Communication
CPSA · Communication · De-escalation
Receiving a safeguarding disclosure
Listen, believe, do not investigate. Your job is to hear it, keep them safe, record it verbatim and refer — and to be honest that you cannot promise secrecy.
The framework
Create the conditions
- See the person ALONE. Never with the accompanying adult or partner present.
- Unhurried, private, and say you have time.
Listen
- Open questions only. Let them tell it. Do not interrogate, do not fill gaps, do not ask leading questions — it can compromise a later investigation.
Be honest about confidentiality
- Do not promise secrecy. Explain, early and plainly, that if someone is at risk you will have to share with people whose job is to keep them safe.
Act
- Immediate safety first. Record verbatim, in their words, with a body map for injuries.
- Refer to the safeguarding lead the same day. In children, the named doctor or nurse.
- Ask about others at risk — children in the household, dependants.
Phrases that work
- “Before you go on, I want to be honest with you about something. I cannot promise to keep it between us…”
- “Thank you for telling me. That took courage.”
- “Can you tell me a bit more about that?” — rather than “did he hit you?”
- “Is anyone else at home who might be affected by this?”
Pitfalls that lose marks
- Promising confidentiality you cannot keep — it destroys trust when you break it.
- Asking leading or closed questions, which can taint evidence.
- Interviewing rather than listening. You are not the investigator.
- Paraphrasing instead of recording their exact words.
- Forgetting other people in the household.
- Seeing them with the suspected perpetrator present.