2.11.5 Allegations against Staff

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Reporting Allegations Against Staff
3. Notifying the Staff Member Concerned
4. Outcomes of Enquiries / Investigations

 
1. Introduction

This Chapter is about managing cases of allegations of abuse against a person who works with children in any setting.

All allegations of abuse of children by staff member must  be taken seriously and treated in accordance with the procedures set out below.

It should be used in respect of all cases in which it is alleged that a person who works with children has:

• Behaved in a way that has harmed a child or may have harmed a child;
• Possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child;
• Behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates s/he may be unsuitable to work with children.

These concerns must be immediately passed to the manager or operations manager who will contact the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) for Managing Allegations.

 
2. Reporting Allegations Against Staff

Upon receipt of the report/allegation the manager must consult the Line Manager for the Home and notify the On Call Child Protection Person as soon as possible who will inform the relevant Director.

However, the first priority must be to ensure the immediate safety of the child and any other children affected or in contact with the individual (including their own children) and to consider what supervision arrangements are required to safeguard the child.

Procedures need to be applied with common sense and judgement. Some allegations will be so serious as to require immediate referral to Children's Services/LADO and the Police for investigation. Others may be much less serious and at first sight might not seem to warrant consideration of a Police investigation, or enquiries by Children's Services/LADO.

However, it is important to ensure that even apparently less serious allegations are examined objectively by someone independent .This person will be either the registered manager or operations manager in conjunction with The Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) for allegations who  will provide the overall independence .  Any decision to deviate from the advice of the LADO must be discussed and authorised by Regional Operations Manager / Director.

The Manager will always consult the relevant LADO of all allegations that come to his/her attention and appear to meet the criteria described above. This consultation with the LADO will aim to establish the following:

• That the allegation is within the scope of procedures for a LADO discussion;
• That the allegation is not demonstrably false or unfounded;
• The nature of the concern, how and why it has arisen, and any previous information about the child/ accused person and their relationship with the accused person;
• Any background information relevant to the allegation;
• Any arrangements taken to secure the immediate safety of the child/ren including ensuring the individual's own children are safeguarded;
• Necessity for a Strategy Meeting and whether the police and children's services should be contacted;
• If the parents/carers of the child concerned are not already aware of the allegation, there will be a discussion about how and by whom they should be informed. In some circumstances the manager may need to advise parents of an incident involving their child straight away.  Thus consideration on how to consult formally with them about the investigation needs to be agreed, deciding on how this should be done, balancing this with the overriding need to ensure the child's safety.

2.1 Referrals to The Independent Safeguarding Authority

New May 2010

If staff are suspended from work as a result of an allegation, or otherwise removed from or cease working with children (e.g. given 'Garden Leave', leave CastleCare's employment or retire), the LADO must be consulted and consideration given to making a referral to The Independent Safeguarding Authority.

3. Notifying the Staff Member Concerned

The Registered Manager or Operations Manager should inform the accused person about the allegation as soon as possible after consulting the LADO. However, where a Strategy Meeting is needed, or it is clear that police or children's Services may need to be involved, that should not be done until those agencies have been consulted, and have agreed what information can be disclosed to the person. If the person is a member of a union or professional association s/he should be advised to seek support from that organisation. However it is anticipated that even if Police /Children's Services involvement is required; the person will be notified of the allegation's existence within 3 working days.

If a Child Protection Enquiry is conducted, the staff concerned may be suspended from work or asked to take 'Garden Leave'. In any case, staff will remain on full pay (excluding payments you may have been made for sleeping in etc.).

During the enquiry the staff concerned will be asked not to contact or to discuss the matter with colleagues or children or visit the home.

The member of staff will have a nominated 'support person' who they can contact and who will keep them up to date on progress.

4. Outcomes of the Enquiries / Investigations

If there is cause to suspect a child is suffering or is likely to suffer Significant Harm, and a referral is made to Children's Services. The manager must obtain the following information:

• The name of the staff member who the allegation is made against;
• The staff member's address;
• The staff member's date of birth;
• The address of the home where they work;
• Date of incident and date allegation made;
• Nature of allegation.

The investigation will have three related, but independent strands:

• Child Protection Enquiries (Section 47), relating to the safety and welfare of any children who are or who may have been involved including the alleged person's own children or children within his/ her care;
• A police investigation into a possible offence;
• Disciplinary procedures (including internal investigation) where, where it appears that the allegations may amount to misconduct or gross misconduct on the part of staff. 

The fact that a prosecution is not possible does not mean that action in relation to safeguarding children, or employee discipline, is not necessary or feasible. The important thing is that each aspect is thoroughly assessed, and a definite conclusion reached that is focused to be in the Child's favour.

There must be a decision about who will provide support to the staff member. This includes the need to keep the accused person informed of the process and decisions relating to the allegation. It is good practice for the accused person to be provided with the substance of the allegation within 3 days. CastleCare Review meetings relating to the investigation should be conducted at least 4 weekly with the person being updated on the outcome.

If a referral has been made to The Independent Safeguarding Authority, they should be updated.

There are 3 possible outcomes to the first steps of the investigation:

1.	There is cause to suspect a child is suffering or is likely to suffer Significant Harm - In this event  Children's Services will undertake an Initial Assessment and if there remains concerns that the child is at risk of suffering Significant Harm, a Strategy Meeting is likely to be arranged and this may lead to a Section 47 Enquiry.
2.	The threshold of Significant Harm is not considered to be reached, but there is cause to suspect that a criminal offence has been committed and a police investigation is necessary. In cases where the threshold of Significant Harm is not reached, but further investigation such as police investigation is required the operations manager and the  LADO will have further discussions with the police,  to evaluate the allegation and decide how it should be dealt with. This discussion will share all available information about the allegation and the person against whom the allegation has been made, consider whether a Police investigation is needed and if so, agree the timing and conduct of that. In cases where a police investigation is necessary the initial evaluation will also consider whether there are matters which can be taken forward in a disciplinary process in parallel with the criminal process, or whether any disciplinary action will need to wait completion of the police enquiries and/or prosecution.  If the initial evaluation identifies concerns about the welfare of a child a referral should be made to Children's social care.
3.	The threshold of Significant Harm is not considered to be reached and a police investigation is not necessary, but that CastleCare may wish to conduct an internal investigation and consider whether to take disciplinary action in respect of the individual.

End