We know that building inclusive and resilient environments in which people look out for each other must include the resilience of the workforce, particularly those people who support victims of abuse at the time of disclosure and investigation. Hearing disclosures of abuse or witnessing abuse, can have a significant impact on the emotional health and wellbeing of staff and volunteers.
Support for Staff Involved in Safeguarding Incidents
Our template Safeguarding policies include a section on 'Support for Staff Involved in Safeguarding Incidents'. It’s important that staff, including volunteers and students on placement, understand how to access support at work to manage the impact of their safeguarding work. Our templates include information about how to embed Reflective Practice in the workplace and a suggested Reflective Learning Cycle.
Training
Our Adult Safeguarding Basic Awareness training always ends with a discussion about self-care in the workplace. We know from these discussions that there is lots of good practice in our sector including organisations with trained Mental Health First Aiders; those that offer regular debriefs and group supervisions; and many that offer individual and/or team wellbeing days. Attendees often talk about the support they receive from empathetic colleagues in organisations where talking about staff wellbeing is normalised.
Contact our Safeguarding Development Worker for support with your Safeguarding polices: liz.atkinson@salfordcvs.co.uk.
You can find details of all our Safeguarding training, including Adult Safeguarding Basic Awareness and Safeguarding Spotlight sessions on Cuckooing and Safer Recruitment here: Training and Events | Salford CVS.
Trauma Responsive Salford has a comprehensive collection of self-care tools and resources on their website.
#SafeguardingAdultsWeek