Understand_How_to_Safeguard_the_Wellbeing_of_Children_and_Young_People

Fran Bunning Unit 025 Understand how to safeguard the wellbeing Of children and young people Outcome 1 Understand the main legislation, guidelines, policies and Procedures for safeguarding children and young people. AC1. Legislation, guidelines, policies and procedures are the outcome from the Children Act 1989 and further changes were made on how to safeguard children when the Children Act 2004 was implemented. Children Act 1989 The children Act aimed to simplify the laws that protected children and young people in the UK. This was a fundamental shape up of children’s rights and their protection. The Children Act strictly outlined child care professionals what their duties were and how they should work together in the incidence of allegations of child abuse. Wales and England produced separate documents e.g. Working together to Safeguard Children 1999 which highlighted the responsibilities of professionals towards children who are at risk of harm. Children Act 2004 It was clear by 2003 that services for children were still unable to work together to identify and protect children at risk of significant harm. The horrific death of Victoria Climbie proved that child services were unable to protect children within our society. The lamming report showed similarities between Victoria’s and other child’s death and how child services working with these cases were unable to work together to protect the children. the lamming report resulted in a green paper, Every Child Matters which the turned into the Children Act 2004. The core of the Act include the integration of children’s services and the introduction of children’s directors with responsibility for local authority education and children’s social services, lead councillors for children’s services with political responsibility for local child welfare, the establishment of Local safeguarding children’s boards (LSCB) with statutory powers to ensure that social services, NHS, education services, the police and other services work together to protect children at risk of harm, a new common assessment framework to assist agencies in identifying welfare needs, revised arrangements for sharing information. Working together to safeguard children 2006 A revised document provides guidance on safeguarding and a national framework to facilitate agencies to work individually and together to safeguard the welfare of children. the document shows changes made to safeguarding practice following the recent Laming and Bichard inquiries. The vetting and barring scheme This scheme was introduced in 2009 with the plan to prevent unsuitable people from working with children, young people and vulnerable adults. From July 2010 and phased over a five year period anyone working or volunteering with children, young people and vulnerable adults will be required to register with the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA). The ISA will have control over preventing unsuitable people working with children, young people and vulnerable adults using a different range of sourcing methods one being the Criminal Record Bureau (CRB). The CRB will process applications with the ISA and continuously monitor individuals against any new information and also allowing employers to have access to an individual’s full criminal record. AC2. Safeguarding is means a lot more than just protecting a child from direct abuse. Any service that works or is involved in children and young people have a wider role than purely protecting them from neglect or abuse. The Staying Safe plan acknowledges a number of important features in the wider view of safeguarding e.g. keeping children safe from accidents, crime and bullying, forced marriages, missing children and playing an active part in promoting a child’s welfare in a healthy and safe environment. AC3.As well as every childcare setting having a safeguarding policy of their own, every Borough should also have their own policies and procedures for safeguarding children. I am aware that Wrexham Country Borough Council has its own local safeguarding policy (LSCB) and merged with Flintshire Council to become the Flintshire and Wrexham Local Safeguarding Children’s Board. This board is a legal body that was established by Wrexham council as a children’s services authority under the children act 2004. The LSCB is responsible for ensuring that all agencies and departments that work with children and young people in the Borough , work in unity to support the welfare and safety of children in that area.. To ensure that work is carried out in an effective manner the LSCB coordinate the work of local agencies to provide a more positive outcome in regards to children’s safeguarding. In my setting we work in line with the Foundation Phase programme. The statutory Areas of Learning in the Foundation Phase are: •Personal and Social Development, Well-Being and Cultural Diversity •Language, Literacy and Communication Skills •Mathematical Development •Welsh Language Development •Knowledge and Understanding of the World •Physical Development •Creative Development. I am also aware of my own settings safeguarding policy that was developed in agreement with the values that were established by the Children Act 1989 and 2004. These are the policies and procedures we need to follow whilst working with children within our school setting. Within childcare practice we must be aware that we have a clear and defined role in relation to child protection. Professionals working with children/young people e.g. childcare assistants, volunteers, outside agencies are CRB checked (criminal records bureau). Adults working with children should also be fully trained in safeguarding children and have the opportunity to receive training in order to develop their understanding of the signs and indicators of abuse or neglect, this training is offered every 3 years. In order