7. Managing Incidents – Safeguarding Children > Going Through Due Process: With over 35 years experience as a sportsman, coach and mentor, working within mainstream schools and with alternative learning for 30 years, working with emotional and challenging behaviour, children at risk and the Hull Youth Justice System, UK (2004-2013), qualified in safeguarding children. Managing incident’s, safeguarding children and going through due process is the ultimate steps taken to prevent unnecessary stress, anxiety, stigma, or emotional harm should be at the centre of any investigation or decision-making process.

Parental Trust – Steps In Responsibility: As parents, we place our trust in teachers, coaches, mentors and youth-serving professionals to provide a safe and supportive environment for our children.

We rely on their training, experience, and judgment to identify concerns early, manage incidents appropriately, and respond in a fair, balanced, and responsible manner. Entrusted within schools, organizations and associations, playing an important role when managing incidents, responsible for making the important decisions, but most importantly putting safeguarding children measures in place, allowing for everybody involved to go through due process, taking the correct steps moving forward.

Steps to Managing Incidents, Safeguarding Children – Going Through Due Process

When incidents involving minors occur, the following steps can be taken with safeguarding children measures in place, allowing everybody involved to go through due process.

  • Step 1: Go through the communication process with the parents or guardians of the children involved, gathering information from everybody involved or associated with the incident/s in mind.
  • Step 2: Review evidence, proof, access witness statements and character references.
  • Step 3: Access any background information, for example with children or youth in relation to each other. A developing friendship, friction occurring, bullying, a falling out or potential power play.
  • Step 4: If inexperienced in the field of children and youth behaviours, access important and necessary information from Child-Development and Safeguarding Authorities, becoming aware of children and youth from different age groups and the potential dynamics of behaviours exercised.
  • Step 5: Set up meeting/s with all those involved, including parents and guardians. Protecting the emotional well-being of children during investigations.
  • Step 6: Maintain open communication with all parties, applying decisions consistently and fairly.
  • Step 7: Go through Steps 1 – 6, with safeguarding children measures in place, going through due process, allowing to take the correct steps forward.

If any incident’s need an Independent Third Party and professional organization involved to take on the case, having safeguarding children measures in place, going through due process and the correct steps before making the decision’s, having every aspect of the process in place allows transparency with everybody involved before passing a case forward to an independent third party. An independent third party or professional organization, then updated by school’s, organizations or associations of any changes or additional information that can impact the case over the duration, allowing for fairness, clarity and important decision making during the process.Any ITP or professional organization involved in safeguarding children through the process of managing incidents, should be qualified in child and youth phycology and behaviour awareness and dynamics with different age groups involved, aligned with Child-Development and the Safeguarding Authorities.

ITP Hockey Canada – 2024-2025, 1,400 Off Ice Malpractice Cases

Case Study, Research: With over 1,400 off ice cases reported by the ITP 2024-2025, many cases were miss handled, mediated with unverified evidence, causing overwhelming depress for parents and guardians involved, with emotional harm and mental torment, with many families left to pick up the pieces with no consideration, after care or support.

Access The Positive Framework To Manage Incident Reports, Safeguarding Children and Going Through Due Process

SGC 7: MANAGING INCIDENTS – GOING THROUGH DUE PROCESS

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