Safeguarding of Vulnerable Adults and Children Policy

Policy prepared by:	Aimee Crane
Approved by board / management on:	29.09.2022
Policy became operational:	29.09.2022
Next Review date:	29.09.2023
Signed:	A.Crane
Designation:	Aimee Crane, Operations Director
Last Review Date:	04.03.2025
Version:	1.2

Purpose of Policy 

To set out the duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and how this will be implemented by Think Therapy 1st employees and associates in the discharge of their duties. This is a joint policy as there are similarities in many of the actions needed to safeguard children and young people and to safeguard vulnerable adults. However, Think Therapy 1st recognises that there are also some distinct differences between these groups, and these are reflected in this document.

Policy Statement 

To develop procedures and good practice within Think Therapy 1st to ensure that everyone can demonstrate that there is an understanding of the duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults. To provide evidence of how this is being implemented within our organisation and within multi-agency working arrangements.

 

Introduction 

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and all staff and associates who, during their work have direct or indirect contact with children and vulnerable adults, or who have access to information about them, have a responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and vulnerable adults.

 

Whilst Think Therapy 1st are not a statutory organisation there is a duty on organisations to make appropriate arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and vulnerable adults. Also, government guidance makes it clear that it is a shared responsibility and depends upon effective joint working between agencies and professionals that have different roles and expertise.

Safeguarding Children and Young People 

 

Definition 

A child is “anyone who has not yet reached their 18th birthday”. ‘Children’ therefore means ‘children and young people’ throughout. The fact that a child has reached 16 years of age, is living independently or is in further education, is a member of the armed forces, is in hospital or in custody in the secure estate for children and young people, does not change his or her status or entitlement to services or protection under the Children Act 1989. (See Children’s Act 2004)

 

Safeguarding children: Safeguarding children is defined in Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018 as:

• Protecting children from maltreatment
• Preventing impairment of children’s health or development
• Ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
• Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes
  

 

In addition to the areas in common with vulnerable adults listed below, children and young adults are vulnerable to the following areas and which staff and associates need to be aware of report is concerned:

• Bullying and cyberbullying
• Child sexual exploitation
• Child Criminal exploitation
• Child trafficking
• Domestic abuse
• Female genital mutilation
• Grooming
• Historical abuse
• Online abuse

 

Legislative background 

Think Therapy 1st’s role in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is defined in Chapter 3 of the statutory guidance to the Children Act 2004, ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’, (HM Government, July 2018). We recognise that, under the Children Act 2004, Think Therapy 1st has a statutory duty to make arrangements to ensure all its functions are discharged having regard to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. This includes all services directly provided and third-party providers instructed by us.

Under section 17 of the Childrens Act 1989 local authorities have a duty towards children with disabilities and identified as a Child in Need. As part of our role with children and young adults who may have sustained catastrophic injuries resulting in disabilities associates are expected to be mindful of and report any increased risks and to attend relevant meetings for collaborative partnership with statutory services for safeguarding for this client group.

Think Therapy 1st subscribes to the ‘Statutory Guidance on making arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children under Section 11 of the Children Act 2004’ in underpinning “work with individual children and their families” and the “monitoring and inspection of arrangements to safeguard and promote welfare”.

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in England. A summary of the key legislation is available from nspcc.org.uk/learning

 

Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults 

Definition

A vulnerable adult is a person “who is or may be in need of community care services by reason of mental or other disability, age or illness, and who is or may be unable to take care of him or herself, or unable to protect him or herself against significant harm or exploitation.”

