Service policy The Polish Migration Forum Foundation

Service policy The Polish Migration Forum Foundation 

 

Contents: 

1. Glossary 

2. Preliminary provisions 

3. Principles of providing legal advice and conducting psychological diagnoses 

4. Submission of a complaint by the Beneficiary of the Foundation 

5. Refusal to provide assistance or support to the Foundation’s Beneficiary 

6. Confidentiality 

7. Support procedures 

 

Part 1 – Glossary 

Whenever this document refers to: 

1) Standards – this should be understood as the Principles of providing services, including legal and psychological counselling, provided by the Polish Migration Forum Foundation. 

2) Foundation – it should be understood as the Polish Migration Forum Foundation with its registered office in Izabelin (05-080) at 44A Orła Białego St., entered into the Register of Associations in the National Court Register kept by the District Court for the Capital City of Warsaw in Warsaw, XIV Commercial Division of the National Court Register under the KRS number: 0000272075, nip: 1181879509, 

REGON: 14085197900000.

3) Staff of the Foundation – all persons working or cooperating with the Foundation, including volunteers, trainees and apprentices, psychologists, therapists and other persons working and cooperating with the Foundation, in particular regardless of the type of legal relationship between them and the Foundation, its remuneration or unpaid fee. 

4) Child – it should be understood as any natural person under the age of 18. 

5) Beneficiary – it should be understood as any natural person who receives assistance from the Foundation, including the Child. 

6) Harm – it should be understood as non-pecuniary damage affecting the psychological sphere of the victim, including physical violence, i.e. all deliberate, intentional actions against a person causing pain or injury to the body, including, among others, beating, jerking, pushing, throwing objects, etc., and psychological, including humiliating and humiliating treatment, in particular offensive naming, excessive criticism, belittling, persistent embarrassment, isolation and isolation. 

7) Threat to the child’s welfare – it should be understood as actions and omissions taken by parents, legal guardians or other persons under whose care the child remains, also includes the negligence towards the child, such as in particular: neglect of hygiene, health, child nutrition, failure to adjust the child’s clothing to weather conditions, lack of proper supervision over the child’s fulfilment of school obligations, negative attitude of the child against the other parent or their family. 

8) Mobbing – it should be understood as actions or behaviours concerning a person who is part of the Foundation’s Staff or directed against him, consisting in persistent and long-term harassment or intimidation of a person who is part of the Foundation’s Staff, causing Them to under-estimate Their professional suitability causing or aimed at humiliating or ridicule a member of the Foundation’s Staff and aiming at isolating Them or eliminating from the team persons belonging to the Foundation’s Staff. 

9) Sexual harassment – it should be understood as any unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature or related to the gender of a member of the Foundation’s Staff or the Foundation’s Beneficiary, the purpose or effect of which is to violate dignity or humiliation. These behaviours may consist of physical, verbal or non-verbal elements. 

10) Human trafficking – it should be understood as the recruitment, transport, delivery, transfer, storage or reception of a person using: 

  • 1) violence or unlawful threat,
  • 2) abduction,
  • 3) deception,
  • 4) misleading or exploiting an error or inability to properly understand the action taken,
  • 5) abuse of the dependency ratio, use of a critical position or state of helplessness,
  • 6) to grant or accept a financial or personal advantage or a promise thereof to a person who takes care of or supervises another person for the purpose of his or her use, even with his or her consent, in particular in prostitution, pornography or other forms of sexual exploitation, in forced labour or services, in begging, in slavery or other forms of exploitation degrading human dignity or for the purpose of obtaining cells, tissues or organs contrary to the provisions of the Criminal Code. If the offender’s conduct involves a person under the age of 18, it constitutes trafficking in human beings, even if the methods or means listed in points 1 to 6 have not been used.

11) Anti-Mobbing Procedure – this should be understood as a document – Procedure for Preventing Discrimination, Mobbing and Sexual Harassment at the Polish Migration Forum Foundation based in Izabelin. 

12) Child Rights Protection Policy – this should be understood as a document – Child Rights Protection Policy of the Polish Migration Forum Foundation based in Izabelin. 

13) Policy for the Protection of Beneficiaries and Staff of the Foundation – this should be understood as a document – Policy for the Protection of Beneficiaries and Staff of the Foundation Polish Migration Forum with its registered office in Izabelin. 

14) Support procedures – this should be understood as the following documents: Anti-Mobbing Procedure, Child Rights Protection Policy and the Policy for the Protection of Beneficiaries and Staff of the Foundation. 

