Safeguarding Champions Bulletin July 2024

Welcome to July’s edition of the Safeguarding Champions Bulletin!

Please circulate the information in this bulletin across your networks to help us to continue to raise awareness of safeguarding adults in Tees

Learning from Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SAR)

Jack was 20 years old. He had been placed in a hotel under the Severe Weather Protocol having been no fixed abode. He sadly died in the hotel from diabetic ketoacidosis.

This Safeguarding Adult Review (SAR) looks at how services worked together to support Jack and highlighted the following themes:

  • Working with people who have diabetes
  • Transitional safeguarding
  • Substance use and smoking
  • Effective engagement (new Making Services Easier to Engage In Guidance published)
  • Housing
  • Cross boundary working
  • Self-Neglect due to mismanagement of diabetes, substance misuse and homelessness
  • Mental Capacity and cognitive impairment

Organisations are encouraged to review the SAR Report and Learning Briefing to consider and apply the learning to their own practice.

Please circulate this report appropriately amongst your networks.

JJ was a 23 year old, White British, transgender male who loved arts and drawing. JJ was well known to numerous services due to his physical and mental health conditions. JJ was known to use illicit substances and was at risk of death due to misadventure as a result of self-harm. He sadly died in December 2022.

This SAR looks at how services worked together to support JJ and highlighted the following themes:

  • Multi-agency working
  • Engagement
  • Legal literacy
  • Risk assessments, safety planning and escalation
  • Protected characteristics
  • Professional challenge
  • Trauma Informed Care including support for staff (vicarious trauma)

Organisations are encouraged to review the SAR Report and Learning Briefing to consider and apply the learning to their own practice.

Following learning and recommendations from the Molly Safeguarding Adults Review, the Teeswide Safeguarding Adults Board (TSAB) launched the Adult Sexual Exploitation (ASE) Toolkit in November 2023. The Toolkit was developed to help practitioners to identify, signpost and support adults at risk of/experiencing sexual exploitation.

TSAB would like to know if professionals/volunteers are aware of and are using the Toolkit, to hear your views on how well it is embedded into practice and any suggestions on how the Toolkit could be improved. The survey is anonymous and should only take a few minutes to complete.

The survey will close on Friday 6 September 2024.

Policies, Procedures and Guidance

The aim of this guidance is to provide information and strategies for professionals supporting
adults with care and support needs who find it difficult to engage with services. This
guidance seeks to understand the reasons for which adults may find it difficult to engage
with services and to support good practice in engaging with those adults.

Making services easier for people to engage in V1Download

This learning briefing sets out the legislation and considerations to support work with dependent drinkers. It includes links to resources, including “Identifying and addressing cognitive impairment in dependent drinkers“.

Learning Briefing – Vulnerable, Dependant Drinkers – REVIEWED Aug 24Download

A Spotlight on Carers Week and Elder Abuse Day

Our Spotlight on Carers Week and Elder Abuse Day campaign took place between 10th – 14th June and featured online sessions from We Care You Care and Hourglass. We raised awareness of the importance of support for carers, carers assessments and how to report abuse.

Thank you to all the services in Tees who supported with the campaign!

For further information visit our webpage – Carers | Teeswide Safeguarding Adults Board (tsab.org.uk)

Following a workshop with carers hosted by We Care You Care, TSAB developed two new posters to raise awareness of the support available for carers and safeguarding. Please share, print and display the posters in your organisation.

Carers-Safeguarding-posterDownload
Carers-Support-posterDownload

This animation highlights the unique challenges that older adults face when domestic abuse occurs, to help support practitioners and families start a conversation with an older adult.

Please share within your networks!

Service Spotlight: Independent advocacy charity

“People First is an independent advocacy charity. We stand shoulder to shoulder with people across the North of England to champion fairness and equality.

We believe everyone has the right to be respected and to have a say on the issues that shape their lives. We challenge the term ‘vulnerable’ by supporting people to understand their rights and to be heard when they need it most. 

We provide a range of services to help people have their say, including:

  • Independent advocacy, including Independent Mental Health Advocacy, Care Act Advocacy, Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy, and NHS Complaints Advocacy.
  • Self-Advocacy and representation, groups, projects and activities to support people to live independent lives and provide opportunities to develop life skills and confidence 
  • Direct Payments Support service offers impartial advice and support to people receiving direct payments or a personal health budget.
  • Inclusive education: The People First Academy deliver a range of courses to help people with learning disabilities achieve their learning, work and development goals.

If you’d like to know more about what we do and how we do it; if you’d like to get involved in our work or if we think we can help you, get in touch.

