Shaftesbury Refugee Group Safeguarding Policy

vulnerable adults and children 

Policy statement

The Shaftesbury Refugee Group is committed to protecting all the children, young people and vulnerable adults that use our services. We will not tolerate abuse, harm or exploitation.
We believe that every Trustee, Member and volunteer for the The Shaftesbury Refugee Group has a responsibility to promote the welfare of all our beneficiaries and Members, to keep them safe and to practise in a way that prioritises their protection.  We will work within the Local Safeguarding arrangements and keep up to date with the necessary contacts, policies and procedures to fulfill our responsibilities.

Safeguarding officer

Carolyn Godfrey is our safeguarding officer and the chair of our charity She can be contacted via shaftesburyregfugeegroup@gmail.com

Implementation of this policy

The Trustees of The Shaftesbury Refugee Group are ultimately accountable for ensuring that the Charity abides in full with its legal and regulatory safeguarding obligations. 
The Charity discharges that responsibility by:

ensuring this policy is legally compliant and in line with the Dorset Councils’ adopted Multi Agency safeguarding adults policy and the Pan Dorset Safeguarding Children’s Partnership Policy and Procedures


Reviews

We will annually review this policy and undertake any actions such as updating our knowledge of procedures and undertake member and volunteer training that arises from any findings.We will regularly survey the experience of our beneficiaries and act swiftly to remedy and report any concerns raised.

Safeguarding vulnerable adults

Adult Safeguarding

The Shaftesbury Refugee Group upholds the six principles of adult safeguarding:

  • Empowerment. People are supported and encouraged to make their own decisions and informed consent.

  • Prevention. It is better to take action before harm occurs.

  • Proportionality. The least intrusive response appropriate to the risk presented.  

  • Protection. Support and representation for those in greatest need

  • Partnership. Working in and with communities.

  • Accountability. Transparent in safeguarding. 


Definitions:

An adult is someone aged 18 and aboveAbuse is defined by The Oxford English Dictionary 1989 as “the process of making bad or improper use, or violating or injuring, or to take bad advantage of, or maltreat, the person,” while exploitation literally means “using for one’s own profit or for selfish purposes, Abuse and exploitation can happen to anyone. 
Types of Abuse and Exploitation:

  • Physical Abuse  

  • Sexual Abuse 

  • Emotional and Psychological Abuse

  • Financial and Property Abuse 

  • Neglect and Acts of Omission

  • Discriminatory Abuse

  • Institutional Abuse

  • Domestic Violence or Abuse

  • Types of modern slavery

  • Self-neglect

  • Self-harm and suicide ideation

  • Hate crime

  • Exploitation by friends, mate crime

We will employ training to understand the forms of abuse and exploitation and to recognise the signs of these.

Signs of abuse in adults

These do not necessarily mean that an adult is being abused but they should prompt you to discuss the matter with the safeguarding officer and report your concerns.

  • Abuse is when someone does something to somebody which damages their quality of life or puts them at risk of harm. It may be deliberate or unintentional.

  • Abuse takes many forms. It includes:

  • any form of harm such as:

    • hitting, injuring or restraining

    • threatening, intimidating or humiliating

    • sexual attention or activity that is not wanted

    • keeping someone on their own

  • any form of neglect such as:

    • not giving the correct medicine

    • not providing food or clothing

    • not arranging the right care

  • financial abuse such as:

    • stealing or misusing money or property

    • pressure about wills or inheritance

  • discrimination such as treating someone less favourably because of race, ethnicity, religion, age, gender, disability or sexual orientation

  • domestic violence and abuse


    Raising a concern

We will raise a concern when there is reason to believe an adult at risk may have been, is, or might be the subject of harm, abuse or neglect by any other person or persons. This may include anyone self-neglecting where there is a significant risk to their health or wellbeing.  

We will raise a concern with Dorset Safeguarding Adults Triage Team so that urgent action can be taken to safeguard anyone at risk of immediate harm if any of the following concerns are apparent:active abuse is witnessed,an active disclosure is made by an adult or third party,there is suspicion or fear that something is not right or there is evidence of possible abuse or neglect. 
We will not ask leading questions of the person disclosing but ask them to ‘describe or explain’ their concern and  keep a record of any disclosure in the words of the person making it and confirm their words with them.  We will advise them that we will need to share their words with another person in our Charity who can make a contact with another agency to get the most appropriate support.
Whilst reporting any concern to the local safeguarding team we will also consider if the risk or experience of immediate serious harm is so severe that urgent action is required to prevent this. In this case we will contact the Police on 999 without delay. 