for child protection to work effectively we must ensure we have good relationships with other agencies and good information sharing from professionals that are competent in responding to child protection situations. In my setting I have to follow a procedure for recording concerns and incidents if a child discloses information that concerns their welfare. I must make a record of exactly what the child has said in their words and report it to a safeguarding officer. I need to ensure that these records are kept confidentially and locked away in a filing cabinet and only shared with other colleagues and professionals who need to know. In my setting the manager will only disclose personal information concerning a child to other members of staff on a need to know basis, however all the staff must be aware that they have a responsibility to share information with other agencies. If a child does disclose information to a member of staff and ask that that information remains ‘a secret’, it is vital that the member of staff tells the child sensitively that they have a duty to report the information to the appropriate agencies in order for other children to be safeguarded. AC4. Inquiries and serious case reviews are required when a child dies or suffered significant harm as a result of abuse or neglect or when concerns are raised about professional practice. Us as a society have the duty to protect children, professional organisations that protect children are supported by legislation, policies and procedures in order to uphold this duty of care. When society or professionals fail in their duty of care it is fundamental that the causes of failure are known and addressed to prevent this from happening in the future. Serious case reviews are required by the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board when a child dies or suffers significant harm and abuse and neglect alleged to be the cause. These involve the local authority children’s service, the police, health, education and other agencies as needed. All the services involved carry out individual management reviews of its practice, policies and procedures to identify and changes that should be made. The LSCB also assigns an overview report from an independent person who scrutinizes the findings of the individual reports and makes any recommendations. The LSCB is often required to inform Ofsted of any incidents involving children who have died or suffered significant harm from abuse or neglect. AC5. In my work setting we comply with legislation that covers data protection, information handling and sharing by storing all the children’s registration forms and personal details away in a lock filing cabinet. When a child leaves our setting and makes the transition to early entitlement all their personal information/registration forms either go to early entitlement team or are passed back to the flying start link teachers. If a member of staff has a concern about a child in our setting they will only discuss this concern with either the supervisor or the manager. This concern will not be spoke about in front of the rest of the staff unless the manager say this is ok to do so. Outcome 2 Understand the importance of working in partnership with other organisations to safeguard children and young people. AC1. It is important that we safeguard children and young people as research shows that a high percentage of children are suffering abuse or neglect at the hands of either their parents or careers. In 2006 there were 2,163 children on child protection register in Wales. It is essential we as a society raise our efforts to protect and safeguard children. AC2. It is important that we as adults to care for children ensure that we allow a child centred approach which means we as adults support the child to achieve the best possible outcomes as they grow and develop. Children have the right to have their voice heard on what is happening around them or what is happening to them. We as professional should always remember to lead a child centre approach and that we should work together and to support the child’s family and children and young people learn and develop best with family support. AC3 +4. Safeguarding the welfare of children relays on effective partnership working between agencies and professionals. Each agency and professional has a different and vital role to play in a child’s welfare. There has been a tend with the last few serious case reviews as the main reasons identified for failure have been linked to the lack of communication and information sharing between some major agencies. It clearly shows in the serious case reviews that each child and their families have been known to at least two agencies and still a child has either died or suffered significant harm. It clearly states in any safeguarding policy should any individual or organisation have concerns over the welfare of a child they have a responsibility to pass the concern onto the appropriate agency and that organisations should work together to safeguard the welfare of children and young people. Different organisations have different roles and responsibilities when safeguarding the welfare of a child. Social services have statutory responsibilities to provide support to children and their families. This may be when there has been a family breakdown or that there is domestic abuse within the family unit. Health visitors have a responsibility for the health of babies and young children under five. They provide support for the families and carry out assessments on a child’s development and make appropriate referrals if needed. General practitioners (GP) work from health centres within the community. GPs are often the first people who identify and report possible signs of abuse. Probation services support people who have been convicted of offences. The play a vital role in managing people convicted of offences against children. Probation services