Walsall Children’s Services
Better Together for Children
Walsall Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) Newsletter Winter 2017
Workers contracted via third parties More and more adults are in contact with children and young people in roles contracted via a third party. These might be coach/bus drivers, security staff, cleaners/caretakers or other ancillary staff. The LADO has had a number of referrals regarding such staff who are having daily contact with children but whom are either not people the setting would themselves have employed had they known their history (e.g. serious violence and drug offences) or who go on to present concerning behaviour in the role. Settings should have confidence in all staff whose jobs bring them into contact with children, whether directly employed or not, and that the practices of third party contractors are robust in terms of recruitment, training and ensuring the suitability of any candidates supplied.
Can you trust your instincts? A number of recent LADO referrals have related to serious incidents where young people have been either hurt or threatened with violence by a worker/carer. In these cases the young people themselves presented with very challenging behaviour and the staff/carers were facing violence and abuse when they reacted inappropriately. Their actions appeared to stem from an instinctive response to threat. However, the responses were not only harmful they were also potentially career ending. Notably these individuals abandoned years of good practice and training as they had otherwise unblemished records with appropriate experience with challenging behaviour. This illustrates the difficulty in ensuring that staff/carers practice safely at all times and the vigilance needed, as even trusted, reliable and experienced staff/carers can act inappropriately when under pressure. Acting on instinct is unavoidable at times but these
instincts need to be protective or defensive rather than attacking. This may be something you wish to think about; how do we know how we will react under extreme provocation and how do we check this out with staff/carers?
Problematic staff cultures We all want an engaging workplace and good morale can improve effectiveness and help keep children safe, however, it cannot be ‘anything goes’. Children’s workforce roles can be challenging and stressful and staff teams can develop ways of coping which lead to less appropriate cultures creeping in, especially where staff teams are made up of individuals of a similar age, gender or other characteristic – ‘banter’ or other behaviours can start to relax the professional boundaries required. There have been a number of referrals to the LADO raising concerns as to whether individuals may pose a risk to children as a result of their behaviour within a culture that has got out of hand. This has been anything from expressing offensive and concerning views to bullying and sexual harassment. This has been especially notable in young staff teams where individuals are less used to the expectations of the workplace; workers have put their careers at risk as a result. Does your workplace culture support staff to have positive but appropriate relationships that instil confidence in its members as representatives of your organisation, are you confident it does not get out of hand and challenge this early on?
Adult to child ratios for working with children Appropriate staffing ratios are needed in order to ensure any activity with children is safe; for additional activities or trips which require bringing in new staff/volunteers it is important that these are suitable people. Allegations or situations which can present difficulties to staff and lead to poor or dangerous practice can be mitigated if we get this right. The NSPCC has published some guidance which may be useful to look at, including ratios for supervision, travelling, first aid and toileting.
If any of the above has raised any questions or you would like to discuss the implications further please feel free to contact me. Alan Hassall, Walsall LADO direct line: 01922 654040
mobile: 07432 422205
email: alan.hassall@walsall.gov.uk
secure email: walsall_lado@walsall.gcsx.gov.uk