Safe Recruitment

“Safe recruitment” is the term used to cover all of the activity relating to the appointment of staff or volunteers who work with children, young people or vulnerable adults.

It is essential that those responsible for safer recruitment (such as church leaders, DSLs, or the safeguarding trustee), understand both the requirements and the potential pitfalls involved in recruiting safely and safeguarding effectively. Although it’s not a legal requirement, we would recommend that at least one person involved in safer recruitment, has been trained in safe recruitment practice. This does not need to be church-specific training; someone who has undergone the training in their own professional life will suffice.

Safer recruitment also includes the DBS checking of staff who are employed or who volunteer in your church or organisation. However, the DBS check is only one element of a safe recruitment system. It is important that churches understand that it is no longer regarded as sufficient just to run a DBS check prior to an appointment. For churches who don’t have anyone who is trained, CSS can provide this training.

Staff and volunteers who have access to vulnerable people must be checked for suitability for their roles, safer recruitment is about ensuring just that.

This system should include the following:

A recruitment policy covering both the appointment and the retention of staff and volunteers
Written job role descriptions and person specifications
An application process
An interview process
References
Background checking: your DBS Checks
A Single Central Record that covers all staff and volunteers
Induction
Ongoing supervision
Record of training and awareness raising activity

It is important to understand that the background checking of staff and volunteers is required for all eligible roles. But also, it’s illegal to run a DBS check on someone whose role is not eligible.

This area is one of the more complex, but equally, more important aspects of safeguarding.

We run regular sessions on Safe Recruitment, please go to our event pages for dates.