The SCA takes child protection seriously and requires all affiliated clubs where under 18s are members to demonstrate a commitment and have appropriate policies and procedures in place. Clubs may choose to adopt the SCA policies and guidelines in their entirety or they may choose to have alternatives providing they still meet the minimum standards set out below.
The 2006 Accord for the Protection of Children in Scottish Sport identifies a set of minimum operating requirements (MoR) for clubs. The SCA provides specific guidance to canoe clubs to successfully implement child protection.
The MORs are listed below along with some additional guidance on implementation. A checklist is attached which can be used to review your clubs position and identify any actions required. The SCA does not require all MORs to be implemented at this time, but does require at least a Child Protection Policy (MOR 1) and a Child Protection Officer (MOR 7) to be in place in order to affiliate. Clubs should then be working towards the remaining MORs.
Minimum Operating Requirements for Clubs
The list below has been drawn up by the Safeguarding in Sport Service to give you a guide as to what your club should be doing.
1. A Child Protection Policy which reflects national guidelines, adopted by the Management Committee of the club.
- Clubs should produce a brief statement setting out its policy on safeguarding the welfare of the children associated with the club. This policy should state clearly the duty of care required of all those employed by, volunteering for or otherwise involved in the canoe club to prevent the physical, sexual or emotional abuse of all children with whom they come into contact.
- Any such policy statement should be brought to the attention of all existing and any new coaches/helpers. They should be informed of any guidelines or training that will enable them to implement the policy statement. The policy statements and guidelines should also be brought to the attention of parents or guardians.
- Some Clubs are part of a wider sports club or organisation and may already have a policy.
- The SCA does not require Affiliated Clubs to adopt the SCA policy, but each club must have a policy to meet SCA guidelines and best practice. Clubs can, if they choose, formally adopt the SCA policy. This should be recorded in the minutes of a committee meeting, AGM or the Club constitution.
- Template policy
2. A Code of Conduct for working with children and young people
- Clubs are encouraged to have in place a code of conduct. Once everyone in the organisation is aware of and has signed up to the Policy and Code of Conduct it is much easier to communicate and enforce your Child Protection Policy. Awareness raising can be done in a number of ways: distributing paper or electronic copies; or promote the Policy on the website or in facilities.
- Some clubs incorporate this into their overall membership conditions signed by all members
3. A procedure for the recruitment and selection of those who work with children and young people, including access to Protecting Vulnerable Groups Scheme Membership checks (the replacement for the previous disclosure check).
- The Protecting Vulnerable Groups scheme commences on 28th February 2011 and replaces the previous disclosure scheme.
- Clubs should review all of their club roles (committee positions, volunteer and paid roles) to identify which roles meet the definition of regulated work. Where an individual is being appointed (paid or unpaid) to a regulated work role the individual will require to be a member of the PVG scheme.
- It is an offence to appoint an individual to regulated work if they are barred from working with children.
- Additional guidance on PVG and a briefing document can be found on the SCA website.
- Important – this is a legal requirement on the club
4. A procedure for responding to concerns about the welfare or abuse of a child- within or out with sport.
- Coaches and helpers at canoe clubs may gain the trust of children and young people to such an extent that it is to them that a child may turn when wanting to share unhappiness about being abused, whether at the club, at home or elsewhere. Coaches and helpers may not know how to deal with this disclosure or suspicion.
- Canoe clubs are advised to prepare and issue to all coaches and helpers brief written guidelines setting out the steps they must take if a child discloses details of abuse to them, or if they suspect that abuse may have taken place.
- The guidelines should contain:-
- A reminder of the coaches/helpers duty to prevent abuse, including the duty to report any abuse discovered or suspected.
- Guidance on what constitutes abuse and how to recognise it.
- Specific instructions whom to inform if abuse is disclosed or suspected i.e. the Club Child Protection Co-ordinator.
- The name and contact address of the independent person (see guidelines) and the address and telephone number of the local Social Work Department and police station.
- Guidance on procedures to be followed if it is suspected that someone in the club has abused a child or vulnerable adult.
- Some reasonable indication as to what happens next.
- Guidance on how to support the child or vulnerable adult who has been abused.
- Where there is any doubt as to the process canoe clubs should seek guidance from the SCA Child Protection Officer or their local Social Work Department’s Child Protection Team in drawing up the guidelines for their club.
- Refer to the Safeguarding in Sport toolkit document
5. A Disciplinary Procedure for managing concerns and allegations of poor practice, misconduct and child abuse and includes provision for referrals to the Disqualified from Working with Children List.
- Clubs may have a standalone disciplinary procedure or may have a statement incorporated within the constitution. Ideally, this should include specific mention of referral to the disqualified from working with children list.
- Further guidance on this topic is available in the resources section of this page.
6. A procedure for reviewing the management of concerns about poor practice, misconduct and/ or child abuse.
- Further guidance on this topic is available in the resources section of this page.
7. A named contact for the co-ordination of child protection within the club (including a role description) who has attended recommended training.
- The Club Child Protection Officer may be a dedicated position without your club and may be on the committee but it may also be part of the duties of another committee position such as the club president, secretary or coaching officer.
