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CS16 Improve awareness of the potential abuse of children and young people

Overview

This standard is about the need to provide environments that are safe for children and young people, where the risk of abuse is minimised, and all appropriate actions are taken to address any concerns about children and young people’s welfare in accordance with agreed local policies and procedures. An important way of achieving this is to raise the awareness of other people to the risk of abuse.  This can involve the use of a variety of methods, such as individualised training.  However, practitioners have to be proactive, and in effect create a constant dialogue with all those involved in the care of children and young people. It is important that all those involved in the care of children and young people are fully aware of the different forms of abuse that exist. Users of this standard will need to ensure that practice reflects up to date information and policies. Version No 1

Knowledge and Understanding

You will need to know and understand:

  1. the legislation which relates to working with children and young people including; confidentiality and information sharing, the provision of services, children’s rights, anti-discriminatory practice and child protection
  2. the statutory and professional standards and codes of practice for your area of work and how to interpret and apply these
  3. how to manage your responsibilities as a professional with organisational and contractual requirements
  4. the nature, extent and boundaries of your work role and its relationship to others in your own and other organisations
  5. the roles of other practitioners working with children, young people and families and how they relate between and across agencies
  6. the importance of working within your own sphere of competence and when you should refer to others
  7. the ethics concerning consent and confidentiality, and the tensions which may exist between an individual’s rights and the organisation’s responsibility to individuals
  8. the law and good practice guidelines on consent, including capacity issues and consent in childhood
  9. situations when consent may not be required (e.g. when the child or young person is at risk of harm)
  10. the rights of individuals to make decisions for themselves and to take risks in the context of their own lives
  11. how to deal with issues of confidentiality and who has the right of access to information and images that have been recorded
  12. how to communicate effectively with children and young people, and those involved in their care
  13. the importance and methods of establishing rapport and respectful, trusting relationships with children and young people and those involved in their care
  14. the importance of focusing on the child or young person as an individual
  15. the ways in which those involved in the care of the child or young person should be involved in communication in order to deliver the most effective outcome for the child or young person
  16. the ways in which communication can be modified and altered for different needs, contexts and beliefs, including the age, understanding and communication preferences of the child or young person and those involved in their care
  17. the ways in which children and young people communicate by behaviour, as well as through language, and how different forms of behaviour can be interpreted
  18. the effects of environments and contexts on communication (particularly institutional settings)
  19. the key government policies and guidance on safeguarding children and young people
  20. recent and proposed legislation, regulations and codes of practice on safeguarding children and young people
  21. what consultations are taking place at the current time
  22. how to obtain information on abuse, and the authoritative sources of guidance
  23. the different forms and extent of abuse that can affect children and young people and their impact on children’s development
  24. the children and young people who are more vulnerable to abuse, e.g. those with learning difficulties
  25. the contributing factors that increase the risk of harm to children and young people (e.g. domestic violence), and the triggers for reporting incidents or unexpected behaviour
  26. indicators of potential abuse including unexplained changes in behaviour, physical signs of abuse or neglect, and those expressed through play, artwork and the way in which children and young people approach relationships with other children and/or adults
  27. the importance of being alert to indicators of potential abuse
  28. how different interpretations can be placed on indicators of potential abuse and how to analyse objectively
  29. the risks which individual abusers, or potential abusers, may pose to children and young people
  30. how to obtain information on suspected abuse that might have occurred in different settings used by children and young people
  31. where to find reports of incidents, and the rules relating to the confidentiality of reports
  32. the importance of sharing information in the context of children’s well-being and safety, how it can help and the dangers of not doing so
  33. who to share information with and when
  34. how the Data Protection Act supports information sharing
  35. the framework for the assessment of children and young people’s needs, and how this helps information sharing between practitioners
  36. appropriate ICT and language skills to observe, record and report incidents of possible abuse and how to distinguish between observation, facts, information gained from others and opinion
  37. what the local systems, procedures and protocols are for safeguarding children and young people from abuse
  38. the importance of working co-operatively with parents; when this is inappropriate, and how to deal with this situation if it occurs
  39. issues related to aggression, anger and violence, and how to respond to conflict situations involving adults, peers or the children or young people themselves
  40. how to evaluate the effectiveness of safeguards
  41. the role of different people in safeguarding children and young people, including those with statutory responsibilities
  42. how abuse is investigated in different settings, who leads investigations, and who is involved in investigations
  43. how to access counselling, supervision, advice, support and debriefing for yourself
  44. what type of environment needs to be created to safeguard children and young people and how to explain this to others
  45. what actions can be taken to safeguard children and young people from abuse
  46. what is feasible to achieve in different care settings
  47. the type of methods that are useful for raising awareness in different people
  48. the type of methods that have proved most effective
  49. types of assumptions, values and discriminatory attitudes that can influence practice and prevent some children and young people from having equality of opportunity and equal protection from harm
  50. how to promote and support environmental, cultural and attitudinal change
  51. the impact of parenting capacity on the well-being and safety of children and young people and how to support parents in developing their parenting skills
  52. local sources of information, advice and support for children and young people, and those involved in their care
  53. the effect of witnessing upsetting situations, how to give support to those involved, and how to get support for yourself

Performance Criteria

You must be able to do the following:

  1. comply with all the relevant legal, professional, and organisational requirements and guidelines
  2. identify the risk of abuse in relation to the setting and the different needs of children and young people within the setting
  3. identify the relevant people that need to be aware of the potential abuse of children and young people
  4. explore with children, young people, and other relevant people their current level of awareness about the abuse of children and young people
  5. identify a range of awareness raising methods to inform children, young people, and other relevant people of the type of abuse that they might encounter
  6. consult with children, young people, and other relevant people on how to create environments that safeguard children and young people from abuse
  7. provide appropriate information to enable children, young people, and other relevant people to recognise indicators of potential abuse
  8. identify ways in which inappropriate or abusive behaviour can be reported and challenged without harm to children and young people or those reporting the abuse
  9. provide examples of good practice to demonstrate how instances of abuse can be reduced
  10. work in partnership with children and young people, and those involved in their care, to develop and maintain a safe environment

Additional Information

This National Occupational Standard was developed by Skills for Health. This standard links with the following dimension within the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework (October 2004): Dimension: HWB3 Protection of health and wellbeing
CS16 Improve awareness of the potential abuse of children and young people
Final version approved June 2010 © copyright Skills For Health,
For competence management tools visit tools.skillsforhealth.org.uk