Developing a Safer Caring Plan
Related guidance
Working out a Safer Caring Plan for your family including your young person is not about changing everything that you do. It is about thinking about what parts of your family’s behaviour involves risk and working out what you can all do so that safer care becomes part of everyday life. This will have already been covered on the training course.
It will also help you to know how to deal with situations that might seem OK in your own family but are not safe in a supported lodgings family. It is important that everybody that is in the house is aware of the plan and is signed up to it. Regular visitors to the home need to know about the Safer Caring Plan.
The whole family should be involved in agreeing your plan and in reviewing it each year (or when circumstances change). Your Supervising Worker can support you with this. When you have completed your Safer Caring Plan you should discuss it with the young person’s social worker and give a copy to the Service. Sometimes you may need to review your Safer Caring Plan because something new happens like a new placement.
The aim is for all those involved to understand what might happen and to avoid the young person feeling worried or anxious.
When you go on holiday you will need to think about your Safer Caring Plan.
Some young people may have had negative relationships with adults/adult carers. The experience of having a positive adult role model can help improve the chance of them having a positive relationship with adults in the future. If there is more than one placement in the household, a good start is for all hosts to ensure that they get involved from the start in developing their family’s Safer Caring Plan. It is really important that all hosts consider their role in order to minimise the risk of allegations.
The following are the some of the issues which you may need to consider when developing your family’s Safer Caring Plan. This is not intended to be an exhaustive or prescriptive list but should help in drawing up your own personalised plan, which should be tailor-made for your family.
You may wish to also think about:
- Each issue from everyone’s point of view (the young person, other children in the household, yourself, visitors, possibly pets etc.);
- Any specific situations when and where areas of conflict might arise;
- Which host is responsible for implementing each aspect of the plan;
- Setting times to review the plan, not just annually or when there are significant changes;
- What will happen when you go for a holiday or weekend away?
- What will you do if one or more aspects of the plan aren’t working?
Physical contact should be given in a manner, which is safe, protective and avoids the arousal of sexual expectations, feelings or in any way which reinforces sexual stereotypes.
The following include areas which could involve physical contact and which you might want to include in your Safer Caring Plan:
Showing Affection
Warmth and understanding are essential, but everyone needs to know and understand when a relationship is inappropriate.
Children should always be asked first if they are happy to be touched. They need to be taught by a caring adult to say ‘no’ if they do not want to be touched and what touch is appropriate touch.
Families will all have different ways of showing affection and you need to be careful not to impose your way on others. If touch has meant something other than affection to a young person in the past, they might not understand that when you try to show them affection.
- Put in place clear rules that say bullying is not acceptable and what actions will be taken if the hosts suspect bullying or are told of bullying happening;
- Make it clear what the expectations and rules are in placement;
- Have discussions about bullying and why it matters;
- Be good role models.
You should be clear about how long the young person can be left on their own for and whether the young person can be left alone at night if you are in phone contact with them. This should be detailed in the Placement Plan and is an important step towards independent living.
It is always helpful when you do take photos or videos, to ask the young person’s permission first and make sure that they get copies and that they know who else will see them and why.
Be sensitive to how the young person reacts to having their photo taken.
When the young person uses the internet, take an interest in what they do and agree, when, where and how they will use it.
Also see: Internet, Photographs and Mobile Phones.
It is important for people to dress appropriately when in the house. Make sure that your family, and young people have nightwear.
Supported lodgings hosts should not encourage young people to enter their bedrooms.
Young people should have a private space and privacy in their bedroom and hosts should knock before entering their room.
Relationships and sex education is important for all of us as we grow up. Young people need to be helped to think about what makes a good friend and what makes a bad friend. They need to learn how to avoid situations that might put them at risk of abuse and how to protect themselves and others. Young people need to learn how to say ‘no’.
Providing a safer environment means that other children in the home must understand that any sexual activity with a young person is as unacceptable as with a biological brother or sister. See Relationships and Sex.
The most important thing is that the young person feels they can come and ask you questions and talk to you about the subject if they are not sure. Hosts should never share personal details about this subject with the young person.
Discuss as a family what routes you will take if a fire starts and practice an evacuation. Think about where keys are kept so everybody knows where they will be for the front and back doors and windows.
Last Updated: June 15, 2023
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