Child Safeguarding Flashcards
What is the legislation and guidance around safeguarding?
Safeguarding is everyone’s business
Put the child first and at the centre of all decisions
Communicate, particularly if concerned
Cooperate - work together with other professionals and support safeguarding investigations
Think family
Recognise the importance of language, faith and culture
Remember that children can be in need of services as well as needing protecting
What is abuse and neglect?
Abuse an neglect are forms of maltreatment of a child. Somebody may abuse or neglect a child by inflicting harm or by failing to act to prevent harm.
Children may be abused in a family or in an institutional or community setting; bu those known to them to them or, more rarely, by others (via internet). They may be abused by anybody (adults or children).
When do you refer immediately to social care?
Child at immediate risk of significant harm, inc. sexual, emotional harm and neglect.
Children with unexplained injurines, suspicious injuries where there is an inconsistent explanation of the injury.
Children under 2 with unexplained bruising.
Child victims of trafficking.
Children where there is evidence of repeated domestic abuse violence witnessed or experienced by a child; adult with mental health issues and substance use issues.
Children who are experiencing or at risk of sexual abuse.
What are the categories of abuse?
Physical
Sexual
Emotional
Neglect
What is physical abuse?
May involve hitting, shaking,throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm to a child.
Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or career fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately indices an illness on a child (fabricated or induced illness)
What is sexual abuse?
Involves forcing or enticing a chid or young person to take part in sexual activities, not necesssarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the child is aware of what’s happening.
The activities may involve physical contact and/or non-contact activities.
Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males. Women can slow commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children.
Define child sexual exploitation
Child sexual exploitation is a form of child sexual abuse.
It occurs where an indicudual or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, manipulate or deceive a child or young person under the age of 18 into sexual activity in exchange for something the victim wants or for financial advantage or increased status of the perpetrator.
The victim may have been sexually exploited even if the sexual activity appears consensual.
What is neglect?
The persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development.
Neglect may occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal substance abuse.
What things could a parent or career do that is neglect?
lack of adequate food, clothing, shelter, supervision
Failure to protect child from physical and emotional harm or danger
Inadequate medical care
unresponsive to childs emotional
What is medical neglect?
Involves the careers minimising or ignoring children’s illness or health (inc. oral health) needs and failing to seek medical attention or administrating medication and treatments. Also applies to expectant mothers.
What is emotional abuse?
Persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the children’s emotional development.
It may involve conveying that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate or valued only in so far as they meet the needs of another person.
It may include not giving the child opportunities to express their views, deliberately silencing them or ‘making fun’ of what they say or how they communicate.
It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children.
It may involve seeing or hearing ill-treatment of another.
Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child, through it may occur alone.
What are ACEs?
Adverse childhood experiences - make you more likely to get cancer, diabetes and heart disease as adults.
Make your kids more likely to suffer the same problems.
What are some key themes form serious case reviews?
Confirmatory bias and for practitioners to reflect on their own biases and ensure these families do not cloud their work with children and families.
Chronologies, including medical and medication reviews, to support referrals to children’s social care and provide clarity to all involved of the extent, pattern and severity of concern.
Primary school age self harming - could be passed off as self harm and be abuse
Recognising males who may pose a risk
Balancing the needs of parents and children.
How do you handle a disclosure?
Listen rather than ask questions
Do not stop a young person who is freely recalling significant events
Remain calm and do not give the young person the impressing that what they have said is shocking or upsetting.
Don’t promise to not tell anyone else or that everything will be okay.
Make a report of the discussion as soon as possible, taking care to record the timing, the setting, the people present, as well as the content of what was said.
Record all subsequent events up to the time of the decision as to wether to start a formal child protection investigation.
Reassure the child or young person the it was the right thing to do
How do you define abuse (adults)?
Physical, sexual, financial, emotional or psychological violation or neglect of a person unable to protect themselves, or to prevent from happening or to remove themselves from abuse, or potential abuse form others.
