Half Term Clubs Safety etc

[LBSM]

Am I being over cautious by asking to physically see things like a DBS for those looking after my kids at clubs during half term?

Do other people ask this? Feels awkward like I'm the only one doing it. Do people just assume they've got one and/or trust them if they say they do?

Or do I need to go further and ask for more stuff, if so what?

Or am I just paranoid

I never did. I assumed they would be in place. I was never cautious about this stuff though and allowed sleepovers etc from an early age which I know lots on MN are against. Maybe we were lucky but nothing dodgy ever happened to the kids.

Thats the employers responsibility. The actual certificate contains personal information.

I would think asking to see their dbs is quite rare and not all that useful.

Asking to see their safeguarding policy/H&S policy is l probably more usual (and useful).

If it's one of the national/multi site providers eg camp Beaumont, Barracudas etc all staff have to have an enhanced DBS check before working there. DD does it as a holiday job whilst she's at uni.
It is her personal information though. It is shared with the HR people at the company, but is not for sharing with randoms!

You legally cannot ask to see someone else's DBS. They are highly confidential and an organisation sharing them would breach GDPR quite seriously. You have to trust that the manager has requested and reviewed them I'm afraid.

You could ask for DBS numbers as evidence they have been sought, but that doesn't tell you much. They're of limited value anyway, plenty of offenders have never been caught.

You can ask to review policies and procedures, in particular the safeguarding and health and safety policies. You can ask about safer recruitment - how do they check potential recruits are suitable. This should include things like application form, interview, reference checks. You can ask if they have made any LADO referrals in the past year.

I think that's going a bit too far. Only those with a current DBS can work with children, I'm not sure what seeing those certificates would add. I only use ofsted registered childcare.

I've never asked or thought to ask as I just trust that these things are in place. I only use registered providers though, do they show you when you ask as I can't imagine me whipping out my dbs if asked by a parent.

Do you do background checks when your children go for playdates etc? A big part of being a parent is using your instincts and trust to help you form decisions on what you allow. Seeing a DBS means nothing, worse case it just shows they've not been caught yet.
You'd be better ensuring your children are comfortable and free to discuss things with you and that they trust you to be able to disclose things to you.

It's going too far. You have to trust the organisation that's running the camp to check these. Just like you trust your children's school to check the teachers. Or do you ask to see their certificates too? Just like you trust your GP. Or do you ask to see certificates for their qualifications? Just like you'd trust the pilot of a plane. Or do you ask to see a license before you get on?

I never did. I had no choice in sending him, I had to work as a single parent so I had to trust that my DS would be safe there. Worrying wouldn't have helped.

All a DBS proves is that as of the date of it someone hasn’t been caught anyway!

ask to see things like safeguarding policy if you have concerns.

No you can't legally ask to see their DBS, it contains their personal information such as their address. You should instead ask to see their safeguarding policy.

Do you ask to see your child's teacher and TA's DBS checks too?

Any organisation running these activities should have a safeguarding policy which you should be able to request if they don't/won't provide it then don't send your child!

If you trust them with your child you have to trust them.

I get that the OP can’t legally see the certificates but it’s not unreasonable to have reservations about the safeguarding at these clubs. Having her questions answered is part of that trust.

It's a legal requirement to have them caring for children so you don't need to worry, they don't need to show them to you though as they contain personal information

I occasionally work for those of those holiday camps, and let me assure you, they are STRICT on all staff having enhanced DBSs.

And if they have 5s and under on camp, ofsted have to be involved, and will rip the organisation a new one if DBSs aren't in place. EVEN for the staff not directly working with the little ones.

You can't request to see them, as they are private documents, and the organisation would be in massive breech of GDPR.

If you're worried about this, definitely chose one of the national companies (SuperCamps, Barracudas, Kings Camps etc), who will have all the paperwork lined up and T's crossed. Rather than one of the little "village hall, run by a few keen parents) type thing.

I only meant DBS as an example, overall I just mean how do I check the kids are with someone safe?

The thing with the other examples from @NuffSaidSam and @User478 is every one of those are regulated, where a regulator checks they're legit.

Kids clubs have no regulator and contrary to @mitogoshi's comment, it is NOT law for kids clubs to have a DBS in place for example, nor is anyone checking these companies other than me as the parent! Hence why I ask to see what they have.

Sounds like asking to see the policy and what safety measures they put in place, checks etc is the way to go though, that's useful to know, thank you.

I work in a school and if you asked to see my DBS I would refuse. Apart from anything else it has my full name, date of birth and address on it which is non of your business.

this is a very good point and sounds like the best approach, thank you

Holiday clubs have to be registered with Ofsted. However I wouldn't guarantee seeing a report from Ofsted as I couldn't find any for my local area unless it runs as an after school/breakfast club in school term time.

Ofsted in theory is a good place to start from to find a good company 👌.

But I've checked this and they don't have to be registered with ofsted, again hence the concern as no one is checking these companies - https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/children-young-people-families/childcare-and-early-learning/childcare-school-aged-children#:~:text=There%20are%20a%20range%20of,have%20to%20be%20Ofsted%2Dregistered.

Lambeth even say "You should still check references of anyone you employ, including a criminal records check!"

It scares me everyone seems to assume they're regulated the same as schools when they're quite simply not.

If it's a reputable enough provider, yes, I would assume they have everything in place. If I didn't think they were reputable and didn't trust them, then no I wouldn't put my dc there, DBS or not.

I do work in the NHS (not employed by the NHS) and I have to have a DBS. I'd be annoyed if a patient specifically asked to see it. Mostly because it's a weird personal question and also because frankly I have no idea where it is. It also doesn't mean much, like someone else said.

It just means that 4 years ago when I got given my clearance, I had a clear DBS. No one has ever had me update it since! So it says nothing about the horrible things I may have done in the meantime. I suppose for some people, a conviction or other thing that flagged up would be automatically reported to their employer if the police, etc. knew the kind of work they did, which I assume would come up in a reportable offense, etc.

Not singling you out, but "nothing happened" doesn't mean that. It means that you know of. None of the people who were sexually abused as children I know told their parents as children. Sometimes it came out as eating disorders or drug use, risky sexual behaviour. Sometimes they disclosed as adults. In a few cases I assume the parents never found out.

It's common, it's worth being cautious, and taking sensible precautions is a good idea.

I think too often people put too much faith in the DBS system and it can lead to some people believing that someone can’t pose a risk. Robust safeguarding procedures are much more important (although still never a guarantee and of course DBS is a good starting point)

I know of someone convicted of crimes against children and they had DBS clearance for three different organisations that I know of. When alarm bells were raised in at least one of them initially concerns were dismissed because “they have a clean DBS” and “they have been here for years”

Some will be registered, some will not. I'm in Scotland so different rules here bit there's a mix of registered out of school providers who are properly registered with inspections, strict ratios, safer recruitment etc vs activity/sports clubs who just spring up with no registration at all. And most parents don't know the difference

I've never come across a club that you'd drop and leave your children at that some parents have cobbled together and haven't had any registration or dbs checks.
I used to run a stay and play in the village hall with 2 other mums but dbs checks weren't necessary as parents stayed and supervised their own children- is this the type of thing op means?