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The Health and Well-being Standard
Regulation 10
Children and young people's privacy is respected and information is confidentially handled. Children and young people live in a healthy environment and their health needs are identified and services are provided to meet them, and their good health is promoted. Children and young people enjoy sound relationships with staff based on honesty and mutual respect.
Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy
Family Lives – Teenagers and Sex
Section 3, Pornography was updated in June 2017 to include advice for staff on how to deal with issues relating to young people's access to pornography online.
Directors must ensure that children/young people are provided with suitable, good quality, up to date, information and advice on matters relating to sexual health and relationships.
Such information and advice must be provided in a manner appropriate to children and young people's age and understanding and which is provided in a creative, child friendly manner.
Before providing such information and advice, Directors must consult social workers and, if possible, parents or those with Parental Responsibility to ensure it is provided in the context of children/young people's backgrounds and needs; and any specific arrangements must be incorporated into the child/young person's Placement Plans.
Staff must adopt a non-judgemental attitude toward children and young people, particularly as they mature and develop an awareness of their bodies and sexuality. Key workers need to help their Key children/young people understand about sexual feelings and sex education.
Staff must adopt the same approach to children/young people who explore or are confused about their sexual identity or who have decided to embrace a particular lifestyle so long as it is not abusive or illegal.
Children/young people who are confused about their sexual identity or indicate they have a preference must be afforded equal access to accurate information, education and support to enable them to move forward positively.
As necessary this must be addressed in Placement Plans.
The use of online filters can help to ensure that younger children do not accidentally access pornographic or sexual images online. See UK Safer Internet for more information,
Older young people are likely to be curious about sex and relationships and may search for online pornographic or sexual material. It is important that staff have an open discussion with young people about pornographic images and the impact that viewing these can have on young people and their own developing relationships. The NSPCC have produced comprehensive guidance for parents and carers on how to talk to young people about online porn and healthy relationships.
For more information, please see: Online porn - Advice on how to talk to your child about the risks of online porn and sexually explicit material (NSPCC).
See: Contacting the Police Procedure.
Children/young people under the age of 13 are deemed to be incapable of giving consent to sexual activity. Therefore, children/young people of this age who engage in sexual activity must be referred under safeguarding children procedures (as a Child Protection Referral) as potentially suffering from Significant Harm.
Directors must be alert to such relationships when considering the placement of children/young people under 13. Children/young people of this age who are likely to be at risk from each other (or from older children/young people) should not be placed together. See Safeguarding Children and Young People and Referring Safeguarding Concerns Procedure.
When considering the placement (or ongoing placement) of children over the age of 13, Community Directors must assess the risk of sexual relationships developing and should ensure strategies are in place to reduce or prevent these risks if they are likely to be exploitative or abusive.
Where children/young people aged 13 - 18 are placed together with no identified risk of exploitative or abusive behaviour, Community Directors and staff must monitor any developing relationships, sensitively but positively discouraging children/young people from engaging under aged sexual relationships.
Overall, staff should be mindful of their duty to consider the overall welfare of children/young people and this may mean recognising that illegal activity is taking place and working to minimise risks and consequences. If there is any suspicion that a child/young person is engaging in illegal behaviour it must be discussed with the social worker and consideration given to consulting the Child Protection Agencies.
Any actions taken in this respect will be subject to consultation and must be addressed in Placement Plans.
Should staff suspect children/young people are engaging in sexual relationships, they should:
Should staff discover children/young people engaging in sexual relationships, they should:
If the incident is serious or persistent, the Responsible Individual and Operations Director should be notified and consideration given to whether the incident is a Notifiable Event, see Notification of Serious Events Procedure.
Access to contraceptives will not be conditional on children/young people giving information about their lifestyles and contraception will never be withdrawn as a punitive measure. It is the Key workers responsibility to ensure their key child/young person has access to contraception and education about sexually transmitted infections.
Whilst not encouraging it, it is understood that children/young people may engage in sexual activity; some before they reach the age of consent.
In such circumstances staff must take reasonable steps to minimise risk of pregnancy or infection, including facilitating contact with relevant agencies providing contraceptive advice; such as the Brook Advisory Service.
Matters of concern must be discussed with the social worker and addressed in Placement Plans.
If a child/young person is suspected or known to be pregnant the Director/Registered Manager should normally talk openly to the child/young person about who should be informed and what support the child/young person may require to promote their own and the unborn baby's welfare.
Under normal circumstances, the child/young person's social worker and parent(s) should be informed and should collaborate with the child/young person in drawing up a suitable plan for the promotion of the welfare of the pregnant child/young person and the unborn child.
However, a child/young person may request that parent(s) and/or that the social worker is not informed.
