Child Protection Standards

at Augustów Health Resort Sanatorium

CHILD PROTECTION STANDARDS AT AUGUSTÓW HEALTH RESORT SANATORIUM

Parent’s declaration entrusting care of a minor

Due to the Child Protection Procedures in place, anyone staying at the property with a child must have a document proving that they are an adult entitled to care for the child

(e.g. the child’s identity document indicating kinship, a civil status certificate, a court decision, a parent’s notarised consent for the person to travel with the child, or consent signed by the child’s parent stating the child’s details, home address, the parent’s telephone contact and the identity document number/PESEL number of the person entrusted with the child’s care).

CHILD PROTECTION STANDARDS AT AUGUSTÓW HEALTH RESORT SANATORIUM

Preamble

In view of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and recognising the important role of business in ensuring respect for children’s rights, particularly their right to protection of dignity and freedom from all forms of harm, Augustów Health Resort Sanatorium adopts this document as a model of rules and procedures to follow where there is suspicion that a child staying at Augustów Health Resort Sanatorium is being harmed, and to prevent such risks.

We will implement child protection standards at Augustów Health Resort Sanatorium through these rules.

1. Augustów Health Resort Sanatorium conducts its operations with the utmost respect for human rights, especially children’s rights, as they are particularly vulnerable to harm.
2. Augustów Health Resort Sanatorium recognises its role in conducting socially responsible business and promoting desirable social attitudes.
3. Augustów Health Resort Sanatorium particularly stresses the legal and social duty to notify law enforcement of every suspected offence against children and undertakes to train its staff in this area.
4. Augustów Health Resort Sanatorium undertakes to educate staff about circumstances indicating that a child staying at the property may be harmed and about how to respond promptly and appropriately.
5. An effective way to prevent harm to children is to identify the child staying at the property and their relationship with the adult accompanying them. Staff shall take all possible steps to identify the child and their relationship with the adult with whom they are staying at the property.

Definitions

Child - any person under 18;

Register - Register of Sex Offenders;

KRK - National Criminal Register;

Employee - a person employed by Augustów Health Resort Sanatorium regardless of the form of employment, or a cooperating person;

Child’s carer - a person authorised to represent the child, in particular a parent or legal guardian. Under this document, a foster parent is also a carer;

Parental consent means the consent of at least one parent/legal guardian. However, where the child’s parents disagree, they must be informed that the matter must be decided by the family court;

Threat to safety or harm to a child means committing an offence or punishable act against a child by any person, including an employee or associate of the organisation, the child’s parent/legal guardian or another child; using violence against a child in any form; or threatening the child’s welfare, including neglect;

An offence is conduct regarded as socially harmful and therefore prohibited by law (mainly the Criminal Code, but also many other laws, such as the Act on Counteracting Drug Addiction);

A punishable act is conduct regarded as socially harmful which would constitute an offence if committed by a person over 17. A person under 17 (a minor) is not criminally liable but is accountable for their conduct before the family court under juvenile proceedings. Juvenile proceedings aim to educate the offender, not punish them;

The person responsible for child protection at Augustów Health Resort Sanatorium, also known as the Coordinator for Minor Protection Standards (SOM Coordinator) is a named employee or associate working by virtue of their position, appointment or permanent contract, supervising implementation of the Child Protection from Harm Policy at the property;

Property - Augustów Health Resort Sanatorium.

Harm to a child – actions classified as:

• an offence against a child (e.g. sexual abuse or child abuse);
• another form of harm that is not an offence, such as shouting, physical punishment or humiliation;
• neglect of the child’s basic needs (e.g. nutrition, hygiene or health).

§ 1. Procedure to prevent harm to a child

1. Whenever possible, the child and their relationship with the adult accompanying them at the property must always be identified.
2. In unusual and/or suspicious situations indicating a possible risk of harm, identification must be conducted by a reception employee.
3. To identify the child and their relationship with the person accompanying them at the property:
   1. Ask for the child’s identity and relationship with the person who brought them to or is staying with them at the property. For this purpose, request the child’s identity document or another document confirming that the adult is entitled to care for the child at the property[1]. If no identity document is available, ask for the child’s details (first name, surname, address, PESEL number).
   2. If there are no documents showing kinship between the child and adult, ask both the adult and the child about their relationship.
   3. If the adult is not the child’s parent or legal guardian, ask whether they have a document confirming the parents’ consent for the adult and child to travel together (e.g. a written declaration).
   4. If the adult has no parental consent document, request the above-mentioned persons’ telephone number to call and confirm that the child is staying at the property with an unrelated adult with the knowledge and consent of the parents/legal guardians.
4. If the adult refuses to show the child’s document and/or indicate the relationship, explain that the procedure ensures the safety of children using Augustów Health Resort Sanatorium and was developed in consultation with non-governmental organisations working in this area.
5. Once the matter has been resolved positively, thank the person for helping ensure that the child is properly cared for and reiterate that the procedure aims to ensure children’s safety.
6. If the conversation does not dispel doubts about the adult and their intention to harm the child, discreetly notify the supervisor and security staff (if present). To avoid suspicion, refer, for example, to the need to use equipment behind reception and ask the adult to wait with the child in the lobby, restaurant or another location.
7. From the moment doubts first arise, both the child and adult must remain under constant staff observation and must not be left alone.
8. The supervisor notified of the situation decides whether to call the police or, if in doubt, takes over the conversation with the suspected adult to obtain further explanations.
9. If the conversation confirms a suspected attempt to commit, or commission of, an offence against the child, the supervisor notifies the police. The procedure for circumstances indicating harm to a child then applies.
10. If employees of other departments, such as housekeeping, room service, bar and restaurant staff, the relaxation area or security, witness unusual and/or suspicious situations, they must immediately notify the supervisor, who will decide on appropriate action.
11. Depending on the situation and location, the supervisor assesses whether the suspicion of harm is justified. They select appropriate measures to clarify the situation or decide to intervene and notify the police.

