Child protection

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Organisation details

Full name of the organisation:

SINUSOIDA FREEDOM FOUNDATION (hereinafter referred to as the Organisation or the Foundation)

Website: sinusoidafreedom.org, pracowniakreska.pl

Organisation address: ul. Piastowska 7/4 , 43-300, Bielsko-Biała, Silesian Voivodeship

Persons responsible for the implementation of the Child Protection Policy in the organisation:

Justyna Janiszewska - board member, Krzysztof Janiszewski - President of the Management Board

Preamble

The overriding principle of all actions undertaken by the organisation’s personnel is to act for the benefit of the child and in the child’s best interests. Each member of the personnel treats the child with respect and takes into account the child’s needs. The use of violence against a child in any form by anyone is unacceptable. The organisation’s personnel, in pursuing these objectives, act within the framework of applicable law, the internal regulations of the organisation and their competences.

Legal basis for the Child Protection Policy

Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 November 1989 (Journal of Laws of 1991 No. 120, item 526, as amended)
• Constitution of the Republic of Poland of 2 April 1997 (Journal of Laws No. 78, item 483, as amended)
• Act of 25 February 1964 – the Family and Guardianship Code (consolidated text: Journal of Laws of 2020, item 1359)
• Act of 28 July 2023 amending the Act – the Family and Guardianship Code and certain other Acts (Journal of Laws, item 1606).
• Act of 13 May 2016 on Counteracting Threats of Sexual Offences (consolidated text: Journal of Laws of 2023, item 31, as amended)
• Act of 29 July 2005 on Counteracting Domestic Violence (consolidated text: Journal of Laws of 2021, item 1249).
• Act of 6 June 1997 – the Criminal Code (consolidated text: Journal of Laws of 2022, item 1138, as amended).
• Act of 6 June 1997 – the Code of Criminal Procedure (consolidated text: Journal of Laws of 2022, item 1375, as amended).
• Act of 23 April 1964 – the Civil Code (consolidated text: Journal of Laws of 2022, item 1360, as amended) – Articles 23 and 24
• Act of 17 November 1964 – the Code of Civil Procedure (consolidated text: Journal of Laws of 2023, item 1550, as amended).

Glossary of terms used in the Child Protection Policy

Personnel or a member of personnel is a person employed under an employment contract, a civil law contract, a member of the organisation’s management board, a person cooperating with the organisation running their own business activity, as well as a volunteer and an intern of the organisation.
The managing body of the organisation is the Management Board, which operates in accordance with applicable law and internal documents. The Management Board is authorised to make decisions regarding the organisation’s activities in accordance with the Foundation’s statutes and applicable law.
A child is any person under 18 years of age.
A child’s guardian is a person authorised to represent the child, in particular the child’s parent or legal guardian. For the purposes of this document, a guardian also means a foster parent.
Parental consent means the consent of at least one of the child’s parents/legal guardians.
Harm to a child (abuse) shall be understood as committing a prohibited act or a punishable act to the detriment of a child by any person, including a member of the organisation’s personnel, or endangering the welfare of the child, including neglect.
The person responsible for the Internet is Krzysztof Janiszewski – President of the Management Board of the Foundation. The organisation does not allow children to use the Internet on the organisation’s premises or during activities conducted by the organisation.
The persons responsible for the Child Protection Policy against harm are Justyna Janiszewska – board member of the Foundation and Krzysztof Janiszewski – President of the Management Board of the Foundation, supervising the implementation of the Child Protection Policy against harm in the organisation.
A child’s personal data means any information enabling the identification of the child.

Identifying and responding to risk factors of harm to children

In the course of performing their duties, the organisation’s personnel pay attention to risk factors and symptoms of harm to children.
If risk factors are identified, the organisation’s personnel hold a conversation with the guardians, providing information on available support and motivating them to seek help for themselves.

Personnel recruitment rules (employees/volunteers/interns/trainees)

Personnel recruitment is conducted in accordance with the principles of safe recruitment. The rules constitute Appendix No. 1 to this Policy.

Principles of safe relationships between the organisation’s personnel (employees, volunteers, interns, trainees) and children

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Personnel know and apply the principles of safe personnel–child and child–child relationships established in the organisation. The principles constitute Appendix No. 2 to this Policy.

