Purpose and scope
Herring House Trust (HHT) believe that every vulnerable adult living in one of our properties and/or receiving support from us, has the right to live free from abuse. We will work in collaboration with other agencies to uphold the right of vulnerable adults to protection from harm and exploitation making constructive use of the law. Our staff will be trained and supported in recognising and dealing with incidents of abuse which they will do will do with respect and dignity, privacy, independence and individuality of the vulnerable adult.
The purpose of this policy is to:
Responsibility
HHT Managers throughout the schemes, Hostel, Resettlement and SmartMove, plus any member of HHT staff suspicious that abuse is occurring. All support staff are responsible for implementing this policy, in association with line-managers and other agencies.
Definitions
“ Abuse is a single or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, usually occurring within a relationship where there is an expectation of trust and which causes harm or distress to a person”
“ Vulnerable adult: An adult who is or may be in need of support from voluntary/statutory agencies by reason of mental health, drug/alcohol misuse, disability, age or illness and who may be unable to take care of him or herself, or unable to protect him or herself against significant harm or exploitation”
Types of abuse
There are 7 main types of abuse of vulnerable adults:
Procedure for suspected abuse
Step 1: Establish consent by talking to the victim
Person responsible: staff member
Within the limits of your relationship with the alleged victim, their mental capacity and the complexities of the situation, talk to them about your concerns and the risks involved and seek their consent for any subsequent steps you feel are necessary.
If the victim wishes, so long as they are not the alleges perpetrator, the staff member should involve relevant interested parties. However, where an individual has the capacity, the decision making power rests with the individual, not interested parties.
Step 2: Exceptions to honouring the victim’s wishes: establishing capacity and self-determination
Person responsible: staff member in consultation with Line Manager
If the vulnerable adult does not want a referral to be made then their wishes should be honoured unless:
Step 3: Emergency services
Person responsible: staff member
Timing: immediately
Having obtained consent or ascertained incapacity, contact emergency services (usually police first) if a vulnerable adult appears to be in immediate physical danger or there is evidence of sexual abuse. If no immediate danger is apparent, proceed to step 4
Step 4: Consultation with line manager
Person responsible: staff member
Discuss suspected abuse or allegation of abuse with line manager at earliest opportunity. If the line manager is not available or likely to be unavailable and the staff member considers the matter sufficiently urgent, they should discuss their concerns with a suitable alternative manager. The full facts and circumstances of the situation together with all available options and courses of action should be identified and discussed. The following points amongst others may need to be considered:
Step 5: Content of referral
Person responsible: staff member
The referral to social services should include:
Step 6: Exploring alternative courses of action
Person responsible: staff member in consultation with line manager
If no referral is made in line with the vulnerable adult’s wishes, then other courses of action should be considered including utilising the help-line advice services provided by other agencies and the situation regularly monitored and reviewed by the front line worker and their line manager
Step 7: Ongoing work with vulnerable adult
Person responsible: Staff member in consultation with line manager
Staff should agree with their line manager a framework for working with the vulnerable adult, whether or not the referral to Statutory Services has been made or accepted. Within this framework, staff should continue to support and ensure the safety of the vulnerable adult as well as work with other agencies towards the elimination of the abuse.
Step 8: Support of staff member
Person responsible: Line Manager of staff person involved
The line manger should clarify the staff member’s role, extent of their responsibility and provide the necessary support to the employee either directly or through an agreed other source
Step 9: Recording
Person responsible: staff member and line managers
Timing: immediately after each event
Record incident, assessment, options identified and decisions and actions taken (including no further action) and continue to maintain accurate, legible, concise, factual and up-to-date records during all stages
Step 10: Keeping line management informed
Person responsible: Staff member and line manager
In situations of suspicion of abuse or a series of possibly related incidents, Staff members should appraise their line manager of the situation. They in turn should appraise the Client Services Manager or Operations Manager.
Step 11: Implications for policy, systems and procedures
Person responsible: Senior Management Team
Senior managers need to consider whether the abuse raises organisational issues, which need addressing
Step 12: Implications in partnership settings:
Person responsible: Senior Management Team
In the case of collaborative projects, staff should consider:
If so a meeting of appropriate managers from each stakeholder organisation should be arranged to address these.
procedure for suspected abuse where perpetrator is accommodated/supported
Step 1: Allegation of abuse
Person responsible: staff member
The staff member should collate all information given and ascertain from victim what they wish to happen next. If the alleged perpetrator is accommodated in the same property, the victim will be offered a safe place to be while initial investigation takes place (locked and secure interview space with no access from anyone other than staff).
Step 2: Investigation
Person responsible: staff members on duty
The staff on duty should assess the situation and in line with the victims wishes, discuss whether an investigation can commence immediately in-house or whether outside agencies such as emergency services need to be involved. The on-call manager is available out of hours to offer advice and support.
Internal response: If after investigation it is deemed that an internal response to the accusations is appropriate, the response should include formal chats, warnings about eviction, mediation, moving clients rooms. At all times victims should be protected from any further abuse, including repercussions of reporting abuse, and supported through the key-working process. In less extreme cases the perpetrator should be supported to change their behaviour.
