Roles & Responsibilities of Agencies & Associated Groups

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Role of Designated Child Protection Officers in Agencies and Lead Health Professionals
3. Specific Roles and Responsibilities Of Agencies (listed alphabetically)
4. Voluntary and Private Sectors
5. Faith Organisations
6. Organisations without Statutory Duties
   
   Amendments to this Chapter

1. Introduction

An awareness and appreciation of the role of your own and other organisations is essential for effective collaboration.

This chapter outlines the main responsibilities in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children of all statutory organisations, third sector agencies, private organisations and professionals and practitioners who work with children.

The SPB is an inter-agency committee for agreeing how different services and professional groups should co-operate to safeguard children and young people in Jersey, and for making sure that arrangements work effectively to bring about positive outcomes for them. Although not enshrined in law as in the UK, but underpinned by a Memorandum of Understanding, all agencies involved with working with children, young people and their families have an obligation to work together to protect and promote the welfare of children and young people. The duty to promote the welfare of children and young people equally applies to non-statutory agencies. Each agency has core business but also has a role to play in safeguarding and protecting children and young people.

This section outlines the main roles and responsibilities of professionals in statutory and voluntary agencies in relation to safeguarding and child protection. In particular, it focuses on the responsibilities of agencies and organisations and their role in the protection of children and young people in Jersey.

All agencies and organisations that are working with children have a general duty of protection and care for children and should have in place a child protection policy. The policy should name a lead or designated person in the organisation who:

• Is responsible for updating and reviewing the policy;
• Is the person to whom other staff refer child protection matters;
• Is fully trained at the appropriate level in child protection for their agency.

All agencies and organisations have access to inter-agency training provided, in most cases free of charge, through the SPB. They should ensure that all staff who work with, or have access to, children attend the various training.

Click here for more information about the SPB Child Protection Training Program.

All agencies and organisations should ensure that staff are recruited and selected in line with the agency / organisations policy and that interviews are held, DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) and Police checks conducted and other procedures such as references are taken up to verify each person’s suitability to work with children and young people. All agencies and organisations should have policies in place to deal with allegations made against staff or volunteers in relation to child protection matters.

Where an agency or organisation is not listed and/or wishes to review their policy and procedures to have them included in this manual they are advised to contact the SPB Professional Officer.

Safeguarding Partnership Board
First Floor
23 Hill St
St Helier
JE2 4UA

Tel: 01534 442 752
E-mail: safeguardingpartnershipboard@gov.je.

2. Role of Designated Child Protection Officers in Agencies and Lead Health Professionals

Each agency should have a senior member of staff who is designated to take lead responsibility for dealing with child protection issues, providing advice and support to other staff, liaising with Children’s Services, and working with other organisations as necessary. The focus for the named professional’s role is safeguarding children within their own organisation and ensuring their service is aware of their responsibilities.

Named professionals are usually responsible for conducting the organisation’s internal management reviews, except when they have had personal involvement in the case when it will be more appropriate for the designated professional to conduct the review. Named professionals should be of sufficient standing and seniority in the organisation to ensure that the resulting action plan is followed up.

3. Specific Roles and Responsibilities of Agencies (listed alphabetically)

Adult Services

The States of Jersey provides services to adults who are responsible for children who may be in need. The Adult Social Work Service is made up of: Services for Elderly People; Services for People with Physical or Sensory Disabilities; Services for people with a learning disability and/or on the autistic spectrum; Services for People with a Brain Injury; and Services for Carers.

Role in Child Protection:

When staff are providing services to adults they should ask whether there are children in the family and consider whether the children need help or protection from harm. Children may be at greater risk of harm or be in need of additional help in families where the adults have mental health problems, misuse substances or alcohol, are in a violent relationship or have complex needs or have learning difficulties.

Adult Services Team staff may work with parents and relatives of children where concerns are raised about their parenting or where the adult’s needs have impacted on their ability to care for their children. Adult Services staff have a key role to play in providing information and supporting clients during the process of assessment and review. Adult Services may have contact at the transition of a young person into adulthood, at a time when they may be particularly vulnerable.

Adult Mental Health Service

Adult Mental Health Service is a service for people between the ages of 16-65. The service runs as a single Adult Mental Health Service, with three component parts to it:

•  The Liaison Service - which is the front door for any urgent / emergency need to access a secondary care mental health assessment;
• In-patient Service - in Orchard House, providing up to 17 beds as an open assessment and treatment hospital ward;
• Community Services supporting all acute and long term care not requiring in-patient support.

