Child Protection Policy

1
Child Protection Policy
Respond
Recognise
Responsibility
Record and Report
Prevention
2
Ground Rules

• Be aware that this material may result in some
  emotional reactions.
• Consider the well-being of yourself and others
  during discussions.
• Make a commitment to participate and contribute.
• Respect the opinions of others.
• Maintain confidentiality.
• Sign registration sheet.

3
Outcomes of the Child Protection Session

• Know Your Responsibilities re Child Protection
  
• Respond to Harm and Maltreatment
• Help Prevent Harm and Maltreatment.

4
Ice Breaker

• Throw a numbered ball across the room
• Open the Number Youve Retrieved.
• Join and Share all you know about Child
  Protection Policy with your group.

5
Child Protection Policy
Respond
Recognise
Responsibility
Record and Report
Prevention
6
Goals Section 1

• Revised key policy terms and definitions.
• Determine roles and responsibilities
• And define what is qualified privilege

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Revised Policy Themes

• Terminology of maltreatment vs abuse.
• Although WA has no legislated mandatory
  reporting, There is policy mandated reporting for
  DET employees.
• The importance of prevention and health
  promotion, as well as responding effectively.
• Importance of staff being mindful of their own
  conduct and the conduct of others towards
  children in their care.
• Greater emphasis on the context and
  responsibility of the whole community in the care
  and protection of children.

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Legal Definitions

• The criminal code defines a child as
• Any boy or girl under the age of 18 years.
• In the absence of positive evidence as to age,
  any boy or girl apparently under the age of 18
  years.
• Age of consent is considered to be 16 years of
  age.
• Age of consent of 16 years is not a reasonable
  excuse when the person is in authority to a
  child.
• It is considered misconduct for an DET employee
  to have a sexual relationship with a student.

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Definitions Child Maltreatment and Neglect
Maltreatment refers to when a child or young
person has been subjected to physical, sexual,
emotional or psychological maltreatment and/ or
neglect, the severity and/or persistence of which
has resulted in, or is likely to result in
significant harm. (Statutory Child Protection,
Department of Community Development, 2004 p3)
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Key Sections from Policya) Child Protection
Concern

• A concern may arise from an action or inaction
  which is inconsistent with the care and
  protection needs of a child.
• This may include neglect, physical, emotional or
  sexual maltreatment of a child and it may be the
  result of a single incident or repeated incidents.

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b) Shared Responsibilities

• Everyone working in a school is responsible for
  the care and protection of children and reporting
  information about child maltreatment concerns,
  such as neglect and physical, sexual or emotional
  maltreatment.

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Shared Responsibilities Involves

• Have knowledge and understanding of maltreatment.
• Understand their responsibilities Child
  Protection Policy.
• Provide all necessary documentation to show their
  fitness to work with children.

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What is Qualified Privilege

• Where a staff member makes a bona- fide statement
  to the Principal or other authorities in relation
  to a situation that they suspect exists, and
  which they consider may be harmful to a child, a
  valid defence exists under common law.

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Quiz

• Who is responsible for the childs safety?
• Terminology What is the word used instead of
  abuse?
• Age of consent isexcept when?
• WA has legislated mandatory reporting? True/False
• Inaction refers to
• What is an indicator?
• Name 4 forms of maltreatment.
• What is Qualified Privilege?

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2 Recognising Maltreatment

• Goals Section 2
• Be aware of responsibility sharing.
• Be aware of your role and others.

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Group Activity 1

• Discuss and Determine Who Has Responsibility for
  Each Situation.
• Handout 1

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WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY IS IT?

• In 3 minutes determine whose responsibility is
  to
• Report disclosures and strong concerns of
  possible maltreatment to the Principal.
• Has a legal mandate in the protection of children.

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WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY IS IT?

• Inform Police of strong concerns and disclosures
  of maltreatment where it involves a person who is
  not the parent/ caregiver of the child.
• Conduct a medical examination of a child who
  discloses maltreatment.

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WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY IS IT?

• Protectively interrupt when a student begins
  making a disclosure in an inappropriate setting.
• Record any disclosures of maltreatment or strong
  concerns of maltreatment.

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Recognising Maltreatment

• Be aware of the different forms of maltreatment.
• Be aware of the indicators of maltreatment.

