Safeguarding

Our Safeguarding policy is focused on the protection of children, young people and vulnerable adults, that are in receipt of Skills Group's core services.

We believe that a young person or vulnerable adult should never experience abuse of any kind.

We are committed to establishing a safe and nurturing environment where young people and vulnerable adults are encouraged to learn and achieve.

We keep young people and vulnerable adults safe by:

• Valuing them, listening to and respecting them
• Appointing a Designated Lead Safeguarding Officer (DLSO) within Skills Group: Debra Rowan
• Adopting child protection and safeguarding practices through procedures and a code of conduct for staff and volunteers
• Developing and implementing an effective e-safety policy and related procedures
• Providing effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support, training and quality assurance measures
• Recruiting staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made
• Recording and storing information professionally and securely, and sharing information about safeguarding and good practice with children, young people, vulnerable adults, their families, staff and volunteers via leaflets, posters and one-to-one discussions
• Using our safeguarding procedures to share concerns and relevant information with agencies who need to know, and involving young people, vulnerable adults, parents, families and carers appropriately and where it is safe to do so
• Creating and maintaining an anti-bullying environment and ensuring we have a policy and procedure to help us deal effectively with any bullying that does arise
• Ensuring that we have effective complaints and whistleblowing measures in place
• Ensuring that we provide a safe physical environment for our young people, vulnerable adults, staff and volunteers, by applying health and safety measures in accordance with the law and regulatory guidance

There are various definitions of what constitutes abuse:

Sexual Abuse
Occurs when a person uses power, force or authority to involve another in any form of unwanted or illegal sexual activity

Physical Abuse
Occurs when an individual suffers significant harm from an injury. The injury may be inflicted intentionally or may be the inadvertent consequence of physical punishment or physically aggressive treatment

Emotional Abuse
The persistent emotional maltreatment of an individual such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on their emotional development

Neglect
The failure to provide for the young person’s or vulnerable adults basic needs such as food, clothing, medical attention, supervision or care to the extent that their health and development is, or is likely to be, placed at risk

Financial Abuse
Financial abuse in relationships is a way of controlling a person’s ability to acquire, use and maintain their own money and financial resources

Domestic Abuse
Exposure to domestic violence can include watching or hearing a family member assault or threaten another member of the family, direct involvement, or experiencing the aftermath of family violence, such as seeing bruises or observing maternal depression.