Safeguarding Children and Referring Safeguarding Concerns

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and in particular protecting them from abuse and harm, is everyone's responsibility and depends on effective joint working between foster carers, and relevant agencies and practitioners.

East Sussex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the well-being of children who are placed in our care, so that they can experience a healthy and happy childhood free from abuse and neglect.

East Sussex County Council has a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children, and to investigate and take action as necessary to protect children when there are concerns that they have been abused or neglected.

You have a responsibility to report any concerns of abuse or neglect and to take all allegations seriously and report them to East Sussex County Council.

If it is an emergency situation then the police will need to be called.

If it is out of office hours then the out of hours Emergency Duty Service (EDS) will need to be called on 01273335905 or 01273335906.

The procedures in this chapter are mandatory and any failure to comply with them will be addressed through appropriate procedures.

East Sussex County Council will ensure that arrangements are made for you and children placed by the Fostering Service to be provided with contact details of the Children’s work team and the Fostering Service duty number. Ofsted can be contacted on 0300 123 1231.

Children should feel and be safe, understand how to protect themselves and be protected from significant harm, including (but not limited to) neglect, abuse, sexual and criminal exploitation, accidents, bullying, self-harm, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, homophobic behaviour, racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination, and radicalisation. Any discriminatory behaviours must be challenged and help and support given to children about how to treat others with respect.

When children raise concerns, it is essential that you listen to them, take their concerns seriously and respond and report appropriately. Do not ask leading questions and where possible write it down in the language the child used, as quickly as possible.

Care and placement planning meetings ensures that any risks associated with children such as offending, misusing drugs or alcohol, self-harming, going missing, being affiliated with gangs, being subject to sexual or criminal exploitation, extremism or radicalism are known and understood by you.

Children's safety and welfare is promoted in all fostering households and you will actively safeguard and promote the welfare of children. You will develop positive relationships with children, generate a culture of openness and trust and be aware of and alert to any signs or symptoms that might indicate a child is at risk of harm. You will be trained in appropriate safer-care practice, including skills to care for children who have been abused. For foster carers who offer care to children with disabilities, this includes training specifically on issues which may specifically affect them. See also: Children with a Disability and those Children who May Need Specialist Medical Help.

Children need support  to understand how to keep themselves safe, including when outside of the household or when using the internet or social media see Internet, Photographs and Mobile Phones Procedure and Extremism and Radicalisation Procedure.

Proactive and creative safeguarding practice means that all children, including the most vulnerable, have a strong sense of safety and well-being and they are unlikely to be missing from care on a regular basis. Children who do go missing will experience well-coordinated responses that reduce the harm or risk of harm to them, risks are well understood and minimised, there is a clear plan of urgent action in place to protect them and to reduce further harm or risk of harm. See Missing Children Procedure.

As a foster carer, you should be prepared and supported to manage situations and behaviour, and clear and consistent boundaries contribute to a feeling of well-being and security for children. Children are involved in creating ways to de-escalate situations and finding creative alternative strategies that are effective. See Looking Beyond the Behaviours Procedure.

Children need to  be supported to take age-appropriate risks, as a normal part of growing up, that are considered with you, the child’s social worker (as appropriate) and the children themselves.

The Fostering Service implements a proportionate approach to risk assessments to ensure that these work in practice, are fit for purpose and provide enough information to all relevant people so that they can care for the children safely and appropriately. Individual up-to-date risk/safeguarding assessments must address any known vulnerabilities for each child effectively and set out what action should be taken to address and minimise the risks and reduce harm or the risk of harm (see Risk Assessment and Planning).

You and East Sussex Fostering Service work effectively in partnership with other agencies concerned with child protection and have good links with these agencies, e.g. the responsible authority, schools, hospitals, general practitioners, etc., and do not work in isolation from them.

Allegations or suspicion of harm must be shared with East Sussex County Council and be managed fairly, quickly and in accordance with statutory guidance. Children should be supported and protected. Support must be given both to the person making the allegation and the person who is the subject of the allegation. East Sussex County Council makes sensitive, evidence-based and carefully assessed decisions if children need to be removed from carers and if a carer is subject to an allegation (see What happens if an allegation is made against me or my family?).

Taking the Safeguarding mandatory training will help you to stay up to date and think about your safeguarding role in more detail. The expectation is for our carers to complete this every 3 years.