Diocese of Chichester Child Safeguarding Foundation Module

1. Diocese of Chichester Child Safeguarding Foundation Module Colin Perkins Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser

2. This Training aims to help you to: • know when to have concerns about the safety and welfare of a child; • recognise potential blocks within the church to responding well to concerns; • appreciate your responsibility for sharing concerns about a child; • be aware of who in the church and in the public authorities to go to with any concerns.

3. Take care of yourself! • This training can be difficult for any of us, at any time • If you need a break, feel free to move about or leave the room • If this raises painful issues for you, share this with somebody you trust. Look after yourself!

4. Outline of the day… • 9:30 – 9:45: Introduction • 9:45 – 10:30: Recognizing abuse • 10:30 – 10:45: Coffee break • 10:45 – 11:45: Responding to and Recording Abuse and Referring • 11:45 – 12:00: Concluding thoughts

5. What is safeguarding? “The process of protecting children from abuse or neglect, preventing impairment of their health and development, and ensuring they are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care that enables children to have optimum life chances and enter adulthood successfully.” (Working Together to Safeguard Children 2006)

6. What to do if you are worried that a child is being abused….. • Recognize--- have eyes to see and ears to hear • Respond ---- to the concern • Record ---- what has been seen, heard or said • Refer ---- to the appropriate people

7. Recognize - Types of Abuse • Physical Abuse • Emotional Abuse • Sexual Abuse • Neglect

8. Recognising Abuse: Risk Indicators • Factors that are frequently found in cases of child abuse • Their presence is not proof that abuse has occurred but they: • Must be regarded as indicators of possible significant harm • Must prompt further information to be sought • Justify the need for careful assessment and discussion with designated safeguarding lead (PSO / DSA) • May require consultation with and/or referral to Children’s Services.

9. Recognize. Physical Abuse: Definition Physical abuse may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating, or otherwise causing physical harm to the child. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness in a child. (Working Together)

10. Risk Indicators: Physical Abuse • The child may: • Have bruises, bite marks, burns or scalds, fractures. • The child/parent/carer may: • Give an explanation which is inconsistent with an injury • Give several different explanations for an injury • Not give info or mention previous injuries • The parent/carer may: • Delay seeking treatment • Be uninterested or undisturbed by injury • Be absent without reason when child goes for treatment • Take child to different doctors/A&E departments

11. Recognize. Emotional Abuse: definition Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause sever and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development. It may involve conveying to children that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person. It may include not giving the child opportunities to express their views, deliberately silencing them or ‘making fun’ of what they say or how they communicate. It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children. These may include interactions which are beyond the child’s developmental capability, as well as overprotection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child participating in normal social interaction. It may involve serious bullying (including cyberbullying), causing children to frequently feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all maltreatment of a child, although it may occur alone. (Working Together)

12. Risk Indicators: Emotional Abuse (a) • General Points: • Difficult to recognise – behavioural rather than physical signs • Indicators often associated with other forms of abuse • Recognition based on observations over time • The child may: • Delay in achieving developmental milestones • Failure to thrive / faltering growth • Behavioural problems (aggression, attention seeking etc) • Frozen watchfulness (esp. pre-school children) • Low self-esteem, lack of confidence, fearful, anxious • Be withdrawn, isolated.

13. Risk Indicators: Emotional Abuse (b) • Parent/carer and child relationship factors: • Show abnormal attachment between each other • Parent may be persistently negative about child, ‘scapegoating’ • The parent/carer may: • Have dysfunctional family relationships (e.g. domestic abuse) • Have their own problems that impact on child’s development (e.g. mental illness, substance abuse, learning difficulties) • Be emotionally or psychologically distant from child • Contextual factors: • Child left unsupervised / unattended • Child left with multiple carers (although note cultural norms) • Child regularly late attending / not collected from school • Child repeatedly reported lost / missing • Parent or carer regularly unaware of child’s whereabouts • Child regularly not available for meetings with childcare workers

14. Recognize. Sexual Abuse: definition Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration (for example, rape or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching outside of clothing. They may also include non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, or grooming a child in preparation for abuse (including via the internet). Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males. Women can also commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children. (Working Together).

15. Risk Indicators: Sexual Abuse (a) • The Child May demonstrate (Behavioural Indicators): • Inappropriate sexualised conduct • Sexually explicit behaviour, play or conversation, inappropriate to child’s age • Continual and inappropriate or excessive masturbation • Indiscriminate choice of sexual partners (prostitution) • Anxious unwillingness to remove clothes (eg for sporting events) • Running away

16. Risk Indicators: Sexual Abuse (b) • The Child May Have (Physical Indicators): • Pain or itching in genital area • Vaginal discharge • Sexually transmitted disease • Blood on underclothes • Pregnancy • Physical symptoms e.g. injuries to genital or anal area, bruising to buttocks, abdomen and thighs