make sure these people do not oppose a threat towards children. Police are involved in the criminal proceedings that be the consequence from safeguarding issues. School play a key role in identifying children who may suffer harm or supporting children who may need help as children are at school from the age of 5 until sometimes as old as 18. All staff working within the school should be trained in safeguarding and child protection. Child psychology services will be used when a child has experienced abuse, neglect or harm. Outcome 3 Understand the importance of ensuring children and Young people’s safety and protection in the Work setting. AC1. It is vital that we ensure that the children who access our setting are protected from harm as parents leave their children in our care and trust us that no harm will be done to their children whilst in our care. Parents need to feel felly confident that their children are safe and that they will fully supported in their development. Failure to do this will lead to gross breach of professional values and a poor reputation of a child care setting. Policies and procedures are put into place for all staff to adhere to but mangers need to express very clear practices and ways of working to protect both staff and children from harm. All staff have a responsibility to protect and promote the welfare of the children in their care. Good quality settings follow a clear set of policies and procedures. Working in an open and transparent way can be important. The layout of the room in the nursery needs to be taken into account open plan rooms are vital to ensure that no staff is alone and out of view with a child. Children are often quite open to telling us things, you can learn a lot when listening to children but sometimes you hear something that could concern you. When working with children we should always ensure that we do not let children think we can keep something secret. If a child tells you something that concerns you, ensure that the child understands that you need to share this information particularly when there is a safeguarding issue and that you record and report any concern you have over a child’s welfare. It is crucial that you know who to report concerns to within your work setting. Within our setting i am involved in the care of the children this means that i am working in a position of trust. The parents of the children in the work setting have trusted me to look after their children. This is a big responsibility place upon me. People who want to gain employment working with children, young people and vulnerable adults need to have an enhanced CRB checks. When working with children and young people i must think about how i conduct my behaviour as children often are likely to respect and copy people who are in receipt of trust. All childcare settings must have a policy on how to deal with physical contact with children. In a lot of cases young children need physical contact this can mean comforting a child who attends the setting upset. Childcare workers need to fully understand what is acceptable with physical contact but also should i should be familiar with performing intimate personnel care for children e.g. taking children to the toilet, nappy changing and changing children out of soiled clothes these are simple everyday tasks but should never be done in a room with the door closed or out of sight from other staff. This is not only to protect the children but to also to protect ourselves. Photographs and videos play an important part of showing parents what their children have been doing as well as showing outside agencies what type of activities a setting has to offer. This is ok to do so but nevertheless it is vital that some important rules are followed when using images always make sure that you gain permission from the parents of the child’s photograph you want to use and not to allow photos to be available for anyone to use other than parents and careers. If during my career with working with children i may be faced with the dilemma that someone i work with practice may be unacceptable. It could be very tough to report someone you work with but you have to consider the effect of the poor practice and behaviour on the children in the setting. This is known as whistle blowing, there have been some cases that the whistle blower has been bullied or harassed after they have made a concern about another member of staff. Anyone has the right to protection from the person who the whistle blower has raised concerns about. Children can enjoy off site visits and can gain valuable knowledge when being away from the setting. When planning off sites visits i need to take in to account all the health and safety aspects to ensure that the children are safe and avoid any accidents or incidents. AC3. If someone had a concern about the poor practice or behaviour of another member of staff they should feel that they are able to report these concerns without being at risk of abuse or harassment from other members of staff. There are a number of ways that whistle blowers can report their concerns; whistle blowers need to think about what is worrying them and why it is worrying them, to tell someone such as your manager or appointed safeguarding officer about your concerns as soon as you can feel able to. Ensure that you put your concerns in writing including the dates, times, history and names this will ensure that your concerns are dealt with properly. Once you have raised your concerns your manger should support you throughout. If you lose your job as a result of whistle blowing incident the UK Public Interest Disclosure Act (1998) can offer you legal protection. AC4. When working within a childcare setting and off site visits. Practitioners need to ensure that they protect themselves from accusations. Practitioners need to be fully understood and adhere to all policies and procedures set out by the management