Explain The Barriers To Safeguarding And Promoting The Welfare Of Young People
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people Those who work with young people have responsibilities to safeguard and promote their welfare. This is an important responsibility and requires careful attention. It means being able to recognise when a child or young person is not achieving their developmental potential, or when their physical or mental health is impaired. It means recognising when a young person is displaying risky or harmful behaviour, or is being neglected or abused. It also means being able to identify sources of help for them and their families. Sometimes more than one risk factor may be affecting a child or young person and it may be necessary to work with others to address them. (ref CWDC common core skills)
It is important to identify concerns and where …show more content…
appropriate take action as early as possible. As well as ensuring that young people are not suffering from harm, it is equally important to actively contribute towards ensuring their well-being and quality of life. As youth workers, we should be pro-active in empowering young people to gain the knowledge and develop the skills that enable them to further safeguard them-selves e.g. making informed lifestyle decisions. We can work to build greater confidence and appropriate self esteem through activities that provide opportunities for young people to succeed in developing their personal and social skills and their political literacy so they can voice their views on needs, services and facilities provided to support their well-being. We should support young people to develop resilience and build mental, physical, emotional and social well-being.
Information sharing
If you have concerns, sharing information in a timely and accurate way is an essential part of delivering better services to young people.
It is important to understand and respect legislation and ethics surrounding the confidentiality and security of information.
Your relationship with a young person will generally be built on trust and mutual respect. It is important as far as is possible, not to dis-empower the young person. Issues and procedures surrounding confidentiality, consent and information sharing, should be clarified for the young person so that they understand their rights and the implications of sharing or not sharing the information. Be open & honest unless this would increase the risk of them or any other person suffering harm. Information may be shared without consent if there is an overriding public interest.
Effective youth workers are able to:-
Establish respectful, trusting relationships with young people and where appropriate and possible positive relationships with parents, carers and other people and organisations who work with young people or who make decisions about services for young people.
Make considered judgements as soon as possible about how to act to safeguard and promote a young person’s welfare or a group of young people, protecting them from harm and equipping them to protect themselves from dangers.
Provide the opportunity for the young person to express views and participate in decisions that affect them, as appropriate to their age and ability, taking their wishes and feelings into account.
Address barriers to a young person expressing views due to disability, stage of development or other factors.
Undertake informal/formal assessments (based on responsibility/setting) and be alert to unexplained changes in behaviour and signs of abuse or neglect.
Recognise when a young person, is likely to suffer harm, or his/her life is in danger and take action to protect them e.g. bullying (hate incidents/crime), domestic violence...
Knowledge includes:-
Legal and procedural frameworks
Understanding what is meant by safeguarding and the different ways in which young people can be harmed e.g. by other young people, by a single event, or ongoing maltreatment, through the internet and other media, or by their own risk-taking
behaviour.
Awareness and knowledge of the laws, policy areas and procedures relevant to your role. Know about government and local guidance.
Knowing how to find information about the risk factors that may impair a young person’s health or development and the crucial role that information sharing plays in maintaining the safety and well-being of children and young people.
Knowing the importance of ensuring that information sharing is necessary, proportionate, relevant, accurate, timely and secure.
Understanding when information may be shared, with and without consent.
Having awareness and sufficient knowledge of current legislation and the common law duty of confidentiality.
Knowing what to record, for your level of responsibility, who to refer to within your organisation or externally if appropriate to your role, how long to keep it, how to dispose of records correctly, and when to feed back or follow up. This should include keeping a record of the decision to share or not to share information, the reasons for the decisions and what was shared with whom. (This may be the responsibility of your manager or a designated safeguarding manager)
Awareness of your own and other people’s professional boundaries around confidential or sensitive information.
Knowing that the Data Protection Act (DPA) is not a barrier to sharing information but provides a framework to ensure that personal information about living persons is shared appropriately.
Understanding the changing world and the use that young people make of new technologies to understand the possible risks of harm e.g. cyber bullying, grooming...
Knowing the boundaries of personal competence and responsibility, when to involve peers, managers, supervisors or professional bodies, and where to get advice and support
Awareness of inter-agency arrangements e.g. Common Assessment Framework (CAF)
Personal skills include having:-
Self-awareness and the ability to analyse objectively.