• Everyone has the right to live his or her life free from violence, fear and abuse
• Everyone has the right to be protected from harm and exploitation
• Everyone has the right to independence, which carries with it a degree of risk
  

 

Staff and Associates will be able to recognise abuse. The main forms of abuse are divided into the following categories:

• Physical abuse – including hitting, slapping, pushing, kicking, misuse of medication, restraint, inappropriate sanctions
• Sexual abuse – including rape, sexual assault, sexual acts to which a person has not consented, could not consent or was pressurised into consenting
• Psychological abuse – including emotional abuse, threats of harm or abandonment, deprivation of contact, humiliation, blaming, controlling, intimidation, coercion, harassment, verbal abuse, isolation, withdrawal from services or supportive networks
• Financial or material abuse – including theft, fraud, exploitation, pressure in connection with wills, property or inheritance or financial transactions, or the misuse or misappropriation of property, possessions or benefits
• Neglect and acts of omission – including ignoring medical or physical care needs, failure to provide access to appropriate health, social care or educational services, the withholding of the necessities of life such as medication, adequate nutrition, and heating
• Modern Slavery-encompasses slavery, human trafficking, forced labour and domestic servitude. Discriminatory abuse – including racist, sexist, that based on a person’s disability and other forms of harassment, slurs or similar treatment
• Institutional/organisational abuse, neglect and poor professional practice. This may take the form of isolated incidents of poor or unsatisfactory professional practice at one end of the spectrum, through to pervasive ill treatment or gross misconduct at the other

 

Legislative background 

In 2000 the Department of Health and the Home Office published the document ‘No Secrets: guidance on developing and implementing multiagency policy and procedures to protect vulnerable adults from abuse’. In 2005, the document ‘Safeguarding Adults’ was published by the Association of Directors of Social Services to give a national framework of standards for good practice and outcomes in adult protection work. The publication’s aim has been to serve as a toolkit for organisations providing health and care services for adults to develop evidence-based good practice framework to ensure the safety of vulnerable adults.

The No Secrets Review published in 2009 identified four key messages from consultation with stakeholders:

 

• Safeguarding requires empowerment/the ‘victim’s’ voice needs to be heard
• Empowerment is everybody’s business, but safeguarding decisions are not
• Safeguarding Adults is not like Child Protection
• The participation/representation of people who lack capacity is also important (DoH, 2009)

The Care Act 2014 sets out a clear legal framework for how local authorities and other parts of the system should protect adults at risk of abuse or neglect.

 

Policy Objectives

Our main policy objective is to ensure that we will, with our partner agencies, promote safeguarding as the moral norm so that it becomes everybody’s business. By everybody’s business we mean that staff and managers in all organisations working with children and families, including vulnerable adults, understand their safeguarding responsibilities and their active role in working together to safeguard children and vulnerable adults from harm.

 

For this policy to be effective it is essential that each agency and person working in that agency has an applied understanding of what safeguarding means, knows that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, knows the signs and symptoms of potential harm, how to access safeguarding information, advice and guidance, and is committed to making an informed contribution to safeguard children, young people and vulnerable adults.

 

Safeguarding Children and Young People 

The following principles will underpin all of our work with children and young people. Our approach will be:

• Child centred – seeing and listening to children and young people
• Rooted in understanding child development
• Support the achievement of best possible outcomes for children
• Holistic in approach – seeing the whole of the child and not just aspects of their lives
• Understand diversity, the impact of discrimination and how to ensure equality of opportunity
• Respect for the views of parents/carers and actively involve them in assessment and care planning
• Identify and build on strengths and protective factors, as well as identifying and addressing difficulties and risks
• Work collaboratively between agencies, sharing information as appropriate
• Provide support as a continuing process not for brief periods in relation to particular events
• Monitor and review the impact of intervention on a child’s welfare and overall developmental

progress

• Achieve good standards in safeguarding practice consistently and be informed by evidence

 

Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults

The following principles will underpin all of our work with vulnerable adults

• Everyone has the right to live his or her life free from violence, fear and abuse
• Everyone has the right to be protected from harm and exploitation
• Everyone has the right to independence, which carries with it a degree of risk
  

Equality and Diversity 

Equality is based on the idea of fairness whilst recognising that everyone is different, and diversity is about the ways in which people differ and about recognising that differences are a natural part of society. Think Therapy 1st expects that all staff and Associates who come into contact with children, young people and vulnerable adults treat them as individuals and make them feel respected and valued as an essential part of our commitment to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults.