Role in Child Protection:

Adult Mental Health Service has a responsibility in safeguarding children when they become aware of, or identify, a child at risk of harm. This may be as a result of a service’s direct work with people who may need support from mental health services as a parent, a parent-to-be, a relative of an at risk family, a non-related abuser, or in response to a request for the assessment of an adult perceived to represent a potential or actual risk to a child or young person. Staff need to be especially aware of the risk of neglect, emotional abuse and domestic abuse and cases where the parent or carer fabricates or induces.

Alcohol & Drugs Service

The States of Jersey Alcohol and Drug Service provide a free and confidential service to the people of Jersey who are experiencing problems relating to substance misuse. They offer a range of services including detoxification at home or in hospital, substitute prescribing, counselling and support, needle exchange and training on issues relating to substance misuse for other professional groups. The Alcohol and Drug team have a Young Persons Substance Misuse Worker.

Role in Child Protection:

A range of services is provided, in particular by health and voluntary organisations, to respond to the needs of both adults (with parental responsibilities) and children and young people who misuse drugs. Practitioner discretion and awareness is essential in identifying and responding to presentations that may suggest harm. The practitioner will refer any concerns to MASH.

Ambulance Service

The States of Jersey Ambulance Service provides emergency and high dependency care and transport for the people of Jersey at a time when, through an accident or illness, they are most vulnerable. The frontline Service is made up of Paramedics and/or Technicians, Paramedics are trained to use advanced life support techniques and can administer a range of drugs for the emergency treatment of a number of medical and trauma conditions.

Role in Child Protection:

The staff working in the ambulance services will have access (by phone or in person) to family homes and be involved with individuals in a time of crisis. They may therefore be in a position to identify initial concerns regarding a child or young person’s welfare.

Andium Homes

Andium Homes is a wholly States-owned, but independent company with its own Board of Directors. Andium Homes is flexible, able to react swiftly to the changing needs of clients and is committed to maintaining consistent financial strength and stability as a company. This enables continued investment in the future as well as continuing to make a substantial return to the States of Jersey.

Role in Child Protection:

Housing and homelessness services are signed up to the duties set out in the Memorandum of Understanding based on Working Together to Safeguard Children. Professionals working in these services may become aware of conditions that could have an adverse impact on children. These agencies have an important role to play in safeguarding vulnerable young people, including young people who are pregnant or leaving care.

Housing and homelessness staff can play an important role in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children as part of their day-to-day work – recognising child welfare issues, sharing information, making referrals and subsequently managing or reducing risks. Housing managers, and others with a front-line role such as environmental health officers, also have an important role. For instance, housing staff, in their day-to-day contact with families and tenants, may become aware of needs or welfare issues that they can either tackle directly (for instance, by making repairs or adaptations to homes) or by assisting the family in accessing help through other organisations; or environmental health officers inspecting conditions in private rented housing may become aware of conditions that impact adversely on children.

Children’s Services (Social Work)

Children’s Services are part of the Health & Social Care Services Department. They are responsible for the provision of social work and family support services, including child protection, “looked after” children, residential services, leaving care and fostering and adoption. Children’s Services have specific responsibilities under the Children (Jersey) Law 2002.

Role in Child Protection:

Children's Services, with the help of other organisations as appropriate, has a duty to make enquiries if there is reason to suspect that a child or young person is suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm; this will enable decisions to be made as to whether any further action should be taken to protect, safeguard or promote the child or young person’s welfare.

Where a child is at risk of significant harm, social workers are responsible for co-ordinating the assessment of the child or young person’s needs, of the parents’ capacity to keep the child safe and promote his or her welfare, and of the wider family circumstances. This responsibility includes ensuring that all agencies and professionals involved with a child or young person or with a relevant contribution to make to the assessment, are identified and involved in the assessment. The social worker will ensure that the outcome of the assessment is shared with the child and family. The responsibility for the co-ordination of an assessment rests with the named social worker.

Child Development Centre

The centre provides the following services:

• Multi-agency assessment and therapy management programs for under 5’s with special needs with 6 monthly review;
• Multi agency assessment and therapy management programs for over 5’s with special needs;
• Outpatient appointments and visits to children in nursery, schools or at home;
• Baby/toddler support/playgroups.

