Understand Safeguarding of Children and Young People
( For those working in the Adult Sector )
P5

1.Every organisation should be committed to safegaurding children and Young people.
All staff within their organisation may in the course of their work come into contact with children and famileies and have a responsibility to ensure that they know what to do if they encounter child abuse or are concerned that a young perosn is at risk of harm.
All agencies working with children, young people and their families should take resonable measures to ensure that the risk of harm to childrens welfare are minimised and where there are concerns appropriate actions to address those concerns should be taken, working to agreed policies and procedures and in full partnership with other local agencies.
Child protection is a part of safeguarding and promoting welfare. This refers to the activity which is undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering or are at risk of suffering significant harm. As adults and / or proffessionals or volunteers, everyone has a responsibility to safeguard children and promote their welfare.
Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children - and in particular protecting them from significant harm - depends upon effective joint working between agencies and professionals that have different roles and expertise.
Individual children, especially some of the most vulnerable children and those at greatest risk of social exclusion, will need co ordinated help from health, education, childrens social care and quite possibly the voluntary sector and other agencies including Youth justice services.
For those children who are suffering or at risk of suffering significant harm, Joint working is essential, to safeguard and promote welfare of the child(ren) and, where necessary, to help bring to justice the perpetrators of crimes against children, All agencies and Proffessionals should :
Be alert to potential indicators of abuse or neglect
Be alert to the risks which individual abusers, or potential abusers, may pose to children
Share and help to analyse information so that an assessment can be made of the childs need and circumstances
Contribute to whatever actions are needed to safeguard and promote the childs welfare
Take part in regularly reviewing the outcomes for the child against specific plans and work co operatively with parents unless this is inconsistent with ensuring the childs safety.

Signs and Symptoms of abuse and neglect :
Physical abuse ;
Physical abuse may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocation or otherwise causing physical harm to a child
Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer faricates the symptoms of , or deliberately induces illness in a child.
Unexplained recurrent injuries
Improbable excuses or refusal to explain injuries
Wearing clothes to cover injuries, even in hot weather
Refusal to undress for gym
Bald patches
Chronic running away
Delay in seetking medical help or examination
Self destructive tendencies
Aggression towards others
Fear of Physical contact - shrinking back if touched
Admitting that they are punished, but the punishment is excessive
Fear of suspected abuser being contacted
Emotional Abuse
Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse feects on the childs emotional development. It may involve conveying to children that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate or not valued
It may feature age or develop menatally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children. These may include interactions that are beyond the childs developmental capability, as well as over protection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child participaing in normal social interaction. It may involve seeing or hearing the ill treatment of another, It may involve serious bullying