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Protecting children and adults
RPs can play a critical role in ensuring agencies see the bigger picture when working to safeguard children and adults at risk.
There is an increasing number of adults at risk within general needs housing and with the regular publication of serious case reviews into child deaths, there needs to be greater appreciation of the role that registered providers can play, both by professionals within the housing sector and also by our statutory partners. So, whose responsibility is it?
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.
- One child dies at the hands of another person every week
- Two women each week are murdered by their partner or former partner
- 720,000 men in the UK were victims of domestic abuse in the past year
- 43 per cent of people accessing homelessness services suffer from a mental health condition
If Baby P had lived in your housing stock, are you confident that your organisation would have identified the neglect and abuse and posed a serious challenge to the statutory agencies who were supposed to protect him?
If you’re not confident, what can you do about it?
We strongly believe in awareness training, staff-friendly processes and the right tools to do the job. At Gentoo, our staff are trained to spot the signs of neglect and abuse and they have easy ways to report their concerns in a safe environment. Our trade staff can report concerns directly from their hand-held units. At a basic level, we expect staff to keep their eyes and ears open and flag any concerns with the right people.
Another initiative involves identification of repairs that are associated with Domestic Violence. If three repairs of this nature are recorded in any 12 month period, a ‘cause for concern’ is raised with Gentoo’s Support and Safeguarding team.
Gentoo is committed to protecting those ‘at risk’ living in our homes. Those on the front line interacting with customers every day can make a real difference to people’s lives.
Ultimately, we want to ensure everyone in our communities feel safe, secure and empowered to make the decisions that are right for them. To achieve this, our approach involves a focus on prevention and protection, providing tailored support and engaging fully with others. Gentoo are represented on both the Sunderland Safeguarding Adult Board (SSAB) and Sunderland Safeguarding Children Board (SSCB) where they play a key role..
Michelle is responsible for Gentoo’s approach to Community Safety and Safeguarding. She is a member of the Sunderland Safeguarding Children Board (SSCB) and Chairs their Quality Assurance sub-committee. In addition, Michelle Chairs the Sunderland Domestic Violence Partnership and is a member of the Sunderland NSPCC Local Business Board.
Michelle spoke at the CIH Conference yesterday in Charter 3 and will be speaking at the Gentoo Group stand E22 today at 4-4.30pm.
Michelle Meldrum is the managing director of Gentoo Operations
