Introduction

Addiction Family Support is committed to creating and maintaining a safe and positive environment. This policy sets out our approach to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults.

This policy applies to all aspects of our work and to everyone working for Addiction Family Support, including permanent and temporary employees, volunteers, contractors and self-employed contractors.

1. Principles

• Everything we do should be in the interests of people affected by someone else’s harmful use of or death from drug, alcohol, substances and gambling. This includes ensuring all individuals involved in Addiction Family Support keep children and vulnerable adults safe from abuse, neglect and exploitation.

 

2. Definitions

• Addiction Family Support uses definitions of the term ‘safeguarding’ from statutory guidance.
• Safeguarding children is defined in “Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018” as:
• Protecting children from maltreatment.
• Preventing impairment of children’s health or development.
• Ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care to enable all children to have the best outcomes.
• Acting to enable all children to have the best outcomes.
• Safeguarding vulnerable adults is defined in the Care Act 2014 and supporting statutory guidance issued under this act as:
• Protecting the rights of adults to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect.
• People and organisations working together to prevent and stop both the risks and experience of abuse or neglect.
• People and organisations making sure that the adult’s wellbeing is promoted including, where appropriate, taking fully into account their views, wishes, feelings and beliefs in deciding on any action.
• Recognising that adults sometimes have complex interpersonal relationships and may be ambivalent, unclear or unrealistic about their personal circumstances and therefore potential risks to their safety or well-being may not be apparent.
• Designated Safeguarding Lead- a specific person will be nominated in the absence of the safeguarding leads.

 

3. Recruitment

• Addiction Family Support carries out recruitment checks on everyone who works or volunteers for us supporting clients. All roles require an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and references obtained before the individual joins us. One reference must be from the most recent employer unless a legitimate reason for not providing this exists. The Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSL) or nominated person to discuss and agree an appropriate alternative referee. The DBS ID verifier(s) must see the original documents; however, to assist with people at distance, this may be via live web connection with a screenshot or other record being taken and saved. Applicant to email copies of originals to nominated person in line with recruitment and induction process. Original documents may still be asked for if person at distance attends training or other opportunity exists to see originals.
• DBS check renewals will be carried out at a maximum of three (3) year intervals in line with other comparable services. If a person has a current DBS certificate that can be verified as in force at enhanced level for both children and adults, then this may be used at the discretion of the DSLs.

 

4. Expectations of Staff and Volunteers

• Everyone working for Addiction Family Support has a responsibility to familiarise themselves with this safeguarding policy and the procedures linked to their role. Safeguarding is everyone’s business and flows through all that we do at every level.
• To ensure that the correct support is made available, anyone regardless of role within Addiction Family Support must inform the DSLs if their position is compromised due to a safeguarding allegation against themselves or another person or child at their address.
• Any allegations of misconduct towards children and/or vulnerable adults by those working for Addiction Family Support will be managed by the Chair of the Board of Trustees and the DSLs.

 

5. Safeguarding Training

• Addiction Family Support is committed to ensuring that every volunteer, staff and board member has safeguarding knowledge relevant to their role. Addiction Family Support will provide this by delivering training at intervals not exceeding three years. As part of the induction process new staff/volunteers will be made aware of their safeguarding responsibilities.

 

6. Acting on Safeguarding Concerns

• No one working for Addiction Family Support should investigate concerns about individual children or vulnerable adults who are or may be being abused or who are at risk. We all have a responsibility to make sure that concerns about children and vulnerable adults are processed in accordance with the Staff and Volunteer Steps Chart. This includes threats of self-harm and suicide.
• If you are concerned someone is in immediate danger, contact the police straight away following the Steps Chart.
• It is important when considering your concern that you also consider the needs and wishes of the person at risk, considering the nature of the alert.
• If anyone working for Addiction Family Support has any concerns or is in any doubt about what to do, if not covered in Steps Chart. They should consult Addiction Family Support’s DSLs or their line manager, if the DSLs are unavailable.
• Anyone working for Addiction Family Support who has concerns about the behaviour of a colleague must always raise this with the DSLs or their line manager and/or member of the Board of Trustees if the matter concerns one of the DSLs.

 

7. Learning and Improving

• Addiction Family Support is determined to keep improving its knowledge and understanding of how best to protect children and vulnerable adults. We will review our own practice regularly to check that we are placing the right emphasis on safeguarding in our work. This includes threats of self-harm and suicide.
• The DSLs in conjunction with the safeguarding trustee will carry out quarterly audits by sampling entries on the database. Entries and actions will be reviewed so that lessons can be learned about where procedures, process and systems need to improve to protect children and vulnerable adults better in future. We will also promote a culture in which we are able to highlight and review near misses to learn and improve our practice.

 

8. How to Record a concern or disclosure

• During every contact – email, over the phone, during face-to-face meetings and group session.
• The risk assessment box on the database must be completed for every new client contact, and updated when there is a change of circumstances. A clear record of risk is to be noted with date and initials. Please seek support from staff team or DSLs if unclear. This to include threats of self-harm and suicide.
• As long as it does not increase the risk to the individual, you should explain to them that it is your duty to share your concern with your DSLs. Please be sensitive with this information and use wording that indicates this is being done to further support the client.
• Take care to distinguish between fact, observation, allegation and opinion. It is important that the information you have is accurate. Again, please clarify as required sensitively.
• Be mindful of the need to be confidential. This information must only be shared with your DSLs and others on a need-to-know basis.

 

9. Roles and responsibilities of those within Addiction Family Support

• Addiction Family Support is committed to having the following in place:
• Two DSLs to support staff and volunteers and disseminates guidance to support the policy and procedures.
• A clear line of accountability within Addiction Family Support, working on promoting the welfare of all children and vulnerable adults.
• The Chair of the Board of Trustees and DSLs will deal with allegations of abuse or poor practice against members of staff and volunteers. See 4.3 and 6.5 for details.
• Arrangements to work effectively with other organisations to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, including arrangements for sharing information.
• Appropriate whistle blowing procedures and an open and inclusive culture that enables safeguarding and equality and diversity issues to be addressed.

 

10. Good practice

• It can be difficult to distinguish poor practice from abuse, whether intentional or accidental.
• It is not the responsibility of any individual involved in Addiction Family Support to make judgements regarding whether abuse is taking place. However, all Addiction Family Support staff and volunteers have the responsibility to recognise and identify poor practice and potential abuse, and act on this if they have concerns in accordance with 4.3 and 6.5 of this policy.

 

11. Addiction Family Support expects that all staff and volunteers:

• To have been exposed to safeguarding information relevant to their role and completed in-house training (see 5.1), raising awareness in working with Children and Adults at Risk.

 

12. Staff and volunteers in contact with children and vulnerable adults at risk should:

• Build relationships based on mutual trust and respect, encouraging adults at risk to take responsibility for their own development and decision-making. To include treats of self- harm and suicide.
• Gain the adult at risk consent and, where appropriate, the consent of relevant carers.
• Explore consent with the parent or carer of the child at risk, empowering client to take action where possible.

 

13. Relevant Policies

• This policy should be read in conjunction with other Addiction Family Support policies.
• Policies, procedures and supporting information are available from Addiction Family Support.