Role in Child Protection:

Staff in the Child Development Centre are ideally placed to monitor the well-being of children. They should keep the interests of children uppermost when working with parents, work in ways intended to bring about better outcomes for children and be alert to possible indicators of abuse or neglect.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)

CAMHS is a mental health assessment and therapeutic service for children and young people (up to the age of 18) and their families. The service is based at Royde House.

They offer assessment, diagnosis and treatment for children and young people suffering from:

• Emotional difficulties;
• Behavioural difficulties;
• Relationship difficulties;
• Developmental difficulties;
• Other mental health disorders (e.g. psychosis, eating disorders).

CAMHS can help with a range of difficulties which impact on day-to-day activities. These can include:

• Low mood or sad thoughts and feelings which do not go away. These can be caused by trauma (possibly following separation, loss or abuse) or severe depressive illness (which may involve thoughts of self harm);
• Worries and concerns e.g. anxiety disorder or obsessive compulsive disorder (rituals and repetitive thoughts that will not go away);
• Brain development disorders e.g. attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, social and communication difficulties, and tic disorders;
• Other illnesses which are less common in young people e.g. anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, bipolar disorder and psychosis.

Role in Child Protection:

As part of assessment and care planning, CAMHS professionals should identify whether child abuse or neglect, or domestic violence, are factors in a child or young person’s mental health problems; CAMHS should ensure that this is addressed appropriately in their treatment and care, in consultation with other professionals working with the child. CAMHS professionals have a role in the Assessment process in circumstances where their specific skills and knowledge are helpful.

Education Department

The Education Department aims to keep young people safe by:

• Providing a safe environment for children and young people to learn; and
• Identifying children and young people who are suffering or are likely to suffer significant harm and taking appropriate action to ensure they are kept safe at home.

Achieving these aims requires systems designed to:

• Prevent unsuitable people working with children and young people;
• Promote safe practice and challenge poor and unsafe practice;
• Identify instances in which there are grounds for concern about a child’s welfare and take appropriate action to keep them safe; and
• Contribute to effective partnership working between all those involved with providing services for children and young people.

The policy document Safeguarding: Roles and Responsibilities for Schools and Educational Establishments provides an overview of the statutory safeguarding responsibilities across the Department with specific guidance for head teachers; staff and volunteers; the school’s governing body (where this applies) and the school’s designated safeguarding / child protection lead. In addition, this document both provides and signposts to more comprehensive guidance on: data protection; records management; health and safety; online safety and appropriate action for children missing education (CME). All staff employed by the Education Department are required (as a minimum) to attend and complete Foundation Child Protection training.

The Department’s Inclusion and Early Intervention (IEI) section also works in partnership with parents, schools and other professionals to support vulnerable learners (0-19 years) with all areas of their development. The section also have a key role in supporting schools in the areas of safeguarding and child protection. IEI includes the following discrete but complementary services:

• Psychology and Well-being;
• Parenting, Family Support and Participation;
• Special Educational Needs (SEN);
• Behaviour Inclusion;
• English as an Additional Language (EAL).

Family Nursing & Home Care

Family Nursing & Home Care (FNHC) is a Jersey charity committed to providing high quality, integrated nursing and home care in the community from birth to end of life. Our services help children, their families, the sick, the elderly and the dying. We have teams of highly experienced nurses including; Health visitors, School Nurses and a Community Children’s Nurse Team of Paediatric nurses. There are specific roles in Paediatric Liaison Health Visiting and a Looked After Children’s Nurse. FNHC Community Nursery Nurses also run groups including baby massage.

Family Nursing & Home Care website

Role in Child Protection:

Specialist Community Public Health Nurses (Health Visitors and school nurses) play a key role in child protection services. They work mainly with the well population and maintain visits and contact with families over a substantial period of time. They are ideally placed to identify changes in parental and child behaviour patterns and are trained to recognise deviations from the norm in health, child development and family relationships, including the identification and support of young carers. This enables them to recognise the need for a referral and to initiate any necessary action at an early stage. They assess child’s health, growth, and physical emotional and social development and are ideally placed to detect changes or identify risk for children.

