Safeguarding Policy

Context

Global Family Care Network (SCIO) has a clear commitment to the protection of children and vulnerable adults through ensuring there is a framework of help, support and statutory interventions, that are designed to promote the well-being, health, and development of children and adults, including preventing and protecting them from abuse and neglect. Specifically, Global Family has a responsibility to:

Take all reasonable steps to protect beneficiaries from harm
Act responsibly in responding to allegations of abuse
Put systems in place to make the necessary checks to ensure individuals who are trustees, staff (including contractors) and volunteers are legally able to act in positions involving vulnerable beneficiaries.

Purpose

This policy will offer guidance to the team in Scotland, ensuring shared responsibility across all areas of the business and embedding a culture of ‘Everyone’s Responsibility’. The policy will set out the legislative framework and organisational responsibility and accountability while the procedure will act as a protocol for our team, providing practical guidance on responding to concerns, how and when to refer on and ensuring our actions have been recorded. The policy is designed to offer guidance for staff and managers to build confidence and capacity to resolve these issues as close to source as possible.

All our team need to have at least a basic awareness of the separate statutory frameworks and supporting guidance that applies to safeguarding adults and children.

Policy Statement on Safeguarding

Global Family is committed to the aim of promoting and protecting the health, safety, wellbeing and human rights of the people we meet through our work. This commitment covers people who benefit directly from our work, as well as members of the public, and the people who work or volunteer for us.

The key ethical requirements:

You must act with integrity.
You must act in the best interest of each student, client and customer.
You must provide a proper standard of service.
You must behave in a way that maintains the trust the public places in you and the provision of services.
You must carry out your role in the business in a way that encourages equality of opportunity and respect for diversity.

Legal framework

This practice note has been drawn up on the basis of law and guidance that seeks to protect children and vulnerable adults, namely:

Children Act 1989
Children (Scotland) Act 1995
The Protecting of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007
Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014
United Convention of the Rights of the Child 1991
United Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Data Protection Act 1998
Sexual Offences Act 2003
Protection of Freedoms Act 2012
Protection from Abuse (Scotland) Act 2001 Protection from Abuse (Scotland) Act 2001
Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 (Part2 and Part 3)
Relevant government guidance on safeguarding children.

NB: if you fail to meet the needs of a vulnerable client you could be at risk of:

A discrimination claim, or a claim for a failure to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010, which could result in sanctions including damages.
A claim for damages or compensation against you or the firm if you act on the instructions of a client lacking capacity to make relevant decisions, having failed to satisfy yourself as to the client's capacity to instruct you or failing to document your assessment of the client's capacity, leaving the validity of the transaction open to challenge.
A complaint against you.
Reputational risk – our practice's reputation is inextricably linked to the way in which we treat your clients. Conversely, with an inclusive ethos we will not only attract a wider group of clients but also a more diverse workforce bringing benefits to our practice.

Decision-making

Our role is to gather information to inform the decision-making process regarding the client’s case management. We assess the current level of risk on the basis of the available information to ensure that acute risk has been alleviated and/or averted. Ascertain if the person is safe and consider ways in which they can be supported (for example, physical comforts that convey caring, a quiet room, an accompanying person to wait with them). This can reduce the person’s agitation and the potential necessity for more authoritative interventions (the police). Intoxication should not preclude early assessment of a person’s suicide risk, particularly as it can increase impulsiveness and the risk of self-injury in the short term. Each office should establish a crisis intervention agencies contact list, which can offer guidance and support. Careful consideration will need to be given to the degree of support available to the person. The person, their family and social supports should be involved where appropriate.

Managing safeguarding concerns, responding and reporting

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, and it is vital that, if you are in contact with vulnerable groups (children, young people and vulnerable adults)

You may well RECOGNISE some of the signs and symptoms that could suggest abuse or harm is taking place and allow you to share your concerns appropriately, ensuring that the correct authority is made aware so that the concern can be followed up (we never investigate).

So, to summarise:

RECOGNISE the signs that could indicate abuse is happening to a child/young person/vulnerable adult.

RESPOND sensitively to the person and listen to what they have to say, don’t ask closed questions or attempt to investigate.

RECORD what you have been told factually and accurately using the language used by the person disclosing within an hour.

REPORT immediately to the nominated Safe-guarding Manager who will know who to seek support from.

REFER to the appropriate statutory authority and Global Family's Safeguarding Manager.