Children have the right to be protected from harm. If your organisation or group works with children or young people you must have a clear set of guidelines about how you will:
- keep children safe
- respond to child protection concerns.
Your safeguarding and child protection policies and procedures are an important part of protecting children and young people. They must be supported by good governance, health and safety, financial management, staff supervision and management.
This page explains how to write a safeguarding or child protection policy statement that sets out your organisation's commitment to keeping children safe.
What is a safeguarding policy statement?
A safeguarding or child protection policy statement makes it clear what your organisation or group will do to keep children safe.
It should set out:
- your organisation's commitment to protecting all children
- the more detailed policies and procedures your organisation will put in place to keep children safe and respond to child protection concerns.
What are safeguarding and child protection procedures?
Safeguarding and child protection procedures are detailed guidelines and instructions that support your overarching safeguarding policy statement. They explain the steps that your organisation will take to keep children and young people safe and what to do when there are concerns about a child's safety or wellbeing.
For example, your safeguarding procedures should cover issues like how staff and volunteers should respond to concerns about a child and young person and how you will make sure you recruit the right people to work with children and young people.
You should also ensure that staff and volunteers know what to do if they are concerned about anything happening in a child's life - whether or not it is happening within your organisation.