Case study MAS61705 Child Centred Practice

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Mia case study

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Introduction
An 8-year-old girl named Mia lives with her mother who was 24 years old. The mother was
in abusive relationships as well as she was also involved in the abuse of drugs and alcohol for
many years. They were homeless as the mother had left her boyfriend. When the assessment
was done in school it was evidenced that Mia was very tired and almost half slept in school.
In addition, there was the packet of condoms that were found in Mia's possession. She was in
a withdrawn and teary state. She was appearing very distressed as well as upset. She
expressed a group of sadness as well as she had lower self-esteem. In this case study, it has
been evidenced that Mia was neglected by her mother; she has not been taken care of. In
addition, she was also sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriend. In this assessment, the
focus will be on current, potential child protection risks and concerns. In addition, the bio-
psycho-social needs of the patient will be discussed that have not been addressed. In this
regard, the focus will be on the child theory, practice principles and relevant legal and
cultural issues and ethical issues. In this, the different information will be weighted up and
prioritised.
Current or potential protection risks and concerns
Risk factors are known to enhance the likelihood of experiencing and perpetrating child
abuse and neglect. It involves the combination of the relational, community as well as
societal factors that can cause the issue of child abuse and neglect (Assink et al., 2020). As
per the case study, Mia was 8 years old and she lives with her mother. Her mother was
involved in several abusive relationships as well as she was also involved in abused drugs
and alcohol. They were also homeless. The major current or potential risk and concerns that
were associated with Mia were that the caregiver who was her mother Rachel was associated
with drug and alcohol issues. In addition, the mother did not understand her child's needs and
development. The other issue was that Mia was abused and neglected as children. She was
sexually abused by her mother’s boyfriend. The other risk factor was the financial status of
the caregiver with the low income and lower financial status. These aforementioned factors
were the potential risk factors in the case of Mia for the victimisation (Palusci and Ilardi
2020). The two major among them was the case of sexual abuse that was experienced by Mia
by her mother Rachel’s boyfriend Josh. He had given him a condom and she was staying with
him for many nights. He did this when his mother was too drunk and sleepy. She was told not
to reveal that as this was a special friendship secret. Sexual abuse was a significant risk factor
and issue for Mia as this can cause both serious physical as well as emotional harm to the
children in short term as well as long term (Sanjeevi et al., 2018). It has both short-term and
long-term consequences. This include in short term, children may suffer from sexually
transmitted infection and physical injury. In the longer term, it may affect the child with
depression, post-traumatic stress disorder as well as anxiety and eating disorder. They can
also do self-harm and misuse drugs and alcohol. The issue of neglect in children was
evidenced such as Mia was tired and sleepy in school. She was isolated from her friend's
group; she does not want to take part in the group. She was withdrawn and in a teary state and

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distressed and upset (Watt et al. 2019). It has been evidenced that when the school staff had
called her mom, she did not pick up the call and kept it on hold. She was facing the issue of
neglect by her mom as she was unaware of the bullying that was happening to her. She was
appearing very distressed and upset as she was kicked out by the newly established friendship
group (Font and Maguire-Jack 2020).
The aforementioned condition Mia can be interlinked with the child-centred approach to
practice as this will involve the policies, procedures as well as practices to support children
and young people. Her mother should have focussed on Mia by play and should have
focussed on the children's needs, interests and capacities (Takaffoli et al. 2018). In addition,
family-centred approaches can be used in family welfare as well as in child welfare. This will
help in preventing and responding to child maltreatment and supporting and preserving
families (Ford et al., 2018). This can be helpful in the case of Mia, as she was involved in
drug and alcohol abuse and sexual relationships with many. This will provide support to the
mother and she will be taking more care of her child Mia. This will help improve the patient
and family experience with health care as well as a reduction in conflicts and improve the
health of children living with chronic conditions.
Bio-psycho-social needs of the child that has not been addressed
In the case of Mia, the biological needs that have not been addressed were the growth and
development needs. In addition, there were no proper nutritional needs fulfilled in Mia as due
to financial constraints she was not getting good food. Other biological needs that were not
addressed were proper sleep for Mia as she was always tired and half-slept in classes. The
psychological needs that were not addressed in Mia were her lower self-confidence and lower
self-esteem in her (Beerbower et al. 2018). The mom Rachel was not involved in knowing
her issue in the school as she was being bullied as well as she was threatened and eliminated
from the newly established friend’s group. She was not providing her safe and secures
surrounding as she was abused sexually by one of his friends and this can hamper her mental
state. The social needs that were evidenced in the case of Mia were financial constraints that
were faced by them, they were homeless. In addition, Mia was also away from her biological
father. In this regard, as the social worker was involved in helping Mia with all the situations
that she was dealing with, the workers have many different roles and responsibilities. Some
of the legal and ethical considerations include avoiding any kind of harm to the child and
taking consent. It also involves keeping the privacy and confidentiality of the child and not
revealing any things. Fulfilling all the legal requirements associated with the sexual abuse
that happened to Mia. In addition, they should identify all the risks associated with the
children. They should also focus on the needs such as recreation, socialisation as well as self-
responsibility and decision making (Pourbordbari et al., 2022).
Vulnerabilities and protective factors that can inform the assessment process
Various vulnerability factors often affect the person and the assessment technique. Some
important vulnerable factors are physical, social, economic, and environmental factors. All
these factors play an important role and shape the child's behavior (Ogunjimi et al. 2021).