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Session 5 Case management: managing concerns
5.1 Introduction
In this session, you will explore how Safeguarding Leads respond to reported concerns, supported by a case management group.
Learning outcomes
The session focuses on the key steps in an ‘end-to-end’ case management process which include:
Making initial decisions. |
Investigations (including links with external protection agencies and your organisation’s disciplinary process). |
Case risk assessment. |
You will also explore cases linked to adults, and cases that are not serious enough for an external investigation, or where an external referral is passed back to you, due to a lack of evidence.
Please note, this session is slightly longer than the other sessions in this course, to allow us to cover this important content in detail.
5.2 The case management group – important support for making decisions
Before you explore the process of responding to a concern, let’s learn more about a really important team that will help you in this process – a
To set up a case management group, you should identify a small number of colleagues with the right skills, knowledge, and experience to help you consider and make decisions. The group may include members with different sports expertise, for example, coaching, officiating, integrity, social engagement, or event operations – depending on the safeguarding case circumstances.
It is best if the group has an independent child protection expert as a member, such as a teacher or social worker trained in child safeguarding, or a Safeguarding Lead from a non-governmental organisation (NGO) or another sports organisation.
The tasks of a case management group include:
- Assessing and agreeing actions taken by you.
- Assessing and agreeing the initial response to the concern raised.
- Identifying appropriate next steps.
- Reviewing the progress of cases.
- Identifying and communicating issues that may need to be addressed as a result of a case.
You will now explore your role in responding to concerns – with the support of a case management group – in more detail.
5.3 What is the Safeguarding Lead’s role in responding to concerns?
In Course 2 Session 7 you learned that everyone should contact the Safeguarding Lead with their concerns and that you should then assess the information and decide what action is needed. Let’s consider this in a bit more detail.
The flow chart below shows the actions taken by a Safeguarding Lead following a report about someone involved in their sport.
Safeguarding concerns can be raised verbally or through an online reporting form or email – they can also be raised anonymously. In every case, your responsibility as a Safeguarding Lead is to assess the relevance of the report and identify what further action is required to clarify and respond to the concern.
This involves making a judgement about the seriousness of the concern raised. For some reports it will be obvious that an external referral out to protection services such as the police is necessary and may be time critical.
However, it is not your responsibility to decide on your own if poor practice or abuse has occurred – or to start your investigation. Your case management group should help you make these decisions.
You will now consider jurisdiction in more detail.
5.4 What is jurisdiction?
Jurisdiction is a term used to describe who has the power to make decisions or judgements.
It is particularly important in safeguarding in sport because:
- Sport activities can take place around the world, with athletes from different countries.
- There is often a hierarchy in sport – from a local club, to a national governing body, to an international federation – and they will all have different jurisdictions.
- Even in sport for development organisations or grassroots clubs, you might have a parent organisation, or be a member of a league that has some jurisdiction over your activities.
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Receiving a safeguarding concern |
When you receive a safeguarding concern, you need to decide:
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Sometimes this may mean passing the concern on to another organisation to manage.
Whatever you decide, it's important to make your decision promptly – and in the next section you will explore why that is important.
5.5 Why is responding to reports promptly important?
Responding quickly is important to everyone: victims, Safeguarding Leads, child protection services, and the organisation itself. It forms part of a
A prompt response is what victims want, need, and deserve. It helps your organisation demonstrate you are taking an allegation seriously and will help make sure further abuse is avoided.
Responding quickly also often assists those who are investigating concerns, as evidence is better preserved, and witness memories and statements may be fresher and clearer.
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Setting clear time limits |
It is good practice to set clear time limits for providing an acknowledgement to reported concerns, typically within 24 hours. |
Next, you explore the roles different organisations take with different levels of concern.
5.6 What are the roles and responsibilities of different organisations?
Safeguarding Leads and case management groups need to make initial judgements about whether cases should be reported to external child protection services, NGOs, and/or authorities responsible for criminal investigation, such as the police.
