Hei Hei Health Centre
Child Protection Policy
Date: 03/09/2023
Update: 28/11/2024
Purpose of the Policy
Hei Hei Health Centre has an obligation to keep children safe by:
- Ensuring Hei Hei Health Centre is compliant with current legislation and requirements regarding tamariki / children accessing services at Hei Hei Health Centre (or children indirectly involved with a patient e.g. siblings / young visitors)
- Ensuring staff are aware of their responsibilities / expected response following disclosure by a child, or following recognition and observation of warning signs / symptoms
- Ensure staff are safe to work with tamariki.
Definitions
Child:tamariki/ children aged 0-14 years inclusive
Young person: tamariki/ children between the ages of 14 and 16 years
ChildAbuse:The harming (physical, emotional, sexual), ill treatment, abuse, neglect or serious
deprivation of any tamariki / children or young person. This includes actual, potential, and/or
suspected abuse
Physical abuse:any acts that may result in physical harm of a child or young person
Sexual abuse:any acts that involve forcing or enticing a child to take part in sexual activities,
including child sexual exploitation, whether or not they are aware of what is happening
Emotional abuse:any act or omission that results in adverse or impaired psychological, social,
intellectual, and emotional functioning or development
Whānau / family violence:covers a broad range of controlling and harmful behaviours
commonly of a physical, sexual, and/or psychological nature which typically involve fear,
intimidation and emotional deprivation
Neglect:the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical or psychological needs, leading to
adverse or impaired physical or emotional functioning or development
Oranga Tamariki (Child, Youth and Family):the agency responsible for investigating and responding to suspected
abuse and neglect and for providing care and protection to children found to be in need
NewZealand Police:the agency responsible for responding to situations where a child is in
imminent danger and for working with Oranga Tamariki in child protection work, including investigating cases of abuse or neglect where an offence may have occurred.
Process and procedure:
1. Identifying possible abuse or neglect
Information on identifying possible abuse or neglect is detailed in ‘Working together to keep children and young people safe. An Interagency Guide’ (Child, Youth and Family, 2011, (Working Together)). This document should be read in conjunction with this policy
In brief, staff need to be aware of the indicators of potential abuse and neglect. These indicators as noted in Working Together include:
- Physical signs Behavioural concerns
- Developmental delays The child talking about things that indicate abuse (sometimes called an allegation or disclosure)
- Physical neglect Neglectful supervision
- Medical neglect Abandonment
Every situation is different, and it is important to consider all available information about the child and their environment before reaching conclusions. For example, behavioural concerns may be the result of life events, such as divorce, accidental injury or the arrival of a new sibling, etc.
2. Responding to suspected abuse or neglect
In all cases where a member of staff has a concern about a child / tamariki / young person/ rangatahi being or likely to be abused or neglected (refer to Definitions) by an adult or another child / tamariki or young person / rangatahi, they will report this to Oranga Tamariki and the Police on the same day as the abuse/suspected abuse is discovered.
If the staff member discovering the abuse/suspected abuse is not a General Practitioner(GP) or Nurse Practitioner (NP), they will notify the appropriate GP, NP, or Nurse as soon as is practicable but in any case within that day.
NPs are expected to discuss these cases with their supervising GP in a timely fashion.
Generally the practice nurse will be delegated to make reports of concern where appropriate.
3. Responding to a child when the child discloses abuse:
Listen to the child/young person - Disclosures by children are often subtle and need to be handled with particular care, including an awareness of the child’s cultural identity and how that affects interpretation of their behaviour and language.
Reassure the child/young person Let the child know that they:
- Are not in trouble.
- Have done the right thing.
Ask open-ended prompts Do not interview the child (in other words, do eg what happened next not ask questions beyond open prompts). Do not make promises that cannot be kept e.g. “I will keep you safe now”.
If the child/young person is visibly distressed, provide appropriate reassurance and engage in appropriate activities under supervision until they are able to participate in ordinary activities.
If the child/young person is not in immediate danger, re-involve them in ordinary activities and explain the next steps to be taken.
If the child is in immediate danger, contact the Police immediately.
Dealing with child harm can be traumatic for staff, but as soon as possible record in the notes:
- The disclosure - What the child said, word for word. Be clear about any assumptions or inference drawn and note where you are unsure what was said, but record what you recall anyway.
- Keep it factual and document any disagreements.
- The date, time and who was present
- The action taken.
- Any other information that may
be relevant - If there are changes made to the record, document why changes were made. Although all record changes are auditable, it is often useful to not why the change was made as it can be hard to recall many months later.
- The outcome of any calls or contact with Oranga Tamariki
- Any actions taken.
No decisions should be made in isolation. This requires the whole team to be involved.
Notify Oranga Tamariki promptly if there is a belief that a child has been, or is likely to be, abused or neglected. A phone call to the National Contact Centre is the preferred initial contact with Oranga Tamariki (see below) as this enables both parties to discuss the nature of the concerns and appropriate response options.
Phone: 0508 Family (0508 326459) email: contact@ot.govt.nz
Follow any plan agreed after contact. Oranga Tamariki will look into the situation and provide advice.
5. Allegations or concerns about staff
All matters involving allegations against staff need to be escalated to the Clinical Director and Staff Administrator.
Consult with Oranga Tamariki and/or the Police before taking any further action.
Hei Hei Health Centre commits not to use ‘settlement agreements’ which may allow a member of staff to agree to resign provided that no disciplinary action is taken and a future reference is agreed. Where the conduct at issue concerns the safety or wellbeing of a child, use of such agreements is contrary to a culture of child protection.
6. Confidentiality and information sharing
All observations, after an investigation has been notified, shall be kept in writing on the PMS.
The Privacy Act 2020 and the Children, Young Persons, and their Families Act 1989 allow information to be shared to keep children safe when abuse or suspected abuse is reported or investigated.
Note that under sections 15 and 16 of the Child, Youth and Family Act, any person who believes that a child has been, or is likely to be harmed physically, emotionally or sexually or ill-treated, abused, neglected or deprived may report the matter to Oranga Tamariki or the Police and, provided the report is made in good faith; no civil, criminal or disciplinary proceedings may be brought against them.
7. Recruitment and employment (safety checking)
Safety checking will be carried out in accordance with the Vulnerable Children Act 2014. This will include: a police vet, identity verification, references and an interview. A work history will be sought and previous employers will be contacted. If there is any suspicion that an applicant might pose a risk to a child, that applicant will not be employed.
8. Training supervision and support
Management will support initial child protection training for all service delivery staff. All staff with service delivery responsibilities are required to undertake child abuse and neglect intervention training. The training will consist of:
https://safeguardingchildren.org.nz/training/online-courses/#fundamentals-course
This policy will be part of the initial staff induction programme.
Relevant Legislation:
- Vulnerable Children Act 2014
- Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act, 1989
- Care of Children Act 2004
- Domestic Violence Act 1995
- Privacy Act 2020
- Victims’ Rights Act 2002
- The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC)
Change Log
28/11/2024: Added reference to NPs.