Confidence to actively represent the child or young person and his or her rights as a youth worker.
Confidence to challenge the way you or others practise.
The ability to develop appropriate professional relationships with young people.
It is important to identify concerns and where …show more content…
appropriate take action as early as possible. As well as ensuring that young people are not suffering from harm, it is equally important to actively contribute towards ensuring their well-being and quality of life. As youth workers, we should be pro-active in empowering young people to gain the knowledge and develop the skills that enable them to further safeguard them-selves e.g. making informed lifestyle decisions. We can work to build greater confidence and appropriate self esteem through activities that provide opportunities for young people to succeed in developing their personal and social skills and their political literacy so they can voice their views on needs, services and facilities provided to support their well-being. We should support young people to develop resilience and build mental, physical, emotional and social well-being.
Information sharing
If you have concerns, sharing information in a timely and accurate way is an essential part of delivering better services to young people.
It is important to understand and respect legislation and ethics surrounding the confidentiality and security of information.
Your relationship with a young person will generally be built on trust and mutual respect. It is important as far as is possible, not to dis-empower the young person. Issues and procedures surrounding confidentiality, consent and information sharing, should be clarified for the young person so that they understand their rights and the implications of sharing or not sharing the information. Be open & honest unless this would increase the risk of them or any other person suffering harm. Information may be shared without consent if there is an overriding public interest.
Effective youth workers are able to:-
Establish respectful, trusting relationships with young people and where appropriate and possible positive relationships with parents, carers and other people and organisations who work with young people or who make decisions about services for young people.
Make considered judgements as soon as possible about how to act to safeguard and promote a young person’s welfare or a group of young people, protecting them from harm and equipping them to protect themselves from dangers.
Provide the opportunity for the young person to express views and participate in decisions that affect them, as appropriate to their age and ability, taking their wishes and feelings into account.
Address barriers to a young person expressing views due to disability, stage of development or other factors.
Undertake informal/formal assessments (based on responsibility/setting) and be alert to unexplained changes in behaviour and signs of abuse or neglect.
Recognise when a young person, is likely to suffer harm, or his/her life is in danger and take action to protect them e.g. bullying (hate incidents/crime), domestic violence...
Knowledge includes:-
Legal and procedural frameworks
Understanding what is meant by safeguarding and the different ways in which young people can be harmed e.g. by other young people, by a single event, or ongoing maltreatment, through the internet and other media, or by their own risk-taking
behaviour.
Awareness and knowledge of the laws, policy areas and procedures relevant to your role. Know about government and local guidance.
Knowing how to find information about the risk factors that may impair a young person’s health or development and the crucial role that information sharing plays in maintaining the safety and well-being of children and young people.
Knowing the importance of ensuring that information sharing is necessary, proportionate, relevant, accurate, timely and secure.
Understanding when information may be shared, with and without consent.
Having awareness and sufficient knowledge of current legislation and the common law duty of confidentiality.
Knowing what to record, for your level of responsibility, who to refer to within your organisation or externally if appropriate to your role, how long to keep it, how to dispose of records correctly, and when to feed back or follow up. This should include keeping a record of the decision to share or not to share information, the reasons for the decisions and what was shared with whom. (This may be the responsibility of your manager or a designated safeguarding manager)
Awareness of your own and other people’s professional boundaries around confidential or sensitive information.
Knowing that the Data Protection Act (DPA) is not a barrier to sharing information but provides a framework to ensure that personal information about living persons is shared appropriately.
Understanding the changing world and the use that young people make of new technologies to understand the possible risks of harm e.g. cyber bullying, grooming...
Knowing the boundaries of personal competence and responsibility, when to involve peers, managers, supervisors or professional bodies, and where to get advice and support
Awareness of inter-agency arrangements e.g. Common Assessment Framework (CAF)
Personal skills include having:-
Self-awareness and the ability to analyse objectively.
Confidence to actively represent the child or young person and his or her rights as a youth worker.
Confidence to challenge the way you or others practise.
The ability to develop appropriate professional relationships with young people.