For more information, guidance and support go to our website or you can call our helpline on 03003 038037 9am – 5pm Monday – Friday”

Dates for the Diary

Listed below are details of recent and upcoming awareness campaigns. Follow us on Social Media @TeeswideSAB to keep up to date with resources and information we share as part of key campaigns. Email us at [email protected] to let us know how you get involved.

Honour based abuse is a crime or incident which has been committed to protect or defend the honour of the family and/or community.

Honour based abuse can include:

  • Domestic abuse perpetrated by family members including coercion, psychological abuse and threatening behaviour
  • Forced marriage
  • Female Genital Mutilation
  • Sexual abuse/harassment
  • Preventing a person’s freedom or restricting their contact with others / isolating from others

There are an estimated 12 ‘honour’ killings each year in the UK, although the exact number is unknown.

Karma Nirvana (a specialist charity supporting victims and survivors of Honour Based Abuse) hosted a Week of Memory between 8th -14th July. Visit their website for more information.

Local Specialist Support Services – The Halo Project

The Halo Project provide safeguarding and culturally appropriate confidential advice, help and support to Black and Minoritised Women and girls who are at risk of and/or are survivors of domestic and sexual violence and abuse. This includes searching for safe accommodation, outreach support, safety planning and ongoing support to those at risk of harm and abuse.

Their Specialist Safeguarding Support Hub not only provides tailored advocacy to victims and survivors of abuse, they also provide expert support to professionals for enhanced safeguarding and better outcomes for victim and survivors.

Visit Halo’s Website more information.

Local Domestic Abuse Support Services

Harbour Support Services (Hartlepool, Stockton, Redcar THRIVE)

My Sisters Place (Middlesbrough)

Eva Women’s Aid (Redcar & Cleveland)

Clare’s Law

The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (also known as Clare’s Law) allows an individual to ask Police to check whether a new or existing partner has a violent or abusive past. This is the ‘right to ask’. If records show that an individual may be at risk of domestic abuse from a partner, the Police will consider disclosing the information if it is legal, proportionate and necessary to do so. ‘Right to know’ enables an agency to apply for a disclosure if the agency believes that an individual is at risk of domestic violence from their partner. The Police can release information if it is lawful, necessary and proportionate to do so.

How to request information under Clare’s Law (Cleveland Police)

Read TSAB’s Clare’s Law Guidance

TSAB also have a useful leaflet on Domestic Abuse and Honour Based Abuse.

Training, Workbooks and Further Resources

Training Courses

 To view and request a place on any of our upcoming training courses please visit
our Training Courses and Events page.

Upcoming sessions include:

  • Adult Sexual & Criminal Exploitation 18th September 2024
  • Trauma Informed Practice 2nd October 2024
  • Adult Safeguarding in a Multi-Agency Context 21st October 2024
  • Adult Safeguarding – Essential Legal Legacy 22nd October 2024
  • Aftercare under s.117 Mental Health Act 24th October 2024

E-Learning

The Adults & Children Safeguarding Partner Organisations across Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees actively support the ‘Think Family’ approach and are committed to the continuous learning and development of all staff and volunteers working with vulnerable people: adults, children, young people and families.

Through our E-Leaning site you will be able to view, select and be given immediate access to a range of e-learning opportunities.

A new workbook to support practitioners and organisations to be more Trauma Informed has been developed. The workbook features practical tools that can be adopted in everyday practice to help support the physical and emotional safety of an individual accessing a service.

The workbook can be accessed via TSAB’s training resources page.

TSAB, in conjunction with Hartlepool and Stockton Safeguarding Children’s Partnerships, South Tees Safeguarding Children’s Partnership, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland and the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse, recently held an event on “Prioritising Child Sexual Abuse”.

The Centre of Expertise host a range of free resources on their website in relation to child sexual abuse, including “Supporting parents and carers” and their “Child Sexual Abuse Response Pathway” – an interactive online resource to guide professionals through how they can protect and support children and their families when there are concerns of sexual abuse.

Further Information

Our Communication and Engagement Annual Report is now published. The report features awareness raising activity and the findings from our annual consultation.

Want to learn more about your role as a champion? Visit our dedicated Safeguarding Champions Area for further information.

Don’t forget that TSAB has a dedicated webpage hosting details of local and national services.

Can’t see your service/ another service on there and think it should be added? Please send the details to [email protected].

Do you have concerns that an adult is experiencing or is at risk of abuse or neglect?

Visit https://www.tsab.org.uk/report-abuse/ to find out how to report your concerns. The page hosts the TSAB Concern Form which should be completed and submitted to the relevant local adult social care service or alternatively you can contact them by using the contact numbers listed on the page.

As a reminder you should report abuse when:

· The adult has needs for care and support (whether or not the authority is meeting any of those needs)

· And is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect