Understanding Safeguarding within Sandwell's Voluntary and Community Sector

Working together to support children and vulnerable adults and keep them safe

SCVO are undertaking a short survey into how charities, voluntary organisations and community groups understand and respond to safeguarding issues or concerns within their organisations and in the community. The aim of this survey is to bring together an accurate and up-to-date picture of the knowledge and capacity within Sandwell’s Voluntary and Community Sector around safeguarding for children and vulnerable adults that they support and/ or have contact with. A vulnerable adult is described as a person who is aged 18 or over who may need care support because of a disability (mental or other), age or illness and is someone who could be unable to look after themselves, or protect themselves from harm or exploitation.

This report is not a review of your organisation and can be completed anonymously; we encourage you to be as honest as you can be about your organisation’s or group’s current practice and culture around safeguarding. All findings will be brought together in summary form and individual contributions will not be shared.

The survey can be completed directly using survey monkey or with the assistance of someone in the SCVO team. If you would like assistance or have any questions relating to the survey please contact Leona Bird via leona@scvo.info

Once the survey is closed the findings will be brought together by SCVO into a report which will be shared with the Sandwell Safeguarding Adults Board (SSAB) and the Sandwell Children’s Safeguarding Partnership (SCSP) and will include any recommendations for how these Boards, or local strategic partners, might better engage and support Sandwell VCS organisations to improve safeguarding.

Many thanks for your assistance with this important project.

ABOUT YOUR GROUP/ ORGANISATION

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* 1. What is your approximate income each year as a group/ organisation?

Annual income of less than £15,000

Annual income of between £15,000 and £250,000

Annual income of over £250,000

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* 2. Approximately how many paid staff/ employees do you have?

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* 3. Typically, approximately how many volunteers do you have supporting your activities at any one time?

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* 4. Can you estimate how many children or young people under 18 your group/ organisation comes into contact with each year?

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* 5. Can you estimate how many adults who may be vulnerable your group/ organisation comes into contact with each year?

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* 6. What description do you think best fits your organisation?

Delivering activities or support for vulnerable adults and/ or their carers

Delivering activities or support for children and young people under 18 years old

Specifically supporting both children/ young people and vulnerable adults/ carers

Running general activities for the wider community but not specialising in children or adults work

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* 7. How might you briefly describe your group or organisation (eg 'care provider' 'sports club' 'community centre' 'mosque' 'advice centre' 'friendship group' etc..

KNOWLEDGE ABOUT SAFEGUARDING IN YOUR GROUP OR ORGANISATION

Thinking about your employees and other paid staff, and volunteers who support your activities...

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* 8. ... how many do you think have a good understanding of safeguarding for vulnerable adults?

	None	Some	Most	All
Employees/ paid staff	Employees/ paid staff None	Employees/ paid staff Some	Employees/ paid staff Most	Employees/ paid staff All
Volunteers	Volunteers None	Volunteers Some	Volunteers Most	Volunteers All

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* 9. ... how many do you think know how to spot signs of concern around safeguarding for vulnerable adults?

	None	Some	Most	All
Employees/ paid staff	Employees/ paid staff None	Employees/ paid staff Some	Employees/ paid staff Most	Employees/ paid staff All
Volunteers	Volunteers None	Volunteers Some	Volunteers Most	Volunteers All

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* 10. ... how many do you think know where to seek information or guidance or how to report if they have concerns around safeguarding of vulnerable adults?

	None	Some	Most	All
Employees/ paid staff	Employees/ paid staff None	Employees/ paid staff Some	Employees/ paid staff Most	Employees/ paid staff All
Volunteers	Volunteers None	Volunteers Some	Volunteers Most	Volunteers All

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* 11. ... how many do you think have a good understanding of safeguarding for children and young people under 18?