External response: If after initial investigation it is deemed that this is an issue for the emergency services (police), the relevant service should be notified immediately and the investigation will be left in their hands. While the police investigation is undertaken we will not provide accommodation for the perpetrator, and will only consider further support is police find allegations un-substantiated. If this is the case we will consider finding alternative accommodation for the victim if appropriate.
Step 3: Recording
Person responsible: staff member and line managers
Timing: immediately after each event
Record incident, assessment, options identified and decisions and actions taken (including no further action) and continue to maintain accurate, legible, concise, factual and up-to-date records during all stages
Step 4: Keeping line management informed
Person responsible: Staff member and line manager
Staff members should appraise their line manager of the situation and investigation. They in turn should appraise the Client Services Manager or Operations Manager.
Step 5: Implications for policy, systems and procedures
Person responsible: Senior Management Team
Senior managers need to consider whether the abuse raises organisational issues, which need addressing
Step 6: Implications in partnership settings:
Person responsible: Senior Management Team
In the case of collaborative projects, staff should consider:
If so a meeting of appropriate managers from each stakeholder organisation should be arranged to address these.
No Secrets Government guidance
Issued March 2000. This provides guidance on developing and implementing multi-agency policies and procedures to protect vulnerable adults from abuse. The guidance has been issued under Section 7 of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970. This means that the guidance must be implemented unless local circumstances justify a variation. However, it does not carry the same force as legislation. Key measures include:
(Free copies of No Secrets can be obtained by ringing 0541 555 455 or write to Department of Health, PO Box 777, London SE1 6XH)
Legislative patchwork
There are two strands of relevant law: protection and prevention. There is no specific legislation for protecting vulnerable adults as there is for children, since the law generally assumes that adults are responsible for their own actions.
Vulnerable adults at risk may sometimes remain in dangerous situations because:
Relevant areas of legislation include:
Accommodation of Schedule One offenders/Abuse against Vulnerable Adults
Herring House Trust acknowledges that the clients we work with, on occasion, will have committed offences that lead them to be registered as Schedule One Offenders or Offenders relating to the abuse of vulnerable adults. Herring House Trust works in partnership with a wide range of other voluntary and statutory agencies, at various different levels, to deliver a service that enables our staff to work appropriately and safely with these clients in order to protect them and other clients and the community in which we house them.
Purpose and Scope
The purpose of this procedure is to inform employees of HHT about their duties and responsibilities when working with this client group. This document aims to be a practical resource for managers and staff. It aims to make plain the professional practice for HHT workers and enable workers to manage related incidents across the HHT schemes.
Procedure
In all cases, whether a self-referral or referred by another agency, if we are aware of a clients offences concerning the above we must only accommodate within the hours of 9am – 4pm, Monday to Friday.
If we are made aware of a clients previous/current convictions relating to the above offences after admission, the following steps should be implemented (from Step Two) as soon as possible.
Self-referral
Step One: On presentation an initial contact form will be completed, if at this point the client discloses details relating to Schedule One offences or offences towards vulnerable adults, the client must be informed that their details will be discussed before an answer can be given. The details will then be passed to a member of the management team who will arrange a meeting at their earliest convenience. The client will be advised to return when appropriate.
Step Two: A meeting between the manager and the appropriate support worker (preferably potential key-worker) will take place and all relevant information to hand will be discussed before agreeing to admission. Once an agreement has been reached the information will be collated and transferred to the client file – an alert will be placed in ‘staff aware’ listing all conditions of stay. The following information is absolutely essential to enable us to support a client with this status in the Hostel:
This information must be sourced within 48 hours of admission, a specific worker will be allocated this task at the meeting.
Step Three: Continued support – regular reviews of the support plan will be discussed with management and any relevant changes to the support plan or conditions of stay will be placed on the client file and in ‘staff aware’ immediately.
Other agency referral
Step One: On receipt of an initial referral, the referring agency will be faxed an ‘external agency information sheet’, only after we have received the completed information sheet will we consider accommodating.
Step Two: A meeting between the manager and the appropriate support worker (preferably potential key-worker) will take place and all relevant information to hand will be discussed before agreeing to admission. Once an agreement has been reached the information will be collated and transferred to the client file – an alert will be placed in ‘staff aware’ listing all conditions of stay. The completed information sheet should have the following information:
If any of this information has been omitted, it must be sourced within 48 hours of admission, a specific worker will be allocated this task at the meeting.
Step Three: Continued support – regular reviews of the support plan will be discussed with management and any relevant changes to the support plan or conditions of stay will be placed on the client file and in ‘staff aware’ immediately
Ongoing Support
At any point during the clients stay with us, if we witness or suspect behavior that may cause concern, management must be informed immediately along with the appropriate statutory agencies.
Should an incident occur staff should follow the Vulnerable Adults Policy. Steps should be taken to ensure that all clients residing at Bauleah House remain safe, we must also address the needs of the perpetrator by:
Updated Feb 2016