The following table includes some examples of cases you might need to consider – remember that even apparently minor issues can sometimes be just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ of more serious concerns.
Low-level concerns (poor practice) | Medium-level concerns (serious poor practice) | High-level concerns (serious safeguarding concerns involving abuse/criminal behaviour) | |
|---|---|---|---|
Safeguarding Lead’s responsibility | Investigate and respond to the concerns | Refer to or consult with the organisation’s case management group and Judicial Body*. Safeguarding Lead may also consult with external protection services. | Refer/report to external protection services and/or the police, and to the organisation’s relevant Judicial Body* |
Who is involved and responsible for investigation and further action? | Safeguarding Lead | Safeguarding Lead supported by case management group and Judicial Body* staff. | External protection agencies and/or the police, and the organisation’s Judicial Body* staff supported by the Safeguarding Lead. |
Some practice examples |
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Footnotes
*For organisations under the jurisdiction of a sports Judicial BodyBeing clear about roles and responsibilities is a key part of your Safeguarding Lead role.
Special attention should be given whenever a safeguarding issue becomes a matter of concern for a number of different organisations, as clear communication will be key to avoiding any problems.
Next, you explore how to refer a serious case to an external organisation.
5.7 Referring a case externally
When concerns include possible abuse, your role is to pass the report on to professional experts such as the police and child protection/social services, or NGOs that specialise in supporting victims in these cases – and seek their advice about what your next actions should be.
The three key questions are simply:
Am I concerned that someone needs protection, that others may be at risk, or that a crime has been committed? |
Do I have enough information to pass it on, for external agencies to investigate? |
Does passing the concern on increase the risk of harm to the victim or others? |
If the victim is a child, you must always act in their best interests. This means you should always safely refer cases of possible abuse directly involving children, or where children may be at risk.
If the victim is an adult, then it is important to seek their consent before making a referral, unless:
- They are unable to protect themselves and you need to act on their behalf, or
- Other people are at risk because of the situation.
If in doubt, always speak to someone else to help you decide – including the organisations you are thinking of making a referral to. You can always anonymise the case when you have an initial discussion.
If you decide to pass on a report to external agencies, your organisation still needs to put risk management measures – such as a temporary suspension – in place, while the investigation is ongoing.
There may be circumstances where the external investigation could result in an unreasonable delay to your organisation’s own investigation, leaving the person of concern suspended indefinitely and the victim without any resolution.
If that is the case, you must consult your legal adviser and the external investigating agency before initiating any internal investigation. This is to make sure you don’t compromise the external investigation, for example, by alerting someone who may be a
Activity: Case management responsibilities of different stakeholders.
Identify the case management responsibilities of different stakeholders by matching the responsibility to the appropriate stakeholder group.
Select a tile from the Stakeholder column by clicking on it to turn it green. Then choose the correct matching tile from the Responsibility and jurisdiction column. If your choice is correct, both tiles will disappear. Repeat until all the tiles have gone.
Next, you consider managing a serious case in more detail.
5.8 What are the stages of managing a serious safeguarding case?
In this section, you cover all the parts that make up an end-to-end process for receiving and responding to serious safeguarding concerns.
Activity: Identify the stages of case management
Read about the seven stages of the case management cycle that are listed alphabetically below. Then look at the diagram that follows and decide where in the cycle each stage should go.
- Appeal process – an opportunity for interested parties to challenge the decision and/or sanction imposed, in line with your organisation’s rules.
- Decision-making and sanctions – the organisation takes action to apply appropriate sanctions and to safeguard children and vulnerable adults. The Safeguarding Lead provides support and advice on safeguarding issues.
- Internal investigation (after, or in the absence of an external investigation) – to gather all relevant information and inform next steps.
- Learning – it is always important to reflect on learning from cases – and use this to strengthen your policies and procedures, and to raise awareness in your organisation.
- Raising awareness about safeguarding – so everyone knows what a concern is, and how to report.
- Reporting – Safeguarding Lead receives report and clarifies the facts, nature, and seriousness of the concern – and whose jurisdiction applies. Initial actions agreed in the interest of potential victims (with the case management group if needed) – including external referral, internal investigation, and victim support.