	None	Some	Most	All
Employees/ paid staff	Employees/ paid staff None	Employees/ paid staff Some	Employees/ paid staff Most	Employees/ paid staff All
Volunteers	Volunteers None	Volunteers Some	Volunteers Most	Volunteers All

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* 12. ... how many do you think know how to spot signs of concern around safeguarding for children and young people under 18?

	None	Some	Most	All
Employees/ paid staff	Employees/ paid staff None	Employees/ paid staff Some	Employees/ paid staff Most	Employees/ paid staff All
Volunteers	Volunteers None	Volunteers Some	Volunteers Most	Volunteers All

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* 13. ... how many do you think know where to seek information or guidance or how to report if they have concerns around safeguarding of children and young people under 18?

	None	Some	Most	All
Employees/ paid staff	Employees/ paid staff None	Employees/ paid staff Some	Employees/ paid staff Most	Employees/ paid staff All
Volunteers	Volunteers None	Volunteers Some	Volunteers Most	Volunteers All

SAFEGUARDING CULTURE AND PRACTICE IN YOUR GROUP/ ORGANISATION

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* 14. Does your group or organisation have someone that has the responsibility to lead and promote a safeguarding culture for all staff and/ or volunteers?

Yes

Not sure if we have one

Don't know what this means

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* 15. Are you aware of the criteria for making a safeguarding referral in Sandwell?

Yes

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* 16. How regularly is safeguarding (for children or vulnerable adults) discussed within your group/ organisation?

Never

We discuss it when a question or concern arises

We discuss safeguarding from time to time, even if/ when there are no concerns

We discuss safeguarding regularly

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* 17. Does your group/ organisation have a process for identifying concerns and referring...

	Yes	No	Don't know	Don't understand what this is
.. for a Safeguarding Adult Review? - vulnerable adults	.. for a Safeguarding Adult Review? - vulnerable adults Yes	.. for a Safeguarding Adult Review? - vulnerable adults No	.. for a Safeguarding Adult Review? - vulnerable adults Don't know	.. for a Safeguarding Adult Review? - vulnerable adults Don't understand what this is
.. for a Multi-Agency Referral Form (MARF)? - children and young people	.. for a Multi-Agency Referral Form (MARF)? - children and young people Yes	.. for a Multi-Agency Referral Form (MARF)? - children and young people No	.. for a Multi-Agency Referral Form (MARF)? - children and young people Don't know	.. for a Multi-Agency Referral Form (MARF)? - children and young people Don't understand what this is

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* 18. Does your group/ organisation have the following policies, procedures, and protocols in place?: Safeguarding Adults,
Safeguarding Children, Whistleblowing, Position of Trust procedures, Management of allegations against staff, Complaints, Staff supervision, Information sharing, Prevent, Dispute Resolution.

None of them

One or two

Some but not all

Most

We have all of the policies and procedures listed

LOCAL SAFEGUARDING ARRANGEMENTS

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* 19. Have you heard of Sandwell's 'See Something Do Something Campaign'?

Yes

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* 20. What best describes your understanding of the work of the Sandwell Safeguarding Adults Board (SSAB) and the Sandwell Childrens Safeguarding Partnership (SCSP)?

	I've never heard of it	I've heard of it but don't know anything/ much about what it does	I understand what this Board is	I understand what this is and engage with or benefit from the work of this Board
SSAB (adults)	SSAB (adults) I've never heard of it	SSAB (adults) I've heard of it but don't know anything/ much about what it does	SSAB (adults) I understand what this Board is	SSAB (adults) I understand what this is and engage with or benefit from the work of this Board
SCSP (children and young people)	SCSP (children and young people) I've never heard of it	SCSP (children and young people) I've heard of it but don't know anything/ much about what it does	SCSP (children and young people) I understand what this Board is	SCSP (children and young people) I understand what this is and engage with or benefit from the work of this Board

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* 21. What do you think would be helpful to improve safeguarding practice within your organisation?

