Safeguarding Policy

Contents

 

Policy Statement

Care College acknowledges that some CYP and adults may be particularly vulnerable to abuse and harm. Care College is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children, young people, young and/or adults who may be vulnerable. This policy sets out clear guidance regarding the roles and responsibilities in respect of all those who are involved in the delivery of training and those who receive training by Care College.  

Policy Aims

The purpose and aims of this policy are to:
  • Clearly identify the responsibilities of all those involved in the delivery and/or receipt of training;
  • Provide best practice guidance to safeguard children, young people and adults who may present as at risk.
 

Policy Scope

The policy applies to:
  • All employees of the company who deliver and/or access training be this classroom based, online or during placement associated with any training or qualifications.
  • All students and/or learners who attend training delivered by Care College.
  • All those who undertake assessments in practice of learners.
  • This policy includes visiting trainers/assessors who access CYP’s or vulnerable adults within any training environment whilst employed to do so by Care College.
 

Policy Principles

  • That the welfare of CYP and vulnerable adults is central to the day-to-day operations of Care College.
  • That all CYP and vulnerable adults, regardless of age, gender, ability, culture, race, language, religion or sexual identity, have equal rights to be protected from harm or abuse.
  • That everyone delivering a training or assessment function is trained and current in their knowledge and skills to act on any concerns where there is risk of a CYP or vulnerable adult experiencing harm.
  • That all learners, trainers and/or assessors involved in CYP, or adult protection related concerns will receive appropriate support.
 

Safeguarding Practice

CYP Safeguarding Procedures

  • All CYP are at risk due to the nature of their age and dependency on others during their different phases of development.
  • There are 4 categories of abuse in CYP safeguarding in Jersey, Physical abuse, Emotional Abuse, Sexual Abuse and Neglect.
  • All employees, trainers, assessors and learners should be trained in CYP safeguarding in order to advise and/or recognize when there may be increased risk of potential or actual abuse occurring.
  • Jersey Safeguarding Board (JSB) procedures should be applied when raising any concerns regarding risk, potential or actual abuse of a CYP.
  • Employees, trainers, assessors and learners to be aware of and knowledgeable about the reasons why there may be barriers to effective safeguarding taking place.
  • No discussion or questioning should occur with anyone who may be suspected of being a perpetrator of harm or abuse of a CYP as this may compromise the safety of the CYP who should be paramount to any decision making or actions.
 

CYP Reporting of Concerns

  • Consent is not required for reporting concerns relating to CYP.
  • Learners should be directed to follow the policy of their employer.
  • During off-site CYP holistic assessment or training situations, Assessors and Trainers should follow Care College policy and direct Learners to follow their own employer policy. Both policies should reflect Jersey Safeguarding Board (JSB) procedures.
  • Where any concerns arise or support for decision making is required, reporting of concerns should be made to the Director of Care College as the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) who will make contact with the Children and Family’s Hub within the Government of Jersey.
  • If the CYP is at immediate risk of harm, the employee, trainer, assessor or learner has a duty to inform the police and then inform the DSL.
  • Contact details for the Children and Families Hub are:
Tel: 01534 519000 Email: childrenandfamilieshub@gov.je Out of hours Duty Office Tel: 612612 /442000 and ask for the Duty Social Worker  

Adult Safeguarding Procedures

  • An adult at risk refers to any adult aged 18 years or over who has care and support needs, is experiencing, or is at risk of abuse or neglect plus they are unable to protect themselves because of their care and support needs.
  • There are twelve categories of abuse in adult safeguarding: Physical, Emotional, Sexual, Financial, Neglect, Discriminatory, Institutional, Self-Neglect, Domestic, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Modern Slavery plus Mate and Hate Crime.
  • Where an adult has experienced actual harm or abuse, the employee, trainer, assessor or learner has a duty to obtain consent from the individual prior to informing the police followed by the Care College Director as the company DSL.
  • In some cases, an adult may not wish to have any concerns reported or decline any attempt for implementation of safeguarding proposals which is their right to do so under Capacity and Self-Determination (Jersey) Law 2018.
  • Employees, trainers, assessors or learners have a responsibility to inform the person at risk of their intention to report and of the consequences should they decline any further input or support relating to their safeguarding.
  • Where the person is deemed to not have capacity along with care and support needs, the concern may be escalated to the Care College DSL, Single Point of Referral (SPOR) or the Government of Jersey Police without their consent.
  • No discussion or questioning should occur with anyone who may be suspected of being a perpetrator of harm or abuse towards a vulnerable adult as this may compromise the safety of the person at risk or experienced abuse who should be paramount to any decision making or actions.
 

