Our Work

OUR APPROACH TO SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN AND ADULTS

Plan IGLH exists to help children and young people, and we therefore take their safeguarding very seriously.

A sad reality is that many children worldwide are at risk from abuse and exploitation, and can inadvertently be put at greater risk through inadequate or inconsistent policy and practice. Adults as well as children are at risk of abuse and exploitation and this includes adults working for Plan International.

We have well established systems and policies, including training for all our employees, to ensure that we do everything we can to safeguard the children and young people we work with, and that we provide a safe working environment for everyone.

INTERNAL RESPONSIBILITIES

A designated Board Member is assigned the responsibility of ensuring safeguarding is effective and is considered in all Board decisions.

There is an internal Child Safeguarding Focal Point key contact.

All Board members, and relevant employees, and volunteers, and where appropriate partners/suppliers, must obtain Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) clearance. Clearance is a condition of continued employment or association.

Plan International staff, along with long-term volunteers, undergo formal safeguarding training covering their responsibilities and how to respond and report any concerns regarding safeguarding of children or adults.

Children’s participation in our advocacy, communication and marketing work will prioritise their best interests and their protection from unintended harm above all else.

EXTERNAL RESPONSIBILITIES

To ensure we do not put children at risk through contact with people who do not work for Plan International , we retain the right to turn down requests to support Plan International at our discretion. We consult with the police if we have any serious doubts about a specific individual/organization.

We require supporters visiting communities or those whom we put into direct contact with children to obtain a background check from the DBS via Plan International.

We screen all communications from sponsors to sponsored children for any inappropriate written or visual material. Where the sponsor writes in a child’s local language not spoken at Plan International , local colleagues are asked to carefully check the content.

We check that letters forwarded to children do not contain sponsors’ contact details. This could enable direct, unregulated and possibly inappropriate contact between sponsors and sponsored children. Where relevant we return correspondence to sponsors explaining our concerns and actions.

Any concerns are referred to the Child Safeguarding Focal Point who liaises with any appropriate external bodies.

Christmas party this month

God’s Loving Hands also hosts special events and activities throughout the year and held its annual Christmas party this month.

Hall-Porter said about 300 people attended the party, which featured a visit from then Representative Donna
F. Edwards (D-Md.) of Fort Washington.
Foxxy E. Johnson, president of the Frederick-based Unchained Ryderz MC, said it is important for nonprofit groups

Upper Marlboro resident Ronald Finch is the uncle and legal guardian of Shantel Hunter, 22, who has cerebral palsy; she has been a client of In God’s Longing Hands for more than three years. Finch, who was referred to the organization by several friends who were clients, said the help provided is crucial. “hey connected us to services to meet the family’s needs,” he said. “Through that, we were able to sign Shantel up for MetroAccess and different public programs. There were so many services available that we didn’t know about.”

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, about 8 percent of county residents have a disability.

Regina Blackmon, 45, of Largo, who also attended the Christmas party, was one of Hall-Porter’s first clients in 2005. Hall-Porter hired Blackmon, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, to do administrative work for the organization.

Blackmon said that Hall-Porter is her friend and someone she looks up to. They have known each other for about 15 years.

Being part of In God’s Loving Hands “makes me learn about other people,” Blackmon said. “It makes me think about other people. It makes me love other people.”

Hall-Porter said that her entire family was born with hearing impairments. She said they struggled to get educational and health-care resources at the time.

“In the ’50s and ’60s, we didn’t have the technology out there that we have today,” Hall-Porter said, referring to hearing aids, cochlear implants and tools that doctors use to diagnose hearing impairments.