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Rise Futures - Safeguarding Policy Statement
1. Purpose and Scope
Rise Futures acknowledges the duty of care to safeguard and promote the welfare of young people and is committed to ensuring safeguarding practices reflect statutory responsibilities, government guidance and complies with best practice.
The policy recognises that the welfare and interests of young people are paramount in all circumstances. It aims to ensure that regardless of age; ability or disability; gender reassignment; race; religion or belief; sex or sexual orientation; socio-economic background; all young people:
● have a positive and enjoyable experience of the Rise Programme in a safe and person-centred environment
● are protected from any form of abuse whilst participating in the Rise Programme Rise Futures acknowledge that the young people we work with are particularly vulnerable to abuse and we accept the responsibility to take reasonable and appropriate steps to ensure their welfare.
This policy applies to all staff, including senior managers, trustees, the board members, paid staff, volunteers and seasonal workers, agency staff, young people or company professionals offering work experience support alongside Rise Futures.
The term 'student' used in this policy refers to all young people who are supported by the Rise programme.
2. Our Commitment
As part of our safeguarding policy Rise Futures will;
● Promote and prioritise the safety and wellbeing of young people
● Ensure everyone understands their roles and responsibilities in respect of safeguarding and is provided with appropriate learning opportunities to recognise, identify and respond to signs of abuse, neglect and other safeguarding concerns relating to young people
● Ensure appropriate action is taken in the event of incidents/concerns of abuse and support provided to the individual/s who raise or disclose the concern
● Ensure that confidential, detailed and accurate records of all safeguarding concerns are maintained and securely stored
● Prevent the employment/deployment of unsuitable individuals
● Ensure robust safeguarding arrangements and procedures are in operation.
● Work to promote effective joint working between agencies, professionals, parents and carer
The policy and procedures will be widely promoted and are mandatory for everyone involved in Rise Futures. Failure to comply with the policy and procedures will be addressed without delay and may ultimately result in dismissal/exclusion from the organisation.
3 . Policy Review
The policy will be reviewed a year after development and then every three years, or in the following circumstances:
● Changes in legislation and/or government guidance
● As required by the Local Safeguarding Board
● As a result of any other significant change or event
4. Employee awareness
All staff will be made aware of this policy as part of their initial induction process and there will be regular briefings and updates for all staff ;
Rise Futures will enable all employees to;
● Remain alert to potential indicators of abuse or neglect
● Remain alert to the risks which individual abusers, or potential abusers, may pose to young people
● Share and help to analyse information so that an assessment can be made of the students needs and circumstances
● Contribute to whatever actions are needed to safeguard and promote the student’s welfare
● Take part in regularly reviewing the outcomes for the student against specific plans
● Work cooperatively with parents/carers unless this is inconsistent with ensuring the student’s safety
5. Safeguarding Definitions
Rise Futures works to promote the rights of everyone who we work with.
Safeguarding means
● protecting young people from abuse and maltreatment
● preventing harm to young persons health or development
● ensuring young people grow up with the provision of safe and effective care
● taking action to enable all young people to have the best outcomes
Child protection is part of the safeguarding process. It focuses on protecting individual young people identified as suffering or likely to suffer significant harm.
Definitions of abuse and neglect:
Abuse and neglect are forms of maltreatment of a young person. Somebody may abuse or neglect a young person by inflicting harm, or by failing to act to prevent harm. Young people may be abused in a family or in an institutional or community setting; by those known to them or, more rarely, by a stranger.
They may be abused by an adult or adults or another young person.
Physical abuse
Physical abuse may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating, or otherwise causing physical harm to a young person. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces illness in a young person.
Emotional Abuse
Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a young person such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the young person’s emotional development. It may involve conveying to a young person that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only in so far as they meet the needs of another person. It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on young people. These may include interactions that are beyond the young person’s developmental capability, as well as overprotection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the young person participating in normal social interaction. It may involve seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another. It may involve serious bullying causing the young person to frequently feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of a young person. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a young person, though it may occur alone.
Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a young person to take part in sexual activities, including prostitution, whether or not the young person is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including penetrative (eg: rape, buggery or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts.
They may include non-contact activities, such as involving young people in looking at, or in the production of, pornographic material or watching sexual activities, or encouraging young person to behave in sexually inappropriate ways.
