Safeguarding Policy

The Centre for Emotional Health is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and adults at risk. We recognise our responsibility to protect beneficiaries, practitioners, staff and volunteers from abuse, neglect, and exploitation and to act promptly where safeguarding concerns arise. Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.

The policy below outlines how we will safeguard those we work with and how we will promote high standards of safeguarding practice throughout all of our work.

Purpose of Policy

Everyone has a right to feel and be safe. Our approach to safeguarding includes the concept of an emotionally healthy culture, which promotes and supports individuals and teams to thrive.

Scope

This policy applies to all employees, interns, trustees, advisors, freelance trainers and volunteers. We expect any partners we might work with to share our commitment to safeguarding in its widest sense.

Terminology

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults:

• Protecting individuals from harm to health or development
• Taking action to enable individuals to have the best outcomes
• Maintaining an emotionally healthy environment

Child or adult protection:

• Activity that is undertaken to protect specific children or adults who are suffering or at risk of suffering significant harm

Significant harm:

• This may refer to a single traumatic incident, or the cumulative effects of incidents or behaviours over time which significantly impair physical or psychological development. This threshold triggers compulsory intervention in the best interests of the child, young person or adult

Abuse:

• A form of maltreatment. A child, young person or adult may be abused by someone inflicting harm or by failing to act to prevent harm

Early Identification and help:

• Statutory guidance stresses the importance of children, young people and adults having the opportunity of early help and support in order to prevent child/adult protection at a later stage

Our commitment

• This approach will be embedded throughout culture of whole organisation
• All employees, freelance trainers, volunteers, and trustees are to update their safeguarding training every 3 years and to be supported with implementing best practice
• Recruitment – safer recruitment practice is reviewed annually
• Environment – both on and offline our work environments should feel and be safe, with positive experiences actively promoted. All individuals have an equal right to protection from harm. Everyone will be actively encouraged to take personal responsibility for their own emotional health, including feeling empowered to seek support when this feels helpful.
• Procedures for reporting are clear and acted upon. Any safeguarding concerns will be followed up and reviewed to identify learning and implications for practice
• Monitoring – there will be opportunities to reflect together on our safeguarding practice, including opportunities for our freelance trainers to do this. Making opportunities to hear directly from those delivering our programmes, listening to their reflections on their safeguarding practice whilst facilitating our parent programmes (via Regional Events and other Meetups)
• Learning – making opportunities to discuss safeguarding practices with other charities (through our Emotional Health Alliance).
• Carrying out an annual review of this policy.

Principles of practice

Everyone:

• Respond appropriately to a child, young person or adult who tells you about something which is happening/has happened to them.
  • Give full attention
  • Keep body language open and encouraging
  • Reassure them their feelings are important
  • Be compassionate without showing shock at what is being described
  • Respect pauses and give plenty of time
  • Offer praise for finding a way to tell someone
  • Use their language to reflect back what you have understood from them to check you have understood correctly.
  • Remind the individual that what happened is not their fault.
  • Listen and don’t ask any leading questions. “is there anything else you would like to tell me?” can be a useful phrase.
  • Do not promise to keep anything said confidential, as it everyone’s job to ensure that individuals are safe from harm.
  • Remind/explain that there is someone whose job it is to help and praise again for telling you what has happened
• Make notes which are accurate and detailed (as soon as you can after disclosure) You can include any details of observations of the individual’s body language, tone of voice etc. Use the individual’s exact words where you can, especially of any description of abuse. Any information about dates, locations, identity of person(s) inflicting harm. Name and address of individual who is disclosing plus date and time of disclosure
• Pass on your concerns immediately to the Designated Safeguarding Lead along with the notes you have made.

Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL):

• Follow up speedily and take further action if not content with the response as per safeguarding training (Social Care, LADO, Police)

Suspicions/Disclosure regarding abuse by a member of staff:

Any concerns about possible abuse by a member of staff will be immediately reported to both the Designated Safeguarding Lead and to the Chief Executive. The Safeguarding Trustee will be informed. All conversations will be recorded and a decision made by the Chief Executive and the trustee whether to consult with the local authority designated officer. The decision made and the reasons for it will be clearly documented. In order to safeguard themselves against allegations of abuse the employees of The Centre for Emotional Health must take steps to ensure they are not left alone with a child or vulnerable person during the course of their work.

Roles and responsibilities

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and everyone needs to understand that safeguarding affects all aspects of our organisation. Everyone needs to be aware of this policy and the procedures to be followed.

