Child Protection Policy and Procedures

Policy Statement

JSA Limited (“JSA”) has a commitment to the prevention of child abuse and the protection of children. JSA acknowledges its duty of care to safeguard the welfare of all children (defined as those under 18) involved in their organised events. All children have a right to protection and have their particular needs taken into account.

This policy sets out common values, principles and beliefs and describes the steps that will be taken in meeting our commitment to protect children. JSA recognises the Guidelines for Safeguarding Children in Golf produced by the Children in Golf Strategy Group and has drafted this policy and accompanying procedures with reference to them.

The policy was adopted by the Directors of JSA Limited and is to be implemented into all JSA organised events involving children, including the Duke of York Young Champions Trophy.

Principles

Our values, principles and beliefs:

All child abuse involves the abuse of children’s rights
All children have equal rights to protection from abuse and exploitation
Child abuse is never acceptable
We have a commitment to protecting children with / for whom we work
When we work through partners, they have a responsibility to meet minimum standards of protection for children in their programmes.

Commitment

JSA will meet our commitment to protect children from abuse through the following means:

Awareness: we will ensure that all employees and others are aware of the problem of child abuse and the risks to children
Prevention: we will ensure, through awareness and good practice, that employees and others minimise the risks to children
Reporting: we will ensure that employees and others are clear what steps to take where concerns arise regarding the safety of children
Responding: we will ensure that action is taken to support and protect children where concerns arise regarding possible abuse

In order that the above standards of reporting and responding are met, JSA will also ensure that they:

take seriously any concerns raised
take positive steps to ensure the protection of children who are the subject of any concerns
support children, employees or other adults who raise concerns
act appropriately and effectively in co-operating with any subsequent process of investigation by statutory authorities and take appropriate follow-up action
are guided through the child protection process by the principle of ‘best interests of the child’
listen to and take seriously the views and wishes of children
work in partnership with parents/carers and/or other professionals to ensure the protection of children.

Responsibilities

All JSA employees, associaties and volunteers will abide by the following Code of Conduct
All JSA employees, associates and volunteers will be required to have read and understood the child protection policy
Recruitment procedures will include checks on suitability for working with young people
Operating procedures will be in place to safeguard the welfare of participants
Induction will include briefing on child protection issues
All JSA employees, associates, volunteers and participants will be made aware of the procedures for reporting concerns and allegations
Training, learning opportunities and support will be provided, as appropriate, to ensure commitments are met.

Code Of Conduct

All JSA employees must sign up to and abide by this Code of Conduct.

Employees and others must never:

hit or otherwise physically assault or physically abuse children
develop physical/sexual relationships with children
develop relationships with children which could in any way be deemed exploitative or abusive
act in ways that may be abusive or may place a child at risk of abuse
use language, make suggestions or offer advice which is inappropriate, offensive or abusive
behave physically in a manner which is inappropriate or sexually provocative
have a child/children with whom they are working to stay overnight at their home unsupervised
sleep in the same room or bed as a child with whom they are working
do things for children of a personal nature that they can do for themselves
condone, or participate in, behaviour of children which is illegal, unsafe or abusive
act in ways intended to shame, humiliate, belittle or degrade children, or otherwise perpetrate any form of emotional abuse
discriminate against, show differential treatment, or favour particular children to the exclusion of others.

This is not an exhaustive or exclusive list. The principle is that employees should avoid actions or behaviour that may constitute poor practice or potentially abusive behaviour.

It is important for all employees and others in contact with children to:

be aware of situations which may present risks and manage these
plan and organise the work and the workplace so as to minimise risks
as far as possible, be visible in working with children
ensure that a culture of openness exists to enable any issues or concerns to be raised and discussedensure that a sense of accountability exists between employees so that poor practice or potentially abusive behaviour does not go unchallenged
talk to children about their contact with employees or others and encourage them to raise any concerns
empower children - discuss with them their rights, what is acceptable and unacceptable, and what they can do if there is a problem.