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For you to be concerned about a young person in
the age group that you teach, what would you have
to see as an indicator? (Group Activity 2a-
Handout 2 and 3)
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Definitions Emotional Maltreatment
A constant attitude or behaviour by a person
towards a child that causes emotional harm

• It can include rejection or refusal to accept a
  child, terrorising, bullying, isolation,
  continued belittlement and exposure to chronic or
  serious domestic violence
• Emotional maltreatment may be evidenced through
  disturbed behaviour or the impairment of the
  childs emotional, intellectual or social
  development.

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Indicators of Emotional Maltreatment

• Physical Indicators
• depression
• eating disorders
• lethargy or fatigue
• symptoms of stress
• evidence of drug abuse or dependence
• wetting, soiling and
• psychosomatic complaints

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Indicators of Emotional Maltreatment

• Behavioural Indicators
• Aggressive or delinquent behaviour
• Attempted suicide and self harm
• Excessively compliant or passive behaviour
• Excessive shyness or withdrawal
• Low self-esteem
• Fire setting
• Truancy or school avoidance
• Deliberate harming of animals
• Poor peer relationships

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DefinitionsPhysical Maltreatment
Persistent and/or severe physical harm caused to
a child.

• It includes injuries such as cuts, bruises, burns
  and fractures caused by a range of acts including
  beating, shaking, illicit administration of
  alcohol and other drugs, attempted suffocation or
  excessive discipline.
• Female genital mutilation is included in this
  definition.

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Indicators of Physical Maltreatment

• Physical Indicators
• bruises
• burns
• hair missing in tufts
• missing or loosened teeth
• self-mutilation
• welts and
• lacerations abrasions (especially to the eyes,
  lips, gums mouth).

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Indicators of Physical Maltreatment

• Behavioural Indicators
• fear of adults
• frequent absences, with or without explanations
  from parents/caregivers
• guarded or evasive answers to questions about the
  causes of obvious injury
• injuries that are not consistent with a childs
  explanation of them
• disclosure of maltreatment directly or indirectly
  through a friend and
• fear of going home.

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DefinitionsSexual Maltreatment
A wide range of behaviours or activities that
expose or subject a child to sexual activity that
is illegal and/or inappropriate to his/her
developmental level.

• These behaviours include
• observation or involvement with inappropriate
  fondling of a child,
• making a child touch an adults genitalia,
• showing pornographic material to a child, and
• sexual penetration of a child.

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Indicators of Sexual Maltreatment

• Behavioural Indicators
• disclosure of involvement in sexual activity
  directly to an adult, indirectly to a friend or
  in a disguised way
• e.g. I know a person who
• Inappropriate
• expressions of affection
• interest in sexual matters
• clothing
• use of sexual language for childs age
• evidence of sexual themes in artwork, stories or
  play
• possession of pornographic materials

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Indicators of Sexual Maltreatment

• Behavioural Indicators
• promiscuity, exposure or sexual behaviour towards
  others
• reluctance to change clothes in front of others
• fear states, eg. anxiety, depression,
  obsessively neat, socially withdrawn, or overly
  compliant behaviour
• poor peer relationships and
• inability to concentrate in school.

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DefinitionsNeglect
Failure of a parent/caregiver to provide a child
with the basic necessities of life such that
his/her development is, or is likely to be
significantly damaged or injury to occur.

• This includes the provision of
• adequate supervision
• healthy food,
• suitable clothing
• medical care
• emotional security.

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Indicators of Neglect

• Physical Indicators
• Abandonment
• Poor hygiene
• Lack of adequate or suitable clothing
• Inadequate nutrition
• Lack of medical or dental care
• Constant fatigue
• Developmental delays
• Untreated sore, boils or lice and
• Lack of adequate supervision

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Issues to remember Indicators of Maltreatment

• Refer to handout and/or policy for a copy of the
  indicators.
• Indicators are just that indicators, not
  definitive.
• The context of the indicator is important age,
  culture, medical history, developmental level,
  etc
• Generally any single indicator is not definitive
  as maltreatment, view within clusters.

