How Safeguarding Tech Is Helping to Improve Charities
Safeguarding challenges are some of the most complicated issues charitable institutions dealing with children and vulnerable individuals face. There has been an increasing number of safeguarding concerns over the recent years, from child sexual abuse to harassment and bullying.
Thankfully, there are now technologies that can help make things easier for organisations to handle these issues. Charities can leverage these tools to address safeguarding issues that can also damage the organisation’s reputation.
Here’s how safeguarding tech is helping to improve charities.
1.Increasing Decision Making
Charities can rely on digital technologies to make the best decisions for the organisation. Social workers leverage these tools to speed up decision-making processes and minimise the risk of errors when making decisions. For instance, they carry iPads when doing visits to capture real-time information. Some use apps that can assist them in escalating concerns about a vulnerable individual under their care.
One of the apps that charities use to improve decision-making is the Safeguarding Adults Derbyshire App. The app is for NHS staff and their partner agencies, including charities working with children and other vulnerable individuals. Everyone that provides care and support can use the app, regardless of their role and in any setting. The app has an innovative swipe screen technology to guide users through decision referral pathways, making it easier to recognise risks. It also helps them make the best decisions to address any concerns. The app provides practical advice and information, with links to referral processes, operational policies, and guidance.
Digital technologies also aid organisations in demonstrating compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements. One of these is making it easier to keep records of Safeguarding Training that the staff and volunteers need to go through.
2.Helps with Engagement
Another way technologies are helping to improve charities is by. These technologies help organisations reach out to vulnerable individuals who might be hard to engage with through traditional means. For instance, someone suffering from neglect or abuse might feel more comfortable getting help or information online instead of approaching someone in person and talking face to face.
Charities working with kids and young people will find it easier to communicate with them using digital technology. There are various technologies that charities can use for this purpose. Organisations like Mind of My Own create apps to encourage closer communication among social workers, schools, young people, and vulnerable individuals. They can also establish processes and systems allowing organisations to process and securely store information about staff and individuals under their care in line with the relevant laws on data protection.
Charities can also benefit from apps designed to make it easier for young people under their care to raise concerns or make a complaint. The app is easy for everyone, even young children and those with learning difficulties.
3.Ease of Training
Another way technology makes things easier for charities is through online training, making it easier for staff and volunteers to undergo training. All charities are responsible for ensuring that their staff will not cause harm to anyone under their care. Thus, they must provide the proper safeguarding training for staff and volunteers. Implementing innovative online courses with virtual-college.co.uk will allow charities to train staff with ease.
In today’s fast-moving world, almost everything is readily accessible online, thanks to digital technologies. Charity staff and volunteers no longer need to take time off their daily schedules to attend actual training. They can access the safeguarding training materials online, including training videos that they can replay anytime. The easier for them to train, the better it is for these professionals to understand safeguarding.
Helping staff and volunteers to complete the necessary safeguarding training once they become a part of your organisation is an ideal way to demonstrate that you are serious about protecting the well-being of the kids and vulnerable individuals under your care.
Online safeguarding training allows staff to have ongoing access to the learning resource. You can develop a small library online, allowing them to refer back to it when needed. They can utilise these resources anytime and refer back to them when needed.
4.Enhancing Online Security
Technologies are doing incredible things for organisations across industries, especially charities and those that work with kids and vulnerable individuals. These tools help make charities safer and more secure, especially on the World Wide Web. Data is the lifeblood of various organisations, including charities. Whether it is internal records of people under your care or staff information, you must keep this information safe and protected. Information leaks can happen for various reasons, so you must have an action plan.
Any data leaked to the wrong individuals can cause serious issues. Hackers can even infiltrate into your system using an email address. Therefore, charities have to leverage technologies that allow them to back up data to secure servers. The servers should be separate from the main computers. If the primary systems go down, you will have something to back up the data.
It’s also essential for charities to use technologies that allow them to encrypt data. So even when the data gets leaked, unauthorised users cannot use them. Firewalls and private networks can provide extra protection to keep intruders at bay.
5.Helps with Digital Ethics in Your Workforce
Every organisation has an ethical and legal duty to protect and secure private information. The Data Protection Act and GDPR legislation requires charities to establish procedures that protect personal information.
The law requires charities to have guidelines on shielding sensitive personal data. Leaders of these organisations are legally liable for implementing these procedures. In addition, charities have a public responsibility to uphold trust and implement the Charity Code of Digital Practice.
Charities keep valuable information on staff, volunteers, and supporters. Digital technologies like CRM systems allow charities to monitor personal data, making them less vulnerable to threats. Charities must ensure that digital ethics are part of their core thinking to help avoid data breaches. Integrating charity digital ethics across organisations can help staff stay vigilant.
Charities must also be wary of the dangers of social media and ensure that the kids and individuals under their care will not become victims of online bullying and harassment.