- A template role description of a Club Child Protection Officer can be found here
- The recommended training for Club Child Protection Officers is the In Safe Hands course. This 3 hour workshop is available across the country and normally organised by local authorities. Dates can be found via the link on the Safeguarding in Sport website.
8. A variety of child protection training offered at appropriate levels for those working or volunteering with children and young people
- Training is available from a range of sources. Click here to visit the sportscotland calendar.
- The BCU require all coaches to attend Child Protection training. For further details of the requirements, visit the CP Training for Coaches page.
Additional Recommendations for Child Protection
- Plan the sessions at the club so as to minimise situations where the abuse of children may occur.
There are people who actively seek to harm or abuse children. Some of these individuals may have no criminal record of abuse. The principles laid out in this code help to reduce their opportunities for access to children and vulnerable adults within a canoeing environment.
Canoe clubs should plan their efforts so as to minimise situations where it may be possible for children to be abused. One way of achieving this would be for canoe clubs to issue guidelines recommending coaches/helpers, whenever possible, not to meet with children away from the canoe club situation or meeting place without a parent or other adult being present
Canoe clubs, to operate effectively, sometimes need to have adult coaches working with individual children to develop individual skills. Clubs should take every step possible to assure themselves that people in such coaching positions have no record of abuse. This may involve such action as an interview before appointments, references and supervision (accessing Scottish Criminal Records Office once Part V of the Police Act 1997 was implemented in April 2002).
- Introduce a system whereby children may talk with an independent person
In recent years a number of organisations working with children have sought to give more rights of expression to the children. Some youth organisations have collectively adopted empowerment as one of their central aims, and childcare organisations have tried to increase the rights and choices of service users. Giving more expression to children also has the important side effect of reducing the potential for undiscovered abuse.
Canoe clubs may wish to build on existing and new systems for increasing the rights of children by introducing ways for children to make representations to an independent club person. For example, children might be given the opportunity to talk with a designated person independent from the team and coaching staff. The club should advise parents and guardians of this right to talk with an independent person, giving the name and contact arrangements.
This process should form part of a general registration process and be linked to explaining the other rights and responsibilities the child may have at the club; it need not be threatening.
In all cases the independent person must be given clear, written guidelines and relevant training as to what immediate action to take should a child disclose abuse. Otherwise inaction may unwittingly permit the abuse to continue.
- Apply the agreed procedures for protecting children and vulnerable adults to all coaches and helpers.
There is no defined way of identifying a would-be abuser. There is always the risk that an adult at a club in contact with children and vulnerable adults might abuse for the first time. Canoe clubs should take all reasonable steps to exclude known abusers, and guidelines on this follow. Since it is not safe to assume that anyone can automatically be excluded from being a potential abuser, any procedures for the protection of children and vulnerable adults should apply to all. This is not the same as treating each person working with children with suspicion, which might negatively affect coach recruitment. It involves taking pragmatic steps to protect children and vulnerable adults from abuse; these steps being observed by all.
- Give all coaches and helpers clear roles.
Where there is confusion amongst adults over roles, responsibilities and accountability, the abuse of children can be easily concealed, and therefore perpetuated.
Each adult who comes into contact with children at a canoe club should have a clear idea of his/her role. One method is to provide each adult with a written description of the work he/she is expected to do.
- Use supervision as a means of protecting children.
Good supervision is a useful way for a canoe club to ensure that all adult support is working effectively. Clubs should ensure that those responsible for the adults dealing with children and vulnerable adults use sound supervisory procedures.
If any child appears to be receiving exceptional treatment either being highly favoured or being treated unduly harshly, the person in charge should draw this to the attention of the adult involved. If talking with the adult does not convince the person in charge that the child’s welfare is secure, s/he should talk confidentially with the Club Child Protection Co-ordinator. The person in charge should not drop the issue until s/he is reassured that there is no potential for abuse. Supervisors should also take/create opportunities for observing the adult whilst s/he is working with the children.
- Gain a degree of background knowledge about any coach or helper wishing to be involved with the club.
Before accepting new volunteer (or paid) coaches and helpers, canoe clubs should consider speaking to at least one person who has first-hand experience of his/her work or voluntary contact with children and vulnerable adults.
Where a coach has no experience of voluntary (or paid) contact with children, a reference should be sought from a reputable person (not a relative) who can comment on the applicant’s character and relationships with others. When contacting such a reputable person the club should state the nature of the (potential) coach’s involvement at the Club.
The reference provided may sometimes be vague or ambiguous. This could be for a variety of reasons; but it could also be the referee trying to give a coded message. If anything in the reference causes the organisation to have any doubts about the applicant’s suitability to work with children and vulnerable adults the reputable person should be contacted in person or by telephone to discuss the matter further. On receipt of information regarding a coach working with or intending to work with children and vulnerable adults, canoe clubs should be aware that they must avoid unfair or unlawful discrimination.
Resources
The following resources have been produced by Safeguarding in Sport to assist organisations in implementing child protection procedures and policies.