Spectrum Connections NI
Registered with the
Charity Commission for Northern Ireland:
NIC110779
Child Protection Policy
This policy is provided in recognition of requirements for child
protection policies under the Vulnerable Children Act 2014, and also with the understanding of best practice for the organisation.
Spectrum Connections NI understands the needs of the children/young people and makes their safety and security a priority.
Our child protection policy reflects these values and supports the charity
in creating a safe environment for children, as well as for volunteers.
Any concerns for a child’s wellbeing will be identified and will be responded to quickly.
Our volunteers will receive ongoing training and support to provide the best care to our children/young people and if necessary will work closely with external agencies to provide the best positive outcomes for our children/young people.
Introduction
We propose to improve the lives of our young people, their families and their siblings by improving their health and wellbeing through increased social interaction in a safe and secure environment.
We encourage our young people to meet regularly by providing weekly youth clubs at an appropriate meeting place.
Spectrum Connections NI is committed to the prevention of abuse and to the well
being of children, young people, vulnerable adults and their families.
All services provided by Spectrum Connections NI adhere to the principles of partnership, protection and participation; and the rights and responsibilities set out in this policy.
The purpose of this policy is to provide volunteers with guidelines by which to
identify and respond appropriately to concerns of abuse and neglect, and to understand their role in keeping children/young people safe.
This Policy will be reviewed annually, and updated regularly in the light of operational experience and in line with changes in legislation and associated policies.
Spectrum Connection NI recognises that all Volunteers and Trustees have a full and active part to play in protecting our children/young people from harm.
The overall responsibility, implementation and review of this policy rests with the committee members of Spectrum Connections NI.
This policy covers all volunteers of Spectrum Connections NI who have direct or indirect contact with children/young people. This includes volunteers, family members and people visiting from other organisations as well as those professionals contracted or invited to provide services to children in the care of Spectrum Connections NI.
This policy covers the Board of Trustees and their responsibilities in the safety
and wellbeing of children.
For the purposes of this policy “Child” means a boy or girl under the age of 14 years, “Young person” means a boy or girl of or over the age of 14 years but under 18 years.”
For the purposes of this Policy “volunteer” means all those who provide their time to assist with activities to ensure the youth clubs and activities run smoothly.
Spectrum Connections NI will follow the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 and will make provisions for checking suitability of volunteers to carry out their role in our organisation and for barring those considered to be unsuitable for such posts.
Spectrum Connections NI Volunteers must follow the appropriate guidelines as they are set out in the Northern Ireland Childrens Act 1989, supplemented by the Northern Ireland Childrens Act 2004, to protect all our children/young people in our organisation. If any volunteer has a concern about a Childs welfare they must make the designated child safety officer aware of these concerns.
The Children, Young Persons and their Families Act, 1989, defines child abuse as "...the harming (whether physically, emotionally, sexually), ill-treatment, abuse, neglect, or deprivation of any child or young person”.
For the purpose of this child protection policy:
Physical abuse
Is a non-accidental act on a child that results in physical harm. This includes, but is not limited to, beating, hitting, shaking, burning, drowning, suffocating, biting, poisoning or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical abuse also involves the fabrication
or inducing of illness.
Emotional abuse
Is the persistent emotional ill treatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effect on the child's emotional development. This can include a pattern of rejecting, degrading, ignoring, isolating, corrupting, exploiting or terrorising a child. It may
also include age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children. It also includes the seeing or hearing the ill treatment of others.
Sexual Abuse
Involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities (penetrative and non-penetrative, for example, rape, kissing, touching, masturbation) as well as non-contact acts such as involving children in the looking at or production of sexual images, sexual activities and sexual behaviours.
Neglect
Is the persistent failure to meet a child's basic physical and/or
psychological needs, causing long term serious harm to the child's heath or development. It may also include neglect of a child's basic or emotional needs. Neglect is a lack: of action, emotion or basic
needs.
Family
Violence is physical, emotional, sexual and other abuse by someone
(usually but not always a man) of a person (usually but not always a woman) with whom they have or have had some form of intimate relationship with, such as marriage or cohabitation, in order to maintain power and control over a person. It is important to be vigilant to any signs, particularly if children are being affected.
