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Protection of Vulnerable Adults (POVA) scheme in England and Wales for adult placement schemes, domiciliary care agencies and care homes: a practical guide

Guidance on, and background to, the POVA scheme, with FAQs.

Individuals should be referred to, and included on, the POVA list if they have abused, neglected or otherwise harmed vulnerable adults in their care or placed vulnerable adults in their care at risk of harm. By making statutory checks against the list, providers of care must not offer such individuals employment in care positions.    This version of the guidance supersedes the previous guidance published in 2006, as it takes account of two amendments:
 
- an important note has been added to the front page of the guidance to draw attention to the POVA transitional arrangements from 20 January 2009, which will be in place until the new vetting and barring scheme is introduced.
- an amendment has been made to the section on suspensions - paragraph 53a has been deleted.

• Download POVA guide 2009 (PDF, 277K)