to ensure that you are never alone in a closed room with a child. If a practitioner is ever in doubt to always seek advice from the management of the setting. Outcome 4 Understand how to respond to evidence or Concerns that a child or young person has been abused or harmed. AC1. Type of abuse | Definition | Signs and Symptoms | Physical | Physical abuse is when a child is physically hurt or injurede.g. hitting, biting, beating with objects, throwing or shaking. Can cause pain, cuts, bruises, broken bones and even result in death. | Unexplained injuries or burns, wearing a lot of clothes even in hot weather, not willing to undress for PE or games activities in school, bald patches of hair, burns on the skin (shape of cigarette ends), repeatedly running away from home, fear of physical contact shying away if approached, aggressive behaviour to self or others. | Emotional | When a child is not given love, approval or acceptance. e.g. getting constantly blamed for something, criticised, shouted and sworn at. Can also involve withholding love and affection. Linked to neglect. | Delayed development, sudden speech difficulties, sudden low self esteem or withdrawal or aggression, neurotic behaviour. | Neglect | Failure to survive. Parents/careers not providing warmth, proper food, shelter clothing and care protection. | Poor personal hygiene, poor clothing (dirty clothes or clothes which do not fit), continuous hunger, stealing food, sudden loss of weight or unusual thinness, destructive behaviour, frequent tiredness | Sexual | When a child is forced to or persuaded into sexual acts. Children may be forced to watch pornography, harassed by sexual suggestion or comments. Forced to have sex or be touched sexually. | Sexual behaviour or knowledge that is inappropriate to the child’s age, medical concerns such as itching, pain in the genitals, venereal disease, sudden depression or being isolated and withdrawn, suicide attempts, self mutilation, constant running away from home, eating disorders, over eating, lack of trust with an adult or fearing to be left alone with an adult, sudden starting to wet or soil themselves again, drawing sexual explicit drawings, not wanting their clothes to be removed, trying to extra good. | AC2. In my childcare setting we have clear policies and procedures that protect both staff and children. All staff that have contact with the children in my setting must adhere to the policies and procedures and have completed up to date child protection training. If a child in my setting disclosed that they were being harmed or abused i would have to ensure that i listen to the child and not to look shocked or disbelieve them. I should always reassure that child that it is right to tell but is should not ask and direct or leading question. Once i have listened to the child i need to ensure that i record all what the child says including the words they have used to describe to allegation and then report this straight to my manager. AC3. Children and their family/careers have the rights even when cases of suspected abuse are about the family or career. Children often feel a big devotion towards the people who care for them even if they are the ones who the child is making an allegation of abuse about, children will find this extremely difficult saying anything against them this is why the child needs constant support whilst the allegation of abuse is being dealt with. Children need to fully understand what is happening around them and the decisions that are being made; children need support and assist them so they can express themselves fully. If a allegation of abuse is made, children have the right not to have medical examinations repeatedly, or be constantly questioned about the allegation of abuse and the nature of abuse whether it was physical or sexual. In most cases of allegations of abuse the family members have the right to know what is being said about them and to have an input into the important decisions that are being made about themselves and their children. all the way through the abuse allegation the child has the right to be informed of the process this should be done in a sensitive manner and the child’s views about the future should be taken into account when making important decisions. Outcome 5 Understand how to respond to evidence or concerns that A child or young person is being bullied. AC1. There are many different forms of bullying, these can include physical bullying, physical bullying can include pushing, kicking, biting, pinching and other forms of violence and threats, verbal bullying can include name calling, insults, sarcasm, spreading rumours and persistent name calling, emotional bullying can be forms of not speaking or excluding, tormenting, ridicule and humiliating someone. Cyber bullying is a form of using information and communication technology including mobile phones, social networking sites to intentionally cause someone upset. Bullying can be caused by one person or a group of people. The effects of bullying can include isolation from friends, attempted suicide, depression and low self esteem, eating disorders, suddenly becoming withdrawn and shyness, running away from home or school, sudden absences of truancy from school or poor academic achievement and self mutilation or self harming. AC2. Schools and places where young people access such as youth clubs and out of school clubs are required by law to have an anti-bullying policy in place to protect the children and young people who may experience some form of bullying. The department of Education is clear that no form of bullying should be tolerated. The policies and procedures tackle bullying though practical guidance documents. The current anti bullying guidance for schools are Safe to learn was launched in September 2007. AC3. If a child or young person has alleged that they have been bullied they need to know that the allegation will be taken