In all cases where there are any concerns or suspicions that the pregnant child/young person or the unborn child is or will be at risk of significant harm, the Director/Registered Manager must discuss it with the child/young person's social worker with a view to making a child protection referral. In these circumstances it must be explained to the child/young person why his or her request for confidentiality cannot be agreed. See: Safeguarding Children and Young People and Referring Safeguarding Concerns Procedure.
In any case, the Responsible Individual and Operations Director should be notified.
In cases where there are no child protection concerns, the child/young person should be encouraged to inform his or her social worker and parents. Where the child/young person is sixteen, however, a request to keep the pregnancy confidential from his or her parents may be respected. Where a child/young person under the age of sixteen requests confidentiality, it may be possible to agree this if the child/young person is of an age and level of understanding to make such an informed decision.
However, where a child/young person under sixteen makes such a request, the Director/Registered Manager should notify/consult the Operations Director before agreeing.
See: Consents and Delegated Authority Procedure.
Where a child/young person wishes to terminate a pregnancy, the social worker must be notified/consulted with a view to providing advice, counselling and support by suitably qualified independent counsellors.
If the termination goes ahead, the Director must ensure that the child/young person's privacy is protected and any physical or emotional needs are addressed sensitively.
Also see: Safeguarding Children and Young People from Sexual Exploitation Procedure.
The following should be read in conjunction with relevant procedures held by local Safeguarding Children Partnership Procedures in the area where the home is located.
Children/young people may have previously exchanged sex for rewards, gifts, drugs, accommodation and money. Some maintain this lifestyle whilst continuing to be accommodated by the authority.
The Director and staff must be alert to such behaviours and should do all they can to create an environment which encourages children/young people to be open about their past or present attitudes and behaviours and which demonstrates they will be supported to guide them away from such lifestyles.
Where there is any suspicion that a child/young person is engaged in such behaviour it should be addressed in the child/young person's Placement Plan together with Strategies to be adopted to help the child/young person find alternative lifestyles.
In addressing these behaviours consideration must be given to the extent to which the child/young person is suffering significant harm - and whether it is necessary to make a child protection referral, see Safeguarding Children and Young People and Referring Safeguarding Concerns Procedures.
In any case, the social worker must be notified, and the Operations Director, who must consider whether the incident is a Notifiable Event, see Notification of Serious Events Procedure.
Also see: HIV/AIDS and Blood Borne Diseases Guidance.
If it is known or suspected that a child/young person has a sexually transmitted infection (other than HIV and AIDS, which is dealt within HIV/AIDS and Blood Borne Diseases Guidance), the Director/Registered Manager and social worker must be informed and decide what measures to take. The Operations Director should also be notified and consulted.
On principle, the child/young person should be referred, with the parent/s’ consent if possible, to the local Genito-Urinary Medicine Clinic, who will provide the child/young person and staff with advice, counselling, testing and other support.
Only those immediate carers of the child/young person who need to know will be informed of any suspicion or the outcome of any tests and strategies or measures to be adopted.
Other children/young people in the home should only be informed if there is a direct risk to them; for example if the infected child/young person deliberately attempts to infect them.
The only other individuals who will be told are the child/young person's GP and Health Visitor.
Before disclosing to any other agency or individual, the following criteria must be satisfied
Those receiving the information are aware of its confidential nature.
The permission of the child/young person aged 16 or over must be given before testing.
If a child/young person under 16 has sufficient age and understanding, his or her permission must be given before testing.
Wherever possible, the consent of the parents should be obtained. In order for parents to be able to participate in decision-making, they must be provided with adequate information and given appropriate support including access to counselling both before the test and in the event of a positive diagnosis.
Where parental consent is not forthcoming but there is a clear medical recommendation that testing is in the child/young person's best interests, legal advice should be obtained as to whether the test can proceed.
It is accepted that masturbation is part of normal sexual behaviour but children/young people must be positively encouraged to undertake such activities in private and in a manner, which is not harmful to themselves or other people.
The following should be read in conjunction with relevant procedures held by Safeguarding Children Partnership Procedures - in the area where homes are located.
The possibility of child-on-child abuse will always be taken seriously but we recognise it is equally important not to label or stigmatise normal sexual exploration and experimentation between children/young people.
Behaviour is not a cause for concern unless it is compulsive, coercive, age-inappropriate or between children/young people of significantly different ages, maturity or mental abilities.
If at any time staff suspect children/young people are engaged in abusive sexual relationships as perpetrators and/or victims, they must immediately inform the Director/Registered Manager, who must consult the social worker and make a referral under the Safeguarding Children and Young People and Referring Safeguarding Concerns Procedures.
The Operations Director must be notified and consulted, consideration should be given to whether a Notifiable Event has occurred, see Notification of Serious Events Procedure.
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