Child Protection Procedures - East Ayrshire Council

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of criteria for protective measures in the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 is related to the concept of “significant harm”. This is not defined in the Act. However, given the likely serious consequences of infection, there would seem little doubt that infection must be considered to be an example of significant harm. The question that remains is whether there are “reasonable grounds to believe” or to “suspect” that the child is being so treated, or will be so treated that significant harm is occurring or will occur unless protective action is taken. This is where it is important to have access to the latest medical opinion on the risks and methods of transmission. Is should certainly not be assumed that the presence of HIV/Aids within the family itself places the child at risk. If infected carers fear that this assumption will be made this could deter them from approaching the local authority for appropriate help. Neither should children be left at risk because HIV/Aids is seen as a special category. The children of infected persons have the same right to protection as other children. The same criteria for intervention apply. The additional factor to be taken into account is the need to check the latest medical understanding that might be relevant to a risk assessment. Risk assessment where HIV/blood-borne Viruses might be an issue covers: • Runaways • Drug use • Sexual behaviour • Teenage prostitution Points to be considered within this group Rights • Confidentiality v public interest • Child’s rights v perpetrator’s rights The Importance of Counselling • This should be a gradual process using age-appropriate language • The need for pre-test and post-test HIV/blood-borne Viruses counselling Issues regarding Testing • Is testing in the child/young person’s best interests? • The child/young person’s consent • Where? When? By Whom? and for what purpose (consider other sexually-transmitted diseases) 136
• Should worker’s aim for a same-day result of an HIV/blood-borne Virus test? • Avoid overwhelming the child or young person with questions and tests • Ensure child-orientated testing procedures are established • The need for staff support and supervision • The importance of consultation and knowledge of services • Ongoing support for the child’s/young person’s family Child Sexual Abuse as a Risk Factor for HIV/blood-borne Viruses How should Social Worker’s deal with the fear and worry over HIV/blood-borne infection felt by the victims of sexual assault? The nature of the abuse and its relevance to HIV/blood-borne transmission is the overriding guiding factor for workers faced with the question of how to deal with HIV/blood-borne Viruses and Child Protection. It is also important to recognise that both parents and the child or young person may disproportionately fear the risk of HIV/blood-borne infection even if the nature of the abuse has little relevance to HIV/blood-borne transmission. If parents are worried, it is vital that these concerns are addressed. Social Workers need not be experts on HIV and other blood-borne infections but should be able to discuss the general issues with confidence and know where to go for support and further advice. (A list of possible sources of advice are printed at the end of this section). Clearly, it is important to pre-empt fears and prevent unnecessary anxiety, but HIV/blood-borne infections should not be raised during preliminary investigation and it is important to prevent unnecessary alarm because the chances of a child becoming HIV positive after sexual assault are very small. Deciding when to raise the question of counselling and testing for HIV/blood-borne infection (and other infections) is clearly a delicate issue. Workers with survivors of child abuse should know about routes of HIV/blood-borne transmission, tests available, clinical developments, including therapies and available support services from statutory and voluntary sector agencies such as the Terence Higgins Trust. It is far more important in the initial stages to tackle the trauma that has occurred due to the abuse. It would be inappropriate if concerns about HIV/blood-borne infection subsumed concerns about the abuse, but it may be that HIV/blood-borne infection is a real worry. Social Workers and others engaged in Child Protection should understand this and consider the involvement of someone with more expertise. If there is a danger of transmission, the consideration of the need for counselling and testing becomes more urgent. Social Workers and other staff engaged in Child Protection work are not expected to have the in-depth knowledge to deal with this problem alone but it is better that they engage with the issues and access support rather than ignore the subject of HIV/blood-borne viruses due to unfamiliarity. 137
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CHILD PROTECTION PROCEDURES The Eas
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CONTENTS Foreword Section 1: Defini
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Section 5: The Child Protection Reg
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APPENDICES Appendix 1: The Main Tas
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1.0.4.1 If it is agreed that a join
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1.3 Sexual Abuse 1.3.1 “Any child
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SECTION 2 Investigation of Suspecte
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Team Leader will liaise with the Se
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interviews by a Police Officer and
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e widely available to general pract
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2.8 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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properly investigating them can als
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person with whom the child shares h
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(i) (j) (k) (l) Once a referral has
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for formal intervention in this par
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public interest to prosecute. It is
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(Article 19 of the UN Convention on
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made available. The criminal aspect
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3.7 Convicted Offenders 3.7.1 A sep
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serious addiction by the parent who
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3.12 Children with a disability or
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3.14.1.3 Any such concerns should b
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3.14.8 Deciding on How the Matter s
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3.14.13.3 The Link Worker/Family Pl
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3.15.1.4 Attention to young peoples
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3.15.4.6 While the possible need fo
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• deciding that there is an alleg
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The safety of other children 3.15.6
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3.15.7.8 An assessment of the immed
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3.15.7.21 At an appropriate stage t
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3.15.7.35 Any involvement of a youn
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3.17.2.2 There are two important el
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3.17.4.2 Social workers must submit
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3.19 The Data Protection Act 3.20.1
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3.21.6.5. A child may have to give
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eport this to the Service Unit Mana
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of making this decision. It may wel
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4.6 Professionals and Others 4.6.1
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his or his wishes and feelings and
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4.13.1 Once a child’s name has be
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4.18 Key worker 4.18.1 A key worker
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Section 5 The Child Protection Regi
Page 85 and 86: 5.7.1 There are two Child Protectio
Page 87 and 88: (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) (k) (l) (m) (n)
Page 89 and 90: 5.15 A Registered Child moving into
Page 91 and 92: SECTION 6 Informing and Consulting
Page 93 and 94: 6.5.4 Family members will need to k
Page 95 and 96: • The procedure for making an app
Page 97 and 98: 7.5 Information required for an app
Page 99 and 100: to any person or class of person sp
Page 101 and 102: 7.12 Procedure for making an applic
Page 103 and 104: for recall or variation the Team Le
Page 105 and 106: 7.16.3 The sheriff when considering
Page 107 and 108: notification for the application fo
Page 109 and 110: 7.22.7 If an emergency authorisatio
Page 111 and 112: (e) (f) (g) (h) Having undertaken i
Page 113 and 114: procedures for application to a She
Page 115 and 116: Families) or equivalent. It will be
Page 117 and 118: there is significant concern for th
Page 119 and 120: 8.7.8.5 The Team Leader will inform
Page 121 and 122: (o) Where there is disagreement abo
Page 123 and 124: It will be the responsibility of ea
Page 125 and 126: (b) (c) (d) (e) No explanation of t
Page 127 and 128: Abdominal Injuries In a few cases,
Page 129 and 130: • Unusual genital odour. • Anxi
Page 131 and 132: APPENDIX 3 Referral/Reporting Conta
Page 133 and 134: Glossary of Medical Terms and Condi
Page 135: Appendix 5 HIV and other blood-born
Page 139 and 140: APPENDIX 6 List of Sign Language In
Page 141 and 142: APPENDIX 8 East Ayrshire Council Ch
Page 143 and 144: Risk Assessment Risk Assessment is
Page 145 and 146: for each release in a planned progr
Page 147 and 148: Assessment and Supervision of Sex O
Page 149 and 150: • is over sixteen • is a convic
Page 151 and 152: Help To: The Director of Social Wor
Page 153 and 154: APPENDIX 11 EAST AYRSHIRE COUNCIL E
Page 155 and 156: Signed: Print Name: Status: Date: S
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Child Protection Procedures - East Ayrshire Council

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