Responsibilities for Safeguarding

The Senior Managers at Think Therapy 1st are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This means that they do this by:

• Ensuring the highest standards of safe recruitment, supervision and management oversight of all work completed by the organisation
• Ensuring that children, young people and vulnerable adults are seen and listened to and that their views are taken fully into account when making decisions
• Taking appropriate action regarding any concerns expressed about the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults commensurate with their rights to privacy and wherever possible on the basis of informed consent
• All members of staff and volunteers who are employed by or on behalf of Think Therapy 1st and Associates, and who have contact with children, young people, vulnerable adults and their families or carers, will have a clear understanding of our responsibilities for safeguarding and how to report concerns
• Regularly refreshing our policies and procedures about safeguarding in light of lessons from research and serious case reviews and maintaining an action plan for continuous improvement
• Promoting the highest standards of safeguarding practice across the organisation, including robust standards for safe recruitment and ongoing checks
• Record safeguarding training and Disclosure and Barring Service checks for employees and associates
• Carry out regular quality assurance audits of work completed by Associates
  

Staff Awareness

Think Therapy 1st considers that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. In particular we will ensure that all staff or Associates in contact with children, young people or vulnerable adults or who have access to sensitive information about children, young people or vulnerable adults, know what to do and how best to share information in order to ensure that children, young people, vulnerable adults and their families or carers receive necessary services – especially when they are concerned that a child, young person or vulnerable adult may be suffering or at risk of suffering harm – and that all staff have access to support via the safeguarding leads. This means:

• That all staff employed by or contracted by Think Therapy 1st who have access to children, young people, vulnerable adults and their families or carers, and those who have access to sensitive information, understand their responsibilities and that they know of the appropriate procedures and personnel in place, and of their role in responding to concerns about children, young people, vulnerable adults and other safeguarding matters. Additionally, line management and/or supervision is in place to appropriately support staff.

Safe Employment 

Robust procedures are in place to ensure that staff who have access to children, young people and vulnerable adults or access to sensitive information about children, young people and vulnerable adults are employed safely. This means:

• There is a culture throughout the organisation that enables safeguarding issues to be addressed
• Recruitment and vetting procedures prevent unsuitable people from having contact with children, young people and vulnerable adults
• Staff/Associates who work or have contact with children, young people, vulnerable adults and their families or carers have appropriate safeguarding and safe working practices awareness training, including induction, consistent with their role and function.
• All SROT’s will have minimum Level 3 safeguarding adults and children training. Safeguarding leads have a Level 4 in Safeguarding.
• In house staff will undergo training appropriate to their job role and responsibilities on at least 3 yearly basis
• Associates must provide evidence of completion of satisfactory safeguarding training within the last three years
• Allegations or concerns about staff relating to children or young people are handled effectively and in accordance with ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’,) 6.24, Appendix 5 (DCSF2006)

Recording and Record Keeping:

A written record must be kept about any concern regarding an adult or child with safeguarding needs. This must include details of the person involved, the nature of the concern and the actions taken, decision made and why they were made.

All records must be signed and dated. All records must be securely and confidentially stored in line with General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).

Where there is a safeguarding concern, the case will be reviewed within the focused case review on a monthly basis.

When closing a TT1st case for which there have been or are currently safeguarding concerns the SROT will be responsible for informing relevant parties including social services that we are no longer involved as part of the closure of case process.

 

Radicalisation and Acts of Terrorism

Prevent is 1 of the 4 elements of CONTEST, the government’s counter-terrorism strategy. It aims to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.

The Prevent strategy:

• Responds to the ideological challenge we face from terrorism and aspects of extremism, and the threat we face from those who promote these views
• Provides practical help to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and ensure they are given appropriate advice and support
• Works with a wide range of sectors (including education, criminal justice, faith, charities, online and health) where there are risks of radicalisation that we need to deal with

The strategy covers all forms of terrorism, including far right extremism and some aspects of non- violent extremism.

