Tda 2.2 Safeguarding the Welfare of Children and Young People

Lorraine Bale TDA 2. 2 Safeguarding the welfare of children and young people 1. 1 United Nations convention protection of children’s act- when was the 1st legislation impacted. It was drawn up in 1989, but the United Kingdom decided on 16th December 1991 formally agreed to make sure that every child has the same rights listed in the convention. Signed 20th November 1989 Location New York Effective 2nd September 1990 Condition 20 ratifications Signatories 140 Parties 194 Depositary UN secretary general Languages Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish The convention generally defines a child as any human being under the age of 18, unless an earlier age of majority is recognised by a countries law. How legislation effect’s our work without children It effects our work as to making sure that all children are treated equally as it’s an obligation to prohibited and eliminate corporals punishment & all other cruel or degrading forms of punishment. Doctors Teachers Social workers Educational staff Speech therapists The children’s act of 2004- Added to and strengthened was raised to clarify the rolls of councils and other agencies in safeguarding & promoting the welfare of children in their area. Section II in the act places a duty on partners such as the primary care trust (PCT) and the police to make legal arrangements to ensure that functions with regards to need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. It also required all children’s services authorities to establish a local safeguarding children board with legislation guidance published in 006. -Every service plays its part. – The children act 2004 was introduced following high profile enquires into safeguarding children & young people. – The acts aim where to achieve positive outcomes for the children & young people & their families. 1. Improving & integrating children’s service 2. Promoting early intervention 3. Providing strong leadership 4. Bringing together different professionals in multidis ciplinary All agencies working together^ Original children act 1989- Children’s act sets out what local authorities & courts do to protect children In charge- responsibility Local authorities with the duty to investigate if they have reasonable cause to suspect that a child who lives or is found in their area is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm. Local authorities were also charged with a duty to provide services e. g. schools children in need. Aims 1. To bring together private & public law in one frame work 2. To achieve a better balance between protecting children & enabling parents to challenge state intervention e. . local authorities 3. To encourage greater partnership between statutory authorities & parents 4. To promote the use of voluntary arrangements 5. To restructure the frame work of the courts to facilitate management of family proceedings Lord laming= the laming enquiry is a r eport of under pendent statutory enquiry following the death of Victoria Climbie 1. 2 Work settings- No matter what setting a child is place d in that whole workforce will have some kind of role to play. The workforce will be responsible in making sure that the child is in a safe & happy environment they will need to make sure that the health & safety regulations are in order in making sure the child is a healthy & happy child that the child is not being bullied, put in danger or abused in any way by anybody and if the child is being abused by a parent for them to tell a member of staff they can trust and if its a member of staff to go to the next higher person in charge and then if you feel like nothing is getting done you should contact social services. They are also in charge of making sure that if a child is sick that the child should be removed from where any other child could come in contact and then to contact the child’s parents/carers. G. P- A GP’s role is to see children when they are ill or if they have maybe minor injuries. They will usually check the child and do a diagnosis so if the child has any bruises or cuts or if the child attends the GP quite regularly for similar symptoms they then may think there is something more behind the reason and would then maybe involve another person e. g. social services. Local hospital services- E. g. Accident & emergency units may have children that are brought in for maybe vomiting or injuries on the body the A&E staff may feel these injuries are from something more serious and would then call in social services to look into these problems and then take things further if necessary. 2. 1 Some signs and symptoms of common childhood illnesses are: -Temperature -Runny nose -Sneezing -Vomiting -Diarrhoea -Fever -Aches & pains -Itchy rash -Cough -White spots in mouth -Swollen glands -Cough with whooping sound -Loss of energy . 2 If there are children or young people that are ill or injured you would 1. Check the Childs injury or try to diagnose the illness through symptoms in case they are contagious or life threatening. 2. You would then separate the child from all other children/young people. 3. Then you would inform a senior member of staff who would then take the decision weather to call for medical assistance and parents while the above is going on about the child would need reassuring and comforting. Also make sure the children that were around the accident are reassured. Then if you have the authority you would fill out an accident or medical report. 2. 3 Some of the circumstances when children and young people may require urgent medical attention: -Unconsciousness -Injury to the head -Vomiting -Unable to breath -Broken bones -Allergic reaction -Continuing high temperature -Continuing diarrhoea 2. 