Child Protection Procedures
Forest United have adopted the Football Association child protection procedures as outlined in it handbook, which the club has copies of and these are freely available to anyone associated with club.
Forest United uses the following F.A. procedures:
Make a full record of what has been said, heard and/or seen as soon as possible.
Report the concerns to the person in charge or designated person immediately, unless the concern is about the person in charge.
The person in charge should be clearly identified in every football setting e.g. a designated person in a club, a senior coach, or a county child protection officer. If the person in charge is not available, or the concern is about the person in charge, then report your concerns directly to the social services or the police. These agencies will advise you whether a formal referral to social services is necessary and what further action you might need to take. If you are advised to make a formal referral make it clear to social services or the police that this is a child protection referral.
You should also inform the F.A. head of education and child protection or the F.A. child protection administrator on 01952 602301
Confidentiality should be maintained on a strictly 'need to know' basis and relevant documents stored in a secure location.
Recruitment and Selection of staff/volunteers
Anyone may have the potential to abuse children or young people in some way and it is reasonable to expect that Forest United club officials will take all reasonable steps to ensure unsuitable people are prevented from working with children and young people. It is essential the same procedure is used consistently whether staff are paid or unpaid, part-time or full-time.
When undertaking pre-selection checks, the following should be included:
Application Forms – All volunteers/staff seeking to work within football should complete an application form which has been designed to elicit the necessary information (Forms held by Club)
Successful candidates should then be asked to complete a Personal Disclosure Form.
References – At least two references should be taken up – one associated with former work with children or young people and, where appropriate, one with previous sport involvement.