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Introduction
This purpose of this policy is to set out the principles, criteria and processes that govern how Compassiviste Foundation makes grants. A grant is defined as a financial award the Trust makes from its funds to support charitable activities, usually to registered charities or charitable community groups, which include partner organisations. The Board of Trustees may vary the terms of this policy from time to time. This policy should read in conjunction with all other policies and procedures of Compassiviste Foundation, and in particular, the Grant-Making Policy.
1. Ensuring proper governance
The Board of Trustees ensures proper governance of the Trust’s grant-making in three ways:
1.1. The checklist
Compassiviste Foundation relies on specific criteria to determine which individuals it benefits and what work it does and/or supports. Those criteria are:
1. Are those individuals we are seeking to help unable to adequately help themselves?
2. Is there a genuine need, compelling emergency or urgent humanitarian reason to lend our support?
3. Would our support have significant benefit that may otherwise not be received?
4. Are those individuals we are trying to help objectively vulnerable and at risk of ongoing or additional harm or inequality without our support?
5. On a basic level, Compassiviste Foundation must do no harm. As such, is there any risk that our involvement and/or financial support could endanger or worsen the circumstances of those vulnerable individuals, their communities, or our frontline partners?
6. Has each frontline partner provided us with sufficient information to know how Compassiviste Foundation funds and/or equipment will be used, protected, and funnelled safely to the intended recipient(s)?
7. Have we as an organisation conducted our own prior due diligence to ensure that any frontline partners with which we choose to work are legitimate charitable organisations?
8. In terms of purchasing equipment directly, where such donations might be requested, have we thoroughly explored the market and established that the price we have been quoted cannot be beaten – and that the brand/manufacturer of such equipment is legitimate?
9. Are there any legal or financial reasons why we should not help – for example, because of international sanctions or because sending money (for instance) may place Compassiviste Foundation in breach of domestic or international legislation?
10. In the case of providing education to displaced school leavers (as per Point 2 in our charitable purpose) has the necessary due diligence been conducted to prove that applicants are indeed aged 18 or over, are eligible for the course in question, and hold refugee status or were otherwise legitimately displaced through climate change?
Compassiviste Foundation support will only be considered in situations where this 10-point checklist has been satisfactorily completed in the affirmative.
The principles which underpin the trustees’ governance of the Trust’s grant-making take into account the scale and range of its grants and strike a balance between proper oversight of decision-making and responsive customer service for both applicants and donors.
1.2. Scrutiny and research
The board of trustees has ultimate collective responsibility for all grant-making decisions in line with the Trust’s charitable purposes and any restrictions agreed with donors and funding partners.
Trustees may assign certain research-based responsibilities to its sub-committees, staff or volunteers. Such delegated tasks must be overseen by at least one trustee.
1.3 Decision-making
Trustees reserve the right not to approve any recommendation or nomination if they determine that the resulting grant would not be charitable, or would conflict with the Trust’s stated policies or damage its reputation.
All trustees must agree on any grant-making decision and their respective decision is final.
2. Who is eligible for a Compassiviste Foundation grant?
In accordance with its Charitable Objectives, the Trust aims to support refugees and those who have been displaced through climate change. Whilst grants are, in principle, available to any registered charity or charitable organisation that provides direct relief to those individuals, Compassiviste Foundation will prioritise those organisations which:
3. Measurable objectives
To ensure the Trust’s resources are used solely to further its charitable objectives, and in order that the Trust can report on the impact of its grants, trustees will normally expect that all grants are made with the following conditions:
4. Grant sizes and frequency
The minimum grant size is £250. There is no upper grant limit. Compassiviste Foundation can, with the unanimous consent of its Board of Trustees, make single ad hoc grants or ongoing grants, subject to:
5. Grant transfer process
The process of transferring grants from Compassiviste Foundation to a recipient is as follows:
2. Staff Recruitment and Screening
2.1 Recruitment of Expatriate and Local Personnel, and Short-Term Volunteers
As a condition of working with Compassiviste Foundation, all officers, staff, interns, volunteers, researchers, consultants and advisers of Compassiviste Foundation are required to:
2.2 Monitoring and Action in Case of Concern
Project Managers and Team Leaders will be responsible for monitoring activities relating to children and reporting and assessing reported concerns or allegations to the relevant manager or to the Child Protection Officer, if one exists
3. Staff Training and Development3.1 All personnel will be required to serve a three-month probationary period during which performance will be closely monitored.
3.2 All personnel will receive regular supervision through observation and discussion of their work.
3.3 Safeguarding training will be provided to all personnel to ensure they have the skills to recognise, report, and respond to abuse.
