details are provided at induction and regularly in team meetings to ensure that all staff members have unfettered access to safeguarding support, should it be required. Any individual may refer to Social Care where there is suspected or actual risk of harm to a child.

When working in schools or other settings, Kids Inspire therapists will adhere to the host’s child protection guidelines and report all concerns to the host’s Safeguarding Lead (in addition to KI’s safeguarding team). For Looked After Children, the assigned Social Worker is always informed of any reported concerns.

All practitioner’s email addresses contain the contact details of the out of hours Crisis Team for the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and it is made clear to parents and carers that Kids Inspire is not a 24-hour crisis service and that should their concerns escalate, they must contact CAMHS, their GP or attend A&E.

Kids Inspire is not an acute mental health service. If there is a concern about mental capacity of the client, this will be referred on to the relevant statutory service.

A summary of our procedure is listed below:

You have a concern

If session is taking place within a school, report concern to the school Designated Safeguarding Lead

If session is taking place at Head Office, it may be appropriate to speak with the parent when the session has ended

Complete a Kids Inspire cause for concern form

Submit cause for concern form to safeguarding@kidsinspire.org.uk

Wait for acknowledgement from KI Safeguarding Team

Wait for follow up questions or actions from KI Safeguarding Team

Take any requested actions and record this

Please see Appendix* 4 for additional guidance on reporting concerns.

Records and Information Sharing

Well-kept records are essential to good child protection practice. Kids Inspire is clear about the need to record any concern held about a child or children within our organisation and when these records should be shared with other agencies. Concerns about Looked After Children are always shared with the assigned Social Worker.

Where there are concerns about the safety of a child, the sharing of information in a timely and effective manner between organisations can reduce the risk of harm. Whilst the Data Protection Act 2018 places duties on organisations and individuals to process personal information fairly and lawfully, it is not a barrier to sharing information where the failure to do so would result in a child or vulnerable adult being placed at risk of harm. Similarly, human rights concerns, such as respecting the right to a private family life would not prevent sharing information where there are real safeguarding concerns. Fears about sharing information cannot be allowed to stand in the way of the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children at risk of abuse or neglect.

Any member of staff receiving a disclosure of abuse or noticing signs or indicators of abuse, will record it as soon as possible, noting what was said or seen, giving the date, time and location.  All records will be dated and signed and will include the action taken. This is then presented to the designated safeguarding team who will decide on appropriate action and record this accordingly. All Cause for Concern forms are sent to safeguarding@kidsinspire.org.uk

Any records related to child protection are kept on the young person’s file. All child protection records are stored securely and confidentially and will be retained for 7 years in-line with our Data Retention guidelines.

See Appendix* 5 for a copy of the Cause for Concern form.

Training

Kids Inspire is committed to training all staff, students and volunteers (including Trustees) as part of the induction process. In addition, they will be required to undertake either refresher training or more advanced training (as appropriate) bi-annually thereafter.

When new staff, trustees, volunteers or regular visitors join they are informed of the safeguarding arrangements in place, the name of the designated safeguarding lead (and deputy/deputies) and how to share concerns with them.

Internal safeguarding training is delivered at least annually and all team members are required to sign to acknowledge they have received this. Updates, resources and useful information is disseminated via email and weekly team meetings where appropriate.

The designated safeguarding lead (and deputies) undertake Level 3 child protection training at least every two years.

Every effort will be made to ensure that staff, students and volunteers recruited to work for Kids Inspire are suitable to do so. Those who are responsible for appointing staff will be trained in safer recruitment practices. All references will be robustly scrutinized, and other checks sought at the appropriate level. All staff, students and volunteers (including Trustees) will be required to undertake an Enhanced DBS check upon appointment. 

Equality and Diversity

This policy should be read in conjunction with the Kids Inspire Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy.

The fundamental principle of the policy is that no one should be discriminated against on the grounds of age, race, religion or belief, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, sex or disability (the protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010).

In addition, Kids inspire does not tolerate any discrimination on the basis of a person’s culture, cultural background or socio-economic background.

Whistleblowing

The charity has a whistleblowing policy in place, to encourage employees and others with serious concerns to come forward. There are internal routes to enable this communication, and externally via the relevant Local Authority.

Please also refer to the Kids Inspire Whistleblowing Policy.

Links to other Kids Inspire Policies

All staff involved with safeguarding and child protection work, need to bear in mind the other organisational policies which support their work and provide guidance organisational policies which support their work and provide guidance:

• Child Sexual Exploitation

• Domestic Abuse

• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

• Whistle blowing

• Confidentiality

• Safeguarding Adults at Risk

• Code of conduct

• Lone working

• Health and safety

• Complaints

• Internal communications strategy

• Touch

Please get in touch if any are not listed on our website.

Monitoring and Compliance

The Kids Inspire Board of Trustees are responsible for overall monitoring and review of this policy. A database of all reported concerns will be kept and used for monthly reporting to the Board.

Every Board meeting will include a minuted update on Safeguarding to ensure compliance with organisational policy and any cases requiring escalation will be (anonymously) recorded.

A representative from the Trustees will attend a working meeting of the Safeguarding Team once per quarter and feed back to the Board a review of practice.