General Practitioners

General Practice in Jersey is private; each practice sets its own fees. GPs provide a holistic service to patients and act as a point of contact for other parts of the health system. They provide general health services to everyone, from the “cradle to the grave” so are key stakeholders in the identification and monitoring of children and young people and their families.

Role in Child Protection:

General Practitioners are well placed to identify when a child is potentially in need of extra support or services to promote health and development, or is at risk of significant harm. It is important that their contributions to assessments include a professional evaluation of the health information about a child and, where appropriate, of the parents’ health where this impacts upon parenting. The Quality Information Framework (QIF: a mechanism for reporting practice information to the Public Health Department) requires practices to have a named Child Protection Lead who will ensure the practice has up to date information about where to access help and advice, if required. The General Medical Council requirements are on their website and expect GPs to have regular training. See Protecting children and young people: The responsibilities of all doctors guidance.

This is a personal responsibility.

Health Care Professionals

Designated Doctor and Nurse

These professionals have specific roles and responsibilities for safeguarding children which includes providing advice and guidance. They should ensure organisations within health meet their responsibilities to safeguard and protect children and young people.

Named Nurse for Safeguarding

These professionals have a key role in promoting good professional practice, providing advice and expertise and ensuring that safeguarding training is in place.

All staff working in healthcare settings - including those who predominantly work with and provide health care for adults - should receive training to ensure they attain the competences appropriate to their role and follow the relevant professional guidance;

• Safeguarding Children and Young People: roles and competences for health care staff, RCPCH (2014);
• Looked after children: Knowledge, skills and competences of health care staff, RCN and RCPCH, (2012);
• Protecting children and young people: the responsibilities of all doctors, GMC (2012).

General Medical Council

Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health

Royal College of Nursing

All health staff have key roles to play in the identification of children who may have been abused and of those who are at risk of abuse, and in subsequent intervention and protection. HSS delivers services through the hospital and community including:

• Hospital: Accident and Emergency; Mental Health; Midwifery; Paediatric departments including Robin Ward; Allied Healthcare Professionals (e.g. occupational therapists, physiotherapists, dieticians, dental, genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinics); Outpatients; Theatres and Day Surgery Unit; and Critical Care Unit;
• Community: Midwifery, Learning Disability; Mental Health; Allied Healthcare Professionals (e.g. Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Speech and Language); Drug and Alcohol Service; Community Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS); Psychology and Ambulance Service.

Role in Child Protection:

Health and medical assessments may include the assessment of parents’ capacity to respond to the child or young person’s developmental needs and to identify where parental health (e.g. post-natal depression), or family or environmental factors impact upon parenting capacity.

Paediatricians, wherever they work, will come into contact with child abuse or neglect in the course of their work. Consultant paediatricians, in particular, may be involved in difficult diagnostic situations, differentiating those where abnormalities may have been caused by abuse from those that have a medical cause.

Other professionals such as Physiotherapists, Occupational and Speech Therapists will have significant roles in the lives of some children with disabilities or developmental delay. Their contributions to assessments will help take into account the child’s functioning and developmental potential as well as parenting and environmental factors. Speech and Language Therapists may also be requested to facilitate communication with a child who has speech and language difficulties during an assessment.

Jersey Family Court Advisory Service (JFCAS)

The Jersey Family Court Advisory Service is accountable to the Probation Board. The Service is responsible for providing the Royal Court, particularly the Family Division, with advice and recommendations in three distinct areas of work.

• Private law which comprises applications for Residence, Contact and specific issues that involve children;
• Adoption: to act as an independent Guardian once a placement has been made; and
• Guardian in public law applications, providing the Court with an independent view of the application made by the Minister for Health and Social Services.

In all three areas our role is to be the “voice of the child” in the court.

Role in Child Protection:

In Private Law it is the responsibility of practitioners to be mindful of the signs and symptoms of harm in all their cases. The consideration of risks of harm to a child are an integral part of the practitioner's role throughout the period of contact with the child, with a view to the identification of new, unreported or unresolved issues of harm. Such identification will result in an immediate referral to the Children’s Service for investigation.

Some applications are made as a protective measure resulting from issues of concern already identified. The practitioners liaise with all the appropriate agencies in particular the Police, Children’s Service and Probation Service to ensure that all the risks are identified and taken into account in the recommendations made in the final report to the Court.

