Organisational self-assessment

When harm to children happens, it’s not enough for leaders to say they weren’t aware of potential risks; leaders must be able to demonstrate that they took meaningful steps to detect, prevent and mitigate risks in their organisation. 

A Child Wise Organisational Self-Assessment is a rigorous, flexible and cost-effective way for leaders to develop a holistic, current and child-centred understanding of safeguarding across their organisation.

A key message of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is that leaders must understand risk in their organisation and reduce the likelihood of harm to children. 

What is a self-assessment?

Self-assessments are a platform from which organisations engage with and actively include staff and volunteers in child safeguarding, and accelerate ownership, performance management and practice improvement. They are also an important way to empower children, young people and families to share their views and contribute to change.

A Self-Assessment facilitates self-directed critical examination of child safety capacity across the organisation, and delivers a comprehensive analysis of gaps, strengths and opportunities. It helps leaders develop a deeper understanding of child safety in their organisation and generates important data that identifies levels of workforce child safety maturity. 

How can Child Wise support your organisation?

Whilst led by organisational leaders, Child Wise will be on hand throughout the Self-Assessment process to guide, support and help to interpret findings. Once a Self-Assessment has been completed, Child Wise can work with your organisation to develop a tailored, outcome-focused improvement plan which can help you track progress, monitor resource allocation and identify potential risks. 

Child Wise offers a Self-Assessment tool structured around the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations suitable for a broad range of organisations whose work impacts children. Child Wise also offers a more tailored digital safeguarding Self-Assessment tool focused on keeping children safe online.