Making Safeguarding Personal

Making Safeguarding Personal (MSP) is a change in culture and practice based on the understanding of factors that determine the effectiveness of safeguarding intervention from the perspective of the adult.

Effective safeguarding intervention is:

• • Person-led
  • Engages the person from the start, throughout and at the end of the intervention
  • Outcome focused
  • Based upon a community approach from all partners

The ‘I’ statements in terms of the adult are set out as part of the six key principles of all adult safeguarding work, covered in section 40.

Making Safeguarding Personal is about engaging the adult in a series of conversations about how best to respond to their safeguarding situation in a way that enhances involvement, choice and control as well as positively impacting on quality of life, wellbeing, and safety. Where it is safe to do so and will not increase risk to the adult or to others, time should be taken explaining the nature of the concern to the adult and seeking their views, wishes, feelings and desired outcomes, including about what ‘safe’ looks like to them.

ADASS suggests that examples of the kind of outcomes adult might seek are:

• • to be and to feel safer
  • to maintain a key relationship
  • to get new friends
  • to have help to recover
  • to have access to justice or an apology, or to know that disciplinary action or other action has been taken
  • to know that this won’t happen to anyone else
  • to maintain control over the situation
  • to be involved in making decisions
  • to have exercised choice
  • to be able to protect self in the future
  • to know where to get help

This is not an exhaustive list, and desired outcomes will be unique to the adult.