In Adoption – despite adoptive couples having undergone intensive assessment prior to placement, practitioners must be alert to any signs, symptoms and/or allegations of child protection. These would immediately be referred to the Children’s Service for investigation and consideration of continuance of the placement.

In Public Law – by nature of the application the Minister is seeking to protect the child and therefore inevitable that allegations of risk of harm have been made. Nevertheless, the practitioner will remain alert to any new allegations or concerns about placements that are current for the child/ren involved. Any concern would be referred to the Children Service for investigation.

Jersey Sport

Jersey Sport has been appointed by the States of Jersey to maximise participation in physical activity across the Island. By providing a wide range of activities suitable for all ages their aim is to encourage a healthy and active lifestyle. Most of Jersey Sport services take place within DfEDTSC facilities, however, there are occasions where children and young people will attend leisure attractions and use public spaces under the supervision of Jersey Sport staff or sub-contractors.

Role in Child Protection:

Staff, volunteers and contractors who provide these services have various degrees of contact with children who use them, and appropriate arrangements need to be in place. These should include:

• Attending appropriate levels of safeguarding training provided by Jersey Sport or the SPB;
• Procedures for staff and others to report concerns they may have about the children they meet, which are in line with the Jersey Sport Child Protection Policy and SPB procedures;
• Appropriate codes of practice for staff, particularly sports coaches, such as the codes of practice issued by national governing bodies of sport and Sports Coach UK. Sports organisations can also seek advice on child protection issues from the SPB and the Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU), which has been established as a partnership between the NSPCC and Sport England.

Jersey Youth Service

Jersey Youth Service provides a broad range of youth work opportunities and services to young people aged 9 to 25yrs with a focus on the 12 to 18 yrs.

The Youth Service works from 16 different locations around the Island including youth centres / clubs, residential settings, mobile youth projects, street work as well as its targeted service such as work with young carers, LGBTQ & NEET young people, young people with disability, return home interviews.

The Youth Service also delivers Duke of Edinburgh Award, school based and Prince’s Trust programmes.

All of the opportunities delivered by the service are based on voluntary engagement, so the relationship between client and worker in paramount for it to effective and meaningful so that young people thrive.

Role in Child Protection:

The Jersey Youth Service has a designated manager who manages all aspects of safeguarding and child protection issues. The contact Youth Workers have with young people, and the relationships that are developed, mean that the Youth Service is well placed to notice any changes in their lives, including any outward signs of abuse or any significant changes in behaviour. The rapport that young people have with a youth worker can also lead to disclosures being made, as young people can feel comfortable and have trust in that relationship.

Police Services

Police Services are delivered in Jersey through two different sources: The States of Jersey Police and the Honorary Police Officers. The Public Protection Unit (PPU) at the States of Jersey Police has a remit to deal with aspects of offending which include violent and sexual crimes. The PPU deals with domestic abuse, adult and child abuse and management of sexual and violent offenders.

Honorary Police officers have, for centuries, been elected by parishioners to assist the Connétable of the Parish to maintain law and order. Officers are elected as Centeniers, Vingteniers or Constable's Officers each with various duties and responsibilities.

Role in Child Protection:

The PPU normally take responsibility for investigating child abuse cases jointly with social workers. However, investigating child abuse and safeguarding children is not solely the role of PPU officers – it is a fundamental part of the duties of all Police officers. For example, Patrol officers, whether States of Jersey or Honorary, attending domestic violence incidents, are aware of the effect of such violence on any children normally resident within the household. The Police hold important information about children who may be at risk of harm as well as those who cause such harm. They are committed to sharing information and intelligence with other organisations where this is necessary to protect children. This includes a responsibility to ensure that those officers representing the Police at a Child Protection Conference are fully informed about the case, as well as being experienced in risk assessment and the decision-making process.

The police have emergency powers under the Children (Jersey) Law 2002 to enter premises and remove a child to ensure their immediate protection. This power can be used if the police have reasonable cause to believe a child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm. Police emergency powers can help in emergency situations but should be used only when necessary. Wherever possible, the decision to remove a child from a parent or carer should be made by a court.

Prison Service

The States of Jersey Prison Service holds in secure custody those committed by the Island’s courts. As the only prison on Jersey, it fulfils the functions of an entire prison system, and caters for all people remanded or sentenced to custody within its jurisdiction. It has an operational capacity of 200 prisoners, and holds men, women, young adults, and juveniles. Juveniles are people aged between15 to 18 years old; young offenders are from 18 to 21 years old and adults aged 22 years and older.