4. Child and Adult Safeguarding Code of Conduct
4.1 Compassiviste Foundation expects all personnel, visitors, partner organisations and all other affiliates to treat all children associated with Compassiviste Foundation with respect and dignity.
4.2 General Conduct
4.2.1 The ‘two-adult’ rule (i.e. no adult should be alone with one or more children at any time) should always be followed whether in the child’s home, on office premises, project premises or elsewhere. If there is an adult family member present in the same room during the service being provided, the twoadult rule will be determined to have been met.
4.2.2 Sexual exploitation and abuse by project workers constitute acts of gross misconduct and are therefore grounds for immediate termination of employment or volunteer service. Compassiviste Foundation staff and all associates must not fondle, hold, kiss, hug or touch a child in an inappropriate and culturally insensitive way. A child should not be ridiculed, belittled, prejudiced nor rejected.
4.2.3 Sexual activity with children is prohibited regardless of the age of the child and age of consent locally. A mistaken belief about a child’s age is not a defence. Adults are solely responsible for their behaviour and cannot blame a child who may be acting in provocative or seductive ways. Adults should avoid vulnerable or compromising situations.
4.2.4 Exchange of money, employment, goods, or services for sex, including sexual favours or other forms of humiliating, degrading or exploitative behaviour are prohibited.
4.2.5 Sexual and romantic relationships between personnel and beneficiaries are prohibited. They are prohibited because these relationships are based on inherently unequal power dynamics. Such relationships would undermine the integrity of our work.
4.3 Personnel Guidelines on Touch
4.4 Home Visits
4.4.1 Two-person rule. When visiting children at home, it is strongly encouraged to do so in pairs. When home visits are conducted, there should be a parent, grandparent or other family guardian present. If an adult family member is present, the two-person rule can be considered to have been met.
4.4.2 The project office should be kept informed of the visit. A report mechanism must be created and employed by the Country Office for recording such visits. These records must be maintained and available for inspection.
4.5 CounsellingCompassiviste Foundation does not provide formal counselling. However, there are times in which informal mentoring takes place. Children in their teens, as an example, may have questions regarding dating and male/female relationships. The leader should always be of the same gender as the group being addressed.
4.6 Discipline
4.6.1 Compassiviste Foundation staff are not permitted to physically discipline children or adults who participate in our programs. Doing so is grounds for termination. Staff will not engage in any of the following actions:
4.6.2 The preferred methods of discipline are instructions, encouragement and administering natural or logical consequences, which will more effectively promote self-discipline and independence:
4.6.3 If discipline measures are failing to correct repeated misbehaviour in a child, that child should be evaluated for referral to professional counselling, if available.
4.6.4 Staff and volunteers should avoid demonstrating favouritism toward any child. This can inadvertently set up dynamics of rivalry, competitiveness, jealousy and conflict.
4.7 Day Trips and Outings
4.8 Privacy
Compassiviste Foundation respects children’s personal data and all staff and volunteers must safeguard any personal data collected with regards to children with due skill and care, and in any case, comply with our Privacy Policy.
4.9 Consistency
Compassiviste Foundation has a Constitution and Code of Conduct in place. Staff and volunteers must observe, understand and comply with expectations laid down by both the Constitution and Code of Conduct and the Child and Adult Safeguarding Policy Code of Conduct.
5. Responding to Allegations & Incident Management
5.1.1 Compassiviste Foundation recognises that abuse can take place within the organisation or outside its premises. All staff members, volunteers and other associates are encouraged to discuss issues of abuse openly.
5.1.2 A child protection issue may come to the attention of personnel in several ways:
5.1.3 Team Leaders are responsible for all child protection issues. All allegations of abuse or other complaints brought to the attention of Compassiviste Foundation must be reported to Team Leaders. Any allegation that surfaces at the Country Office level must include the International Director of Compassiviste Foundation at the outset.
5.1.4 Team Leaders must be kept informed of the allegations. Any personnel member who keeps silent of knowledge of alleged abuse may also be subjected to disciplinary action. The reporting person will not be penalised even if the allegation is finally proven untrue, except if there is clear evidence of premeditated defamation of character or malicious intent.
5.1.5 Information related to the allegation and investigations will be kept confidential, and only restricted to those who need to know.
5.1.6 Throughout this process of allegation and investigation, the victim and the accused will be treated with respect, fairness and without prejudice.
5.1.7 During the course of investigation, where necessary, Compassiviste Foundation will provide counselling for the victim. Consistent with the code of confidentiality, the appointed counsellor will not be obliged to provide information for the purpose of investigation unless the withholding of information has a high chance of endangering life.
5.1.8 Relevant local authorities, organisations and child rights agencies will be alerted. Where appropriate and safe, parents or guardians of the victim will also be notified.