4 Fires- First make sure that all children evacuate the building safely always try to close doors & windows but do not leave any children unattended, when safely away from the building then do a role check to double check all children are safe & present. You would then dial 999 and ask for a fire brigade when they respond state in a clear voice that your work setting is on fire giving them the precise address, do not hang up the phone until they have repeated the address to you then stay in a safe place with the children reassuring comfort in them. Security incidents- The first thing you would do would be to check the identity of the person trying to gain access. Refuse access of anyone you are unsure of. If they have a legitimate reason for entering make sure they sign in on the visitor’s record and sign out when they leave. Never leave them alone with any child/young person at any time, unless they have the authority to be left alone. If there is any suspicious behaviour or the person refuses to leave the premises then the police must be called in case it poses any danger to children or staff. Missing children or young people- 1. You would identify the child that is missing 2. You would then find out where the child was last seen 3. You would then conduct a search within the work setting and if unable to locate the child you would then inform a senior of staff and raise the alarm 4. The next step would be to inform the police and parents 5. You would also maybe start an organised search around the local area and parks. 3. 1 Identify the characteristics of different types of child abuse- -Undernourished -Lack of cleanliness -Bruises & cuts/self harm -Clothes that are dirty, have holes and are too small to wear -Uneducated -Constant hunger -Withdrawn -Delayed development -Poor social relationships -Low self esteem -Try to be perfect at everything & then over react when someone criticises them -Lack of medical attention Sexual knowledge that is inappropriate for a child of a young age 3. 2 Describe the risks and possible consequences of children/young people using internet, mobile phones and other technologies- When children/ young people are using the internet unsupervised they could log on to something that is for adults only which means they could be exposed to something they shouldn’t be. They could also be bullied on the internet e. g. social networks o r by texts calls on mobile phones which could eventually cause them to get depressed and harm themselves or even commit suicide. The internet could also out them in danger as they could think they are talking to someone their age but may be a man or women who they may arrange to meet with which could have serious consequences. There are also games which has violent scenes in which could end up hurting someone else thinking its ok as its just a game and could end up getting them into serious trouble. The consequences to these are they could end up: 1. Putting themselves in danger 2. Commiting suicide 3. Seriously hurting someone else . Getting put away/taken away from family 5. Being kidnapped 6. Being sexually abused 3. 3 The actions you would take in response to evidence or concerns that a child/young person has been abused, harmed (self harm) or bullied or maybe at risk of these things. If a child come to you in secrecy to tell you something, you should first never ever promise to keep it a secret or that you wont tell anyone, as this could upset the child who would end up never trusting you or anyone again. As a carer you have to understand the principles of the confidentiality boundaries and know when it is necessary to share them, having to tell someone you would go straight to your line manager who then would take the responsibility or making sure that the child protection policy will then be put in place to protect the child. If you see nothing is done you would then go to your line manager and tell them again and make sure you make notes including days & times in case nothing is done again. If nothing has still not been done about it then go to someone who you could trust, maybe someone who may have higher authority than you. It wouldn’t be good practise to go to social services yourself as you might not know the full story. 3. 4 The actions you would take in response to concerns that a colleague may be failing to comply with safeguarding procedures harming, abusing or bullying a child or young person- If you suspect a member of staff is involved you would talk to another senior member of a staff who works in your setting but if you feel you cant trust them then go to another member of staff you can trust but make sure the information you give is accurate and acted upon e. . if a child is overweight and has a cleanliness issue, and a member of staff won’t interact with them and calls them sarcastic names you would then tell the member of staff who you trust who would then take the appropriate action to having this dealt with by contacting the right safeguarding agency for that issue. 3. 5 The principles and boundaries of confidentiality and when to share them- Confidentiality is very importa nt in safeguarding the children and in doing this you have to follow rules & regulations within the workplace. It is important to understand that if a child or adult tell you something you should only tell the necessary people/person that needs to know. You should never discuss any information about the children outside your setting or to another member of staff unless a need to know basis. Any of the information on the children should always be locked away and only be shown to the appropriate people who need to see e. g. parents, OFSTED, make sure the cupboards are always locked for no one else to see. If anyone who is unauthorised see’s the information, this could cause some serious consequences.