PASCF Safeguarding Adult, Children and Young people Policy Statement

Scope of Policy

The Pan-Afrikan Society Community Forum’s [PASCF.] work includes working directly with people as a service provider. Staff will come into contact with adults, vulnerable adults, children and young people, outside the organisation on a regular basis. This policy aim is to deal with situations which may arise.

This policy will enable PASCF to demonstrate its commitment to keeping safe the adults, vulnerable adults, children and young people with whom it may come into contact with.

PASCF acknowledges its duty to act appropriately to any allegations, reports or suspicions of abuse.

It is important to have the policy and procedures in place so that staff, directors, volunteers and other stake holders can work to prevent abuse and know what to do in the event of abuse.

The Policy Statement and Procedures have been drawn up to enable PASCF to:

· promote good practice and work in a way that can prevent harm, abuse and coercion occurring

· to ensure that any allegations of abuse or suspicions are dealt with appropriately and the person experiencing abuse is supported

· and to stop that abuse occurring.

The Policy and Procedures relate to the safeguarding of adults, vulnerable adults, children and young people.

Vulnerable adults are defined as:

· People aged 18 or over

· Who are receiving or may need community care services because of learning, physical or mental disability, age, or illness

· Who are or may be unable to take care of him or herself, or unable to protect him or herself against significant harm or exploitation.

The policy applies to all staff, including directors, paid staff, volunteers, agency staff, students and anyone working on behalf of PASCF.

In order to implement the policy, PASCF will work:

· to promote the freedom and dignity of the person who has or is experiencing abuse

· to promote the rights of all people to live free from abuse and coercion

· to ensure the safety and well-being of people who do not have the capacity to decide how they want to respond to abuse that they are experiencing

· recruit staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made

· provide effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support and training.

· PASCF’s local partners are expected to abide by these policies as part of our funding agreement with them.

PASCF:

· will ensure that all management committee members, trustees, staff, volunteers are familiar with this policy and procedures

· will immediately inform SMT where a person is in danger, a child is at risk or a crime has been committed

· will ensure that the Designated Named Person understands his/her responsibility to refer incidents of abuse to the relevant statutory agencies.

The Designated Named Person for Safeguarding in PASCF is Nelly Defaut.

They should be contacted for support and advice on implementing this policy and procedures.

This policy should be read in conjunction with the Safeguarding Procedure document which is available upon request to pascfadmin@gmail.com