Neglect
Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a young person’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the young person’s health or development. Neglect may occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal substance abuse. Once a young person is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to provide adequate food and clothing, shelter including exclusion from home or abandonment, failing to protect a young person from physical and emotional harm or danger, failure to ensure adequate supervision including the use of inadequate care-takers, or the failure to ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment. It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a young person’s basic emotional needs.
Significant Harm
● Harm means ill-treatment or the impairment of health or development, including impairment, suffered from seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another
● Development means physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural development
● Health means physical or mental health
● Ill-treatment includes physical & sexual abuse and forms of ill-treatment which are not physical.
● Welfare - Welfare is defined as a young person or vulnerable adult in need of universal help from those already involved or from a single or multiple agency response.
Missing from Education - young people who go missing from education will fail to achieve their full potential academically, and fail to achieve economic well being in later life. They are also at a greater risk of physical harm, self-inflicted or inflicted by others, being sexually exploited and becoming involved in crime and anti-social behaviour, being employed illegally or abusing drugs and alcohol. In line with the duty under section 10 of the Children’s Act 2004, RISE Futures must take reasonable steps to monitor learners’ attendance through a daily register. Attendance should be monitored closely and poor or irregular attendance should be addressed.
Bullying and Harassment - Bullying can include a variety of behaviours from one individual/ group to another individual/ group such as name-calling, offensive language, coercion, hitting, pushing, theft or damage to belongings, cyber, spreading harmful messages, hate crime or mate crime which is befriending someone with the intent to exploit them in some way.
E-Safety - The safe and responsible use of technology, is sometimes presented as primarily a young person or vulnerable adult protection issue. While young people do need support to keep themselves safe online and the risks associated with the use of technology. Examples include the mismanagement of personal data, risks of financial scams, identity theft, cyberbullying, grooming, and radicalisation.
Learning Difficulty and/or Disability - young people with a learning difficulty and/or disability may be especially vulnerable to abuse or bullying and may have difficulties in communicating this to staff.
Risk to self and/or others - This may include but is not exclusive to self-harm, suicidal tendencies or potential risk of harming others, which may or may not include young people. This may be because of an individual experiencing a significant level of personal, emotional trauma and/or stress.
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) - Victims of FGM are likely to come from a community that is known to practice FGM. Professionals should note that girls at risk of FGM may not yet be aware of the practice or that it may be conducted on them, so sensitivity should always be shown when approaching the subject.
The FGM mandatory reporting duty is a legal duty provided for in the FGM Act 2003 (as amended by the Serious Crime Act 2015). The legislation requires staff to report when, during their professional duties, they either are informed by a girl under 18 that an act of FGM has been carried out on her, observe physical signs which appear to show that an act of FGM has been carried out on a girl under 18 and they have no reason to believe that the act was necessary for the girl’s physical or mental health or for purpose with labour or birth. For the purpose of the reporting duty, the relevant age is the girl’s age at the time of disclosure/identification of FGM (i.e. it does not apply where a woman aged 18 or over discloses she had FGM when she was under 18).
Forced Marriage - One or both spouses do not consent to the marriage or consent is extracted under duress. Duress includes both physical and emotional pressure. A clear distinction must be made between a forced marriage and an arranged marriage. In arranged marriages, the families of both spouses take a leading role in choosing the marriage partner, but the choice whether to accept the arrangement remains with the young people.
Modern slavery - Encompasses slavery, human trafficking, forced labour and domestic servitude. Traffickers and slave masters use whatever means they have at their disposal to coerce, deceive and force individuals into a life of abuse, servitude and inhumane treatment.
Risks/ abuse related to family/cultural belief/ faith - Some families have certain values and beliefs that can cause harm to a young person or vulnerable adult. An example of this can include strong beliefs or a sense of honour or shame that can prevent people from seeking or accepting the help they need. In extreme cases, young people who are perceived as “disobedient” or “different” are believed to be possessed by a spirit controlling their behaviour. The young people can be physically and emotionally abused to exorcise the spirit.
Parental Impacts - Parents and carers can have a significant impact on a young person or vulnerable adults well being. Some issues can include Substance Misuse, Mental Health and Domestic Abuse. It is also important to note that some young people also misuse drugs or alcohol when experiencing trauma in their own lives and they may require support around both factors.
Reviewed January 2021
Next review January 2022
Author: Sarah Hunter