Safeguarding Policy Statement

 we are committed to promoting the safety and wellbeing of young people in all that we do. The policy below outlines how we will safeguard those we work with and those that work on our behalf. 

1. Policy statement

our charity is dedicated to improving the emotional wellbeing and mental health of young people. We are committed to promoting the safety and wellbeing of young people in all that we do. Our safeguarding framework, policy, procedures and guidance outline how we will fulfil our duty of care to safeguard those we work with and those that work on our behalf including staff, volunteers, trustees and partner agencies.

2. Purpose of this policy

Everybody has the right to be safe and to thrive no matter who they are or what their circumstance.

We believe that our staff, volunteers and consultants have both an individual and organisational responsibility for safeguarding. We aim to embed a safeguarding ethos and practice which is both proactive and responsive towards issues of safety and wellbeing.

We understand that where abuse and neglect does occur, it can have devastating effects on individuals, families and wider society. Our commitment to safeguarding in its widest sense is therefore vital.

This policy and the accompanying procedures provide clear standards and processes for all our staff, volunteers (including trustees and young people) and partners. This ensures that everyone is clear about their roles, individual and organisational responsibilities, and the procedures to follow in order to protect children at risk from harm.

3. Scope

This policy applies to all employees, volunteers, trustees, independent advisors, contracted associates and unpaid staff working on behalf of the future forward and camp knak in any capacity and in any setting. the future forward requires that our partners, current or in future, share our commitment to safeguarding.

4. Terminology

For the purposes of our policy, procedures and guidance, the following terms and definitions apply:

• Abuse: A form of maltreatment of a child or adult. Somebody may abuse or neglect a child or adult by inflicting harm, or by failing to act to prevent harm.
• Child: Legally, a child includes babies, children and young people from pre-birth until their eighteenth birthday (at 18, they are legally an adult) in England and Wales. In Scotland, in most situations, a child is someone who is under 18. However, in some contexts, for example, child protection orders, a child is defined as a person under 16 years of age.
• Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children : Protecting individuals from maltreatment; preventing harm to health or development; ensuring children grow up with the safe and effective care; and taking action to enable individuals to have the best outcomes.
• Child protection: Refers to the activity that is undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering, or at risk of suffering, significant harm.
• Significant harm: Is the threshold which justifies compulsory intervention in the best interests of the child or adult. This may refer to a single traumatic event or, more often, the cumulative effect of incidents and/or behaviours over time which significantly impairs an individual’s physical and psychological development.
• Early identification and help: Statutory guidance stresses the importance of children having the opportunity of early help and support in order to avoid child protection intervention at a later time.

5. Our commitment to safeguarding

our Safeguarding Standards sets out the measures which we are committed to upholding throughout our work. These standards are tested by means of the annually-updated Safeguarding Action Plan as well as internal and external safeguarding audits.

we believe that:

• The best interests of the child of concern are paramount in all considerations about their welfare and protection.
• Safeguarding must be embedded throughout our governance, leadership and culture.
• Young people must be valued, empowered and supported to inform and shape our activities, including decision-making, risk-identification and review of our safeguarding practices.
• All individuals have an equal right to protection from harm and this is best achieved by safeguarding practice that is actively anti-oppressive, anti-discriminatory and anti-racist.
• Our recruitment, induction, training, supervision and appraisal procedures must ensure that staff and volunteers are suitable and supported to implement safeguarding best practice.
• Our physical and online environments should be safe and secure and promote enjoyable and positive experiences.
• We must have clear policies and procedures for reporting, acting-upon and following-up safeguarding concerns, which are monitored and regularly reviewed to identify learning and/or implications for policy and practice.
• It is right to insist upon high standards in safeguarding practice from all of our partners.
• We must proactively care for our staff and volunteers. Individuals should be encouraged to be authentically themselves and take personal responsibility for their own wellbeing as well as feeling empowered to seek support when necessary.
• Learning, sharing and creating networks to champion best practice is beneficial for all children, young people and adults at risk as well as our staff and volunteers.
• Our safeguarding policy and related documents should be publicly available.

5.1 Principles of safe practice (the six Rs)

• Recognise concerns that a child is being harmed or might be at risk of harm.
• Respond appropriately to a child who is telling you what is happening to them.
• Report/refer the concerns according to the future forward/camp knak’ safeguarding procedures (to an LSO, the Safeguarding Manager, Social Care or police).
• Record the concerns appropriately and any subsequent action taken; ensure there is no delay in passing on concerns. Timescales noted are the maximum allowed and nothing should
  prevent a more speedy response if this is required.
• Resolve – take responsibility to ensure that reports and referrals made are followed up in a timely way and take further action if not satisfied with the response.
• Reflect on your learnings from the safeguarding process and on how to support the wellbeing of yourself and others involved.

6. Roles & responsibilities

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Everyone should understand that safeguarding affects all aspects of the organisation and they must be aware of this policy and the procedures to follow.

However, in order to ensure all concerns or allegations are handled appropriately, YoungMinds has a number of designated positions and specific job roles. These are outlined below:

6.1 Trustees

The Charity Commission expects that safeguarding should be a key governance priority for trustees. It is part of their duty of care to ensure YoungMinds:

• acts in the best interests of the children, young people at risk
• takes all reasonable steps to prevent any harm to them
• assesses and manages risk
• puts safeguarding policies and procedures in place
• undertakes ongoing monitoring and reviewing to ensure that safeguards are being implemented and are effective
• responds appropriately to allegations of abuse and whistleblowing cases.