seriously. If the child is able to write down what exactly has happened and who was there, this will help someone deal with the allegation more quickly as the more information you have you will be able to deal with the problem faster. When dealing with an allegation of bullying i will need to reassure the victim that i would be back in touch as soon as i have investigated the allegation and that if there is any more bullying incidents to let me know immediately. Parents of a child who is being bullied can find it very difficult to help or reassure their child once they have disclosed they are being bullied. Parents can also find it difficult if they are informed that their child is the bully. Listen to the parents and allow them to explain to you how they are feeling try to signpost them to the relevant agencies that can offer them support and useful information that can help them and help them to support their child. Outcome 6 Understand how to work with children and young People to support their safety and wellbeing. AC1. Children who have good self esteem and confidence are less likely to be vulnerable to abuse. In order for children to feel safe and protected, children need to feel good about themselves. Children with high self esteem often will do better in more aspects of development. We can encourage children to develop their self esteem by giving lots of praise and encouragement, encourage children to make independent choices an offer them many things to try out. In our setting i need to encourage children to be assertive but to also respect and tolerate the other children in the setting. AC2. In my setting i need to support the children to develop resilience. Resilience is the ability to be able to deal with life’s up’s and down’s and is based on how good a child’s self esteem is. If a child is more resilient, the better they will deal with life as an adult. There are many factors that can affect a child’s resilience. If a child has secure early attachment this allows the child to experience positive relationships and will feel comfortable making relationships throughout their life. If a child feels that they are being loved by their family and friends they will have the ability to form friendships throughout their life and also if they have any downs in their life they will have the security of feeling loved by their family and friends to support them through the negative experience in life. If a child has a good sense of self identity and the ability to act independently they will have the resilience to develop into adulthood knowing who they are and that they will not be pressured or bullied into someone they do not want to be. A child who has the confidence to try new things will have the resilience and the confidence to try new experiences as they develop to adulthood. AC3. Childcare settings are a key link to educating children about looking after themselves. It is important that we encourage child that they should never feel uncomfortable about someone or something being done to them. When the children are in my setting, i can support them by teaching them about the dangers posed by some adults, teaching them how to behave in activities which pose a certain high level of risks e.g. playing outside or road safety. This can all be done in a fun and interactive way so it does not bore the children. it is important that children know that they can talk to me if they have any concerns. Within the childcare setting i need to ensure that i use the correct anatomical language at the appropriate level of the child. When talking about the human bodies with children i need to be aware of the many different terms used by different people for a part of the body such as the genitalia. There are many different organisations that offer guidance to help me delivery sessions to educate children to protect themselves against any dangers. AC4. Children will always push boundaries and take risks this is the main reason how children learn to assess danger and risk for themselves. Children need to be empowered to make positive and informed choices. When children are in my setting and want to take risks i need to manage the risk without taking the child’s independence away. E.g. a new child is playing in the outdoor area and is very unsteady on the bikes. First i can hold the bike and once the child feels confident sitting on the bike i can begin to push the child around the outdoor area on the bike gradually letting go of the bike until the child feels empowered to find the bike by themselves. Outcome 7 Understand the importance of e-safety for Children and young people AC1+2. It is almost certain that most families have access to internet or mobile phones and many of the children and young people have their own access to internet and mobile phones. Although this can benefit greatly to children and young people it can also pose a huge risk to children and young people safety and wellbeing including cyber-bullying, access to unsuitable sites and the use of commercial sites and the danger from adults seeking to exploit children and young people. Society will never be able to abolish all the risks to children and young people posed by the use of mobile phones and internet usage but it is possible to build on a child’s resilience so they have the confidence and skills to use the internet more safely. The Byron Review acknowledge ways to reduce the risks to children and young people by restricting access that children and young people have when using the internet, parental controls that allow internet sites unsuitable information to be limited, improving the knowledge, skills and understanding around internet safety for parents and other responsible adults, improving children’s knowledge and skills that make them aware of the dangers and to help them develop their skills to recognise the danger, giving them support in dealing with situations that they are not happy with.