Creating or Updating a Child Safeguarding Policy
If your business involves working with children, it needs to be a safe place for children to come into. There must be a Child Safeguarding Policy (CSP) which needs creating and following. It could be that you work at a school, or in childcare, a hospital, clinic, or anywhere else that has children. This article will help you know what needs to be included on a Child Safeguarding Policy. A Child Safeguarding Policy needs to be very clear about what steps the organisation will take to protect children and prevent them from being harmed.
What Do Most Child Safeguarding Policies Cover?
- A statement about why the policy is required.
- A statement that clarifies who will follow the policy, and who the policy protects.
- Clear steps about how children will be safeguarded against harm, abuse, or neglect.
- Clear guidance on what will be done if a child’s welfare is at risk.
- Information about how the organisation will care for the needs of children with disabilities or belonging to ethnic minority groups.
- Be clear about what laws and guidance, influenced the Child Safeguarding Policy.
- Have a date by which the policy will start from and include this on the policy itself.
- Have a date by which the policy will be reviewed (usually no longer than a year but if there are changes, update the policy sooner accordingly so everyone knows what to do), to see if everything is working well in it, or if it needs any new updates (perhaps because government policies have changed, new laws, or different procedures within your organisation). If you think people may miss the change to policy, ensure this is communicated via many different means, or get people to sign to say they’re aware of the policy changes, also implement safeguarding training updates as required too.
Always ensure that the CSP can be accessed, by anyone who would like to view this.
How Do DBS Checks Fit With Child Safeguarding Policies?
If your staff work with children in regulated activity, they will need an Enhanced DBS Check with Barred List for every staff member or volunteer, or any contractors that regularly work on the premises. This is a mandatory legal requirement, from Section 11 of the Children’s Act of 2004. By having Enhanced DBS Checks with Barred Lists, it will ensure that no-one will work with children, if their name appears on the Barred Lists, for past crimes of violence, abuse, neglect, or sexual crimes. It will check people’s spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands, and warnings, plus any locally held police information relevant to the job role. Your CSP can state that each member of staff working with children, will have this Enhanced DBS Check with Barred List, and the policy works alongside this to protect children from harm.
Does my Organisation Need a CSP?
If your organisation works with children, then yes, it definitely needs a CSP. Organisations such as schools, hospitals, childcare facilities, clinics all need CSPs, but so do places such as a toy shop, or a children’s clothing shop.
A CSP, and DBS Checks help to ensure that vulnerable children are protected.
Having a CSP Policy and staff Enhanced DBS Checked with Barred List helps to protect children and reduce the risk of people working with children who should not be doing so, because they’re violent, abusive, neglectful, or sexual offenders. It is important to have clear protocols in place, that can be followed, if it materialises that a child’s welfare is at risk, so that this can be dealt with quickly and efficiently, to keep the child safe from harm.
