SAFEGUARDING | Kingdom Way Trust

Safeguarding Policy

1. Safeguarding Policy

Kingdom Way Trust (KWT) takes its responsibilities to all its residents, tenants, placements, guests, staff and volunteers seriously. We also recognise a particular responsibility to young people and vulnerable adults at risk of abuse or neglect. We recognise that supporting our particular client groups, may mean many of those we work with might be ‘at risk’.

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility

1.1. Definitions

Young People are defined within our service users as: people who are 16-17 years of age
Vulnerable adults are defined as: people who are 18 years of age or older who are unable to provide for their own needs and protect themselves against abuse or serious exploitation due to impairment of mental, physical and emotional function
Abuse and neglect are defined as: forms of maltreatment by inflicting harm, or by failing to act to prevent harm, which can appear in the forms of physical, emotional, sexual acts and neglect
KWT is: Kingdom Way Trust
Service User: refers to anyone using KWT services, which includes: residents (The Bridge and Emergency Housing), guests (Emergency Housing and Weekend Drop-in), tenants (Hope into Action) and placements (Hope Woodwork)

Safeguarding young people and vulnerable adults is a part of the wider role of safeguarding and promoting welfare. This refers to the activity which is undertaken to protect specific young people and vulnerable adults who are suffering or are at risk of suffering significant harm. As adults and/or professionals or volunteers, everyone has a responsibility to safeguard young people and vulnerable adults and promote their welfare.

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people and vulnerable adults – and in particular protecting them from significant harm - depends upon effective joint working between agencies and professionals that have different roles and expertise.

Some young people and the most vulnerable adults and those at greatest risk of social exclusion, will need co-ordinated help from health, education, social care, and quite possibly the voluntary sector and other agencies, including justice services.

For those young people and vulnerable adults who are suffering, or at risk of suffering significant harm, joint working is essential, to safeguard and promote their welfare and – where necessary – to help bring to justice the perpetrators of crimes against them.

1.2. Agreement

KWT agrees with the aims of the Care Act 2014 with regard to Safeguarding and expects its staff to:

to stop abuse or neglect wherever possible;
be alert to potential indicators of abuse or neglect;
be alert to and reduce the risks which individual abusers, or potential abusers, may pose to young people and vulnerable adults;
share and help to analyse information so that an assessment can be made of the individual's needs and circumstances;
contribute to whatever actions are needed to safeguard and promote the individual's welfare;
take part in regularly reviewing the outcomes for the individual against specific plans; and
work co-operatively with parents and/or other carers unless this is inconsistent with ensuring the individual's safety.

As one of its major activities KWT seeks to serve the needs of young people and vulnerable adults, promoting holistic development.

1.3. Commitments

KWT takes seriously the welfare of all young people and vulnerable adults who come onto its premises or who are involved in its activities.
KWT aims to ensure that they are welcomed into a safe, caring environment with a positive and friendly atmosphere.
KWT recognises that it is the responsibility of each one of its staff, paid and unpaid, to prevent the neglect, physical, sexual or emotional abuse of young people and vulnerable adults and to report any abuse discovered or suspected.
The charity recognises its responsibility to implement, maintain and regularly review procedures, which are designed to prevent and to be alert to such abuse.
The charity is committed to supporting, resourcing and training those who work with vulnerable adults in particular and young people on occasion, and to providing supervision.
The charity is committed to maintaining good links with the statutory social services authorities.

1.4. Staff 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.
Where necessary or possible, staff will be encouraged to attend appropriate training courses.

1.5. Reviewing the Policy and Procedure

This policy will be reviewed every year, which will include updating of necessary details and any updates required by a change in local or national policy.

1.6. Other policies and notes to be used in conjunction with this policy and procedures

1. Kingdom Way Trust Staff Handbook

2. Hope Woodwork Health and Safety Policy

3. Hope Into Action Policies and Procedures

4. Weekend Drop-in Supervisor and Volunteer Procedures

1.7. Safeguarding Lead Person

The Safeguarding Lead is Roland Brown – mobile phone 07564 636023

2. Procedure objectives

These procedures are based on KWT’s policy for Safeguarding are based on The Sussex Safeguarding Adults Policy and Procedures https://sussexsafeguardingadults.procedures.org.uk and those of Thirtyone:eight

These procedures are to be adhered to by all the Kingdom Way Trust staff and volunteers.

The procedures have been developed to assist staff, volunteers, trustees, and service users in safeguarding by acting on and reporting at the earliest possible opportunity any suspected or disclosed abuse. Depending upon the nature of particular services or the requirements of particular partner agencies, the policy and procedures may be supplemented by local procedures.