17. Recognize. Neglect: definition Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development. Neglect may occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal substance abuse. Once a child is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to: • Provide adequate food, clothing and shelter (including exclusion from home or abandonment); • Protect a child from physical or emotional harm or danger; • Ensure adequate supervision (including the use of inadequate care-givers); or • Ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child’s basic emotional needs. (Working Together)

18. Risk Indicators: Neglect (a) • General Point: • Evidence of neglect is built up over a period of time • The child may be/demonstrate: • Unkempt, dirty, smelly, poorly clothed • Frequently hungry (or ‘excessively greedy’ when food available) • Listless, apathetic, unresponsive (no apparent medical cause) • Anxious attachment, aggression, indiscriminate friendliness • Recurrent skin conditions, head lice, scabies • Unmanaged/untreated health/medical conditions including poor dental health

19. Risk Indicators: Neglect (b) • The parent/carer may: • Fail to meet the child’s basic needs (food, clothing, hygiene etc) • Fail to meet the child’s health and medical needs • Keep a dangerous or hazardous home environment; unhygienic facilities, inappropriate/inadequate sleeping arrangements, animal mess, unheated etc. • Fail to provide children with opportunities to play or learn • Leave children with adults who are violent/intoxicated • Leave children at home for excessive periods • Neglect pets

20. The effect of neglect…

21. Respond: Some barriers… In groups think of some reasons why : • Churches may not respond well • Children/vulnerable adults may find it hard to tell

22. Why churches may not respond well: • They may not want to hear • This doesn’t happen in church • The person/family is well known and respected • The limits of confidentiality/ confession are misunderstood • Desire to keep this within the church • Not knowing who to consult • Church is about forgiveness not condemnation • Confusion about false allegations • Embarrassment

23. Respond:Why children/vulnerable adults may not always tell. They may : • not know it is wrong; • be unable to communicate; • be too dependent on the perpetrator; • have tried to tell before without success; • be too scared of consequences; • feel ashamed/guilty.

24. How to respond to child protection concerns…(a) • Not on your own! (Confer…then Who? What? When?) • Speak to Parish Safeguarding Coordinator & DSA • Record: • What has happened? • What context? • Note anything that seemed significant • Use child’s own words • Note child’s details (d.o.b, address, etc) • Sign record, give your name and role, date of incident and date of record • Keep notes safely

25. How to respond to child protection concerns…(b) • Do not promise the child confidentiality • Explain that you may have to get other people to help • Stay calm! • Listen attentively • Do not press for information or ask leading questions • Tell the child they are not to blame • Reassure the child they were right to tell • Let the child know what will happen next and why (incl. who will be told) • Reassure the child of continuing support

26. How to refer child protection concerns • General Concerns: • Seek advice where in doubt • Speak to Parish Safeguarding Rep and Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser • Ensure information being shared is: • Accurate, • Up-to-date, • Necessary for the purpose for which you are sharing it, • Shared only with those who need to see it • Shared securely.

27. How to refer child protection concerns • Imminent Risk: • Act Immediately • Police and/or Children’s Services (see Diochi website) • NSPCC Helpline (0808 800 5000) • Agree who will make the referral (don’t assume someone else will do it!) • Telephone referral (child protection referral) • Follow up with completed referral form or letter • Chase if no response within 48 hours • Inform child/family unless this would put the child or someone else at risk • Say if you do not want your details disclosed to family • Out-of-hours: Emergency Duty Team

28. Case Studies • What is it in the case example you recognisethat concerns you? • How would you respond to your concern? • What would you record? • To whom would you refer this?

29. Prevention better than cure…

30. What percentage of sexual abuse convictions lead to a conviction? (Source: British Crime Survey) (Estimate is that approx. 1.5% of allegations are malicious of false)

31. Finkelhor – “A clinical application” Adapted by Joe Sullivan from:- D Finkelhor Child Sexual Abuse: New Theory & Research 1986 Sex with a child Thoughts OVERCOME VICTIM RESISTANCE ‘Doing it and getting away with it’ MOTIVATION ‘Wanting to’ OVERCOME INTERNAL INHIBITORS ‘Conscience’ OVERCOME EXTERNAL INHIBITORS ‘Creating Opportunity’ “INHIBITORS” = things which might prevent someone from committing of an offence.

32. Finkelhor – “A clinical application” Adapted by Joe Sullivan from:- D Finkelhor Child Sexual Abuse: New Theory & Research 1986 Sex with a child Thoughts OVERCOME VICTIM RESISTANCE ‘Doing it and getting away with it’ MOTIVATION ‘Wanting to’ OVERCOME INTERNAL INHIBITORS ‘Conscience’ OVERCOME EXTERNAL INHIBITORS ‘Creating Opportunity’ “INHIBITORS” = things which might prevent someone from committing of an offence.

33. Further resources… • www.nspcc.org.uk • www.parentsprotect.co.uk • www.stopitnow.org.uk • www.thinkuknow.co.uk • www.workingtogetheronline.co.uk • www.nice.proceduresonline.com