In addition, at least one Designated Trustee for Safeguarding (DTS) is identified who will:

• be suitably experienced and trained in safeguarding
• meet with the Safeguarding Manager regular to maintain an overview of all safeguarding measures across the future forward
• be informed of and contribute to decisions on high risk cases and maintain oversight of any follow up to help ensure that all risks are appropriately managed
• in conjunction with the Senior Leadership Team and Safeguarding Manager, ensure that Trustees are fully informed of safeguarding issues across the organisation and contribute to maintaining safe practice across all our operations

6.2 Senior Leadership Team (SLT) Safeguarding Lead

An experienced member of the SLT is appointed the SLT Safeguarding Lead, who is responsible for:

• ensuring that safeguarding is considered in strategic decision-making
• providing line management support, coaching and debriefing to the Safeguarding Manager
• ensuring that the board of trustees is provided with reports on safeguarding activity as agreed
• commissioning an external audit of safeguarding practice every 3 years, and planning and monitor resulting actions alongside the Safeguarding Manager
• leading complex investigations relating to safeguarding where there is significant risk of reputational damage to the organisation

6.3 Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO)

The Designated Safeguarding Officer (DSO) is the Safeguarding Manager. The DSO is responsible for:

• Ensuring staff have access to appropriate safeguarding advice and support
• Checking that safeguarding referrals, incident reports and actions taken are recorded, fully reviewed, and logged in a restricted file
• Providing oversight and supporting the future forward/camp knak to:
  • enable young people, and their families to be aware of our safeguarding procedures
  • assess that the partner organisations working with us have appropriate safeguarding policies and procedures in place

• Appraise the training needs of all teams and LSOs on a regular basis
• Develop guidance and deliver training to increase the level of understanding and expertise on safeguarding across all teams, including safer recruitment training
• Ensure that there is a clear and fair system of high-quality supervision for all staff who may benefit from it
• Support recruiting managers to identify the appropriate level of DBS check for vacancies
• Plan and undertake an annual internal audit of safeguarding practice, and support staff to respond to recommendations
• Work with teams to respond to recommendations from three-yearly external safeguarding audit
• Reporting quarterly to the People and Governance Committee on how YoungMinds has discharged its safeguarding duties
• Providing an annual report to the Board of Trustees regarding our safeguarding activity
• Alerting the CEO of any significant safeguarding concern, contributing to decision-making and ensuring appropriate follow-up to manage and reduce risk
• Giving feedback to the SMT/SLT about safeguarding trends, concerns and emerging issues
• Keeping up to date with relevant law, guidance and case examples
• Proactively engage with other agencies and external experts to ensure that the future forward/camp knak’ approach is informed by and contributes to best practice within the sector. 

6.4 Lead Safeguarding Officers (LSO)

the future forward / camp knak is a unique and varied organisation. Each area of operation carries very specific safeguarding risks. LSOs represent teams which respond to and manage the highest frequency and complexity of safeguarding concerns.

LSOs support the DSO to ensure that strategic safeguarding issues are managed effectively and that proactive measures to prevent harm are in place across all areas of operation. They:

• provide safeguarding advice, support and debriefing to staff and volunteers
• undertake out of hours on-call responsibilities
• ensure all concerns are recorded and logged as necessary
• highlight immediately any serious concerns to the DSO
• ensure that external referrals are of high quality and are followed up
• keep up to date with safeguarding training
• act as advocates for safeguarding and increase awareness of safeguarding measures within their specific areas of operation in conjunction with their team/line manager(s)
• help disseminate guidance, procedures and signpost teams to relevant resources
• advocate for the needs of their teams to ensure that relevant guidance and support is provided by the Safeguarding Manager
• contribute to safeguarding audits

6.5 co coordinators

coordinators are responsible for:

• Supporting and encouraging their teams to follow all appropriate safeguarding procedures
• Providing additional support and advice for a member of staff with any safeguarding concern
• Taking ownership of concerns raised by volunteers, and raising them with an LSO or the Safeguarding Manager
• Abiding by safer recruitment practices
• Ensuring that all new staff and volunteers are fully inducted/trained to the appropriate level in safeguarding practices

6.6 Head of leaders

The Head of leaders is responsible for:

• Ensuring that all new starters undertake mandatory safeguarding training, and monitor compliance that all existing staff complete their annual safeguarding training
• Ensuring that all members of recruitment panels have received appropriate Safer Recruitment training
• Providing advice and guidance on safer recruitment to those recruiting staff or volunteers
• Managing the management of allegations process, alongside the Safeguarding Manager.

6.7 Staff

Staff are responsible for:

• Ensuring they know and adhere to the safeguarding procedures as outlined in this policy and other related policies and procedures including when working with external partners
• Completing the safeguarding training required for their role
• Raising with an LSO or the Safeguarding Manager immediately, any safeguarding concerns they identify
• Contacting appropriate services immediately in an emergency.

6.8 Volunteers

Volunteers (including trustees and members of the Youth Panel) are responsible for:

• Raising any concerns immediately with their supervisor, an LSO or the DSO
• Completing training appropriate to their role.

you can view or download our full policy