Allegations against a volunteer

We will not undertake any investigation but will report the allegation to the Charity Safeguarding Officer who will contact the Local Designated Officer. The LDO will arrange for the appropriate next steps.
We will not ask leading questions of the person disclosing but ask them to ‘describe or explain’ their concern and  keep a record of any allegation or disclosure in the words of the person making it and confirm their words with them.  We will advise them that we will need to share their words with another person in our Charity who can make a contact with another agency to get the most appropriate support.

Safeguarding Reviews

We will participate willingly and fully with any reviews of our Charity arrangements and practices with the Local Safeguarding Board and act swiftly on any of their recommendations


Safeguarding children 

Safeguarding Children

In order to safeguard and promote the welfare of the children and young people Shaftesbury Refugee Group works with, we will work in concert with the statutory agencies such as Social Care and schools.  We will adopt the following principles:

recognise that children have a right to be safe and should be protected from all forms of abuse and neglect

listen to children, young people and their families 

work with Dorset County Council to ensure that there are robust measures in place to keep children safe and to respond to any concerns or allegations that are raised

make sure our members and anyone who volunteers on our behalf, is adequately aware of and deeply committed to the Pan Dorset Multi Agency Safeguarding Policy and Procedures, recognising that safeguarding children is everyone’s responsibility

develop practice which aims to achieve compliance with the expectations set by the Pan Dorset Multi Agency Safeguarding Children Partnership for the Community and Voluntary Sector

recognise that children and families are best supported and protected when there is a coordinated response from all relevant agencies.

help children as early as possible, before issues escalate and become more damaging

Definitions:

A child is someone younger than 18.Abuse and neglect are forms of maltreatment – a person may abuse or neglect a child by inflicting harm, or by failing to act to prevent harm.
There are four main categories of abuse and neglect:

* physical abuse

* emotional abuse 

* sexual abuse

* neglect 

Each has its own specific warning indicators, which we wish members to be alert to. Working Together to Safeguard Children (2015) statutory guidance sets out full descriptions and we will employ training to understand the forms of abuse and neglect.

We will learn to recognise the signs of these and become aware of abuse such as trafficking, County lines, on-line abuse, peer on peer abuse and racially motivated abuse..

Some of the signs of abuse in children

These do not necessarily mean that a child is being abused but they should prompt you to discuss the matter with the safeguarding officer and report your concerns

  • Children whose behaviour changes – they may become aggressive, challenging, disruptive, withdrawn or clingy, or they might have difficulty sleeping or start wetting the bed; 

  • Children with clothes which are ill-fitting and/or dirty; 

  • Children with consistently poor hygiene; 

  • Children who make strong efforts to avoid specific family members or friends, without an obvious reason; 

  • Children who don’t want to change clothes in front of others or participate in physical activities; 

  • Children who are having problems at school, for example, a sudden lack of concentration and learning or they appear to be tired and hungry; 

  • Children who talk about being left home alone, with inappropriate carers or with strangers; 

  • Children who reach developmental milestones, such as learning to speak or walk, late, with no medical reason; 

  • Children who are regularly missing from school or education; • Children who are reluctant to go home after school; 

  • Children with poor school attendance and punctuality, or who are consistently late being picked up; 

  • Parents who are dismissive and non-responsive to practitioners’ concerns; 

  • Parents who collect their children from school when drunk, or under the influence of drugs; 

  • Children who drink alcohol regularly from an early age; 

  • Children who are concerned for younger siblings without explaining why; 

  • Children who talk about running away; 

  • Children who shy away from being touched or flinch at sudden movements.


Raising a concern

We will raise a concern when there is reason to believe a child is at risk If a child reports that they are being abused and neglected, we will listen to them, take their allegation seriously, and reassure them that we will take action to keep them safe. 

We will advise the Charity Safeguarding Officer who may raise a concern with Dorset Council Children's Advice and Duty Service. We will explain to the child the action that we are taking. We will maintain confidentiality, but we will not promise that we will not tell anyone, as we may need to do so in order to protect the child.
Whilst reporting any concern to the local safeguarding team we will also consider if the risk or experience of immediate serious harm is so severe that urgent action is required to prevent this. In this case we will contact the Police on 999 without delay. 


Allegations against a volunteer

We will not undertake any investigation but will report the allegation to the Charity Safeguarding Officer who will contact the Local Designated Officer. The LDO will arrange for the appropriate next steps.
We will not ask leading questions of the person disclosing but ask them to ‘describe or explain’ their concern and  keep a record of any allegation or disclosure in the words of the person making it and confirm their words with them.  We will advise them that we will need to share their words with another person in our Charity who can make a contact with another agency to get the most appropriate support.


Safeguarding Reviews

We will participate willingly and fully with any reviews of our Charity arrangements and practices with the Local Safeguarding Board, The Pan Dorset Safeguarding Children’s Partnership  and act swiftly on any of their recommendations