- Risk assessment – this is an ongoing process that should inform every step of the case management process, based on available information. It should help you identify and manage safeguarding risks during the investigation – for example, through the provisional suspension of the alleged abuser – and also help you improve future processes.
Each stage is represented by a small tile. Drag each tile onto the diagram in the correct order. We have provided the first stage to get you started.
You will also notice that one stage is central to the process and you should think about which stage this is.
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Active collaboration |
Active collaboration between the Safeguarding Lead and relevant colleagues is essential to an effective case management system. Remember that clear, accurate recording is also a requirement for all these stages and actions. |
Next – you consider case investigation in a bit more detail.
5.9 Case investigation
An investigation is the process by which someone obtains factual information to establish if, how, and why something has happened. The investigation begins the moment a Safeguarding Lead receives a report and takes any steps to find out further details.
Whether or not a report is investigated by external authorities, your organisation has a responsibility to act. Depending on the seriousness of the concern, the experience of relevant staff, and the resources available, the investigator could be the Safeguarding Lead, or an external expert may be recruited for this task.
Some cases will only be investigated by the sports organisation. Examples include when the concern is not serious enough for an external investigation, or when an external referral is passed back to the sports organisation to investigate and manage risk.
An investigation is likely to be a source of anxiety for all the parties involved. It is therefore important that the investigator adopts a person-centred approach by adopting five investigation principles.
Activity: Exploring the five investigation principles
Read each of the descriptions for the five investigation principles. Use the drop-down menu next to each description to match it to the correct principle heading for that description.
Next, you consider the investigation process in more detail.
5.10 The investigation process
Creating an investigation plan
At the outset it is useful to set out a plan for the investigation. This establishes who will be contacted and interviewed, and whether there is likely to be important evidence (for example, mobile phone messages) to collect.
Next, you consider this question: What about the order in which people are interviewed?
Activity: Thinking about the interview order
Comment
The recommended order for interviews is as follows:
- The person who raised the concern (this may or not be the alleged victim) is seen first.
- Followed by the alleged victim (if they are not the same person).
- Any witnesses to the incident or who may have other evidence to offer.
- The person of concern (alleged perpetrator).
This allows the investigator to form a fuller picture of the context of the concern before speaking to the alleged perpetrator.
Next, you explore receiving a disclosure.
5.11 Receiving a disclosure and conducting a victim interview
We have outlined several issues and considerations when planning to respond to reports of safeguarding concerns. Now you consider how to approach some of these in practice.
Let us hear from Patience again.
Activity: Identify key factors in Patience’s approach
Read Patience’s account of her initial response to a serious report. Use the pen to highlight the steps that she took to reassure the caller, making it easier to describe her experiences.
Select the pen to start highlighting. You can select the Undo button if you need to erase your last highlight. When you have finished highlighting, select the Reveal answer button to view a model answer. You can then select Hide answer to view your answers again and compare them. You can repeat this if needed.
Comment
Patience was consistently open and honest with Tolotea and took steps to reduce her worries about the police becoming involved. She allowed Tolotea to choose the interview setting, and to bring a supporter.
Patience adopted an informal approach to the interview, providing a safe space for Tolotea to tell her story. She was clear about her responsibilities concerning confidentiality and next actions.
These principles – being open and honest, creating a safe space, and being clear about the process – apply whoever you interview, from witnesses to the alleged abuser.
Now, you move on to learn more about managing risk during case management.
5.12 Decision-making
Ultimately, organisations need to make two key decisions concerning safeguarding cases:
Has there been a breach of the rules or code of conduct? |
Does the individual pose a risk to others in the organisation? |
Let’s consider each in turn.
Breach of the rules or code of conduct: Unlike criminal proceedings, where cases have to meet a higher threshold of proof, in safeguarding decisions, evidence needs to meet a lower threshold – that it is more likely than not that the allegation is true, based on all the available evidence. This is sometimes referred to as ‘on the balance of probabilities’.
