SCD's policies set out the standards, principles, and procedures that guide every aspect of our work. They are the foundation of our accountability to the young people we serve, our staff, our partners, and the communities we work within.
This is SCD's most important policy. Safeguarding the children and young people in our care is the absolute priority of every member of staff, every volunteer, and every person who engages with our organisation. No other consideration — professional, organisational, reputational, or relational — can override a safeguarding obligation.
Society for Community Development is unconditionally committed to the safeguarding and welfare of every child and young person in our care or with whom we come into contact. We believe that every child has the right to be safe from abuse, neglect, exploitation, and harm — and we accept full organisational responsibility for ensuring that our settings, staff, volunteers, and programmes actively uphold that right.
SCD will always act in the best interests of the child. Where there is a conflict between the interests of a child and the interests of an adult — including a parent, carer, member of staff, or SCD as an organisation — the child's best interests will prevail.
This policy applies to all SCD staff, volunteers, board members, contractors, and partner organisations who come into contact with children and young people through SCD's work. It covers all SCD settings, activities, and online interactions.
For the purposes of this policy, a child or young person is any individual under the age of 18. Safeguarding refers to the full range of measures taken to protect children from harm and to promote their welfare. Child protection refers specifically to the response to situations where a child is suffering or at risk of suffering significant harm.
SCD staff and volunteers are trained to recognise the four principal categories of abuse: physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. Additional forms of harm — including exploitation, trafficking, radicalisation, and female genital mutilation — are also addressed in SCD's annual training programme.
SCD operates a rigorous safe recruitment process for all staff and volunteers who work with young people. This includes enhanced background checks, reference verification, identity confirmation, and a structured induction covering safeguarding responsibilities. No member of staff or volunteer may work unsupervised with young people before all required checks have been completed and reviewed.
SCD's Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is responsible for receiving and acting on all safeguarding concerns, maintaining the safeguarding record, providing safeguarding training, and liaising with statutory agencies. Contact details for the DSL are available from SCD's central office at info@scdng.org or +234 706 838 3770.
SCD recognises that the young people and families we work with share sensitive and personal information with us in a context of trust. We take our responsibility to protect that trust with the utmost seriousness. Our confidentiality policy sets out how we manage information about young people, families, staff, and volunteers.
Information shared with SCD in the context of our work is confidential and will only be disclosed to those within SCD who have a professional need to know it, or to external parties where there is a legal basis or a safeguarding justification for doing so.
Important: Confidentiality is not absolute. SCD staff and volunteers must inform young people and families at the outset of any professional relationship that there are circumstances in which information shared with us may need to be passed to others — specifically where we have a concern that a child or young person is at risk of harm, or where we are legally required to disclose information.
SCD will share information about young people with other professionals — including schools, health services, social work agencies, and statutory child protection bodies — where this is necessary to protect the young person's welfare, to provide coordinated support, or where we are legally required to do so. Such sharing will always be proportionate, relevant, and as limited as possible to what is necessary.
SCD is committed to equality of opportunity in every aspect of its work — in the delivery of services to young people and families, in its employment practices, and in its engagement with partners and communities.
SCD will not unlawfully discriminate against any person on the grounds of gender, age, disability, race, ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, or any other characteristic. This commitment applies to all aspects of SCD's work including recruitment, training, promotion, working conditions, and the delivery of services.
Every young person who is referred to or seeks support from SCD is entitled to the same high standard of professional, compassionate, and non-judgmental care regardless of their background, identity, faith, family circumstance, or the nature of the difficulties they are experiencing. SCD will actively adapt its services to ensure accessibility for young people with disabilities or those from particular cultural or linguistic backgrounds.
SCD is an equal opportunities employer. All recruitment and employment decisions are made on the basis of skills, qualifications, and merit. SCD actively encourages applications from candidates who reflect the diversity of the communities we serve, including people with lived experience of disadvantage and those from underrepresented groups.
Any member of staff, volunteer, young person, or family member who believes they have been subjected to discrimination, harassment, or unfair treatment in connection with SCD's work should report this through SCD's Complaints Procedure or directly to a senior manager.