3. Definitions of abuse

In defining abuse it is important to clarify the following factors:

-Who is ‘at risk’ and why do we safeguard?

-Categories of abuse and what actions or omissions constitute abuse?

-Who may be the abuser(s)?

-When should we pass concerns on?

3.1. Who is at risk?

Our definition of an ‘adult at risk’ follows the Care Act 2014[i] and is any person who is aged 18 years or over ‘who may be in need of community care services by reason of mental or other disability, age or illness; and who is or may be unable to take care of him or herself, or unable to protect him or herself against significant harm or exploitation’.

In the majority of cases the work of Kingdom Way Trust is with those over 18. As an exception to this the Hope Woodwork Project also caters for those aged 16-17 (Young People).

Staff and volunteers may come into contact with children within the projects, however children are not considered as service users. Children should always be accompanied by their parent or a responsible adult. They should at no time be left alone under the care of staff or volunteers.

Specific guidelines regarding the presence of children at the Weekend Drop-in are included in the procedures document for the project.

If there are any safeguarding concerns regarding children that staff or volunteers come into contact with through the projects, the procedures in point 5.3 below should be followed.

Appropriate DBS checks are completed on staff, and specific consideration for the protection of this age group is given within the workshop such as increased supervision, no lone working and control data sharing with staff or volunteers. Procedures for staff and volunteers working with this age group are detailed in the Project specific Handbooks and additional aspects taken into account within the Risk Assessment.

3.2. What is ‘abuse’?

The term ‘abuse’ can be subject to wide interpretation. Very simply:

“Abuse is defined as any action that intentionally harms or injures another person.”

3.3. Why do we ‘safeguard’?

Kingdom Way Trust agrees with the aims of the Care Act with regard to Safeguarding:

To stop abuse or neglect wherever possible.
To prevent harm and reduce risk of abuse.
To safeguard people in a way that supports them in making choices and having control about how they want to live.
To promote an approach which concentrates on improving life for those concerned.
To raise awareness and help people understand abuse and how to raise concerns.

3.4. What constitutes abuse?

Abuse may consist of a single act or repeated acts, but is rarely accidental. It may be physical, verbal or psychological, it may be an act of neglect or an omission to act, or it may occur when a vulnerable person is persuaded to enter into a financial or sexual transaction to which he or she has not consented, or cannot consent.

Employees and volunteers have a responsibility to be aware of and alert to signs that all is not well within a service user, volunteer or staff member. However, they are not responsible for diagnosing, investigating or providing a therapeutic response to abuse. In addition, not all concerns relate to abuse; there may be other explanations.

4. Categories of abuse

The Care Act now identifies ten types of abuse:

Physical abuse – including assault, hitting, slapping, pushing, misuse of medication, restraint or inappropriate physical sanctions.
Sexual abuse – including rape and sexual assault or sexual acts to which the young person or adult has not consented or was pressured into consenting.
Psychological/ emotional abuse – including emotional abuse, threats of harm or abandonment, deprivation of contact, humiliation, blaming, controlling, intimidation, coercion, harassment, verbal abuse, isolation or unreasonable and unjustified withdrawal or services or supportive networks.
Modern slavery – including being forced to live in overcrowded accommodation, forced to work for unfair pay, important documentation held by others.
Financial or material abuse – including theft, fraud, exploitation, the misuse or misappropriation of property, possessions or benefits.
Neglect and acts of omission – including failure to provide access to appropriate health, social care or educational services, the withholding of the necessities of life, such as medication, adequate nutrition and heating.
Self-neglect – including ignoring medical or physical care needs e.g. hoarding, not taking prescribed medication or not washing. Can be deliberate (e.g. Refusing to eat) or failing to recognise that one’s own needs are not being met (e.g. a dementia patient forgetting basic tasks).
Domestic violence - including controlling, threatening or coercive behaviour. It also includes honour based violence, female genital mutilation and forced marriage. Often a combination or several other forms of abuse (e.g. psychological, physical, financial etc.)
Discriminatory abuse - including racist, sexist or religious harassment, hate crime or negativity towards other cultures, not recognising or making reasonable adjustments to another’s religious or disability needs or identity.
Organisational abuse - including the misuse of power and abuse of trust by professionals, the failure to act, poor care or neglect.

4.1. Who can be an abuser?

Abuse can occur in any relationship and may result in significant harm to, or exploitation of, the person subjected to it. With this in mind, we are aware that many safeguarding issues are perpetrated by people known to the victim.

