Safeguarding Concerns and Procedures in Youth Custody Services
This presentation addresses safeguarding concerns, referrals, allegations, and complaints in Youth Custody Services. It explains the process for raising concerns, involving external stakeholders, and ensuring the quality of care provided to youth in custody. The background outlines the establishment of the Matters of Concern process, emphasizing improvements in safeguarding practices. Key contacts, data analysis, and escalation procedures are highlighted to ensure effective handling of safeguarding issues. The flowchart demonstrates the step-by-step approach to addressing concerns and complaints within secure establishments in England and Wales.
- Safeguarding Concerns
- Youth Custody Services
- Complaint Procedures
- Data Analysis
- Escalation Procedures
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Presentation Transcript
Matters of Concern, Safeguarding concerns, allegations and complaints As of 1stApril 2020 Youth Custody Service Safeguarding team
Objectives This presentation will address the following in the secure Establishments for both England and Wales; Matters of Concern Safeguarding Referrals Allegations Complaints Data and Analysis Key Contacts Objectives 2
Flow chart Concern Raised Establishments complaint policy A Child External Stakeholder or family member Quality of care or provision Allegation Safeguarding YOI SCH/STC Raise as Governors correspondence Raised with establishments safeguarding and child protection team Raise following local complaints policy Raised with establishments safeguarding team Establishment to follow their safeguarding policy including referring to the Local Authority Designated Officer If not content with the response then escalate to YCS_Matters_of_con@justice.gov.uk Establishment to follow their safeguarding policy 3
Introduction What is a Matter of Concern? A matter of concern is a concern raised by an external stakeholder or family member in relation to the quality of care or provision a child is receiving whilst in youth custody (including escorts) Matters of Concern 5
Background Matters of Concern was first set up as a result of the monitoring review initiated prior to the transfer of functions from the YJB to the YCS and in response to the Panorama exposure on Medway; Learning lessons from the exposure the process was developed acknowledging the need to make connections between individual instances and to draw out any thematic issues; The Matters of Concern Process was reviewed and approved by the YCS Senior Leadership Team in January 2020 with key functions to go live on 1st April 2020; The process was reviewed as part of the YCS Safeguarding review and various recommendations were made. The new process addresses these recommendations. Matters of Concern 6
How to raise a Matter of Concern What is not a matter of concern When and How to raise a Matter of Concern If a stakeholder or family member has a concern in relation to the quality of care or provision a child in custody is receiving then they should raise this with the establishment in the first instance. Relevant contacts are provided within the contact pack provided. If a stakeholder or family member are not content with the response received from the establishment then this concern can be raised through the Matter of Concern process. To raise a matter of concern, full details of the concern plus the response from the establishment should be emailed to YCS_Matters_of_con@justice.gov.uk Please note any concern in relation to an escort should come directly through the Matters of Concern process. A Matter of Concern cannot be raised by a child. A Matter of Concern cannot be raised unless it has previously been raised with the establishment. Safeguarding concerns should not be raised through Matters of Concern and should be raised through the establishments Safeguarding protocol. Allegations should not be raised through the Matters of Concern process and should be raised with the establishments safeguarding team. Relevant contacts are within the contact pack attached. Appeals or concerns in regards to placements or transfer decisions should be raised through the placements appeal process. YCS_Matters_of_con@justice.gov.uk Matters of Concern 7
Matters of Concern process Days Days The concern will be allocated to the next available HQ investigator and admin will arrange the review meeting with the establishment Matter of concern raised by being submitted to YCS_Matters_of_con@justice.gov.uk 0 3 Sender will be advised to submit the concern to the relevant individual within the establishment. Concern will be screened for immediate safeguarding concerns regarding a child in custody. If safeguarding issues are apparent this will be escalated to the Band 8 Safeguarding manager at YCS HQ. HQ Investigator will review the fact find investigation conducted within the establishment 7- 14 1 Acknowledgement sent to sender and sender will be asked to confirm that the matter has been submitted and concluded within the establishment. They will be asked to submit a copy of the establishments response. Formal response completed by investigator and sent to the sender No Findings reported to Band 8 Safeguarding manager at YCS HQ 21 1 Any delays post the allocated timescales between these points will require the admin to write a holding response to the sender The author of the response from the establishment will be contacted by Admin to obtain their availability to facilitate a review of their investigation Any lessons learnt will be discussed with the establishment and wider implications will be considered 28 1 Matters of Concern 8
