Child Safety

Child Protection and Safety

Nicole Talarico > Talarico Consulting

Let me ask you if, every day, whilst undertaking your role as an early childhood professional, children’s safety and wellbeing is at the centre of your thoughts, values and your actions? If you feel like yes, it is, then can I ask you another question? Do you consider children’s protection, from abuse & neglect, part of that everyday checklist?

It is children that are central to the profession we have chosen, so we should have a greater level of attentiveness towards their safety. So why is it then, that we are not leading the way, in the capacity of child safety and prevention? One of the reasons is that the simple phrase “child abuse” is an “umbrella” term that covers a wide range of activities that harm children. It is a form of ‘shorthand’ and as such has advantages and disadvantages: “ …The use of a short and simple label allows us to communicate without the need to repeatedly define and redefine our terms.” (Goddard, C. & Tucci (2006) State of Child Protection). Having Child Abuse & Safety permanently on teamagendas will increase opportunities to communicate and identify harm. This strategy creates conditions that allow services to be more responsive to any concerns, disclosures, allegations or suspicions and reduces the likelihood of maltreatment to children. Everyone needs to take charge in their local context.

When you know what signifies abuse, and the warning signs, as well as support networks that are available, then you have an opportunity to prevent possible abuse or neglect re/occurring. What is also necessary to know are the indicators, that would help determine, if a child’s environment is safe and nurturing. In recent years, the experiences of children and young people witnessing violence, have been increasingly understood through the lens of complex trauma. Trauma is commonly understood as a distressing or lifethreatening situation. Complex trauma is cumulative, repetitive and interpersonally generated. Queensland’s Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Strategy 20162026 (Queensland Government, 2016a, p. 1), identifies domestic and family violence as “any behaviour that is physically, sexually, emotionally, psychologically, economically, spiritually and culturally abusive, threatening, coercive or aimed at controlling or dominating another person through fear”. Children’s exposure to domestic/ family violence, which has increased as a result of the global pandemic (https://www.theguardian.com/ society/2020/dec/01/the-worst-year-

domestic-violence-soars-in-australiaduring-covid-19), has profoundly damaging impacts on children’s psychological, emotional, physical safety and wellbeing, as well as compromises their educational and social development. Interruptions to children’s attendance at school/ children’s services and their opportunities to socialise with peers add to the impact of this type of abuse. Trauma informed pedagogy provides educators with great insight for co regulating with children in children’s programs. The ability to act on knowledge, makes us better able to make informed decisions, with logical and ethical grounds considered in the process. Significant advice is outlined in the online Qld Child Protection Guide (CPG) When working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals, ‘it is important to seek to understand strengths of their unique parenting practices and kinship structures, the strengths of community caring, collective decision making and network capabilities surrounding the child and family. Cultural connection is a strong protective factor for keeping children safe within their families, significantly influencing their identity and providing a sense of belonging that will contribute to the child’s safety and well-being’. We are often best placed to identify signs and behaviours, that may indicate that a child has been subject to abuse, but we need to become conscious in our environments.

Are there opportunities to share key information, and undertake dialogue among your colleagues, regarding individual children’s wellbeing, inclusive of concerns (warning signs)?

The National Quality Framework’s key objective is to ensure the safety, health and wellbeing of children attending education and care services first guiding principle is that the rights and best interests of the child are paramount. Most notably, it is a legal requirement that ‘every reasonable precaution must be taken, to protect children from harm and any hazard likely to cause injury’. Child Safety is a mantra we ought to be embracing. There is a pressing need to upscale our quality, to include abuse detection, if we are going to pride ourselves in having the highest standards of service provision. Our services must be regarded as grounds for perpetrators or else we will neglect children in our care, we will fail in our supervision. Your thoughts and ideas, to make your setting the safest place possible, need to be consuming, and deeply considered.

Children have a right to be consulted, about the decisions that affect them, and can provide the most accurate accounts of safety. Children can provide great feedback into circumstances that have made them feel unsafe, and it is this information, that can help address oversights. There needs to be a strong force of proactivity, for minimising risk of harm coming to children, and for providing them the tools to know their own self-worth.

Being astute would mean the entire centre community acts with the perception that “children’s wellbeing is at the forefront of all thoughts and decision making” and therefore the organizational culture will take on a zero tolerance to abuse & neglect. Embracing a socio-cultural approach towards child protection means communicating with children, their families, and the wider community, to better support individual children’s safety within a group. We need to utilise the framework of consultation and collaboration with others to facilitate a holistic understanding of the best ways to prevent harm. Be obliged to have your safety procedures meticulously planned, executed, regularly reviewed and improved if you are going to be attentive to your service provision in its entirety. Advocating children’s rights means proactively safeguarding children, by providing a stronger defence. We must sharpen our clarity and tighten our security, to the point where we deter anyone, who considers breaching a child’s right to safety. It is time Early Childhood Professionals step into a new paradigm of child protection, one that endorses child safety prevention, as well as detection.

If you believe a child is in immediate danger or a lifethreatening situation call Triple Zero (000).

Child safety service centres are located in communities throughout Queensland. Child safety service centres provide support and a range of services to children, young people, families and carers to ensure children’s safety and wellbeing and to prevent children from being harmed

References

https://www.cyjma.qld.gov.au/protecting-children https://www.familychildconnect.org.au/ professionals#contact https://cspm.csyw.qld.gov.au https://secure.communities.qld.gov.au/cpguide/ engine.aspx Australian Childhood Foundation (2013).Safe and Secure: A trauma informed practice framework for understanding and responding to children and young people affected by family violence. Melbourne: Eastern Metropolitan Region Family Violence Partnership.