Safeguarding Adults and Children

Receive

• Listen carefully to what is being said, without displaying shock or disbelief. Accept what is said and even though the child, young person or adult at risk making the allegation may be known to you as someone who does not always tell the truth, this should not influence your judgement or invalidate their allegation. Do not attempt to investigate the allegation. 

Reassure

• Provide re-assurance, be honest and do not make promises you cannot keep, e.g. 'I’ll stay with you', or, 'Everything will be all right now'.
• Alleviate guilt, if the person refers to it, e.g. 'You’re not to blame. This is not your fault'.
• Do not promise confidentiality as you will need to pass the information on and the child, young person or adult at risk needs to know this.

React

• You can ask questions but information gathering should not be more than necessary to clarify the allegation, and should normally only involve speaking to the person directly involved. It is preferable if the person can give a free narrative account without interruption to ask questions. You can encourage the person to tell you what happened in their own words by the use of non-specific prompts and open ended questions such as "explain to me what happened", 'describe to me what happened', 'is there anything else you want to tell me?'
• The most common open-ended questions are: What happened? When did it happen? Where did it happen? Who was there? Never ask Why as this can infer blame.
• Do not gather "witness" statements unless requested by CCAT/Adult Safeguarding Team and don’t ask the person to repeat their allegation to someone else as they may feel that they are not being believed and their recollection of what happened may change. Do not criticise the perpetrator as the child, young person or adult at risk may still have a positive emotional attachment to this person. 

Record

• Keep an accurate record of what the person has said in their own words and of any questions you have asked. Note the date/year and time and keep your notes. Do not be offended by any offensive language or words used to describe the abuse. If you have seen any visible bruising, it is helpful to note the position of it but do not ask the person to remove any clothing for this purpose. Record statements and observable aspects rather than your interpretations or assumptions.