Intervention procedures in the event of suspected harm to a child

Threats to children’s safety may take various forms, using various means of contact and communication.
For the purposes of this document, the following classification of threats to children’s safety has been adopted:
a. a crime has been committed against the child (e.g. sexual abuse, abuse of the child),
b. another form of harm has occurred that is not a crime, such as e.g. shouting, physical punishment, humiliation,
c. neglect of the child’s basic life needs has occurred (e.g. related to nutrition, hygiene or health).
For the purposes of this document, intervention procedures have been distinguished in the event of suspected harm to a child by:
a. adults (personnel, other third parties, parents/legal guardians),
b. another child. § 6
If a member of the personnel suspects that a child is being harmed, or if such circumstances are reported by the child or the child’s guardian, the personnel member is obliged to draw up an official note and provide the obtained information to the organisation’s management board. The note may be in written or e-mail form.
The intervention is conducted by the organisation’s management board, which may appoint another person permanently for this task. If such a person is appointed, their details (first name, last name, e-mail, phone number) will be communicated to the personnel, children and guardians.
If another person is appointed to conduct the intervention, the term “organisation’s management board” shall be understood as the person responsible for conducting the intervention.
If harm is reported to have been caused by the person appointed to conduct the intervention, the intervention shall be conducted by the organisation’s management board.
If harm is reported to have been caused by the organisation’s management board, and no person has been appointed to conduct the intervention, then the actions described in this chapter shall be taken by the person who noticed the harm or to whom the suspicion of harm was reported.
Specialists, in particular psychologists and educators, may be invited to participate in the intervention in order to obtain their assistance when talking with the child about difficult experiences.
The organisation’s management board informs the guardians about the obligation to report the suspicion of harm to the child to the appropriate institution (prosecutor’s office/police or family and guardianship court, or the nearest social welfare centre).
After informing the guardians in accordance with the previous point, the organisation’s management board submits a notification of suspected offence to the prosecutor’s office/police (a sample notification constitutes Appendix No. 3 to this Policy)
or an application for an assessment of the family situation to the district court, family and juvenile division, social welfare centre (a sample report constitutes Appendix No. 4 to this Policy).
The further course of proceedings lies within the competence of the institutions indicated in the previous point.
An intervention record is drawn up for each intervention, using the template constituting Appendix No. 5 to this Policy. The record is attached to the intervention register maintained by the organisation.

§ 7
If it is suspected that the child’s life is at risk or that the child may suffer serious harm to health, the appropriate services (police, ambulance) must be notified immediately by calling 112 or 998 (ambulance). The services are notified by the personnel member who first obtained information about the threat and then completes the intervention record.

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Harm caused by an adult

If harm to a child is reported, the organisation’s management board conducts a conversation with the child and other persons who have or may have knowledge about the incident and the child’s personal situation (family, health), in particular with the child’s guardians. The organisation’s management board attempts to determine the course of the incident, as well as the impact of the incident on the child’s mental and physical health. The findings are recorded in the intervention record.
The organisation’s management board organises a meeting/meetings with the child’s guardians, providing them with information about the incident and about the need/possibility of obtaining specialised support, including from other organisations or services.
If a crime has been committed against the child, the organisation’s management board prepares a notification of the possibility of an offence and submits it to the competent local police unit or prosecutor’s office.
If the conversation with the guardians indicates that they are not interested in helping the child, ignore the incident or otherwise do not support the child who has experienced harm, the organisation’s management board prepares an application for an assessment of the family situation and submits it to the competent family court.
If the findings indicate that the child’s guardian neglects the child’s psychophysical needs or the family is educationally ineffective (e.g. the child wears clothing inadequate for the weather, leaves home without adult supervision), the family uses violence against the child (a parent/other household member shouts at the child, uses spanking or similar physical punishment), the competent social welfare centre should be informed about the need to provide assistance to the family when unmet needs result from poverty, or – in the case of violence and neglect – about the necessity to initiate the “Blue Card” procedure.
If harm to a child by a member of the organisation’s personnel is reported, that person is removed from all forms of contact with children (not only the harmed child) until the matter is clarified.
If a member of the organisation’s personnel has committed another form of harm against a child than committing a crime to the child’s detriment, the organisation’s management board should examine all circumstances of the case, in particular hear the suspected person, the child and other witnesses of the incident. If the violation of the child’s welfare is significant, in particular if discrimination or violation of the child’s dignity has occurred, termination of the legal relationship with the person who committed the harm should be considered, or such a solution should be recommended to the person’s supervisors. If the person who committed the harm is not directly employed by the organisation but by a third party, a ban on that person entering the organisation’s premises should be recommended, and if necessary the agreement with the cooperating institution should be terminated.
All persons who, in connection with the performance of official duties, obtained information about harm to a child or related information are obliged to keep such information confidential, excluding information provided to authorised institutions as part of intervention actions.
If the suspicion of a threat to the child’s safety was reported by the child’s guardians and the suspicion was not confirmed, the guardians should be informed of this fact in writing.

§ 9
Peer-to-peer harm

In the event of suspicion that a child is being harmed by another child staying in the organisation (e.g. during group activities), a conversation should be held with the child suspected of causing harm and their guardians, and separately with the harmed child and their guardians. In addition, other persons who have knowledge of the incident should be interviewed. During the conversations, efforts should be made to determine the course of the incident and the impact of the incident on the mental and physical health of the harmed child. Findings are recorded in the intervention record. Separate intervention records are prepared for the child causing harm and the harmed child.
Together with the guardians of the child causing harm, a corrective plan should be developed in order to change undesirable behaviours.
With the guardians of the harmed child, a plan should be developed to ensure the child’s safety, including methods of isolating the child from sources of threat.
During the conversations, it should be ensured that the child suspected of harming another child is not themselves being harmed by guardians, other adults or other children. If such circumstances are confirmed, intervention should also be undertaken with respect to that child.
If the child causing harm does not participate in the organisation’s activities, a conversation should be held with the harmed child, other persons who have knowledge of the incident, and the guardians of the harmed child in order to determine the course of the incident and the impact on the child’s mental and physical health. The organisation’s management board organises a meeting/meetings with the child’s guardians, providing information about the incident and about the need/possibility of obtaining specialised support, including from other organisations or services, and about methods of responding to the incident (informing the family court, informing the school, informing the guardians of the child causing harm).
If the person suspected of causing harm is a child aged 13 to 17 and the behaviour constitutes a punishable act, the competent local family court or the police should additionally be notified by written report.
If the person suspected of causing harm is a child over 17 and the behaviour constitutes a crime, the competent local police unit or prosecutor’s office should be notified by written report.

Principles of protecting children’s personal data and image in the organisation

The organisation ensures the highest standards of protection of children’s personal data in accordance with applicable law.
The organisation, recognising the child’s right to privacy and the protection of personal rights, ensures the protection of the child’s image.
Guidelines regarding the rules for publishing a child’s image constitute Appendix No. 6 to this Policy.

The organisation’s personnel must not enable media representatives to record a child’s image (filming, photographing, recording the child’s voice) on the organisation’s premises without the written consent of the child’s guardian.
In order to obtain the consent referred to above, the organisation’s personnel may contact the child’s guardian and establish the procedure for obtaining consent. It is unacceptable to provide a media representative with the guardian’s contact details without the knowledge and consent of that guardian.
If the child’s image constitutes only a detail of a whole, such as: a gathering, landscape, public event, the guardian’s consent to record the child’s image is not required.

Making public by a member of the personnel the child’s image recorded in any form (photograph, audio-video recording) requires the written consent of the child’s guardian.
The written consent referred to in section 1 should include information on where the recorded image will be placed and in what context it will be used (e.g. that it will be placed on the website www.youtube.com for promotional purposes).

Principles for safe use of the Internet and electronic media

As a rule, the organisation does not provide children with access to the Internet or to equipment (computer, laptop, tablet, phone, other devices) both on the organisation’s premises and during activities conducted by members of the personnel outside the organisation’s seat.
If necessary, the organisation provides access to educational materials regarding safe use of the Internet.

Monitoring

The organisation’s management board appoints: Justyna Janiszewska board member and Krzysztof Janiszewski President of the Management Board as persons responsible for the Child Protection Policy in the organisation.
The persons referred to in the previous point are responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Policy, responding to signals of breaches of the Policy and proposing changes to the Policy.
The person referred to in the previous point conducts, among the organisation’s personnel, once every 12 months, a monitoring survey regarding the level of implementation of the Policy. A sample survey constitutes Appendix No. 7 to this Policy.
In the survey, the personnel may propose changes to the Policy and indicate breaches of the Policy in the organisation.
The person referred to in section 1 of this paragraph prepares the surveys completed by members of the personnel. On this basis, a monitoring report is prepared and then submitted to the organisation’s management board.
The organisation’s management board introduces the necessary changes to the Policy and announces the new wording of the Policy to the personnel.

Final provisions

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The Policy enters into force on the date of its announcement.
The announcement is made in a manner accessible to the organisation’s personnel, in particular by posting it in the personnel notice area or by sending its text electronically or on the organisation’s website.