Role in Child Protection:

The Governor of the prison has a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of all people committed into secure custody by the Island’s courts. With specific regard to children, the Prison Service has a designated Child Protection Officer who has responsibility for Safeguarding and coordinating services for children whilst they are incarcerated in HM Prison La Moye, together with ensuring the safety of children when they visit the Prison. The Child Protection Officer will attend appropriate safeguarding training and will recommend relevant training for staff to the Prison Management Board.

Probation and After-Care Service (JPACS)

The Jersey Probation and After-Care Service (JPACS) is a department of the Royal Court. The core functions of the Service are to prepare Social Enquiry Reports (SERs) for the Courts and to work with offenders placed on Probation supervision or who receive Prison sentences to reduce their risk of re-offending and level of harm they may pose to the public. This is achieved by a combination of individual sessions and attendance on cognitive behavioural group-work programmes. In addition JPACS attends the majority of Parish Hall Enquiries for children under the age of 18, to assist the Centenier in deciding how best to deal with that individual. JPACS is responsible for the running of Community Service which involves offenders performing unpaid work in the community.

JPACS, through its Jersey Family Court Advisory Service, also prepares reports for the Family Court in residence and contact issues, prepares Adoption reports and can be appointed as guardian ad litem in Public and Private law proceedings.

Role in Child Protection:

JPACS supervises a number of men and women who have convictions for offences against children. Many offenders have families which include children, and many child offenders are themselves vulnerable. Probation Officers have been trained in the assessment of sex offenders and are able to carry out programme work to reduce the risk of them re-offending in a similar way. JPACS is also actively involved in the community resettlement of prisoners who have committed offences against children. This engagement by offenders is mostly on a voluntary basis although the implementation of the Sex Offenders Law provides a statutory basis for this work in the cases of highest risk.

Probation Officers also work with families where domestic violence has taken place and are aware of the impact such behaviour has upon children.

JPACS is committed to interagency risk management and works closely with the Police, the Children’s Service and other relevant agencies to assess and manage the risk offenders pose to children. JPACS is responsible for children made the subject of supervision by the Courts and Centeniers.

Registered Childcare Providers

Regulated childcare covers non parental care of children from babies up to the age of twelve years, and can be in two types of settings:

• Family Child Care is a childcare service offering care to children in the home of the Family Child Carer (FCC);
• Centre Care can be found in a variety of settings. These can be purpose built, in converted or rented premises, church halls, a community centre, or a school at out of school times.

Role in Child Protection:

Family Child Carers and everyone working in registered childcare should know how to recognise and respond to the possible abuse and neglect of a child. All organisations providing childcare must have a designated person who liaises with local child protection agencies on child protection issues. As part of their initial registration, Police checks and references are taken up and ongoing training in child protection is mandatory.

4. Voluntary and Private Sectors

Voluntary organisations and private sector providers play an important role in delivering services to children. They should have the arrangements described in Chapter 2 of Working Together to Safeguard Children in place in the same way as organisations in the public sector, and need to work effectively with the SPB. Paid and volunteer staff need to be aware of their responsibilities for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, how they should respond to child protection concerns and make a referral to MASH (See Children and Young Person Safeguarding Referrals Procedure). or the police if necessary.

5. Faith Organisations

Churches, other places of worship and faith-based organisations provide a wide range of activities for children and have an important role in safeguarding children and supporting families. Like other organisations who work with children they need to have appropriate arrangements in place to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

6. Organisations without Statutory Duties

All organisations, which do not have statutory duties under the Children's (Jersey) Law 2002 but which have involvement with children and young people, directly or indirectly, have a responsibility to ensure that their employees, volunteers and service users are aware of these procedures and know where to access them.

Everybody who works with children, parents and other adults in connection with children should be able to recognise indicators of concern about a child’s welfare or safety. A staff member or volunteer who may encounter concerns about the safety and well-being of a child should know:

• Who in their organisation can offer support and guidance;
• When and how to make a referral to Children’s Social Care under the MASH enquiry process;
• What other services are available locally and how to gain access to them;
• How to access and receive appropriate training.
  
  

Caption: further information

Amendments to this Chapter In April 2018, this chapter was extensively updated and should be read throughout.

End.