SCD's Professional Code of Conduct sets out the standards of behaviour expected of all staff, volunteers, and any individual acting on behalf of SCD. These standards exist to protect the young people in our care, to maintain SCD's professional reputation, and to create a safe and respectful working environment for all.
| Standard | What This Means in Practice |
|---|---|
| Professional Boundaries | Staff and volunteers must maintain appropriate professional boundaries with all young people at all times. Personal contact details — including personal phone numbers and social media accounts — must never be exchanged with young people or families. |
| Relationships | Any romantic, sexual, or intimate relationship between a member of SCD staff or a volunteer and a young person in SCD's care is absolutely prohibited and constitutes a criminal offence. Any such relationship must be reported immediately. |
| Physical Contact | Physical contact with young people must be appropriate, minimal, and in accordance with SCD's physical intervention policy. Unauthorised or inappropriate physical contact will be treated as a serious disciplinary matter. |
| Lone Working | Staff and volunteers must not be alone with a single young person in a closed or unsupervised space. SCD's lone working protocols must be followed at all times. |
| Language and Respect | All communication with young people, families, colleagues, and partners must be respectful, professional, and free from discriminatory, demeaning, or inappropriate language. |
| Gifts | Staff and volunteers must not accept gifts from young people or families beyond token, nominal items. Significant gifts must be declared to and approved by a manager. |
| Attendance | Staff and volunteers are expected to honour their commitments to young people and must notify their manager promptly if they are unable to attend a session or shift. |
Breaches of SCD's Code of Conduct will be investigated and may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment or volunteering. Where a breach constitutes or may constitute a criminal offence or a safeguarding concern, it will be reported to the relevant statutory authorities.
SCD is committed to providing high-quality services and to responding constructively and openly when things go wrong. We welcome complaints and feedback as an important source of learning. Any person — including young people, families, members of the public, staff, volunteers, or partner agencies — may make a complaint about any aspect of SCD's work.
Complaints may be made by email to info@scdng.org, by phone on +234 706 838 3770, in writing addressed to SCD's central office in FCT Abuja, or by speaking directly to any member of SCD's senior management team. Young people and families may also ask a trusted person to make a complaint on their behalf.
SCD will consider anonymous complaints where the information provided is sufficient to enable an investigation. However, anonymous complainants should be aware that SCD's ability to investigate and respond is limited where it cannot gather further information from the complainant.
SCD is committed to providing and maintaining safe working and living environments for all young people, staff, volunteers, and visitors. SCD accepts its responsibility under Nigerian health and safety legislation to take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of all persons affected by its operations.
The ultimate responsibility for health and safety at SCD rests with the Director and Board. Each manager is responsible for health and safety within their specific area of operation. Every member of staff and volunteer has a personal responsibility to follow SCD's health and safety procedures and to report any hazard, risk, or incident promptly.
SCD's responsibility for health and safety extends specifically to the physical wellbeing of the young people in our care. All SCD settings are maintained to a standard that ensures young people's physical safety and comfort. Medication administration, dietary requirements, and health-related care are managed in accordance with documented protocols and, where relevant, in consultation with healthcare professionals.
SCD collects and processes personal data about young people, families, staff, volunteers, and other individuals in connection with its work. This policy sets out SCD's obligations in relation to that data and the principles that govern how we collect, use, store, and share personal information.
SCD processes personal data in accordance with the following principles:
Individuals whose data SCD holds have the right to request access to their personal data, to request correction of inaccurate data, and to request deletion of data that SCD no longer has a legitimate basis to hold. Requests relating to personal data should be directed to info@scdng.org. SCD will respond to all data rights requests within thirty days.
For further information about how SCD processes personal data, please refer to our Privacy Policy.
SCD recognises that staff and volunteers may, on occasion, have concerns about conduct or practice within the organisation that cannot be appropriately raised through normal supervision or management channels. This policy enables any member of staff or volunteer to raise a serious concern about unlawful conduct, financial impropriety, professional misconduct, or risk to the safety or welfare of young people, without fear of victimisation or reprisal.
Concerns may be raised directly with a senior manager, with SCD's Safeguarding Officer, or — if the concern relates to senior management — directly to a member of SCD's board of directors. Reports may be made confidentially. SCD will investigate all whistleblowing reports promptly, fairly, and with appropriate confidentiality.
Protection from Reprisal: SCD will not tolerate any victimisation, harassment, or detrimental treatment of any person who raises a concern in good faith under this policy. Any such treatment will itself be treated as a serious disciplinary matter.
If you have questions about any of SCD's policies or wish to request a full policy document, please contact our central office team.
Social Media Policy
The use of social media presents both opportunities and risks in a professional context. SCD's social media policy sets out the standards expected of all staff and volunteers in their use of social media, whether in an organisational capacity or in their personal lives where their activities could affect SCD's work or reputation.
Absolute Prohibitions
Personal Social Media Use
Staff and volunteers are entitled to use personal social media in their private lives. However, where personal social media activity could reasonably be connected to SCD or could affect a young person in SCD's care, staff and volunteers are expected to exercise professional judgement and restraint. Any social media activity that could constitute a safeguarding concern must be reported to the DSL immediately.
SCD's Organisational Social Media
SCD's organisational social media accounts are managed by authorised staff only. All organisational social media content is reviewed before publication to ensure it complies with safeguarding requirements, does not identify young people without appropriate consent, and accurately represents SCD's values and work.