Children's Act Practice Note 2 of 2011 - LexisNexis South Africa

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Practice positionWhen attending to a child, the social worker should do everything in her power toassist the child and make the best possible recommendation which will be in thechild’s best interest.Risk assessment is a critical component to the follow up of allegations of childabuse and neglect and it can be construed as an ongoing activity from thecommencement of the process of receiving reports of alleged abuse and decidingon action to be taken. It lays the foundation for proper investigation, follow up andultimate reporting to children’s courts, to enable the presiding officer to makesound decisions based on ecologically valid (the child within its family andenvironment setting), evidence based, criteria.Risk assessment is addressed in section 142(c) of the Act and in regulation 35,and it informs decision making and action. The aim of the broad risk assessmentframework is to provide guidelines for:• identification of children who are being abused or deliberately neglected• assessment of risk factors• investigation• appropriate protective measuresThe broad risk assessment framework includes the following guidelines:• the presence of indicators of physical abuse• the presence of indicators of sexual abuse• the presence of emotional and behavioural indicators of physical,psychological or sexual abuse• the presence of developmental indicators of physical, psychological orsexual abuse• the presence of indicators of deliberate neglect• a disclosure of abuse or deliberate neglect by the child; or• a statement relating to a pattern or history of abuse or deliberate neglectfrom a witness relating to the abuse of the child16Children’s Act practice note 02 of 2011: Transitional matters
It is difficult to find a balance between over reacting or under reacting whendeciding if a child’s behaviour is abuse reactive or just problematic due toenvironmental factors. For this reason it’s important that as a social worker youhave clear understanding of the signs and symptoms of all types of abuse, as wellas the normal developmental and behavioural responses of children.Risk assessments should be well planned as time is of the essence. Ignorance ofthe risk to the child due to high workload is inexcusable. Ensure that youinvestigated properly before any allegations are made.Bear in mind that many indicators may be non-specific to abuse or neglect. Acluster or pattern of indicators as opposed to a single isolated indicator will providesupport for a conclusion of abuse or neglect;While doing the risk assessment, consider the following:• information about specific times of any incidents, places where incidentshave taken place and the context within which incidents have taken place,which must be noted in writing, may provide support for a conclusion ofabuse or neglect;• abuse may be unintentional, but failure on the part of the parent or caregiverto prevent abuse of the child may amount to neglect;• abuse may be physical, psychological or sexual without any visibleindicators and is likely to exist if the child continuously reports threats ofharm or punishment;• a series of minor incidents, any of which may, when considered in isolation,not amount to abuse or neglect, may constitute abuse or neglect whenconsidered together;• the child’s age, personality and temperament should be taken into account;• discrepancies in the rendition of incidents by the child and his or her parentor care-giver may either provide or diminish support for a conclusion ofabuse or neglect; andChildren’s Act practice note 02 of 2011: Transitional matters17
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Children's Act Practice Note 2 of 2011 - LexisNexis South Africa

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