3. Every person already employed by Sanatorium Uzdrowiskowe Augustów in a position involving direct contact with children must be checked in the National Criminal Register and the Register. Register checking means printing that person’s search results from the restricted-access Register and placing the printout in their personnel file. 4. The check in § 4 point 4 must be repeated annually. Required data are specified in Appendix 4. 5. Before starting work, persons newly hired for positions in § 4 point 2 shall submit an extract from the National Criminal Register confirming no criminal record. They shall be checked in the Register under § 4 point 4. 6. The Director of Sanatorium Uzdrowiskowe Augustów or the SPM Coordinators shall email HR at: kadry@biavita.pl which persons under § 4 points 2 and 4 require checks in the Registers referred to in § 4 sections 3 and 5. 7. HR is responsible for checking the above persons in the National Criminal Register and the Register and placing the relevant certificates in the employee’s personnel file. § 5 Procedure concerning underage trainees 1. For minors undertaking vocational training at Sanatorium Uzdrowiskowe Augustów, all persons having direct or indirect contact with the trainee must be checked in the National Criminal Register and the Register. 2. The Director of Sanatorium Uzdrowiskowe Augustów or the Coordinator for the Standards for the Protection of Minors defines the positions and persons employed in them having indirect contact with underage trainees. 3. All employees hired to work with minors who have direct or indirect contact with them shall submit a declaration of no criminal record and no pending proceedings for offences against children – Appendix 3. 4. Every person already employed at Sanatorium Uzdrowiskowe Augustów and having direct or indirect contact with an underage trainee must be checked in the National Criminal Register and the Register. Register checking means printing that person’s search results from the restricted-access Register and placing the printout in their personnel file. 5. Before starting work, persons newly hired for positions in § 5 point 2 shall submit an extract from the National Criminal Register confirming no criminal record. They shall be checked in the Register under § 5 section 4. 6. The Director of Sanatorium Uzdrowiskowe Augustów or the SPM Coordinators shall email HR at: kadry@biavita.pl which persons under § 5 points 2 and 3 require checks in the Registers referred to in § 5 section 1. 7. HR is responsible for checking the above persons in the National Criminal Register and the Register and placing the relevant certificates in the employee’s personnel file. § 6 Communication with children who are facility guests or underage trainees 1. Without legal guardians’ knowledge and consent, employees must not contact children through private channels (telephone, email or SMS). 2. Regarding vocational training at Sanatorium Uzdrowiskowym Augustów, employees first contact the child’s legal guardians and only then, with their consent, the child. Such contact should preferably be documented (SMS or email). 3. Employees must not have private conversations with children via social media. 4. If a child starts a private social-media conversation, the employee must not continue it and shall direct the child to contact them at work or provide the legal guardian’s contact details. This does not apply where the child’s life or health is actually or potentially threatened. In that case, the employee may continue, but must simultaneously notify their supervisor or the organisation’s management of the contact and its reasons; where possible, notify them in writing or by email. § 7 Peer-to-peer harm 1. If a child is suspected of harming another child staying at the facility as a guest or trainee, interview separately the suspected child and their guardians, and the harmed child and their guardians. Interview other persons who know about the incident. Establish the incident’s course and its effect on the harmed child’s mental and physical health. Record findings on an intervention form (Appendix 1); prepare separate forms for the child causing harm and the child harmed. 2. Jointly with the harming child’s parents/guardians, develop a remedial plan to change undesirable behaviour. 3. With the harmed child’s parents/guardians, develop a safety plan, including ways to isolate the child from danger sources. 4. Establish during interviews whether the suspected child is themselves being harmed by parents/guardians, other adults or children. If confirmed, apply § 2. 5. If the suspected person is aged 13–17 and the conduct is a punishable act, also notify the competent local family court or police in writing. 6. If the suspected person is over 17 and the conduct is a crime, notify the competent local police or prosecutor’s office in writing.

[1] Such a document may be: the child’s identity document indicating the relationship, a civil-status certificate, a court ruling, a parent’s notarised consent for the person to travel with child or consent signed by the child’s parent, including the child’s details, residential address, the parent’s telephone number and the identity document number/PESEL number of the person entrusted by the parent with the child’s care.

CHILD PROTECTION STANDARDS AT THE AUGUSTÓW HEALTH RESORT SANATORIUM

DOWNLOAD FILE ---> Parent’s declaration entrusting care of a minor