Child Protection Policies and Procedures

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Child/Minor Protection Policy Statement

Maker Nexus is fully committed to promoting children's/minor's rights, notably their right to be protected from harm, abuse and exploitation and to be involved in any decisions that directly affect them. Maker Nexus has a duty of care to implement effective policies and procedures for safeguarding the welfare of children and young people. In order to achieve this we will ensure our staff and volunteers are carefully selected, screened, trained and supervised. Furthermore we will endeavor to keep up to date with laws and regulations relating to the care and protection of children and young people.

Maker Nexus will:

1. Ensure that all workers understand their legal and moral obligations to protect children and young people from harm, abuse and exploitation
2. Ensure that all instructors who have responsibility for minors have passed a California Department of Justice background check.
3. Develop best practice in relation to the recruitment of all workers (paid staff and volunteers)
4. Provide opportunities for all newly appointed workers (paid and unpaid) through the provision of induction training, which gives an overview of the organization's purpose, values, structure and services
5. Ensure that all workers understand their responsibility to work to the standards and procedures detailed in the organizations Ethics and Conduct and any and all Child Protection procedures
6. Ensure that all workers understand their obligations to report care or protection concerns about a child/young person, or a workers conduct towards a child/young person, to the General Manager
7. Ensure that all procedures relating to the conduct of workers are implemented in a consistent and equitable manner
8. Provide opportunities for all workers (paid and unpaid) to develop their skills and knowledge particularly in relation to the care and protection of children and young people
9. Ensure that children and young people are enabled to express their ideas and views on a wide range of issues and will have access to the organization's Ethics_and_Conduct Incident_Review_and_Remediation process.
10. Endeavour to keep up to date with laws and regulations relating to the care and protection of children and young people

Child/Minor Protection Procedures

Introduction

Child Protection Policy and Procedures reflects the commitment and aims to ensure that all concerns about the care and protection of children and young people are effectively managed. All staff and volunteers are required to implement the child protection procedures.

The Maker Nexus Board of Directors reviews and updates these Policies and Procedures along with the General Manager at least once per 3 years.

Recruitment

Maker Nexus recognizes that appropriate recruitment and selection procedures are a vital part in developing and maintaining a safe environment for children and young people. The following procedures are in place to ensure that only suitable applicants are accepted as volunteers or staff:

• All applicants (staff and volunteers) will be asked to complete an application and a self declaration form. Self declaration form will be used so that interviewed applicants can declare and discuss any background issues (and their context) with the organization.
• All successful applicants (paid and unpaid positions) will be asked to provide suitable references.
• All applicants are subject to a background check.

Training

All newly appointed staff and volunteers at Maker Nexus will receive training, support, information and guidance to ensure they understand their role and responsibilities with regard to Child Protection. This will include:

• Details of the structure of the organization will be provided, including the details of overall responsibility for child protection within the organization
• The roles and responsibilities of staff and volunteers within the organization will be clarified as it relates to the child protection policies and procedures.
• Clear details of the expectations, roles and responsibilities of all newly appointed staff and volunteers will be provided
• All staff and volunteers must agree to the organization's Ethics and Conduct and Child Protection Policy and procedures
• All staff and volunteers are to be trained
  • Review of all Policies and Procedures
  • Review sample Forms
  • Provide contact details for escalation will be provided
  • Discuss example scenarios

Responding to Suspicion or Allegation of Abuse

Members of staff (paid and unpaid) or volunteers have a duty to report any suspicions, allegations or disclosures to the General Manager. However, the first concern must be the reassurance of the child or young person and their protection from any potential risk. During the reporting process the young person should be protected from further contact with the individual involved in the allegation. As a worker or volunteer your role in child protection is not to investigate or decide if abuse has taken place.
Your role is to observe, record and report.
The following steps should be followed immediately in response to suspicion or allegation of abuse:

• Discuss with focus on the Nature of concerns; Risks to the child or young person; Action and next steps to be taken
  • However:
    • DO NOT INVESTIGATE - Staff and volunteers should not attempt to investigate the situation any further or interview the child or young person regarding the situation.
    • CONFIDENTIALITY - Details of suspicion, allegations or disclosures should only be passed on to the General Manager. If responding to an allegation from a young person you must not promise to keep the information they disclose confidential.
• Record Information and Report

Detailed written records should be made of all events and what the young person or other individuals have said (where this applies). Fill out an Incident Form and turn in to the General Manager. Above and beyond the facts, any opinions or personal interpretations of the facts presented can be recorded but it should be clear they are opinions, rather than facts.

The General Manager or designated representative should review ASAP and decide whether to contact two additional and appropriate authorities which may include:

• Guardians and Parents
• Childhelp, National Child Abuse Hotline, 1-800-4-A-CHILD
• 911
• Police
• Santa Clara County Child Protection Services

    -(650)-493-1186 – North
    -(408)-683-0601 – South
    -(408)-299-2071 – Central

Responding to a Child Reporting Incident/Abuse

It is likely that a child or young person who has been abused will have given a lot of thought as to whether they should disclose the abuse. It is highly likely that they will be nervous and afraid that they might be rejected, blamed or not believed. It is important that staff and volunteers follow the steps outlined below:

Stay calm

Remain calm and natural. You have been approached because you are trusted, not because you are an expert counsellor. Do not promise to keep the information secret; you may have to inform an appropriate person. You must take any disclosure seriously and reassure the young person that you believe them.

