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Insider Solutions
Advice - Child Protection
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What is child protection and why is it necessary? Child Protection is about protecting adults who work with children as well as the children themselves.
The Scottish Executive has produced a PARENT CHECKLIST for Youth Activities. This is a benchmark for parents and has gone out through schools but is also useful for organisations. This can be found on www.scotland.gov.uk Youth Scotland, the largest non-uniformed, voluntary youth work organisation in Scotland, has recently developed a resource pack entitled "Safe and Sound - building a safer youth work environment". The pack will support you through processes and contains sample forms as well as good practice information. For further details, please telephone 0131 554 2561 or visit www.youthscotland.org.uk The following is an excerpt from the pack: What is child protection? Youth groups, like all facilities working with young people, take child protection seriously. The development and implementation of clear and concise child protection policies and procedures are a key requirement for any organisation working with young people. Why do we need a child protection policy?
What should a Child Protection policy be? More than a piece of paper - this is a policy statement that can be as simple as: "It is the policy of (your youth group) to safeguard the welfare of all children and young people by protecting them from physical, sexual and emotional harm." Why do we need a policy on confidentiality?
Youth Workers As part of being a youth worker you build up close trusting relationships with the young people you are working with. You need to look closely at your practice because people working with children and young people are under scrutiny more than ever before. The expectations of young people, their parents and your local community in relation to the role of the youth worker are constantly changing. What was considered acceptable a few years ago maybe considered unacceptable and maybe even dangerous today. Youth workers can find themselves in potentially difficult and vulnerable situations which could be easily misinterpreted. You have a responsibility to look at your practice and that of your colleagues on a regular basis to see if it can be improved or changed in line with current expectations. Who has responsibility for Child Protection within an organisation?
How do you decide if an activity is appropriate?
Abuse is where a child or young person is denied the opportunity to be safe or feel safe. It can take many forms but most fit into the following categories:
It is important to remember that an abuser is not necessarily an adult; it can be anyone who holds power over another person. The following is an excerpt from the Youth Scotland pack 'Safe and Sound-building a safer youth work environment'. For further details, please telephone 0131 554 2561 or visit www.youthscotland.org.uk Minimising Risk Risk isn't just about your perception of a situation but the view of the young people, their parents, your organisation and your local community. The list below is presented to show some of the ways in which inappropriate practice might appear and be seen as abusive / dangerous. It is important to recognise that the list does not include everything that can happen but enough examples to give you clear guidance. It does not imply that all the actions below are in themselves abusive but must be seen in the context of the interaction with the young person and the intention of the youth worker. Overall, this list is meant to aid and advise youth workers in minimising risk and encouraging good practice. Youth workers must always exercise an appropriate level of judgement in each case. Minimising the risk of physical abuse Youth workers should not do any of the following to/at young people:
Minimising the risk of emotional abuse Youth workers should never use the following in their work with young people:
Minimising the risk of sexual abuse Youth workers should never do any of the following to young people:
Do I need to create a Policy/ Good Practice Guidelines? All organisations working with young people need to consider how it is going to protect the young people and the volunteers or staff working with them. The child protection policy should make clear statements on the views/rules of the organisation. The good practice guidelines should indicate the practical things that the organisation will do to ensure the aspirations of the policy is realised. See Useful Links - many of the websites give templates to develop your policy document. Listed below are some core and optional* areas for your policy/good practice documents:-
Practical checklist for arts workers/ youth organisations The following table is a contribution from Youth Scotland (see details below).
The Youth Scotland pack 'Safe and Sound - building a safer youth work environment' will support you through the above processes. For further details, please telephone 0131 554 2561 or visit www.youthscotland.org.uk Disclosure Scotland
Children First
Central Registered Body in Scotland (CRBS)
Childline Scotland
NSPCC Child Protection Helpline
YouthLink Scotland
Children in Scotland
Save the Children (Scotland) Download Creating Safety (Arts Council/Children in Scotland Guidelines) >> Creating safety guidelines in pdf format (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
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