Standard 11: Safeguarding children

Amara I work with adults. Why is child safeguarding in my induction at all?

Nadia Because you will meet children constantly. In the homes you visit. As visitors. As the children of the adults you support. And as young carers. Working Together to Safeguard Children is explicit that safeguarding is everyone's responsibility, and everyone includes you.

Amara Young carers. Tell me more, because I think I would walk past that.

Nadia Most people do, and it is the most common thing missed by adult services. A twelve year old doing personal care for a parent. Managing medication. Missing school. Interpreting at medical appointments. That child has a legal right to an assessment under the Children and Families Act 2014, and very often nobody has ever asked.

Amara What would make me notice?

Nadia Ask yourself who does this when I am not here. If the answer is a child, you have found a young carer. And there is a wider principle behind that, called think family. An adult's mental illness, substance use, domestic abuse or learning disability is often the context in which a child is at risk, and the care worker in the house may be the only professional who ever sees the inside of it.

Amara Categories. There are four.

Nadia Physical, emotional, sexual, and neglect. Neglect is the most common in England and the one most often described afterwards as having been visible for a very long time.

Amara What signs actually mean something? Because children get bruises.

Nadia They do, and that is why the pattern matters more than the incident. Injuries that do not match the explanation, or do not match the child's developmental stage. A child who is persistently hungry or dirty. A child who is watchful, or frozen. Sexualised behaviour beyond their years. A child who has become the carer. And a child who is never, ever allowed to be seen on their own.

Amara Is there anything that is a concern in itself?

Nadia Yes. Any injury in a baby who is not yet independently mobile. Babies who cannot roll, crawl or cruise do not bruise themselves. That is a serious concern every single time, with no exceptions.

Amara Now the moment I would most fear. A child tells me something. What do I do in the first minute?

Nadia Listen. That is mostly it. Do not interrupt. Do not lead. Do not ask why. Reassure them that they were right to tell you. And do not promise confidentiality.

Amara Surely I need to understand what happened before I report it.

Nadia No, and this is the single most damaging instinct a well meaning adult has. If you question a child, or ask the same thing twice, or suggest an answer, you can render that evidence inadmissible. The child then has to tell the whole story again to somebody trained, and sometimes a prosecution collapses.

Amara So give me the words.

Nadia Thank you for telling me. You have done the right thing. I have to tell somebody who can help. Then write down their exact words as soon as you possibly can, in quotation marks, and report it immediately.

Amara What must I not say?

Nadia Are you sure. Why did you not tell anyone before. And above all, I will keep this between us. Never that one.

Amara Where does the referral go?

Nadia Your safeguarding lead, and the local authority children's social care, usually through the multi agency safeguarding hub. If the child is in immediate danger, police first, always.

Amara Do I need the parent's permission?

Nadia Not where seeking it would put the child at greater risk. And the threshold for referral is much lower than people assume. You do not need evidence. You need a concern.