Unit 10 Dealing With Child Abuse - p3 and p4 and p5

by east-enders1 (student)

Unit 10

Caring for children and young people

P3- Explain the factors that would lead to suspicion of maltreatment or abuse.

P4- Explain appropriate responses when child maltreatment or abuse is suspected.

P5- Explain the strategies and methods that can be used to support children, young people and their families where abuse is suspected or confirmed.

M3- Assess strategies and methods used to minimise the harm to children, young people and their families where abuse is confirmed.

D2- Justify responses where child maltreatment or abuse is suspected or confirmed referring to current legislations and policies

In this assignment I am a support assistant in a reception class and I will be explaining factors that would lead to maltreatment or abuse and appropriate responses when maltreatment or abuse is suspected which I will then explain strategies and methods in which will help or stop further harm or abuse to a child and young person and their families.

There are different types of abuse children or young people may go through as they are vulnerable and easy to target. These are the types of abuse that can likely occur; physical, emotional, sexual, intellectual, neglect and bullying. As a support worker if a child is going through physical abuse, they will show signs of bruises, cuts, marks, etc. and this may also cause change in the child’s behaviour. This will lead to workers suspecting abuse as the child’s appearance and behaviour will change causing them to be violent towards others or depending on the child, they may isolate themselves which can be an effect of verbal and mental abuse, as well as neglect and bullying as all these types of abuse will cause the children to have low confidence.

Once abuse has been suspected there are different factors that will need to be carried out to ensure the safety of the child and young people. This will include informing the manger and writing a report on the observation carried out as well as contacting higher authority such as social service or the police.

As a support worker there are policies and procedures you will need to follow to ensure the safety of a child when reporting abuse or maltreatment. If abuse or maltreatment has been suspected, as a professional you will need to remain professionals and calm at all times and you will need to inform the manager on your observation to give them awareness of the child’s situation. Depending on how severe the situation is the manager will then need to contact higher authority to ensure the situation is handled in the correct way following organisation policies and procedures. Social services ...

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Remaining professional is an effective approach to use when dealing with emotional situations such as abuse and maltreatment as it framework put in place to ensure professionals act and work in a rightful manner. Support workers will need to make sure they do not show shock or disgust and remaining calm is important, to ensure child does not feel scared or feel they are to blame which support workers will need to reinsure the child of. Using works such as ‘why’ will need to be avoided as it’s another way for children to feel they are to blames and it’s also important to ensure the child you believe them as it will also help them built trust, when discussing information with the child it’s important to you take notes of everything they have said, empathising them without making promises. When discussing the child’s information with professional it needs to be discussed in private to prevent others overhearing and to show respect. All support workers must abide by the Children Act 1998 to ensure children a

When abuse or maltreatment is involved there many different strategies used in order to help and support children, young people and their families. There are different organisations that provide care and depending on an individual’s situation, there are different support groups and centres. Therefore all organisations provide programmes that will help build self-esteem and self-confidence.

Schools are one of many settings that have a range of strategies used to support children in abuse or been through abuse by empowering and encouraging children as they can provide children with personal mentors who they can have regular one-on-one sessions, where they can express personal issues and build trust with professionals.

Voluntary organisation such as NSPCC have different programmes with strategies that will help children or young people overcome abuse, also providing help and support for their families such as sessions on how to build and regain better relationship and methods suitable each individual or family issue. This organisation use strategies that avoid stereotyping to allow the child to have a chance to express their issues rather than being prejudged.

It is vital for all organisations to stress the importance of a child’s rights. Professional need to explain to the child what behaviour is acceptable and what behaviour is not acceptable within a family.

There are strategies and programmes used to help and promote the wellbeing of children and young people but some strategies are more effective than others. NSPCC is an effective programme used to help children, young people and their families as they provide different programmes to fit individuals specific situations, however this organisation is not as effective for children as young children may not know how to or be able to contact this authority for support or help. This is a downfall for children as it will be difficult to approach, but it will be a good approach for support workers and parents.

Building of self-esteem and self-confidence is an effective strategy used to help children and young people who have been abused as it helps them build strength and belief in themselves. This is a strategy used within many different authorities such as education, voluntary organisations and other organisations. If a child builds self-esteem and self-confidence in the wrong way, it can cause the child to become big headed and over confident meaning they may become deviant and strong minded, causing them to believe they are right and have the answer to all situations which can also be an negative outcome to empowerment and encourage.

Trust building is a strategies support workers and other professionals are made to abide by as it's important for children and young people to feel comfortable and confident with workers as if they are in need or in difficult situations they can express themselves to professionals. This strategy is effective more times than others however this may not work effectively if support workers are not trained on suitable ways of building trust. For example if a support worker promises children things in order for the child to trust them, it will have a negative impact on children as them not receiving what they have been promised, can change the way the child feels and approach professionals, affecting their trust.

No stereotyping and prejudging is important strategies professionals need to work by as if give every child, young person and their family equal rights and opportunity. If people did stereotype or prejudge others it will lead to restricted opportunity and misinterpretation as the situation has been judged before being accessed.

It's important for strategies used to be carried out efficiently to ensure the outcome is effective and beneficial to children young people and their families.

As a child support worker there are many legislation, policies and procedure you will need to abide by when dealing with children or young people going through abuse or maltreatment such as The Children Act (1998/2004). This act helps support workers and other professionals understand and promote good practice and the importance of putting children and young people at the heart of their work, meeting the child’s physical needs and taking their rights into account. This also relates to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as he states it’s important to meet an individual’s basic physical needs according to B Stretch M Whitehouse BTEC health & social level 3 (2010).

Support workers must abide by the confidentiality policy when handling children’s personal details. This will help towards gaining the child’s trust however when confidentiality has to be broken you will need to explain to the child, that the information given cannot be kept a secret. It’s important to reassure the child that the people you have informed will try to help them, ensuring you do not give them fails hope.

The Local Authority and Social Services Act 1970 ensures children's safety and well-being, support workers must promote this within their work as when child abuse or maltreatment is suspected, they will need to contact higher authority to ensure the child's situation is dealt with in the right manor,. This Act provides appropriate guidelines for different authorities for support workers to contact depending on a child's individual situation.

The Children Act 1989 is another legislation that support worker should work by as is has been put in place to promote the rights and well-being of children within their family home, education and other social institutions. This professional and parents a guideline on how a child must be treated and also giving them an understanding of the importance of the way children should be looked after. Support workers abiding by this act will help children, young people and their families stay safe.

BIBILOGRAPHY

-Stretch B, Whitehouse M (2010) Health and social care level three book 1 BTEC national. Oxford Pearson.

-Stretch B, Whitehouse M (2010) Health and social care level three book 2 BTEC national. Oxford Pearson.