Prioritising the safety and well-being of the people in our services, while cultivating the right environment for our staff and volunteers to meaningfully do so, is a fundamental part of our day-to-day work supporting survivors of domestic abuse.
The primary focus of our safeguarding culture must always be on prevention, while also requiring the reporting and resolution of safeguarding issues. This is an integral part of providing a high-quality domestic abuse service in which we recognise our collective efforts to prevent harm and abuse, protect people in our services, and respond to concerns in an appropriate and timely manner if and when they arise.
Governance Oversight
Beacon DAS adheres to the relevant regulatory bodies’ guidance (e.g., Charity Commission, if applicable) and ensures compliance with all safeguarding and serious incident reporting requirements.
As a service provider delivering support to adults and children at risk of harm and abuse, we comply with all relevant legislation and statutory requirements. Our operational approach to safeguarding is detailed in our overarching Safeguarding Policy and associated procedures.
Our Governing Body (e.g., Board of Directors/Trustees) maintains appropriate oversight of safeguarding, often through a dedicated Services & Safeguarding sub-committee. There is designated leadership for Safeguarding and Whistleblowing within our Board and Senior Leadership Team (SLT). The SLT works closely with the Senior Management Team, which includes Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs).
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Thematic Annual Reports, and the Risk Register also enable the Governing Body to scrutinise safeguarding practice and culture within Beacon DAS.
Safe Recruitment
We recognise the need to create a safe, inclusive, and collaborative working environment for our staff, volunteers, and Governing Body members. Safeguarding is incorporated throughout our recruitment process, including at the application and interview stage. Full reference, police, and other necessary checks appropriate for the role are carried out in-house by trained specialist staff. The expected behaviours of our team are set out in our Staff/Volunteer and Governing Body Codes of Conduct.
Our Policies & Procedures
Our safeguarding and other related policies and procedures are reviewed annually to reflect current and accurate legislative responsibilities, statutory duties, regulatory requirements, and, crucially, the needs of survivors of domestic abuse as they seek safety.
The Overarching Safeguarding Policy is supported by distinct Adult and Children Procedures. We expect strict adherence to all our policies and procedures, including other safeguarding, prevention and response-related guidance in our Risk Management Policy, Case Management Policy, Respect at Work Policy, Complaints Procedure, and Whistleblowing Policy.
Our Induction & Training
All our staff and volunteers complete a mandatory safeguarding induction, and further safeguarding training appropriate to the role is provided. All frontline staff must complete core training, which includes: Adult Safeguarding, Children Safeguarding, Risk Management, and Suicide Prevention training. Further training is available relevant to safeguarding roles when required, including access to local authority training where contractually stipulated.
Safeguarding Culture
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. To ensure people have the confidence to speak up and highlight safeguarding concerns, Beacon DAS works hard to develop and maintain an open and transparent culture amongst staff and volunteers. This includes mechanisms for formal and informal feedback and consultation through staff forums, all-staff meetings, employee engagement surveys, equity, equality, diversity, and inclusion groups, team meetings, and line management supervision.
Recognising our direct work with clients may include elements of positive risk-taking, incidents including safeguarding are considered through the lens of continuous learning, with post-incident reviews conducted to aid learning and minimise future occurrences.
Where staff cannot address concerns informally, there is access to a grievance procedure with grievances investigated by trained managers and a full response provided.
If staff have concerns that the organisation is failing to address serious concerns, including safeguarding, Beacon DAS’s Whistleblowing Procedure can be used. There is a named Whistleblowing Trustee/Director to oversee the process.
All staff are periodically reminded of these processes, and their effectiveness is measured through training completion rates, quality audits, annual complaints, incidents and safeguarding analysis, post-incident reviews, the risk register, and feedback from clients, staff, and volunteers.
Supporting Staff & Volunteers
All line managers receive training to effectively support and manage staff and volunteers, including with any safeguarding-related concerns. Clinical group supervision is available, as is access to confidential support and advice via our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).
Listening to Survivors
We actively seek out the views of people experiencing our services through our frontline staff and our Survivor Engagement team. This is so that we can improve as an organisation and ensure our services meet the needs of survivors of domestic abuse. Through this approach, we may learn about safeguarding or other concerns where people are unable to speak to a member of staff, use feedback mechanisms within frontline services, or the Complaints Procedure. All our staff are trained to work with people in a sensitive and reassuring way while escalating any safeguarding concerns immediately so that action can be taken.
Investing in Partnerships
We recognise the importance of investing in partnerships and fully engage with multi-agency protocols. Beacon DAS works with relevant local and national agencies, including positive engagement with Local Authorities as Commissioners of the services we run, the Police, Partnership Boards, and other agencies including in health and education, so that we can act fast and collectively support survivors of domestic abuse, including children.
