Strategies for Child and Youth Care, Trauma Care, Legal System and Reporting Protocols

This article covers strategies for child and youth care, trauma care, legal system and reporting protocols. It also discusses indicators of child abuse, different dynamics of abuse, and requirements for child activists. The article provides an overview of the legal system in Australia and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It also discusses the trauma care centers and the reporting protocols for child abuse. The article concludes with the requirements for child activists and the indicators of child abuse.

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NAME OF THE STUDENT
NAME OF THE UNIVERSITY
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STRATEGIES TO CARE FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
 The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is an
agreement, which is legally binding on the member countries of the United Nations.
The United Nations enumerates a list of duties and responsibilities towards the
member countries to safeguard the rights and freedom of the children.
 The treaty enumerates the political, economic, health, social as well as the cultural
rights of the children. The respective member countries of the United Nations also
have their own policies, which are in accordance with the ethos of the UNCRC
treaty1.
 The implementation of these policies can be improved further by aligning the
UNCRC with the policies of the Government of the countries wherein they are
operating. The Government can oversee the implementation of these policies and
report discrepancy if found.
 The children can also be encouraged to participate in activities wherein they are
required to take decisions and judgments. Doing this will make the children more
aware about the importance of decision-making and therefore, will facilitate in
creating more aware and informed citizens out of them in the long run. The children
must be taught about the importance of being proactive and to actively participate in
the daily activities.
1 UN Convention On The Rights Of The Child (UNCRC) - Unicef UK (2018) Unicef UK
<https://www.unicef.org.uk/what-we-do/un-convention-child-rights/>.

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TRAUMA AND TRAUMA CARE
 The trauma is an extremely painful situation experienced by a person.
 The trauma can be caused by either a physical injury or a psychological experience.
 The trauma can progress into depression for the person afflicted with trauma.
 Depression in return can make the person suicidal as well.
 Trauma continues for a long time even after the physical or emotional situation, which
caused the trauma, is over.
 The person develops extreme conditions of depression, anxiety, low self-esteem due
to the trauma2.
 There are numerous Trauma Care Centres, which assists the people suffering from
trauma to overcome the pain and suffering. The trauma care center provides relief and
support to the persons who have undergone traumatic experience.
2 Media Coverage Of Traumatic Events: Research On Effects - PTSD: National Center For PTSD (2018)
Ptsd.va.gov <https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/trauma/basics/media-coverage-traumatic-events.asp>.

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OVERVIEW OF THE LEGAL SYSTEM
 The legal system of Australia firmly deals with the issue of child abuse and child
rights. There are numerous laws and legislations, which are in force to assist the
authorities to implement and protect the interest of the child.
 Australia, being a signatory of the UNCRC act and its rules and regulations are
binding in on the nation of Australia. Australia has also included the aspects of the
convention in the Child Protection Legislation3 to align the aspects of the international
agreement into the national framework.
REPORTING PROTOCOLS
 The Child Protection Protocol4 is a set of duties and responsibilities to be followed to
protect and safeguard the well-being of the children.
 The protocol provides online training to the staff members regarding the procedure of
reporting a crime.
RESPONSES TO REPORTING
 Any incidence or occurrence of sexual offences is reported to the Victorian Police.
 There has been an introduction of three new criminal offences in order to improve the
responses regarding sexual abuse of the child.
3 Australian Child Protection Legislation (2018) Child Family Community Australia
<https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/australian-child-protection-legislation>.
4 Child Protection Protocol (2018) Education.vic.gov.au
<http://www.education.vic.gov.au/childhood/providers/regulation/Pages/protectionprotocol.aspx#link43>.