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Group Activity 2b

• Given a scenario, determine
• Is this maltreatment or concern?
• Type (e.g. physical, emotional, etc)?
• Discuss and debrief

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BREAK

• 10 minutes

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3 Responding to Maltreatment

• Goal Participants will
• Be aware of appropriate responses to students who
  have been maltreated
• Be aware of helpful ways to respond to students
  seeking help or making a disclosure including
  protective interrupting

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Factors influencing a student disclosure
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Activity 3A

• In pairs discuss what did you do on the weekend.
• Discuss your favorite hobby.
• Discuss.
• Debrief

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Activity 3BEmotional responses

• Brainstorm in your group
• What possible emotional responses would a young
  person who is being maltreated have
• When they havent disclosed?
• After they make the decision to tell someone?
• After they have disclosed or interventions have
  begun regarding the maltreatment?
• Use handout to record group responses

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Responses to a disclosure Supportive responses
School staff must support students who have
disclosed or about whom there is a concern.

• Stay calm
• Establish clear limits on confidentiality. Make
  no promises not to tell.
• Listen, be supportive, understanding,
  non-judgmental and empathetic
• Acknowledge the difficulty of disclosing.
  Reassure it was right to tell and that you
  believe they are not to blame
• Believe
• Dont interrogate
• Lay no blame
• Make a written record
• Use protective interrupting if necessary
• Take action

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Protective Interrupting

• It is essential that staff are able to stop a
  child from disclosing maltreatment information in
  a public setting.
• The aim of protective interrupting is not to
  prevent a disclosure but to facilitate it
  happening is a safer and private setting.
• Protective interrupting is a strategy used to
  stop someone from disclosing sensitive
  information in a context that could increase
  victimisation.

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Activity 4Protective Interrupting

• Your class is discussing safety issues for
  children in the community when Jeremy blurts out
  What if someone you know does those things to
  someone in your family? The other students in
  the classroom are looking at Jeremy closely
• In pairs, come up with two scripts you could use
  to protectively interrupt Jeremy from disclosing
  more information in this environment.

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Responses to a disclosure What are things not
to do?

• ?
• ?
• ?

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Responses to a disclosure Things not to do

• Staff must be mindful that they DO NOT
• Push for details or conduct an investigation.
  Other agencies have this responsibility
• Express judgment
• Get angry, upset or show shock
• Blame students
• Put words in the students mouth or interrogate
• Promise not to tell when there are clear limits
  on confidentiality
• Give a lecture about right and wrong
• Say forget it, youll get over it or other
  such minimising statements
• Give excessive pity
• Engage in general staff room discussion about the
  disclosure H

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Section 4 Recording and ReportingMaltreatment

• Goals
• Participants will understand the recording and
  reporting requirements for student disclosures or
  for strong concerns about possible maltreatment.

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Recording

• Staff must document information about all
  maltreatment concerns
• Record the source of the information.
• Record accurately and objectively.
• Record facts rather than personal opinion.
• Record information concisely and so it can be
  clearly understood use simple language.
• Sign and date all documents.

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Recording

• Record Verbatim wherever possible.
• Ginger Bread drawing recording physical
  indicators.
• Confidentiality.
• Observations and opinions that are not related to
  the case should not be recorded (eg. rumour).
• Principal is responsible for maintaining and
  transferring this information.

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Activity 5Recording and Reporting

• Groups to examine a scenario
• In your group respond to the questions
• What are your main concerns?
• Is this a child protection issue?
• Discuss and write on the School Reporting
  Proforma the details you would record.

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ReportingSequence of Responses

• Handout 7 School Response Sequence to a student
  disclosure
• Handout 8 Sequence of Response Informing Others

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School Response Sequence Student Disclosure
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School Response Sequence Suspected Maltreatment
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ReportingReporting to Parents

• Principals will report all strong concerns and
  disclosures of maltreatment and neglect to
  parents/caregivers only on the advice of Police
  or officers of DCD.

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Video

• 1445 - minutes
• 2150 - minutes

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Section 5 Prevention of Maltreatment

• Goals
• Participants will be aware of what it is
  understood by resiliency and
• the preventative programs that are available to
  support secondary schools.

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Resiliency

• The capacity for recovery following stressful
  life experiences, and even becoming stronger as a
  result of overcoming them.
• The ability of an individual to successfully
  recover from, or adapt to, adversity and to
  develop social/emotional competence despite
  exposure to lifes problems.

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Levels of Intervention
Curriculum, teaching and learning
School
organisation

• Universal
• Selective
• Indicated
• Individual Case Work

Partnerships services
Adapted from Pathways to Health and Wellbeing in
Schools 12 , and Dwyer and Osher6.
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Prevention Programs
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Closure

• Issues questions use hand out.
• Teachers health and well-being.
• Evaluation sheet.

Thank you for your participation