5.1.9 When a child discloses abuse, it will not be dismissed under any circumstance. Compassiviste Foundation will appoint a staff member who has been appropriately trained or supervised to talk to the victim.
5.2 Responding to Disclosure
5.2.1 Some children may tell a worker what has been happening to them. In such situations, it is important that the worker listens carefully to what the child is saying. The worker should never promise to keep the information confidential. It is also important that the worker does not start interrogating the child. If a child wishes to speak freely, allow him/her to continue. Ask questions for clarification only. Do not ask leading questions. It is important to remember that it is not the worker’s job to investigate. Their responsibility is only to establish whether or not there is a child protection concern.
5.2.2 Staff should prevent repeated interviewing of children who make disclosure. Such practices in themselves can be abusive and will often leave the child feeling unheard and not believed.
5.2.3 If a child makes an allegation about a specific adult, be they care-giver, worker, or volunteer, the receiving staff member must not under any circumstance question the alleged perpetrator in question.
5.3 When an allegation of abuse is made against Compassiviste Foundation personnel, the following guidelines are essential:
5.3.1 The accused person will be temporarily suspended from all duties until the investigation is concluded. The person will be reinstated only if they are cleared of the allegations and there is no doubt that the person is able to adhere to Compassiviste Foundation’s Child Protection Policy. Investigation will proceed in close consultation with Compassiviste Foundation’s International Directors, the management and any other appropriate external counsel.
5.3.2 If the accused person is a Team Leader, any personnel may inform Compassiviste Foundation’s Directors directly. In this case, Compassiviste Foundation Directors will appoint an appropriate person to handle the investigation.
5.4 When an incident of suspected abuse is identified in the community or through Compassiviste Foundation programs, the personnel needs to report it to their Team Leaders or supervisors to discuss actions to be taken for follow up.
5.5 When abuse happens between children:
5.5.1 All staff and volunteers should take responsibility for preventing the abuse of younger or weaker children by older/stronger ones. Abuse can take place through bullying, humiliation, cruelty, initiation rituals, and others. Staff must never encourage these kinds of behaviours and must at all times model appropriate behaviours and interactions with each other and with the children in their care.
5.5.2 There may be occasions when a child discloses abuse by another child, or a staff member/volunteer suspects it might be happening. All concerns should be reported to Team Leaders/supervisors.
6. Record Keeping and Documentation
6.1 Clear accurate recording is crucial; recording should be done within 24 hours of disclosure. The staff member should write down what the child said, or what they observed as accurately as possible. The record must include the context of the disclosure or the circumstances of the observation. The record should include names, dates, times, and physical and behavioural observations. The record should also reflect if there were any witnesses, or if anyone else heard what the child said.
6.2 In principle, all records are confidential. However, where there are child protection concerns, relevant counselling records will be released to facilitate any investigation, but only with informed consent from the counsellee(s) and their parents/guardians. In instances where the withholding of certain information could result in a high chance of endangerment to life, informed consent will then be unnecessary.
7. Hosting Visitors
7.1 All visitors will be supervised by a Compassiviste Foundation staff member.
7.2 All expatriates and short-term visits will receive a cultural orientation briefing, which explains cultural and behavioural norms.
7.3 If alleged abuse or misconduct by a visitor is reported, the incidence management plan in section 5 above will apply.
8. Advocacy
8.1 Compassiviste Foundation is committed to promoting children’s rights to safety and will work with various individuals, groups and organisations who are concerned about child protection.
8.2 Compassiviste Foundation is also committed to providing child abuse prevention awarenessbuilding activities in different sectors of the local and international community.
8.3 Compassiviste Foundation will aim to remain current on child protection issues and practices in order to maintain best practices in child protection policy. Where possible, Compassiviste Foundation will support or organise training in this area to raise standards of child protection practices.
9. Communications
9.1 In all of Compassiviste Foundation’s communication material, visual aids will only use pictures of children in decent and respectful ways. Photographs or languages that are sexually suggestive are prohibited.
9.2 Special care will be taken to protect the identities of children pictured in communication material, in order to prevent possible harm, abuse or other endangerments.
9.3 The Country Director (or their designate) is the official spokesperson when communicating with the media and/or the local authority. The Country Director must officially appoint any other spokesperson. In relating to the media, the message that child abuse is wrong under all circumstances, and that keeping silent is wrong must be clearly communicated.
9.4 It may sometimes be necessary to communicate information about a child to assist the process of police investigation and prosecution. Information will be disclosed on a need-to-know basis and only after thorough consultation with the Team Leaders.
9.5 Children’s personal and private information that could be used to identify the location of a child should not be used on Compassiviste Foundation’s website or in any other form of communication.
10. Fraternisation between Compassiviste Foundation staff
11. Implementation and Maintenance of the Policy
12. Other