Safer Recruitment

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Safer Recruitment An Overview of the Workshops
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For those agencies whose job it is to protect
children and vulnerable people, the harsh reality
is that if a sufficiently devious person is
determined to seek out opportunities to work
their evil, no one can guarantee that they will
be stopped. Our task is to make it as difficult
as possible for them to succeed... Bichard
Inquiry Report, 2004, p 12 para. 79
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Objectives Workshop 1

• Based on an understanding of offender
  behaviour to
• identify the key features of staff recruitment
  that help deter or prevent the appointment of
  unsuitable people
• consider policies and practices that minimise
  opportunities for abuse or ensure its prompt
  reporting
• help participants begin to review their own and
  their organisations policies and practices in
  recruitment with a view to making them safer
• NB this is not a comprehensive workshop on staff
  recruitment
• and selection

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Outline of workshop content

• Introductions
• Workshop objectives
• Scale of the problem abused and abuser
• Model to understand abusers/abusing
• Application into school/professional context
• Prevention of abuse through recruitment
• Caution/content

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The wider context

• Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda
• Schools and a wide range of statutory
  organisations now have a legal duty to safeguard
  and promote the welfare of children
• Adopting safer recruitment practice is an
  essential feature of the arrangements
  organisations need to have in place

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Statistics

• An estimated 3,000 allegations of abuse made
  against staff in maintained schools each year
  66 physical abuse, 15 sexual abuse, 15
  inappropriate behaviour.
• In 2003 police reported to DfES 52 cases of
  school staff convicted or cautioned for sexual
  offences against children under 16 63 cases of
  staff convicted or cautioned for offences
  involving child pornography 16 cases of staff
  convicted or cautioned for offences of physical
  assault on children.
• In 2005 2,416 people were reported to DfES to
  consider including them on List 99 or the PoCA
  List and 525 people were added to one or other of
  the lists.

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Professional perpetrators

• 92.5 aware of interest by 21
• 67.5 offended by 21
• 15 chose career solely to abuse
• 41.5 state abuse part of motivation
• 77.5 arranged meetings outside work for abuse
• 67.5 took children away overnight
• Average of 49 admitted victims
• 41.9 had reputation as touchy, pervy etc
• Sullivan Beech 2004

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Finkelhor A clinical applicationAdapted
from D Finkelhor Child Sexual Abuse New Theory
Research 1986

• Motivation
• Wanting to
• sexually offend

Internal inhibitors Conscience
External inhibitors Other people (creating
opportunity)
Overcome victim resistance Doing it and getting
away with it
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Stages of recruitment

• Applying the model to the stages of
  recruitment
• Invite applications (DETER).
• Interview applicants (REJECT).
• Appoint and induct staff (PREVENT).
• Develop and maintain safe school culture
  (PREVENT and DETECT).

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• Session 2
• A safer recruitment process

Raising Awareness checking your own
organisational processes
Session 2 A safer recruitment process

• Introduction
• Features of a safer recruitment process
• Sending the right message
• The Application
• The Selection Process
• References
• Review and next steps

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Session 3Making the right decisions

• Importance of Making the Right Decision and the
  costs of getting it wrong
• The interview and the selection process
• Pre-appointment checks
• Using Criminal Records information
• Review and next steps

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Recap

• Importance of planning your recruitment process
• Importance of having clear frameworks in place
  for making the right decisions
• Not relying on recruitment and selection
  processes alone to ensure your organisation is
  safe. Must put other safeguards in place

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Session 4An ongoing culture of vigilance

• Features of a safer culture
• Creating an open culture
• Setting acceptable standards of behaviour
• An ongoing culture of vigilance
• Review
• Next steps and other resources

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Features of a safer culture

• Open, no secrets
• Belief that it could happen here
• Clear procedures for reporting concerns
• Support in raising concerns and commitment to
  take action
• Code of conduct
• Policies and procedures put into practice
• Induction and probationary periods
• Commitment to safeguarding and an ongoing culture
  of vigilance

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Creating an open culture

• What might stop me reporting concerns?
• What would help me overcome those problems?

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The Reasons Children Dont Report Abuse

• it was nobody elses business
• didnt think it was serious or wrong
• didnt want parents to find out
• didnt want friends to find out
• didnt want the authorities to find out
• was frightened (24)
• didnt think would be believed (13)
• had been threatened by abuser (7)

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Remaining Vigilant

• Never think you have done enough in terms of
  creating a safer culture.
• Always believe it could happen here.
• Keep safeguarding high on everyones agenda.
• Never rely on any one process to keep children
  safe.

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Finally

• For those agencies whose job it is to protect
  children and vulnerable people, the harsh reality
  is that if a sufficiently devious person is
  determined to seek out opportunities to work
  their evil, no one can guarantee that they will
  be stopped. Our task is to make it as difficult
  as possible for them to succeed...
• Bichard Report, 2004, p 12, para 79