Adult Reporting of Concerns

  • During off-site adult holistic assessment or training situations, Assessors and Trainers should follow Care College policy and direct Learners to follow their own employer policy. Both policies should reflect Jersey Safeguarding Board (JSB) procedures.
  • Where any concerns arise or support for decision making is required, reporting of concerns should be made to the Director of Care College as the Designated Safeguarding Lead for support and advice.
  • The DSL will then make a decision to contact SPOR or the police where relevant to do so and to Jersey Care Commission as the regulator.
  • Contact details for the Single Point of Referral (SPOR) are:
Tel: 01534 444440 Email: spor@health.gov.je  
  • Contact details for the Jersey Care Commission are:
Tel: 01534 445801 Email: notifications@carecommission.je  

Roles and Responsibilities Under This Policy

 

All Employees/Learners

  • All employees are responsible for:
    • Being aware of and understanding this policy.
    • Ensuring they work within the remit of this policy.
    • Are responsible for their own actions and behaviour and should avoid any demonstration and form of attitude, behaviour which may lead to their motivation or intentions being questioned.
    • Work openly and transparently and/or take advice from the management of Care College with regards to any concerns that issue which are cause for concern.
    • Promptly report and record any concerns, incidents or decisions that have been made and the reasons for those decisions.
    • Be professional and consistent in approach regardless of any issues relating to protected characteristics of those who may be at risk of harm.
    • Ensure they are aware of current data protection and confidentiality policy and legislation relating to the need to share information which may otherwise result in disciplinary or criminal action being taken against them.
 

Managers/Trainers/Assessors

  • Are responsible for:
    • Ensuring any risk assessments that may be required are promptly completed and in detail.
    • Promptly reporting any concerns to the Care College Director or the Registered Manager of a care environment whichever may be relevant.
    • Ensuring colleagues and learners are working within policy, guidance and legislative parameters whilst undergoing training and/or assessment.
 

Directors

  • Are responsible for:
    • Ensuring the effective implementation, management, and review of this policy.
    • Ensuring capacity within company for staff to access appropriate and adequate training.
    • Ensuring the communication of the policy across the company.
    • Ensuring employee compliance with the policy.
    • Providing advice to Care College staff in their approach where any concerns or risk of abuse and/or harm to any CYP or adult may present.
    • Reporting incidents, restrictive practice or concerns promptly to the relevant statutory bodies.
 