Trustees: Safeguarding is a key governance priority for trustees. It is their role to ensure that The Centre for Emotional Health:

• Acts in the best interest of children, young people and adults at risk
• Takes all reasonable steps to prevent any harm to them
• Assesses and manages risk
• Puts safeguarding policies and practices in place
• Undertakes ongoing monitoring and reviewing to ensure that safeguards are being implemented and are effective
• Responds effectively to allegations of abuse and whistleblowing

In addition to the Trustee role description the Safeguarding Trustee will support the Chief Executive and DSL to:

Strategic

• Consider the organisation’s strategic plans and make sure they reflect safeguarding legislation, regulations specific to our activities, statutory guidance, and the safeguarding expectations of the Charities Commission.
• Regularly review whether the things the organisation has put in place are creating a safer culture and keeping people safe.
• Check the organisation’s risk register reflects safeguarding risks properly and plans sensible measures to take, including relevant insurance for trustees’ liability.
• Make sure there is space on the trustee meeting agenda for safeguarding reports and help trustees understand and challenge those reports.

Effective policy and practice

• Make sure there is an annual review of safeguarding policies and procedures and that this is reported to trustees.
• Understand the monitoring the charity does to see whether policies and procedures are effective.
• Learn from case reviews locally and nationally, to improve our policies, procedures and practices.
• Oversee safeguarding allegations against staff or volunteers, together with CEO and Designated Safeguarding Lead.
• Be a point of contact for staff or volunteers if someone wishes to complain about a lack of action in relation to safeguarding concerns.

Creating the right culture

• Support the trustees in developing their individual and collective understanding of safeguarding.
• Work with the chair, designated safeguarding lead and communications team in order to manage all serious safeguarding cases.
• Support regular safeguarding updates for staff, volunteers and beneficiaries.

Designated Safeguarding Lead: To lead on safeguarding matters for The Centre for Emotional Health. To attend level 3 safeguarding training every 2 years.

Chief Executive (Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead): to lead on safer recruitment, induction, exit interviews, safeguarding training arrangements for employees. To attend level 3 safeguarding training every 2 years.

CfEH Employees & volunteers: to attend safeguarding training every 3 years and return certificates to the People and Culture Manager when completed.

Freelance Trainers: To attend safeguarding training every 3 years and to return certificates to the Training Operations Lead when completed.

Policy into Practice

• Regular opportunities to reflect together as a team of employees
• It is everyone’s responsibility to contribute to our emotionally healthy culture
• As part of the induction process for new employees and volunteers, all employees and volunteers attend a 4-day Nurturing Programme training
• Our Operations Lead ensures that all freelance trainers have updated their safeguarding training every 3 years
• Our CEO and People and Culture Manager ensure that all employees and volunteers have updated their safeguarding training every 3 years, and that the DSL and DDSL have updated their safeguarding level 3 training every 2 years
• The Chief Executive ensures that their Safer Recruitment Training is renewed every 5 years and that they maintain the lead on all recruitment procedures
• Opportunities for discussion/reflection with other organisations about safeguarding are arranged with other organisations through our Emotional Health Alliance
• Our freelance trainers have time set aside during their annual PGLT day for reflecting on safeguarding matters
• We listen to the experiences of the Parent Group Leaders we have trained during various meetups in their local areas and share their thoughts/reflections with our training team.

Safeguarding Procedures

Immediate Risk

If there is immediate danger:

• Call 999
• Ensure the individual is safe
• Inform the Designated Safeguarding Lead as soon as possible

Reporting a Concern (Internal)

• Complete a Safeguarding Concern Form (same day)
• Inform the Designated Safeguarding Lead
• Store records securely
• Continue to support the service user appropriately

Decision Making (DSL)

The Safeguarding Lead will:

• Assess risk and urgency
• Consult safeguarding guidance
• Decide whether to:
  • Monitor internally
  • Seek consent (where appropriate)
  • Make an external referral

External Referrals

Referrals may be made to:

• Local Authority Children’s Social Care
• Local Authority Adult Safeguarding Team
• Police
• NHS professionals

Consent will usually be sought unless:

• The person is at serious risk
• There is risk to others
• A crime has been committed
• The person lacks capacity

Mental Capacity and Consent (Adults)

• Capacity is decision‑specific and time‑specific
• If someone lacks capacity, a best interests decision may be required
• Safeguarding referrals can proceed without consent where legally justified

Confidentiality and Information Sharing

Information will be:

• Shared on a need‑to‑know basis
• Stored securely
• Shared without consent if statutory safeguarding thresholds are met
• Managed in line with GDPR and safeguarding law

Whistleblowing

Staff who have concerns about unsafe practice or abuse by colleagues should report concerns internally or via appropriate external whistleblowing channels without fear of reprisal.

Policy Review

• Annually
• After safeguarding incidents
• When legislation changes