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Managing Allegations against staff and volunteers in the children s workforce.

Why the need for change . Key issue was length of time taken to resolve allegations Main causes of delay in concluding investigations were:Lack of active case management cases allowed to driftPoor decision making at the startLengthy often unproductive police investigationsPoor practice about

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Managing Allegations against staff and volunteers in the children s workforce.

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    1. Managing Allegations against staff and volunteers in the children’s workforce. Fiona Harris, Safeguarding Manager Suffolk County Council

    2. Why the need for change Key issue was length of time taken to resolve allegations Main causes of delay in concluding investigations were: Lack of active case management – cases allowed to drift Poor decision making at the start Lengthy often unproductive police investigations Poor practice about sharing information from police/social care enquiries Lack of consistent procedures between organisations and between authorities Ambiguity about people who resigned and people who were not employees (volunteers, self-employed, contractors) Concerns about confidentiality Lack of clarity about record keeping

    3. Concerns of the workforce ‘Lots of allegations are false and malicious’ Cases took a long time to resolve – people were suspended for long periods without support People were named and attracted damaging publicity in the local or national press, so careers were destroyed even if the person was innocent Facts Very few allegations deliberately invented or malicious 55% of cases were resolved in under a month, but 22% took up to 3 months and remainder could take up to a year or more* Person was suspended in only 20% of cases* Most reports in national press were about people charged with an offence or a criminal trial

    4. The Guidance Working Together 2006 Chapter 6.20-30 and Appendix 5 Safeguarding Children and Safe Recruitment in Education. Chapter 5 DfES Arrangements for managing allegations of abuse against people who work with children or are in positions of trust. Suffolk Safeguarding Children Board 2007

    5. Roles and Responsibilities All organizations providing services for children or staff or volunteers to work with or care for children, should operate procedures for dealing with allegations which are consistent with Working Together. Staff, volunteers and parents should know what to do if they have a concern about the conduct of someone in the organization.

    6. New Roles Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) Oversees individual cases Provides advice and guidance Liaises with police and other agencies Monitors progress of cases Senior Manager within organisation Identified within employer’s procedures To whom allegations are reported Liaises with LADO Ensures outcome about suitability to work with children is reached

    7. What is an allegation? Information or a concern which suggests that an adult working with or on behalf of children has: behaved in a way that has harmed, or may have harmed, a child, or possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child, or behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates unsuitability to work with children ‘it is important to ensure that even apparently less serious allegations are seen to be followed up, and they are examined objectively by someone independent of the organisation concerned’ (Working Together 2006)

    9. After initial consideration with LADO Employer’s actions Keep employee, volunteer informed Carry out internal part of investigation Decide with LADO whether allegation is Substantiated Unsubstantiated Unfounded Malicious Carry out concluding actions Provide written outcome to employee, volunteer Support where not substantiated Learn lessons for organisation Refer to Independent Safeguarding Authority where appropriate

    10. DCSF definition of outcomes  Being substantiated: The person has Behaved in a way that has harmed a child Committed a criminal offence against, or related to, a child Behaved towards a child in a way that indicates they are unsuitable to work with children Being unfounded: This indicates that the person making the allegation misinterpreted the incident or was mistaken about what they saw. Alternatively they may not have been aware of all the circumstances. For an allegation to be classified as unfounded, it will be necessary to have evidence to disprove the allegation. Being unsubstantiated: This is not the same as a false allegation. It simply means that there is insufficient identifiable evidence to prove or disprove the allegation.   Being malicious: This means there is clear evidence to prove there has been a deliberate act to deceive and the allegation is entirely false.

    11. Your Local LADO in Suffolk South – Tina Wilson 01473 581871 North - Maureen Lamont 01502 405097 West – Susanna Bedford 01284 352205 Guidance on SCB Website www.onesuffolk.co.uk/scb/AllegationsManagement

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