Safeguarding

Safeguarding is a term used in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia to denote measures to protect the health, well-being and human rights of individuals, which allow people—especially children, young people and vulnerable adults—to live free from abuse, harm and neglect.

Any child can be considered to be at risk of harm or abuse, regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, sex or religion. The UK government has enacted legislation and published guidance to protect children from maltreatment, prevent the impairment of children's health or development, ensure children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care, and enable children and young people to have the best outcomes. Responsibility for these aims is deemed to lie with everyone who comes into contact with children and families.

Adults in need of safeguarding help may be elderly and frail people who live alone or in care homes with little support from family members, they may have mental health issues, a physical disability or learning difficulties, or they may be at risk in the community due to problems including domestic or sexual violence. Professional carers ideally focus on empowerment, protection, prevention, proportionate responses, partnership and accountability to safeguard vulnerable adults. In Birmingham and the West Midlands, the term 'adults at risk' is preferred over 'vulnerable adults'.

Children

UK

Safeguarding children is a concept that reaches beyond child protection to incorporate the additional aims of preventing the harm of children's health and development, ensuring children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care.

The UK Government has defined the term 'safeguarding children' as: "The process of protecting children from abuse or neglect, preventing impairment of their health and development, and ensuring they are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care that enables children to have optimum life chances and enter adulthood successfully."

This shift from traditional child protection to a more all-encompassing approach was influenced by the first Joint Chief Inspectors' safeguarding children report (2002) and the Victoria Climbié Inquiry (2003). The Every Child Matters programme outlined in the Children Act 2004 formalised these changes in approach into a legislative framework.