Every person, of any age, has the right to live in safety and not be fearful of abuse or neglect.
Navigo have a statutory duty to safeguard children, young people and adults and have a dedicated team of safeguarding specialists who:
- make sure all of our staff are compliant with national and local safeguarding policies and procedures
- ensure staff are aware of the correct processes to follow to protect children, young people and adults
- offer advice, support and supervision to staff.
Safeguarding is everyone’s business and we work very closely with the North East Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Partnership and the North East Lincolnshire Safeguarding Adults Board, as well as having our own internal Safeguarding Sub-Committee which is in place to ensure the organisation has the effective structures, processes and embedded standards to ensure compliance with the legal requirements of safeguarding children and adults.
Our vision is one where no one should have to tolerate or be exposed to abuse, neglect or exploitation
If you have immediate concerns for the safety, health and/or wellbeing of a Child and/or adult, immediate action must be taken to notify the appropriate service(s) via 999 or 101 (Ambulance, Police, Fire Service).
If you are concerned that a child is being abused, or they may be at risk of harm, you should contact the Childrens Integrated Front Door Service on 01472 326292 (opt 2, opt 2). Here you will be able to seek advice and/or report a safeguarding concern.
The Care Act (2014) requires local authorities to make enquires, or ask others to make enquiries, when they think an adult with care and support needs may be at risk of abuse or neglect in their area and to find out what, if any, action may be needed. This applies whether or not the authority is actually providing any care and support services to that adult.
Safeguarding duties apply to an adult who:
- Has needs for care and support (whether or not the local authority is meeting any of those needs) and;
- is experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect; and
- as a result of those care and support needs is unable to protect themselves from either the risk of, or the experience of abuse or neglect.
If you need to report a Safeguarding Concern for an Adult
If you have immediate concerns for the safety, health and/or wellbeing of a child and/or adult, immediate action must be taken to notify the appropriate service(s) via 999 or 101 (Ambulance, Police, Fire Service).
If you wish to raise a Safeguarding Adults concern, please contact the Safeguarding Adults team via the Single Point of Access on 01472 256 256 (option 2). This service is available 24/7, 365 days of the year. Please note, this is the only method to report a concern.
Domestic abuse is a crime and a major social problem affecting many families. In 90% of reported domestic abuse incidents, children have either been present in the same or a nearby room. This can have a dramatic effect on children now and in the future.
Navigo staff have a duty of care to act upon any safeguarding disclosures that are made to them. Navigo staff are trained to deal with disclosures of abuse and how to respond to these.
Sometimes a disclosure may suggest that an identifiable adult or a child is at risk of abuse or poses a risk to others. In these circumstances, Navigo staff have a duty of care to gain advice from the internal Safeguarding team, or share details of the disclosure you have made with other agencies, to protect these people. We believe it is important to be open and transparent, and we will usually discuss this with you before any information is shared. In some cases, we need to share information without consent – for example, if we feel there is an immediate risk to another person/child.
Historical abuse disclosures may prompt Navigo staff to ask questions about present day risk. This may include asking for additional information around a historical perpetrator and if they have relationships with any vulnerable people. This is not to distress you, but in order to ensure any other person who could be affected currently is appropriately safeguarded. Our staff understand that you may not want to share information with the police or social care for investigation. However, the law requires staff to share information when necessary to safeguard a child or adult at current risk of harm. This may not be required in all cases, but you can speak to our staff for further information.
Navigo have adopted the ‘Think Family' approach, which is a method that highlights how important it is to consider the entire family when working with families.
As an all-age provider, Navigo staff are committed to utilising a ‘Think Family' approach both when working with children and considering support options for their parents/guardians, and when working with adults and considering support options for their children. Safeguarding is everyone’s business and if you see something, you should say something.