Glossary of Terms

Term Meaning
Abuse and Neglect Forms of maltreatment. Somebody may abuse or neglect a CYP or adult by inflicting actual harm or by failing to act to prevent harm. CYP or adults may be abused in a family, an institutional or community setting by people who are known to them and CYP occasionally by strangers. CYP may be abused by an adult or adults or by other CYP’s.
Discriminatory Abuse Exists when values, beliefs, or culture result in a misuse of power that denies opportunity to some adult groups or individuals. It can be a feature of any form of abuse of an adult at risk, but can also be motivated because of age, gender, sexuality, disability, religion, class, culture, language, and ‘race’ or ethnic origin.
Domestic Abuse Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are, or have been, intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality such as: Physical, Emotional, Sexual, Financial, Honour Based Violence, Forced Marriage, Stalking and Harassment.
Emotional Abuse The persistent emotional maltreatment of a CYP which causes severe and persistent adverse effects on the CYP’s emotional development. It may involve conveying to CYP that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person. It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on CYP. These may include interactions that are beyond the CYP’s developmental capability, as well as overprotection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the CYP participating in normal social interaction. It may involve seeing or hearing the ill treatment of another. It may involve serious bullying causing CYP frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of CYP. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a CYP although it may occur alone. In adults, activity involves threats or harm of abandonment, deprivation of contact, humiliation, intimidation, harassment, isolation or withdrawal from services or supportive networks.
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) A collective term for procedures which include the removal of part or all of the external female genitalia for cultural or other non-therapeutic reasons. The practice is medically unnecessary, extremely painful and has serious health consequences. The procedure is typically performed on girls aged between 4 and 13, but in some cases, it is performed on young women before marriage or pregnancy. FGM usually happens to girls whose mothers/grandmothers or extended family have had FGM or if their father comes from a practising community.
Financial Abuse Financial abuse of an adult is the use of a vulnerable adult’s property, assets, income, funds or any other resources without their informed consent or authorisation including Theft, Fraud, Exploitation, Undue pressure in connection with wills, property or inheritance or financial transactions, Misuse or misappropriation of property, possessions or benefit, Misuse of a Power of Attorney or Curatorship.
Harm Ill-treatment or impairment of health and development, including, for example, impairment suffered from seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another; Development means physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development; Health includes physical and mental health; Ill-treatment includes sexual abuse and other forms of ill-treatment which are not physical.
Hate and Mate Crime Hate and mate crime involves acts of violence or hostility directed at a vulnerable adult because of who they are, or who someone thinks they are. Hate crimes happen because of prejudice or hostility based on a person’s disability, race, religion, sexual orientation or transgender identity. Mate crime is a form of crime in which a perpetrator befriends a vulnerable person with the intention of exploiting them financially, physically or sexually.
Institutional Abuse Institutional abuse is the mistreatment, abuse or neglect of an adult at risk by a regime or individuals within settings and services that adults at risk live in or use, that violate a person’s dignity, resulting in lack of respect for their human rights. Institutional abuse occurs when the routines, systems and regimes of an institution result in poor or inadequate standards of care and poor practice which affects the whole setting and denies, restricts or curtails the dignity, privacy, choice independence or fulfilment of adults at risk.
Modern Slavery Modern slavery refers to the offences of human trafficking, slavery, servitude, and forced or compulsory labour. Victims of modern slavery are exploited in a range of ways. Both adults and CYP can be trafficked for the purposes of exploitation, with sexual exploitation, labour exploitation or criminal exploitation being the most common types reported in the UK. Other types also exist, including domestic servitude and organ harvesting.
Neglect The persistent failure to meet a CYP’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the CYP’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 and clothing, shelter (including exclusion from home or abandonment), protect a child from physical and emotional harm or danger, ensure adequate supervision (including the use of inadequate caretakers), ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment. It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic emotional needs.
Physical Abuse May involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm to a CYP or adult. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of or deliberately induces illness in a CYP or adult.
Self-neglect The term “self-neglect” covers a wide range of behaviour neglecting to care for one’s personal hygiene, health or surroundings. Examples of self-neglect include: A refusal or inability to cater for basic needs, including personal hygiene and appropriate clothing; Neglecting to seek assistance for medical issues; Not attending to living conditions – letting rubbish accumulate in the garden, or dirt to accumulate in the house; Hoarding items or animals. The dilemma of managing the balance between the protection of adults at risk from self-neglect, our duty of care and an individual’s right to self-determination is a recognised challenge for all services.
Sexual Abuse Involves forcing or enticing a CYP to take part in sexual activities, including prostitution, whether the CYP is aware or not of what is happening. Activities may involve physical contact, including penetrative or non-penetrative acts. They may include non-contact activities, such as involving CYP in looking at, or in the production of, sexual online images, watching sexual activities, or encouraging CYP to behave in sexually inappropriate ways. For adults this may be indecent assault, indecent exposure or rape. This may be via coercion or threats of further abuse or assault by another person who may be known to them in a position of trust, power or authority.
Single Point of Referral (SPOR) Central email and telephone line where enquiries or concerns can be directed then allocated to the appropriate team based on the nature, urgency, severity and presenting risk.
 

Consultation Process

Action Person Responsible Planned Timeframe
Anne McConomy Director 30th July 2024
 

Implementation Plan

Action Person Responsible Planned Timeframe
PDF document to be stored in secure shared drive for Directors/Managers Governance Lead First working day following finalisation of policy document
Communication of new policy to all Care College staff Governance Lead Once uploaded to Care College staff accessible folder
Staff updates, training on new policy Care College Management Ongoing as required
 

Legislation


References and Useful Links

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