What do the YCS do with Matters of Concern? When a concern is received by YCS HQ it will first be checked if the concern has been raised with the establishment previously. If the concern has, then it will be logged as a Matter of Concern and will be allocated to one of the pool of investigators. These investigators are from a range of teams within YCS HQ who are trained in Investigations to an accredited standard. They are also trained in Child Protection and Safeguarding. The investigator will conduct a review of the previous investigation. The investigator will complete a formal response to the sender and also discuss the findings with the safeguarding manager within the central Safeguarding team. The safeguarding manager from YCS HQ will discuss any lessons learnt if appropriate with the establishment and consider the wider impact on the rest of the estate. Matters of Concerns will be logged in a way which readily identifies themes. Analysis will be provided on a quarterly basis to YCS SLT on Matters of Concern, complaints, Safeguarding referrals and child protection incidents. This analysis will include thematic findings. Matters of Concern 9
Safeguarding concerns Any concerns about the safety or wellbeing of a child in custody should be raised with the relevant safeguarding team. Contact details for the establishments Safeguarding team are within the contact pack. Any concerns you raise will be followed up. If there is an immediate safeguarding concern please phone the establishments general number and ask to speak to the Duty Governor/Manager. Safeguarding concerns 11
Allegations The LADO deals with referrals in regards to any allegation against any person who works with children in regards to; Behaved in a way that has harmed a child, or may have harmed a child; Possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child; Behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates they may pose a risk of harm to children If disclosure has been made to yourselves or you have witnessed something that is concerning, it is best practice to alert the establishments safeguarding team so that a joint referral can be made and the team can take immediate action to safeguard the child. This does not preclude you from making direct referrals where it is the only way to protect a child. The establishment will then follow the correct protocol for an allegation including submitting a LADO referral. Links to the responsible LADO and their protocol are available within the Contacts pack attached. Allegations 13
Complaints by a child Children in custody have their own process to raise a complaint within custody. This will be explained to each child as they enter an establishment as part of their induction period. The process includes timescales and details of appeals and escalations. If a child raises a complaint that becomes a safeguarding referral then the complaint will be technically closed but the child will be informed of this and the outcome as appropriate from the safeguarding referral Please note that further work will be conducted in 2020 to review the complaints process. Ensuring the voice of the child is heard and satisfaction with the process. Complaints 15
Data and analysis As a result of the IICSA review it became apparent for a need for YCS HQ to gather, hold and analyse safeguarding data centrally. The YCS information and Performance team developed a central database for each establishment in all sectors to submit their real-time data monthly on safeguarding referrals and complaints. There is still further work to be done to embed this process in the establishments. The Safeguarding team will provide a quarterly analysis and themes to the YCS Senior Leadership team on the combined data from the following; Safeguarding referrals Child Protection referrals Complaints Matters of Concern Exit Surveys By cross referencing the data and themes it enables us to see a more accurate picture of the concerns in custody Data and analysis 17
Contacts As referenced throughout this pack a contact sheet will be attached with all key contacts and documents for all sites This will be updated and distributed to all on a quarterly basis by the YCS HQ Safeguarding team. Please note your main point of contact for Matters of Concern is Lauren Brothwood whose contact details are below. The inbox to submit a Matters of Concern to is YCS_Matters_of_con@justice.gov.uk Key contacts within the YCS HQ Safeguarding Team; Wendy Tomlinson Head of Safeguarding - Wendy.Tomlinson@justice.gov.uk - 07971 369332 Lauren Brothwood Safeguarding Manager Lauren.Brothwood@justice.gov.uk - 07976 795690 Lead on four public YOIs, data, Matters of Concern and Complaints Shirley Clarke Safeguarding Manager shirley.clarke1@justice.gov.uk - 07976 645154 - Lead on Partnerships including the privately run YOI Parc, Secure Training Centres and Secure Children's Homes Contacts 18
