Child Abuse and Neglect

Child Abuse and Neglect
Order Description
Case Study Analysis and Response – Use Australian child protection system to answer all Tasks in this assignment.
You are required in your professional context to respond in some way to clients with histories of abuse/neglect and in some of the cases the abuse and neglect might be current and ongoing, or it might be historical but involved trauma or cumulative harm, the effects of which are ongoing and interfere with a person’s capacity to function in life and live a serene and fulfilling life.

Your task for this assessment is to analyse the case material and assess the support needs of the child, family and relevant others that emerge from your assessment of the material. You are required to generate a holistic support plan based on your assessment of needs.

Task

1. Outline a set of principles that you understand inform your professional practice in the child protection environment and relevant best practice indicators that logically follow from these principles. (A principle may be ‘work in partnership with the family’ an indicator would be ‘all communication regarding the case occurs in cooperation with the family and all stakeholders’ – there should be several indicators for each principle)

2. Make a provisional assessment of the possible support needs of the child and family on the basis of the case notes provided, and your knowledge of the different types of abuse and neglect. Critically analyse the evident and possible risk and protective factors that can help you frame up a support plan. Identify what further information you may require and where/how you could get that information.

3. Provide a strong justification for the proposed intervention by critically analysing the potential impact and possible outcomes of the abuse/neglect (relevant to the family) for the futures of the child and family should the situation remain unaddressed. Clearly harm is being done and that in itself is justification for intervention, however, you need to apply the key concepts from the course to the case to provide a more detailed rationale.

4. Outline a holistic support plan for the case based on your assessment. You should discuss:

• The type of interventions that you would employ to support the child-family system;
• The aim of the interventions and how you would actually implement it;
• The way you will evaluate the plan – how you will know it is working or not.
Case Study “Sandy”
Sandy is a troubled, 10 year old child who has been enrolled in a state primary school and has a history of moving schools regularly from city to city along with her brother. At school she presents as a withdrawn and reluctant communicator with clear gaps in her learning across all areas of the curriculum despite appearing capable of learning. In fact, she appears to be able to solve problems in creative and novel ways.
Sandy has been found stealing food from the bags of other children at times when she has been given permission to visit the toilet in class time. She seems to need to go to the toilet quite regularly. As a result of being discovered taking food from bags her teacher has requested that she be referred to the school’s guidance counselor.
In addition, the teacher has expressed concern over Sandy having boils on her upper legs with evidence of unusual recent bruising around two of them and scarring that is round in shape that looks like evidence of previous infections. Sandy seems to go to great lengths to keep herself covered, even when it is clearly too hot for her choice of clothing.
Sandy is often absent from school at the same time as her brother, without any obvious reason or communication from her mother. When confronted about absences she says that her mother is unwell and needs her to help at home.
Despite being rather quite, Sandy has reacted with explosive violence on a number of occasions in the playground when other children have teased her about her appearance. She is never dressed fully in the school uniform and her appearance can be quite disheveled.
Sandy prefers to work individually in class. She appears very protective of her personal space and prefers others to keep their distance.
Her teacher describes Sandy as a child with potential but lacking in motivation, with significant gaps in learning due to moving around. She seems chronically fatigued and regularly falls asleep in class. She seems to be often in a daydream and is difficult to keep on task.
Sandy is known to have a history of being in care, but the circumstances around this are not known. The school is aware that Sandy’s mother is the sole guardian at present and the family live in a disadvantaged area on a welfare income. It is also known that she has a mental illness, but nothing is known of it nature.
In addition to making a referral to the school’s guidance counselor, the principal has made a notification to the state child protection service as she is concerned for Sandy’s welfare and that some form of harm is occurring.