4.2. The Kingdom Way Trust ethos of empowerment and ‘making safeguarding personal’

The most recent approach to Safeguarding young people and adults at risk concentrates on the notions of ‘acceptable risk’ and ‘making safeguarding personal’. The emphasis should be on sensible risk appraisal, not striving to avoid all risk. Kingdom Way Trust seeks to empower service users by journeying alongside them, listening to them and paying close attention to any risk elements. This means assessing regularly whether these are ‘acceptable risks’ (and therefore protecting their Human Rights to life, liberty and privacy) or whether it is becoming a Safeguarding issue.

4.3. Suspicion of abuse

In all discussions regarding suspicion of abuse and ‘acceptable risk’, it should be considered whether different cultures and lifestyles have any bearing on the matter. Kingdom Way Trust does not make judgments about the acceptability or otherwise of lifestyles operation within the law, however it is important that this philosophy does not stand in the way of the organisation’s responsibility to protect young people and vulnerable adults at risk from harm. We must explore what is deemed ‘acceptable risk’ by the individual in question, how aware they are as to whether abuse is taking place and/ or whether they are choosing to allow this to continue. Ensure that you are accountable to line management and are logging discussions in the Incident/ Cause for concern template (Appendix 2).

Any concerns or actions should be discussed with a line manager at the earliest convenience. If you have reasonable suspicion that abuse is happening or has happened it should not be kept to yourself.

You, your line manager and the service user will then agree the next steps, whether that is to record it as an ‘incident’ and to keep it as a ‘current’ issue in need of further observation, to pass it on to the Local Authority or to just put in some extra support (e.g. additional house/workshop rules or more support meetings). Service user consent for a referral to the Local Authority is best practice, but not always essential – depending on the risk.

If a volunteer suspects abuse they should contact Kingdom Way Trust and be aware of how to do this. Information on how to contact Kingdom Way Trust Safeguarding Lead should be displayed somewhere communal in all properties/ venues/ workplaces.

FLOWCHART OF RESPONSIBILITIES

(SPECIFIC TO EACH AREA OF KINGDOM WAY TRUST)

Potential safeguarding issues or concerns will be assessed within the risk assessment of either the individual or the project involved.

When disclosure or suspicion of abuse takes place the following lines of communication should be followed:

WEEKEND DROP-IN – THE WAY

For external users of The Way we would expect them to be in agreement with this Safeguarding Policy or to have a policy of their own for the activity being undertaken.

HOPE INTO ACTION

THE BRIDGE & EMERGENCY HOUSING

HOPE WOODWORK

5. Disclosures and making a Safeguarding Referral

5.1. When to pass information on.

Employees and volunteers have a responsibility to be aware of and alert to signs that all is not well with a service user, volunteer or staff member. They are not responsible for diagnosing, investigating or providing a therapeutic response to abuse. Not all concerns relate to abuse as there may be other explanations.

5.2. Disclosure of abuse

If a person discloses that they are being abused or that they are involved in the abuse of a vulnerable person, action should continue as in Section 4.3. All action must proceed urgently and without delay.

Kingdom Way Trust staff or volunteers informed of abuse should remind the service user that confidentiality cannot be guaranteed where a vulnerable person is at risk of abuse or further abuse. Refer to flowchart above.

5.3. Actioning allegations, suspicions or disclosures of Abuse.

There should always be the opportunity to discuss welfare concerns with and seek advice from colleagues, managers and other agencies. It is best practice to inform the service user of your plans before informing the relevant authorities.

Never delay emergency action if a young person or adult is at risk.
If anyone is in immediate danger there should be no hesitation in contacting the police or other relevant emergency service.
Always record in writing concerns and discussions about a young person’s or vulnerable adult’s welfare using the Safeguarding template (Appendix 1) or Incident Report (Appendix 2).
Ensure that you reach clear and explicit recorded agreement about who will be taking what action or that no further action will be taken.

In circumstances where a service user declines to disclose, despite some work having been done towards disclosing, it may be necessary to report the alleged abuse without their agreement. In these circumstances the service user must be notified in advance of the decision to report to social services. Any staff member may report a disclosure or abuse to social services irrespective of the opinion of other staff.

It is important for staff and volunteers to make written records of any incidents or concerns that they have as soon as possible. It is also important to make a record of conversations with the young person or adult at risk using the same language they used especially names used for body parts or sexual acts.

5.4. Abuse from the past or self-inflicted abuse

Should a disclosure be made about historical abuse, this should be passed on to the Safeguarding Lead and logged as a Safeguarding disclosure (Appendix 1) or an Incident/ Cause for concern (Appendix 2) – depending on the severity.

After discussion, a decision will be made as to whether this information is passed on to the appropriate authority. It is largely dependent on whether the victim has informed anyone already and whether the perpetrator may still be abusing others. Historical abuse can also be passed on to the non-emergency police if deemed appropriate. This is helpful to police if any other people also report about the same individual.

