Keeping Children Safe
Miranda BainProgram Manager RAI & SACS Act for Kids
&
Kerri ChardPrincipal Advisor, Student Protection
Department of Education
Scaling questions
1. How confident are you in your ability to identify vulnerability
issues for children and young people? 1 to 10
2. How confident are you in your knowledge of services to refer
vulnerable children and young people into? 1 to 10
Values – our Hats
• Professional
Vs.
• Personal
KIDS NEED CARDS
Small group task:
Identify what Kids Need
What Kids don’t need
What Kids sometimes Need
How do you support vulnerable children and families
within your community/neighbourhood network?
How can you do it better in the future?
Introducing Hazel
• Hazel is 4 years old and attends the KLM Childcare. She has been
attending the centre for nearly 2 years. Currently she attends 2 days
per week but you would like to see her come a bit more and are trying
to connect with mum to talk about increasing her days. You suspect
Hazel doesn’t have a lot of structure, routine and stimulation at home.
• Since coming to the centre, staff have documented concerns about
her health and wellbeing. She is due to start school in 8 months and
you are really worried about how she will go.
• Hazel has a little brother who is 14 months old – he doesn’t attend
your centre.
Centre worries for Hazel
• Hazel’s arrival to the centre is erratic. Most days she gets there about
10am, but some mornings she is dropped off at 6.30am when the centre
opens;
• Hazel’s bag is usually not cleaned out. When she was younger, she would
have old bottles in the bag with curdled milk. Often she has mouldy wet
clothes from days before. She often smells unclean. Staff have spare
clothes for Hazel they have bought in and usually give her a bath;
• Hazel is slow to start her day at the centre and is usually tired. She has
one friend she seeks out, but when that friend isn’t there, Hazel plays by
herself and doesn’t interact with the rest of the children;
• Staff have observed she struggles with waiting her turn and following
instructions to line up (eg: for a drink) and has a couple of “meltdowns”
each day;
Centre worries for Hazel
• Hazel still struggles with toileting and needs quite a bit of prompting and
help from staff;
• Hazel has been slow in her speech and language, and her fine and
gross motor skills are the lowest in her cohort, she gets easily frustrated
and will generally avoid tasks requiring fine motor skills;
• Hazel interacts ok with her mum when she picks her up and seems
happy to go home;
• Her mother presents as unkempt and is a quiet lady. She seems to
avoid speaking with staff and she is difficult to engage and build
rapport;
• You are aware that Hazel was removed by the Department of Child
Safety when she was a baby
Reasonable Suspicion
• Under the Child Protection Act 1999, teachers are mandated to report
physical or sexual abuse of a child under the age of 18;
• Teachers are defined as registered teachers at a registered school;
• Anyone can report to Child Safety a reasonable suspicion that a child
may be in need of protection.
Significant Harm
• Any detrimental effect of a significant nature on the child's physical,
psychological or emotional well-being.
• Significant harm can be caused by physical, psychological or
emotional abuse or neglect, or sexual abuse or exploitation.
• Significant harm can be caused by a single act, omission or
circumstance; or a series or combination of acts, omissions or
circumstances.
Parent able and willing
1
A parent who is not able:
May be willing to protect
the child but not have the
capacity to do so.
A parent who is not willing:
May have the capacity
to protect the child but
chooses not to.
2
Service System
Regional Intake
Service
NotificationChild Concern
Report
Service System Pathways
Intake Enquiry
Families
Investigation &
Assessment
Community Based
Intake and Referral
Service
Support Service
Intervention with
Parental
Agreement
Child Protection
Order
Out of home care In care
support
services
FIS
Child Protection Guide
Report to Dept of
Communities, Child
Safety & Disability
Services
Refer to Community
Based Intake and
Referral Service
Monitor child
wellbeing
Refer to a family
support service
Queensland
Police Service
Queensland
Health
Dept Education,
Training and
Employment
NGO/Sector/
Other
Community
Health
Early
Childhood
Centres
CentrelinkNeighbourhood
Centres
Domestic &
Family
Violence
Drug &
Alcohol
HousingEmployment
Services
Young
Parents
Disability
Services
Other
secondary
services
Sexual Assault/
Sexual Abuse
Counselling Services
Youth
Services
IFS
RAIATSIFSS
Fostering
Families
New or additional
investment
Tool to assist
professional reporters
Services above line are departmentally funded
intensive family support services
Interventions for Hazel
• Act for Kids IFS Family Support Worker conducts risk
assessment and Parental Evaluation of Developmental Status
(PEDS) with the family. Concerns for Hazel are identified as part
of Family Assessment.
• IFS refers Hazel to Integrated Therapy Team’s School
Readiness Group program, facilitated by the Act for Kids
Speech-Language Pathologist, Occupational Therapist and
Clinical Psychologist.
Interventions cont.
• Hazel made significant gains in several developmental domains
including functional communication skills, attention abilities and
social-emotional skills.
• Home based therapy program: therapists provided mother with
support and guidance in implementing a home based therapy
and behaviour management program. Weekly activities also
provided following the group program each week to practice
specific skills.
Interventions cont.
• Referral to Special Needs Toy Library: Family supported and
guided in accessing appropriate resources from Special Needs
Library to support the implementation of a home based therapy
program
• Consultation at Early Childhood Developmental Program setting
to consolidate goal setting across multiple environments and
ensure best therapeutic outcomes for Hazel
• SLP and OT assessments provided to better inform family and
school of Hazel’s current needs
Interventions cont.
• Act for Kids completed School consultation Term 1 at Education
Qld state school to support classroom teacher and recommend
strategies to facilitate Hazel’s learning in school environment
• Hazel received additional support through school, in small group
programs. The OT and SLP assessments provided valuable
information to assist the school to make appropriate curriculum
modifications for Hazel.
• Act for Kids Intensive Family Support provide ongoing family
support to assist the family to address hygiene and parenting
issues at home