Listen and take the allegation seriously

Listen to what the child or young person is saying. Give them the time and opportunity to tell you as much as they are able and willing to. Do not pressure them; allow them to disclose information at their own pace. You should not investigate, ask leading questions or ask specific or explicit questions. You should only clarify what they are willing to tell you in their own words. Try to do this in an appropriate place, such as a room where other people can see in through an open door or window. While it's important to respect the young person's privacy it should not be at the expense of other child protection measures.

Reassure

Reassure them that you believe what they are saying and that you know it is not their fault. You should also give them some indication of what you will do next with the information that they have given you.

Confidentiality

Reiterate that you cannot promise to keep the information secret. You must take any disclosure seriously. Details of the disclosure should only be passed on to the General manager, who should refer the case to the appropriate authorities. Wherever possible you should try not to discuss any concerns that you have about a child or young person in a way that may lead others to suspect that they are being abused.

Record

If you are able to, make brief notes during the initial disclosure, explaining to the young person why you are doing it. If it's not possible to do so at the time, record the details as soon as possible after the disclosure with as many facts as possible (dates, times, actual words used). Use an 'Incident Form' to record the information when referring information to the General Manager.

Look after Yourself

Being trusted with a disclosure of abuse directly from a young person can be emotionally draining, worrying and very stressful. While it's essential that confidentially is maintained at all times, it's important that you consider your own emotional feelings and discuss any anxieties you have with the General Manager or Volunteer Coordinator.

Data Protection

MakerNexus is committed to the safe and secure management of confidential information. All personnel information, including volunteer information, is kept locked and can only be accessed by those that require it to carry out their role. Only relevant information is kept and this is regularly reviewed and outdated information destroyed appropriately.

MakerNexus is also committed to the rights of children and young people to confidentiality and this will be respected by all workers and volunteers. However, where a worker or volunteer feels that the information disclosed by a child or young people should be referred to the General Manager, the young person should be told that confidentially cannot be kept.

Appendix

Understanding of Abuse

Abuse to children or vulnerable young people is described under the following headings:

Neglect

The persistent or severe neglect of a child or young person, whether wilful or unintentional, which results in serious impairment to physical heath and development. For example:

• exposing a child to extreme weather conditions e.g. heat and cold.
• failing to seek medical attention for injuries.
• exposing a child to risk of injury through the use of unsafe equipment without proper supervision.
• exposing a child to a hazardous environment without a proper risk assessment of the activity.
• failing to provide adequate nutrition and water.

Signs which may raise concerns about physical neglect include:

• constant hunger
• poor personal hygiene and/or poor state of clothing
• constant tiredness
• untreated medical problems
• low self-esteem
• poor peer relationships
• acting out

Physical Injury

Actual or attempted physical injury to a child or young person where there is definite knowledge or reasonable suspicion that the injury was inflicted or knowingly not prevented. For example:

• Deliberately hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning, scalding, drowning, suffocating or otherwise harming a child.

Signs which may raise concerns about physical abuse include:

• refusal to discuss injuries
• aggression towards others
• improbable excuses given to explain injuries
• avoiding activities due to injuries or possibility of injuries being discovered

Emotional Abuse

The adverse effect on the behaviour and emotional development of a child or young person, caused by failure to provide for their basic emotional needs. For example:

• Persistent failure to show any respect to a child (e.g. continually ignoring a child)
• Constantly humiliating a child by telling them they are useless.
• Continually being aggressive towards a child, making them feel frightened.
• Acting in a way which is detrimental to the child's self-esteem (e.g name calling, sarcasm, constant criticism)

Signs which may raise concerns about emotional abuse include:

• low self-esteem
• significant decline in concentration
• indiscriminate friendliness and neediness
• extremes of passivity or aggression
• self-harm

Sexual Abuse

Any child or young person below the age of 18 may be deemed to have been sexually abused when any person, by design or neglect, exploits the child or young person directly or indirectly, in any activity intended to lead to the sexual arousal or other forms of gratification of that person or any other person including organised networks. This includes forcing or enticing a child to take part in sexual activities whether or not they are aware of or consent to what is happening. Sexual abuse may involve physical contact, and non-contact acts such as forcing children to look at or be involved in the production of pornographic material, to watch sexual activities or encouraging them to behave in sexually inappropriate ways. For example:

• exposure to sexually explicit inappropriate language or jokes.
• showing a child pornographic material or using a child to produce such material.
• inappropriate touching

Other abusive behaviour towards children and young people Staff, volunteers and committee members should also be aware of other, perhaps less obvious, forms of abuse. These may be dismissed by perpetrators as 'just fun' or 'having a laugh' with young people but can have a serious impact and cannot be allowed or go unchallenged:

• Bullying of any form, including name calling or constant criticism
• 'Picking on' a young person because of their family background, manner of dress or physical characteristic
• Racism or sectarianism if any form
• Favouritism and exclusion - all young people should be equally supported and encouraged
• Abusive language or gestures