There are differing opinions as to whether self-abuse should be a safeguarding issue (note that ‘self-neglect’ has now been added as a category of abuse). However there are two possible concerns:

If there is suspicion or disclosure of worsening self-abuse, this should be recorded as an incident. This may include self-harming behaviours such as eating disorders, cutting, risky or addictive behaviours. If anyone has concerns that these behaviours are worsening, they should discuss this with the appropriate person (see Flowcharts above).
Any attempts at suicide, or serious thoughts about suicide should be passed on to the Safeguarding Lead. Should a volunteer be first to the scene, they should not hesitate in getting emergency help if required. If in doubt, encouraging the service user to visit the local Accident & Emergency department may be good practice especially if they have overdosed or hurt themselves badly. Try not to leave them alone until you believe they are safe.

5.5. Making a Referral

Local authorities are the designated lead agencies with responsibility for coordinating a response to allegations or concerns of abuse.

Referrals can be made by the Kingdom Way Trust staff member most involved or the Kingdom Way Trust Safeguarding Lead. Please refer to Appendix 3 for specific contacts.

Staff should work within the following timescales for reporting allegations or suspicions of abuse:

Immediate if the young person or vulnerable adult is at risk of serious physical harm, or a serious criminal act has taken place and evidence will need to be kept safe.
Within 24 hours if it relates to a specific incident which may be still going on, or may happen again.
Within 7 days if it is a more general concern, which does not indicate immediate harm.

6. Other aspects and implications

6.1. Supporting Staff and Volunteers

Kingdom Way Trust accepts that abuse and safeguarding concerns are a difficult topic and will endeavour to support staff, volunteers and service users throughout the process.

Kingdom Way Trust accepts that staff and volunteers may find journeying through a safeguarding disclosure incredibly traumatic. Aftercare may include recommending external counsellors, evaluation with staff to see if they are deemed fit to return to work, allowing time off to rest if appropriate.

All staff will undergo safeguarding training as part of their induction and annual refresher training.

6.2. Allegations made against staff or volunteers.

Staff and volunteers may be subject to abuse allegations. Kingdom Way Trust will offer support in these circumstances. Any allegation against the Safeguarding Lead should be made to a member of the Trustees. Kingdom Way Trust will assist the social services department with any investigation. As a result of the investigations, disciplinary procedures may be implemented.

Any allegation of abuse made against a church volunteer (related to Hope into Action partner church) must be immediately referred to the church’s Safeguarding Lead. Kingdom Way Trust will ensure that the church conducts appropriate screening of volunteers and adopts safeguarding measures.

6.3. Protecting against abuse by staff and volunteers

It may be very hard for a worker to report a concern about a colleague to a line manager but the safety and protection of the young person or adult at risk must always be the priority. Likewise, should a service user wish to make a complaint about Kingdom Way Trust, the procedure will be clearly outlined on the noticeboard at the premises.

DBS checks:

It is important that all prospective employees or volunteers who will be working alone with young people and adults at risk are checked thoroughly before being employed.

At Kingdom Way Trust this means as well as references being checked, there will also be a requirement for offences to be declared and a Disclosure and Barring Service DBS check undertaken on all staff and any volunteers who fit within the criteria of requiring the check.

A register of DBS checks is held and monitored regularly to stay up to date with renewals for both staff and volunteers.

6.4. Confidentiality and information held on young people and adults at risk.

Confidentiality is central to the work of Kingdom Way Trust. We understand confidentiality to mean that discussions about service users, staff, volunteers and those who we may routinely come in contact with are kept to those who need to be involved or have a direct involvement with the person whose information is being shared. However if abuse is suspected, this supersedes an individual’s right to privacy and confidentiality:

”The right to confidentiality is not absolute. Sharing relevant information with the right people at the right time is vital to good safeguarding practice. All staff and volunteers...can contact either the police or the local authority safeguarding lead for advice, without necessarily giving an individual’s personal details, if they are unsure whether a safeguarding referral would be appropriate.”[ii]

7. Review

These procedures will be reviewed annually by Kingdom Way Trust Trustees. The Safeguarding Lead will undertake safeguarding training every year.

Notes

[i] Care Act 2014 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/23/contents/enacted

www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/adult-pocket-guide.pdf

www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/23/contents/enacted

[ii] The Common Law Duty of Confidentiality taken from www.scie.org.uk/care-act- 2014/safeguarding-adults/sharing-information/what-does-the-law-say.asp

Appendices, report templates, etc, may be obtained by contacting the Safeguarding Lead