Safeguarding

Safeguarding children and young people

If you have any concerns about a child or young person living in Worcestershire and feel that they may be in need of protection or safeguarding, contact Worcestershire County Council Family Front Door.

The Family Front Door is the referral point for all referrals where members of the community and professionals refer children and young people living in Worcestershire where they are worried about their safety and welfare.

If you are a parent or carer for a child who is under 18 years old with a disability, you can request a parent carer assessment by self-referring you and your child to the Family Front door. Please phone the family front door team during office hours.

Staff are available Monday to Thursday from  9.00am to 5.00pm and Fridays from 9.00am to 4.30pm.

• telephone: 01905 822666

For assistance out of office hours (weekdays and all day at weekends and bank holidays):

• telephone: 01905 768020

If you are worried about a child or for general advice and guidance the following links may be helpful:

• Disclosure and Barring Service - helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. It replaces the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA).
• NSPCC - helpline 0800 800 5000
• Get Safe - keeping children and young people safe from criminal exploitation
• Early help and family support- targeted intervention to families where there are complex, escalating needs that have not been able to be resolved by Early Help in the community.
• Childline - helpline 0800 1111

Safeguarding adults

Safeguarding Adults can include any work or activity that aims to support vulnerable adults to retain independence, well-being, and choice and to be able to live a life that is free from abuse and neglect.

Worcestershire County Council responds to concerns about abuse and neglect in relation to adults who: 

• require care and support (whether or not the local authority is meeting any of those needs) 
• are experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect; and 
• as a result of their care and support needs are unable to protect themselves from either the risk of or the experience of abuse or neglect. 

Abuse can happen anywhere, at any time, and by anyone, may only happen once or may happen many times over a period of time. Reoccurring cases of poor care might be an indicator of more serious problems – for example, organisational abuse. 

What to do in an emergency

If you think someone is in immediate danger and/or requires urgent medical attention phone 999. 

To report a crime or potential crime to the Police you can phone the non-emergency number 101. 

Worcestershire County Council's Help in a Crisis page also has information on how and when to seek support outside of normal working hours.

Safeguarding advice

If you need Safeguarding advice, you can contact Worcestershire County Council’s Safeguarding advisors by calling: 

• 01905 843189

This advice line will be available from 10:00am until 4:00pm Monday to Friday. The team aims to respond to your query within two working days. (note this number does not accept referrals).

Reporting a concern

Anyone can report a safeguarding concern about an adult. 

Speak to the person:

• if you are concerned about the risk of abuse or neglect of a person with care and support needs 
• about your concern where it is safe to do so to see what they think.

Contact Worcestershire County Council if you are still worried or you are unable to speak to the person directly. 

There are two ways to report a concern: 

• if you are a member of the public please call 01905 768053 or get in contact with Adult Social Care to see all available options
• if you are a professional please complete the online form (advice for professionals is available on the WSAB website). 
• to report an adult safeguarding concern out of hours please call Worcestershire County Councils Emergency Duty Team on 01905 768020

Worcestershire Safeguarding

The  Worcestershire Safeguarding Adults Board (WSAB) and the Worcestershire Safeguarding Children Partnership (WSCP) have a joint website that holds a range of useful resources, publications, and learning briefings as well as information of how to report a concern.  The main focus of the Safeguarding Boards is to coordinate local work to ensure that adults and children with care and support needs across Worcestershire are protected from harm and abuse.