Young people placed at Kites can have a broad spectrum of concerning behaviours. They are also likely to be vulnerable themselves, and may have difficulty in managing interpersonal boundaries.
Our Safeguarding strategy is designed to offer an integrated process within which young people can incrementally progress towards having mobility within the wider community, taking into account their ability to manage their own behaviour, and to understand and reconcile the risk that they present.
The Case Discussion/Safeguarding Forum
The central vehicle for decision-making relating to mobility is the Case Discussion/Safeguarding Forum.
This multi-disciplinary meeting includes Therapists, Staff, and the Local Authority and, where appropriate, young people themselves.
The meeting, which convenes on a five week rolling schedule, focuses on each young person’s progress, specifically looking at issues related to pro-social developments in thinking, attitudes and behaviour, and planning for social inclusion in educational, work based and leisure activities.
Young people may also advocate for more mobility themselves, offering evidence to support their request.
This process is proving increasingly successful on a number of levels, with young people fully engaging in a focused dialogue that relates directly to their own understanding of risk management, and contributes to their ability to have agency and motivation in creating change.
We use a simple traffic light system to define the various levels of monitoring in place. This system is one that offers young people and their carers a dynamic tool that clearly encapsulates the differing levels of supervision required when the young person is out in the community.
For older young people who have outgrown the Traffic Light System we operate a risk management plan (RMP) which identifies key areas of risk alongside safer care strategies.