 

Part 2 – Preliminary provisions 

 

1. The standards in force at the Foundation indicated in this document apply to all Foundation Personnel and the Foundation’s Beneficiaries. 

2. Each of the persons referred to in paragraph 1 above is obliged to read the content of the Standards and to comply with the provisions contained therein. 

3. The staff of the Foundation is obliged to show respect for all persons equally, irrespective of race, sex, religion, colour, national or ethnic origin, language, marital status, sexual orientation, age, socio-economic status, disability, political beliefs or any other distinguishing features. 

4. Persons included in the Foundation’s Personnel are obliged to comply with the principles of social coexistence and to comply with the provisions contained in the Policy for the Protection of Beneficiaries and Staff of the Foundation, the Policy for the Protection of Children’s Rights and the Anti-Mobbing Procedure. 

5. It is forbidden for the Foundation’s Personnel to use any form of violence, including physical and mental violence, against the Foundation’s Beneficiaries including Children. Any person who has information about the crime committed by the Foundation’s Personnel is obliged to immediately notify the Police or the Public Prosecutor’s Office competent for the above. If possible, before notifying the Police or the Prosecutor, the following should be informed about the situation: 

– in the case of violence against children: Child Violence Prevention Officer, immediate superior, board member 

– in the case of violence against adults: the Violence Prevention Specialist, the immediate superior, a member of the management board; 

However, if it is necessary to immediately notify the Police or the Prosecutor, the above-mentioned persons should be notified subsequently. 

6. In the event of a threat to the safety of the Child by a member of the Foundation’s Staff, suspicion of harm to the Child by a parent or legal guardian, part 6 of the Child’s Rights Protection Policy applies. 

7. The Foundation prohibits discrimination, Mobbing and Sexual Harassment between members of the Foundation’s Personnel, as well as between members of the Foundation’s Personnel and the Foundation’s Beneficiaries. If any form of discrimination, Mobbing or Sexual Harassment occurs or is suspected, Section 9 of the Anti-Mobility Procedure shall apply. 

8. In the event of suspicion that the Beneficiary of the Foundation is a victim of Sexual Harassment or Trafficking, Part 6 of the Anti-Mobbing Procedure shall apply. 

9. The Beneficiary of the Foundation has the opportunity to get acquainted with the principles of providing consultations or support by the Foundation in a language They understand, in written form or in an oral translation.

10. A Beneficiary who does not come to the appointment twice without cancelling it at least 1 day in advance may be moved to the end of the queue. 

11. The Foundation may refuse to provide services to a Beneficiary who does not comply with the principles of social coexistence. 

12. Most of the Foundation’s services (consultations, psychological support) are free of charge for the Foundation’s Beneficiaries. If the service provided by the Foundation is for a fee, the information about the fee is public and clearly communicated. Then, before giving advice, make sure that the Beneficiary of the Foundation knows the price of the service and is ready to pay it. 

13. Persons included in the Foundation’s Staff may not advertise commercial services as part of advising the Foundation’s Beneficiaries. 

14. The Foundation’s staff may not provide services to Beneficiaries for a fee, which are available in the Foundation’s free offer. 

15. The Foundation defines the conditions under which the services are provided, including the grounds for refusal of support. 

16. The rules for providing support are public and widely available on the Foundation’s website and at the Foundation’s office. The person giving the advice should also present it to the person seeking advice each time. 

17. A person advising and other forms of support as part of the Foundation’s activities: They undertake activities only within the scope of Their competences, regularly acquires and supplements Their professional knowledge, has intercultural competences – They are aware of various cultural norms and are able to use knowledge about them by working with the Foundation’s Beneficiaries. The work of specialists providing advice and other forms of support as part of the Foundation’s activities is subject to regular supervision (including peer supervision).

 

Part 3 – Principles of providing legal advice, information and conducting psychological diagnoses 

 

1. The Foundation’s staff makes every effort to ensure that the information provided to the Foundation’s Beneficiaries is reliable, specific, as comprehensive as possible and adapted to the perceptual and linguistic capabilities of the person seeking advice. 

2. Legal advice is provided on the basis of the facts of the case presented by the person seeking advice and the relevant provisions of law. Support is provided by competent persons, properly trained and prepared to conduct a given type of cases. 

3. Psychological diagnosis is carried out using various diagnostic methods such as: interview, observation, performance and questionnaire tests, as well as reliable, accurate and culturally neutral psychometric tools intended for different age groups. 

