Safeguarding Policy

The information on this page is excerpted from the Light of Truth overall safeguarding policy, which can be viewed here. Below you will find the safeguarding information that relates directly to our work delivering in-person or online group-based faith formation.

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Contents 

1a. Introduction 

1b. Safeguarding Officer 

2a. Checking and Recruitment of Volunteers 

2b. Code of Conduct for Volunteers 

3. Safeguarding at In-Person Events 

4a. Safeguarding at Online Events 

4b. Policy for Zoom Meetings Involving Adults  

5a. Reporting Allegations 

5b. Following an Allegation 

6. Policy Reviewal

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1a. Introduction   

Light of Truth Ministry (henceforth, ‘L.O.T.’, ‘we’ or ‘us’), an apostolate of the Dominican Sisters  of St Joseph, delivers Catholic faith formation both in-person and online via Zoom. In all our  events, we abide by a Safeguarding Policy designed to protect children, young people and  vulnerable adults from all forms of abuse and provide L.O.T. members with a clear pathway for  the reporting of allegations and incidents.   ​

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Events to which this safeguarding policy applies are: 

• Online faith formation for adults organised and delivered by L.O.T. 

• In-person faith formation for adults organised and delivered by L.O.T. 

 

This Safeguarding Policy is in accordance with the CSSA eight standards for safeguarding. 

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1b. Safeguarding Officer 

The L.O.T. Safeguarding Officer is responsible for ensuring that this Safeguarding Policy is  implemented and that all allegations of abuse are properly investigated. They are required to undergo safeguarding training at least every two years.   

The current Safeguarding Officer is Sr Carino Hodder OP.  

2a. Checking and Recruitment of Volunteers   

All volunteers involved in events organised by the Sisters, whether in-person or online, undergo the following  process of checking and recruitment:  

1. Sign and read the Volunteer Agreement form  

2. Sign and read the Light of Truth Safeguarding Policy (or, if they are a Fanning the Flame volunteer, the parts of the Policy relevant to their work and responsibilities)  

3. If assisting with an in-person event in a school in which children are present, they are also required to obtain a valid DBS check. 

These stipulations apply equally to the Sisters. 

Additional stipulations apply to volunteers for the Fanning the Flame Summer Camp due to the particular responsibilities of running this event. These are outlined in Section 3b of this Policy.  

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2b. Code of Conduct for Volunteers 

All L.O.T. volunteers abide by the following code of conduct.   

1. The adult:child ratios of the organisation or group responsible for the event are to be observed at all times. (Details of adult:child ratios for Fanning the Flame Summer Camp and related events can be found in section 3b below). 

2. Volunteers are not to spend time alone with children, young people or vulnerable adults away from the sight of other adults.   

3. Volunteers are not to contact children, young people or vulnerable adults after in person events unless with the specific permission of the adult responsible for them.  

4. Volunteers are not to make unnecessary physical contact with children, young  people or vulnerable adults without good reason (emotional comfort or physical help), and then only with the consent of the person. Physical contact of a sexual, coercive or aggressive nature is never justified.  

5. Volunteers are never to use humiliating, threatening, sexually provocative or abusive language.  

6. Volunteers are never to perform a physical task for children or vulnerable adults of a personal nature which they can perform themselves or for which they have a personal carer.   

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3. Safeguarding at In-Person Events   

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The Sisters deliver both formation courses and individual formation sessions as part of L.O.T. These take place in a variety of  locations at the request of parishes, schools, dioceses and other organisations or groups.  Before the event, the Sisters will contact the leader/organiser by letter to ensure that:  

1. The organisation or group has carried out a risk assessment of the event. 

2. The organisation or group has made available their safeguarding policy (or their  Diocese’s safeguarding policy) to L.O.T so that we can ensure compliance. 

3. The organisation or group understands that, given the event is taking place on their premises, they have overall responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of attendees. 

3. The organisation or group has a designated Safeguarding Officer (or equivalent role)  with whom the L.O.T. Safeguarding Officer can liaise.  

4. All volunteers have sought to ascertain the number of children, young people and vulnerable adults  who will be present at the event, and any additional needs they have which volunteers should be aware of. 

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If the in-person event is taking place at the convent, the sisters will contact the leader/organiser by letter to ensure that: 

1. The organisation or group has viewed the convent risk assessment. 

1. The organisation or group is made aware of the safeguarding requirements with which we expect the group to be compliant.  

1. The organisation or group accepts that they have overall responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of their members - in particular, they are responsible for supervising any children in their group during breaktimes and mealtimes. 

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4a. Safeguarding at Online Events   

The platform used for L.O.T. online events is Zoom. 

All Zoom meetings are set up using a specific L.O.T. Zoom account and never an individual’s  personal Zoom account. The Safeguarding Officer will ensure that the Zoom moderator for each session is aware of their responsibility to ensure the Zoom meeting is safeguarding compliant.   

Before the online event (or the first session of the course if it is a multi-session course), the Sister with primary responsibility for organising the course will do the following: 

1. Send a basic Participants’ Code of Conduct to registered participants, so that they are aware of standards of behaviour on this Zoom and the steps that will be taken if this Code of Conduct is breached. 

1. Ask participants to provide details of any additional needs that they feel may be relevant to their participation in this course (for instance, physical or cognitive disabilities and/or emotional/psychological difficulties.) 

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4b. Policy for Zoom Meetings Involving Adults  

1. Links to Zoom meetings are given only to those who have registered for the meeting  and are not made publicly available.  

2. Every Zoom meeting has the ‘Waiting Room’ function enabled and participants are only  admitted to the meeting if immediately identifiable by their first and last name.   

3. Any participant engaging in inappropriate behaviour (such as exposure and foul or  abusive language) will be immediately removed from the meeting by the moderator.  

4. Inappropriate behaviour is to be logged after the event in the L.O.T. Safeguarding Concerns Log so that any necessary action can be taken.  

 

5a. Reporting Allegations   

In the event of an adult being accused of inappropriate behaviour, whether at an in-person event or on an online meeting, the following process is to be followed: 

1. Anybody who witnesses abuse or receives an allegation of abuse must immediately inform the Safeguarding Officer.   

2. No allegation is to be trivialised, ignored or dismissed.   

3. No volunteer is to initiate an investigation into a safeguarding allegation independently, even if they were the adult to whom the allegation was made.  

4. The allegation is not to be discussed with the accused person outside of a formal  investigation, and never before the allegation has been reported.  

5. The Safeguarding Officer is required to report the allegation to the relevant authorities (depending on whether the safeguarding incident took place in a school, a parish, or online).  

6. If the accused volunteer is a Dominican Sister of St Joseph, the safeguarding policy of  the Diocese of Portsmouth (which can be viewed here) and the relevant CSSA Practice Guidances (which can be viewed here) will also be followed. 

 

If a volunteer has a concern about a person’s conduct that is not a specific allegation of abuse, then they are to log their concern in the Log of Safeguarding Concerns. 

  

5b. Processes Following an investigation   

1. While an investigation is ongoing, the accused volunteer (respondent) is to be suspended from involvement in L.O.T.  

2. If an allegation of sexual, physical or emotional abuse is proven to be true, the respondent is to be immediately dismissed from all involvement in L.O.T going forward.  

3. L.O.T. acknowledges a duty of care towards both the alleged victim of a safeguarding incident and the respondent/s.  

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6. Policy Reviewal   

This document is reviewed once a year by the Chapter of the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph and updated as necessary. Changes to the Safeguarding Policy can be proposed by any Sister or volunteer and must be ratified by the Chapter of the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph. 

 

Last updated October 2024