2.1.1 Scoping and assessing the risks
It will be helpful to start off by developing a clear picture of the activities you will run and the children and young people using them. You can work through the following stages, making notes as you go along.
Mapping out your planned activities including contact with children and young people and the frequency with which these occur.
Consider the needs of the children and young people who will be taking part in the activities, taking into account some of the issues covered in 1.1 .
Reflect on what you already do well, think about your strengths.
Consider what are the potential risks and make a note of how you will manage them. Refer to the ‘Assessing risks’ in section 3.1 .
2.1.2 Identifying leaders – the designated child protection officer
It is good practice for organisations, no matter how big or small, to designate at least one person who has overall responsibility for dealing with allegations or suspicions of abuse. They are the ‘designated officer for child protection’ and within this guide we will call them the ‘designated officer’.
They are the person whom staff contact if they have concerns about a child’s wellbeing and wish to determine the most appropriate course of action. This person has responsibility for ensuring that any formal child protection referrals are made to the appropriate bodies.
They should also have responsibility for ensuring that they are aware of any changes in practice or legislation that may have an impact on the organisation’s child protection procedures.
If possible, it is really helpful to have a role description for the designated officer so that they understand their responsibilities. This could be a stand-alone role or built in as an additional aspect of someone’s role. The NSPCC has a useful sample ‘role description’ but be aware it is very detailed so would need adapting to your requirements.
Make sure it is clear to everyone in the organisation who the designated officer is and how they can be contacted. It can also be very helpful to make this information available to children, young people and families taking part in activities and any visitors you have invited to join in with any of your projects/activities.
Staff and volunteers should also be told who they can contact outside their organisation, should there be any reason why reporting a concern or an incident to someone inside would be problematic.
This may be particularly important in smaller organisations or, for example, in cases where an allegation is made against the designated officer. Concerns can be referred to the local authority while your local Child Protection Committee (CPC) will also be able to provide advice.
CELCIS (Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland) holds the information for all the CPCs in each local authority area, and this can be found on their website .
2.1.3 Getting support
Whether you’re starting from scratch or reviewing what you’ve got already, this process can feel daunting so it’s really helpful if the task can be shared. Depending on the size of your organisation that might be with colleagues or your Board, but if you are an individual or small project, it may need to be others working elsewhere.
Some options to consider include:
Finally, in line with the principles previously highlighted, it could be a great opportunity to get children and young people involved, as well as their parents and carers.
2.2 Writing your child protection policy and procedures
Ideally you should have a set of child protection guidelines which should have three different sections or documents including:
A child protection policy
Your procedures
A code of behaviour.
These different documents can be encompassed in one set of guidelines or be standalone if preferred. Include an introduction outlining what the guidelines aim to do.
If you are self-employed, a freelance worker or an individual artist who is working for another organisation, you will follow their policies and procedures, but if you work on your own you should develop these yourself.
This will mean you will know what to do in the event of something happening, but it will also provide evidence to people employing you that you take child protection seriously.
They can be proportionate to the work you do but need to cover the essential components – the templates in 4.3 will be helpful for you.
2.2.1 Your child protection policy
A policy clearly demonstrates that you or your organisation takes the safety of children and young people seriously. It should contain what it expects its staff and volunteers to do and provide information on the principles underpinning you or your organisation’s approach to child protection and the wellbeing of the children and young people taking part in your activities.
We have provided a sample policy in section 4.3 which you can use as a starting point.
2.2.2 Your procedures
These should provide clear information that outlines what to do in situations where child protection concerns have been raised. The sort of things you should include in your procedures are:
2.2.3 A code of behaviour
It is really helpful to think about how your organisation works and the expectations it has of those who are working within it. Write it all down and make it available for everyone to see.
You may want to consider having separate codes – one for how adults should behave towards children and young people and one for the children and young people themselves. The style and language may be different and, therefore, more appropriate and engaging for the different audiences.
It is a good idea to involve colleagues, volunteers and, if at all possible, the children and young people you work with in its development. Involving children and young people means that you are clearly adhering to the principles previously outlined and modelling best practice.
It also helps them understand why the code is helpful, ensures their views are heard and helps develop a shared ownership of them.
What is included in your code/s will be dependent on the activities you provide but may include many of the issues covered in section 1 .
Working with your staff, volunteers and children and young people will help make sure the code is right for your organisation but there are some key positive statements that we would encourage you to include:
It is also important to have a clear position on bullying;what constitutes bullying and what are the consequences of it.
We have provided a sample policy in section 4.3 which you can use as a starting point.