Roles and Responsibilities of Volunteers
All volunteers have a responsibility to keep children/young people safe and have a role in reporting concerns of potential or actual abuse.
By following the guidance set out in this child protection policy and being
consistent of behaviours it will keep both volunteers and children/young people safe.
Our organisation has two Designated Safety Officers (DSO’s) and all concerns should be reported to a DSO as soon as they arise.
It is the responsibility of our volunteers to be vigilant, have knowledge and awareness of the indicators of neglect, potential or actual abuse and
to report any concerns, suspicions or allegations of suspected abuse immediately and ensure that the concern is taken seriously and reported.
It is the role of all volunteers to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our children/young people in our organisation. It is important that any signs of child abuse are addressed immediately with the Designated Child Protection officer.
Child Protection Procedures
All concerns of potential, suspected or alleged abuse must be brought to the attention of the DSO. If the DSO is unavailable, then consultation should occur with the volunteer in charge. A decision will be made as to whether to seek further advice or notify family or the appropriate authorities.
If a child makes a verbal disclosure to a volunteer it is important that staff take what the child says seriously.
Under no circumstances should a member of staff/volunteer attempt to conduct an
investigation or deal with concerns regarding child abuse alone.
All decisions taken, including if the concern does not require notifying appropriate authorities, must be recorded in writing and kept securely in a Child Protection file
with the reasons clearly identified and explained.
Giving information to protect children better is not a breach in confidentiality. Wherever possible the family should be kept informed of what information has been shared and to which agency, and for what purpose. Guidance of sharing information with family is to be sought from either the Police or appropriate authority. Principle 11 of the Privacy Act, 1993, states "disclosure of the information is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious threat".
Child on child harmful behaviours.
The boundary between what is harmful and what is part of normal childhood or youthful experimentation is unclear. To determine whether a child’s behaviour is healthy, problematic or harmful there is a need to consider true consent, power imbalance and exploitation.
If behaviour is found to be harmful it is important it is reported immediately to the Designated Safety Officer (DSO) who will then contact the appropriate authorities.
It is important if this situation arises that the children/young people are both cared for equally but separately by volunteers until the appropriate authorities respond.
Safeguarding Procedural Flowchart
Safe Recruitment of Volunteers
All appointments (permanent, casual volunteers) to positions that have direct and/or frequent contact with children or young people will be conditional on a safety check.
Before making any appointment, Spectrum Connections NI will undertake a series of checks to ascertain the candidate’s suitability and safety to volunteer. These will adhere to the statutory obligations contained within the legislation such as the Privacy Act, the Human Rights Act and Vulnerable Children Act
All appointments will follow the requirements of:
- Verification of identification will be undertaken.
- Verification of qualifications (where appropriate) will be undertaken.
- Safety checks which include police checks.
- Followed by a meeting by committee members to approve the position.
Training of Volunteers
All volunteers will receive child protection training at the level appropriate to their role.
The DSO will undertake more intensive training in child protection.
All volunteers will update their child protection training every three years.
Safe Volunteering Practices
All volunteers are expected to behave in manners consistent with Spectrum Connections NI Code of Conduct.
A relationship between an adult and a child or young person cannot be a
relationship between equals. There is a potential for exploitation and harm of vulnerable young people.
Adults have a responsibility to ensure that an unequal balance of power is not used for personal advantage or gratification.
All volunteers are expected to behave in manners that maintain appropriate boundaries and avoid behaviour which might be misinterpreted by others.
Allegations made against Volunteers
Allegations, suspicions or complaints of abuse against volunteers or
representatives of other agencies must be taken seriously and reported to the committee members as soon as possible who will deal with them immediately, sensitively and expediently within the procedures outlined in this Section.
It is NOT the responsibility of volunteers to investigate allegations of child abuse.
If the Police decide to undertake a criminal investigation, then the volunteer may be suspended, without prejudice, as a precautionary measure. It is important that no internal investigation is undertaken,
and no evidence gathered that might prejudice the criminal investigation.
Family will be notified of the allegation and committee members will work closely if the family want them to support and discuss safeguards that will be provided to the child pending the outcome of an investigation.