Safeguarding children
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. For services to be effective, each individual and organisation should play their full part.
Safeguarding begins with preventive activity which enables children and young people to grow up safely and securely. It includes support to families and early intervention to meet the needs of children / young people and continues through to Child Protection which refers specifically to the activity that is undertaken to protect individual children and young people who are suffering or are likely to suffer significant harm.
- The primary responsibility for safeguarding children rests with their parents
- Some parents cannot ensure that their children are safe from danger in the home and free from risk from others
- It may be necessary for statutory agencies to intervene to ensure that the child / young person is adequately protected
- Safeguarding children depends on effective information sharing, collaboration and understanding between families, agencies and professionals
When there is a concern a referral should be made to the Single Point Entry (SPOE, Referral Gateway) Team
0300 1234 333 or 028 9442 4459
Any person wishing to make a referral regarding safeguarding outside normal working hours (Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm) should contact:
Regional Emergency Social Work Service – Out of Hours
Tel: 028 9504 9999
Websites with further information on safeguarding children
I am looking for guidance on online safety and privacy settings:
I want more information on the social networking sites like Snapchat, MeowChat and Instagram:
- Connect Safely – Parent Guides
- Transl8it – Translate slang used in texting and online
- Net Aware – What is Meow Chat?
How do I look out for the signs of child sexual exploitation?
I don’t know how to bring up the discussion around online safety with my children/the children I care for:
I am looking for resources to show children to explain online safety.
What do I do if I am worried about my child sending explicit photos?
Contact the Gateway Team 9am – 5pm, Mon – Fri on 0300 1234 333 or the Regional Emergency Social Work Service outside of these hours on 028 9504 9999 to discuss your concerns and to seek advice and support. Additional points of references include:
