In September 2025, Anna participated a two-day in-depth safeguarding training online for people with disability, targeted at people in safeguarding leadership positions. This is the seventh in series of 7
Prevention and Self Care, Wrap Up
There are several questions which you can reflect on to make sure that situations can be prevented and addressed as needed.
- What is the role of a safeguarding team in these reporting phases?
- Is there a clear process for what happens after a concern is reported?
- Is there follow up processes which are trauma informed?
- Is there an approach that focuses on continually improving?
- What is your culture like around raising concerns?
- What messaging is being sent around safeguarding and reporting?
- Is a safe space being created for reporting?
- Are we responding in a person-focused way, in alignment with our values?
Finally, it is important to manage vicarious trauma through self-care and debriefing. It is also helpful to have leaders and volunteers on rotation and know when to ask for help or stand back from a situation. Leaders can help manage psychosocial hazard in workplaces and create a safe space to talk about difficult things. It is also important to have access to supervision and other debriefing strategies. Self-care includes prayer, mindfulness, understanding your stress signs, do the things that bring you joy, and focus on the positive parts of your work.
I learnt a lot of valuable information from these training days. I also learnt many helpful strategies to deal with situations of abuse and how to prevent vulnerable people and people with disability from being in situations of abuse.
It is important to look out for warning signs and keep yourself safe in your job when you are reporting situations of abuse.
I hope this has been helpful for you too as you consider what your church does to keep people safe, or what may need to be put in place so that harm is prevented.