The Home Office works with local authorities, a wide range of government departments, and community organisations to deliver the Prevent strategy. The police also play a significant role in Prevent, in much the same way as they do when taking a preventative approach to other crimes. The Home Offices uses a range of measures to challenge extremism in the UK, including:

 

• Where necessary, preventing apologists for terrorism and extremism from travelling to this country
• Giving guidance to local authorities and institutions to understand the threat from extremism and the statutory powers available to them to challenge extremist speakers
• Funding a specialist police unit which works to remove online content that breaches terrorist legislation
• Supporting community-based campaigns and activity which can effectively rebut terrorist and extremist propaganda and offer alternative views to our most vulnerable target audiences – in this context they work with a range of civil society organisations
• Supporting people who are at risk of being drawn into terrorist activity through the Channel process, which involves several agencies working together to give individuals access to services such as health and education, specialist mentoring and diversionary activities

This Act places a duty on all those who work with children, young people and vulnerable adults to have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism (The Prevent Duty).

Think Therapy 1st is committed to this duty and referrals for any issue concerning potential radicalisation to extremism should be managed as any other safeguarding referral.

What to do if you have a concern

Confidentiality and Information Sharing

Think Therapy 1st expects all employees, and associates to maintain confidentiality. Information will only be shared in line with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and Data Protection.

However, information should be shared with the Local Authority if a child or vulnerable adult is deemed to be at risk of harm or contact the police if they are in immediate danger, or a crime has been committed.

TT1st Designated Safeguarding Leads – Emma Roddis (Clinical Director) emma.roddis@tt1st.co.uk and Lucy Brown (CAYAS Clinical Lead) lucy.brown@tt1st.co.uk 

Social Media

All employees and associates should be aware of Think Therapy 1st social media procedures and the code of conduct for behaviour towards the vulnerable adults or children we support.

Use of Mobile Phones and other Digital Technology

All employees, and associates should be aware of Think Therapy 1st’s policy and procedures regarding the use of mobile phones and any digital technology and understand that it is unlawful to photograph children and young people without the explicit consent of the person with parental responsibilities.

Whistleblowing

It is important that people within Think Therapy 1st have the confidence to come forward to speak or act if they are unhappy with anything. Whistle blowing occurs when a person raises a concern about dangerous or illegal activity, or any wrong- doing within their organisation. This includes concerns about another employee or staff member. There is also a requirement by Think Therapy 1st to protect whistleblowers. Please refer to the separate whistleblowing policy.

Where a crime has or is being committed this should be reported to the Police

Staff and Associates should address the following:

• Are there safeguarding issues in relation to children, which require a referral for services?
• Consider the severity, impact and likely future risk of the harm
• Has the vulnerable adult given consent to a referral? Best practice dictates that consent should be obtained wherever possible.

However, consent can be overridden in some circumstances Examples are:

• Where a serious crime has been committed
• Where the vulnerable adult or child is at immediate risk
• Where the vulnerable adult lacks the mental capacity to give consent (see below)

If referrals are made verbally, they must be followed up with a written referral which must be sent to the responsible local authority with the Long Arm Mentor copied in within 24 hours.

All Staff and Associates agree to report immediately, any concerns or issues which they believe may compromise the safety of an adult child or young person during time spent on Think Therapy 1st business. A staff member or Associate who is concerned about a vulnerable adult child or young person should discuss the concern with the designated Safeguarding Leads:

Lucy Brown – Safeguarding Lead for Children and Young People Contact email: lucy.brown@TT1st.co.uk

Emma Roddis – Safeguarding Lead for Vulnerable Adults Contact email: emma.roddis@tt1st.co.uk

Alternatively, if the above-named persons are not available, advice should be sought from a Company Director. This will establish to whom and how the staff member or Associate should make a referral to enable the adult, child or young person at risk of abuse to receive services and/ or immediate protection.