 

Part 4 – Submission of a complaint by a Beneficiary of the Foundation 

 

1. The Beneficiary of the Foundation is entitled to submit a complaint to the management board of the Foundation in the event of any form of violence against them by the Foundation’s Personnel, including mental or physical violence and non-compliance by the Foundation’s Personnel with the rules set out in the Standards of Service Provision by the Polish Migration Forum Foundation. Complaints may be sent in writing to a member of the management board, to zarzad.fundacji@forummigracyjne.org or by post to Szpitalna 5/14, 00-031 Warsaw. 

2. The Beneficiary of the Foundation has the opportunity to lodge a complaint against a person who is part of the Foundation’s Staff in the event that They are dissatisfied with the advice received. Complaints and feedback can be sent to feedback@forummigracyjne.org and via the online platform www.talktoloop.org. 

3. In the event that the Beneficiary of the Foundation becomes aware of a crime committed by the Foundation’s Personnel, They are obliged to immediately notify the Police or the Public Prosecutor’s Office competent for the above. If possible, before notifying the Police or the Prosecutor, the President of the Foundation should be informed about the situation. However, in the event of the need to immediately notify the Police or the Prosecutor, the President of the Foundation should be notified subsequently. 

4. In the event of harming Children by the Foundation’s Staff, Part 6 section 2 The Policy on the Protection of the Rights of the Child. 

5. If the Foundation Personnel applies to the Beneficiary of the Foundation discrimination or sexual harassment, Part 9 of the Anti-Mobbing Procedure shall apply. 

6. A Beneficiary benefiting from the support or consultations of the Foundation may, in justified cases, request a change of a person included in the Foundation Personnel who provided advice or support – in this case, if possible, another person included in the Foundation Personnel is provided or the Beneficiary is redirected to another foundation or organization. The above application may be sent by the Beneficiary to the Records Team, to the address zapisy@forummigracyjne.org or by post to the address Szpitalna 5/14, 00-031 Warsaw. 

 

Part 5 – Refusal to provide assistance or support to the Foundation’s Beneficiary. 

 

The staff of the Foundation may refuse to provide consultations or support if:

1. The Beneficiary of the Foundation refers to the Foundation’s Personnel in a manner contrary to the principles of social coexistence, insults, threatens or attempts to induce them to act unethically or contrary to the laws in force in the Republic of Poland. 

2. There is a reasonable suspicion that the Beneficiary of the Foundation is under the influence of alcohol or other intoxicants and changes the perception. 

3. Advice requested by the Foundation’s Beneficiary is to contribute to the Foundation’s Beneficiary’s activities contrary to applicable law. 

4. The Beneficiary requests assistance in a matter the subject of which falls outside the scope of the Foundation’s activities. 

 

Part 6 – Confidentiality 

 

1. Information about the course of the conversation and the situation of the Foundation’s Beneficiaries or other persons close to them is confidential. The above-mentioned information may be provided to other persons or organizations only with the consent of the Beneficiary of the Foundation. 

2. The data of the Foundation’s Beneficiaries are stored in a way that ensures their confidentiality and appropriate protection. 

3. Information provided by the Foundation’s Beneficiaries during psychological support is confidential and subject to professional secrecy. The exception to this rule are two situations. The first, when a person providing support who is part of the Foundation’s Personnel receives information about the Beneficiary or a known person’s intention to commit a crime (e.g. domestic violence) – then the person is obliged to provide such information to the Police. The second – in the case of inference from the psychological diagnosis about the possibility of suicide by the Beneficiary of the Foundation. Then the Police and medical services are to be notified. 

 

Part 7 – Support procedures 

 

The Foundation operates on the basis of Standards and Support Procedures. The Foundation has the following Support Procedures: 

1. Anti-Mobbing Procedure – includes the principles of preventing discrimination, Mobbing and Sexual Harassment in the Foundation and methods of responding to the Foundation’s Staff members in the event that the Foundation’s Beneficiary may be a victim of Sexual Harassment or Trafficking. 

2. Child Rights Protection Policy – includes the competences of the Foundation’s Personnel in terms of compliance with the rights of the Child, procedures for reporting suspicions of harming Children, Threats to the welfare of the Child and committing a crime for the benefit of the Foundation’s Beneficiaries, including Children. 

3. The Policy for the Protection of Beneficiaries and Employees of the Foundation – includes behaviours that are expected from the Foundation’s Personnel and behaviours that are unacceptable on the part of the Foundation’s Personnel.