	We wouldn't need or wouldn't want to access this support	We already access this	We don't know how or where this is available for Sandwell VCS groups/ organisations
Training on an introduction to adult safeguarding	Training on an introduction to adult safeguarding We wouldn't need or wouldn't want to access this support	Training on an introduction to adult safeguarding We already access this	Training on an introduction to adult safeguarding We don't know how or where this is available for Sandwell VCS groups/ organisations
Training on an introduction to childrens safeguarding	Training on an introduction to childrens safeguarding We wouldn't need or wouldn't want to access this support	Training on an introduction to childrens safeguarding We already access this	Training on an introduction to childrens safeguarding We don't know how or where this is available for Sandwell VCS groups/ organisations
Availability of information or advice by email or phone about adult safeguarding	Availability of information or advice by email or phone about adult safeguarding We wouldn't need or wouldn't want to access this support	Availability of information or advice by email or phone about adult safeguarding We already access this	Availability of information or advice by email or phone about adult safeguarding We don't know how or where this is available for Sandwell VCS groups/ organisations
Availability of information or advice by email or phone about children and young peoples safeguarding	Availability of information or advice by email or phone about children and young peoples safeguarding We wouldn't need or wouldn't want to access this support	Availability of information or advice by email or phone about children and young peoples safeguarding We already access this	Availability of information or advice by email or phone about children and young peoples safeguarding We don't know how or where this is available for Sandwell VCS groups/ organisations
Knowledge of the process for reporting adult safeguarding concerns	Knowledge of the process for reporting adult safeguarding concerns We wouldn't need or wouldn't want to access this support	Knowledge of the process for reporting adult safeguarding concerns We already access this	Knowledge of the process for reporting adult safeguarding concerns We don't know how or where this is available for Sandwell VCS groups/ organisations
Knowledge of the process for reporting children and young people safeguarding concerns	Knowledge of the process for reporting children and young people safeguarding concerns We wouldn't need or wouldn't want to access this support	Knowledge of the process for reporting children and young people safeguarding concerns We already access this	Knowledge of the process for reporting children and young people safeguarding concerns We don't know how or where this is available for Sandwell VCS groups/ organisations
Support with developing policies and procedures around safeguarding	Support with developing policies and procedures around safeguarding We wouldn't need or wouldn't want to access this support	Support with developing policies and procedures around safeguarding We already access this	Support with developing policies and procedures around safeguarding We don't know how or where this is available for Sandwell VCS groups/ organisations
Training and advice for managers and leaders in taking on a lead role in safeguarding	Training and advice for managers and leaders in taking on a lead role in safeguarding We wouldn't need or wouldn't want to access this support	Training and advice for managers and leaders in taking on a lead role in safeguarding We already access this	Training and advice for managers and leaders in taking on a lead role in safeguarding We don't know how or where this is available for Sandwell VCS groups/ organisations
Help understanding jargon or terminology around safeguarding: guidance in everyday language	Help understanding jargon or terminology around safeguarding: guidance in everyday language We wouldn't need or wouldn't want to access this support	Help understanding jargon or terminology around safeguarding: guidance in everyday language We already access this	Help understanding jargon or terminology around safeguarding: guidance in everyday language We don't know how or where this is available for Sandwell VCS groups/ organisations

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* 22. Please share if there is any additional support that your organisation needs to improve the ability of all your staff and/ or volunteers to safeguard those in the community that you come into contact with.

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* 23. Please share any feedback you have on how we might improve adult safeguarding in Sandwell through the SSAB, and children and young peoples safeguarding in the borough through the SCSP

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* 24. Over and above your current activities or services, is there any additional support you feel your group or organisation could offer to improve the lives of children or vulnerable adults? If so, what help (if any) might you need to develop this support offer?

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* 25. OPTIONAL - if there is anything within this survey that you would like SCVO to contact you about, please share your contact details here.

Name

Group/ organisation

Email Address

Phone Number

MANY THANKS FOR YOUR HELP IN COMPLETING THIS SURVEY