Conclusions can range from there being no evidence to support the reported concerns; that on balance it is likely that the allegation is true; or, that there is clear evidence that the reported concerns are true.
Risk to others: Investigations should provide information to help the organisation form a view about the risk that an individual poses, and what steps are needed to address this risk. This may lead to a risk management plan being put in place.
Organisations should try to make
Activity: What are the features of a defensible decision?
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True
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The correct answer is a.
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The correct answer is a.
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The correct answer is a.
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The correct answer is a.
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The correct answer is a.
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The correct answer is b.
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The correct answer is b.
Once a defensible decision has been made, appropriate action should be taken – you consider this next.
5.13 Rules and sanctions
It is important that your rules and regulations are appropriate to deal with safeguarding issues, and that the staff that implement them have a good understanding of safeguarding. You may need a separate set of safeguarding regulations which sit alongside other disciplinary regulations.
Examples of sanctions that may be used in safeguarding cases:
- A temporary or
interim suspension. This is a neutral act – it doesn’t imply the organisation thinks the alleged perpetrator is guilty. It is simply put in place, often following a report of a serious concern, to protect everyone involved while the case is investigated. - A requirement for a period of close supervision, monitoring, or mentoring by identified individual/s.
- Mandatory safeguarding or other specified training.
- A permanent ban from taking part in any (or specified) sport-related activity (for example, a ban from the entire sport, or a ban from working with or near children).
Safeguarding Leads should research the sanctions currently available to the organisation – and make sure that these include arrangements that will address issues arising from safeguarding cases. Sanctions must be necessary, reasonable, and proportionate, reflecting the level of seriousness of a case.
You will also need to consider how to appropriately share any sanctions issued with those who need to be aware of them, in line with your local legislation and your organisation’s rules.
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| Appeals |
Any disciplinary system needs to be transparent and fair – and this includes ensuring the right of all parties involved to appeal against a decision or outcome. This could be an appeal against the decision or conclusions, or about the sanctions applied. Relevant processes and rules need to include appeal procedures which are explained to everyone involved. |
In the final section, you explore the difference between cases involving adults and children.
5.14 Understanding similarities and differences between cases involving adults and children
As a Safeguarding Lead, you need to understand whether and how cases involving adults and children are treated differently in your country and your sport, and make sure that your policies and procedures address any differences.
When you suspect a child has been abused, you have a responsibility to pass this on to local organisations whose role is to provide support to the child, and in many cases, to investigate further. In some countries, passing concerns about a child’s welfare is not an option – but a legal requirement.
However, in many countries this is not the same when you respond to cases of suspected adult abuse. In most cases, adults are viewed as having more freedom to control their own affairs. Adults can decide whether or not other agencies (including the police) are informed and become involved.
The exceptions are when other people are at risk because of the situation, or where the adult is unable to protect themselves and you need to act on their behalf.
Activity: Child and adult safeguarding concerns
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False
The correct answer is b.
a.
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b.
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The correct answer is a.
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The correct answer is a.
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The correct answer is b.
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The correct answer is a.
Comment
There are some important differences when responding to concerns about children or adults.
One of the key differences is that adults usually get to choose whether you pass on details they have shared about their abuse.
This is not the case for children, where you have a responsibility to pass details on to appropriate services. Your policies and procedures need to reflect your local laws and requirements.
5.15 Apply your learning
Task 2
Develop your own safeguarding flow chart for responding to concerns in your organisation.
- The aim of the task is to help you develop your own safeguarding flow chart.
- Using the flow chart in Section 5.3 as a starting point, develop your own chart that covers the way reporting works in your organisation.
- You might want to include contact details in your flow chart so anyone who uses it, knows how to contact key people or services.
You will receive feedback comments on this task at the start of the next session.
5.16 Summary of Session 5
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| The main learning and messages from this session are: |
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When you are ready, move on to Session 6 Supporting victims and survivors, where you discover more about some of the main principles you can follow in responding to concerns.