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ORGANISATIONAL POLICIES WHICH IMPACT REPORTING
 The organisational policies, which deter the reporting of crimes, include the fear of
being harassed by the authorities.
 The parents of the victim of child abuse sometimes might feel that the disclosure of
the incident of child abuse might throw them in an embarrassing situation, more so if
the perpetrator of the crime is a member of the family. In such situation, due to the
fear of disclosure of facts, the families or the individuals who do not want to disclose
their privacy deter from reporting the crime.
RELEVANT REQUIREMENT FOR REPORTING CHILD ABUSE
 Australia has a well-established framework to deal with the issue of child abuse.
There are various departments, which work towards the implementation of the
policies to safeguard children from abuse.
 If the people notice any untoward incident then it can be reported to a number of
departments. The most preferred agency is the Department of Communities, Child
Safety and Disability Services5.
 There are other agencies, which can assist in the incident of child abuse. These
agencies are- the Child Safety After-Hours Service Centre as well as the Queensland
Police Service. The Reporting Process is done by the Government agencies, which are
entrusted with the task of investigating the crime. The assigned Departments
investigate the case and then decides whether the information received is true or not.
5 Department Of Communities, Child Safety And Disability Services (Queensland Government) (2018)
Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services (Queensland Government)
<https://www.communities.qld.gov.au/>.

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REQUIREMENTS IN THE ROLE OF THE CHILD ACTIVISTS
 The people who seek to work for the improvement and welfare of the child need to be
aware about the issues affecting the child.
 The child protection activist is required to actively participate in any event where the
issue of child rights and discrimination against children are highlighted. The most
important priority of the activists is to spread awareness about the issue of child abuse
and how it can harm the society.
 The people working in the Trauma Care Center provide the victims of child abuse
every type of relief and assistance.
 The most important requirement of the activist or the people employed in Trauma
Care Centre is to be extremely friendly with the children.
 The people willing to work in the areas of child rights must be comfortable while
dealing with children, some of whom might be extremely traumatized and violent in
behaviour.
 The job requirement is that the person dealing with Child Rights should be calm and
composed.
SERVICE POLICY AND PROCEDURES
 The Agencies which are involved in securing the rights of the children and providing
justice to the victims of child abuse must make sure that the details of the victim
remain confidential at all times.
 The privacy of the victim must be respected at all times. The Trauma Care Centers
also must make sure that the victim’s privacy is maintained and the personal
information are kept confidential.

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 The workers working for the welfare of the children need to be patient while dealing
with the children and must always speak in a comforting tone so as to make the child
feel at ease with the person.
INDICATORS OF CHILD ABUSE
 The general indicators of child abuse can be of different types such as the victim not
being able to trust the adults, behaving aggressively, suffering from sleep deprivation,
having complexities while relating to the adults and children of their age, having
suicidal tendencies, telling stories or drawing the pictures, which depict their abuse or
ordeal.
 The indicators of physical abuse are seen when the victim shows symptoms of
fracture or scars.
o The child generally avoids physical contact after undergoing the trauma of
physical abuse and is in a frightened state.
o The child also shows signs of bruises and cut marks. The indicators of sexual
abuse involve the child giving hints about the ordeal through the actions or
comments.
 The indicators of sexual abuse are noticed when child shows symptoms of bruises,
bleeding, cut marks in and around the private parts.
o The child develops restrained behaviour and does not mix with the other
children of their age.
o The child is generally frightened of the adult members and avoids being in the
company of the adult members. The child generally avoids being in a social

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setting and keeps to themselves most of the time6. The overall indicators of
abuse match with each other and there are minimum differences amongst the
indicators.
DIFFERENT DYNAMICS OF ABUSE
 The different dynamics of abuse can be the intention behind the abuse. The dynamics
of abuse can be applied in the following types-
o Age
 The most important factor, which makes the children vulnerable and
soft target is due to their age. The children being in the care of the
parents or the guardians are not in a position to take care of
themselves. It is for this reason that the perpetrators of the crime
exploit the children and most often, it is seen that a known person
commits the crime.
o The Disability of the Child
 The children with disability are most likely to be abused in some form
or the other because of their physical impairment.
 The assistants or even the family members can indulge in abusive
behaviour towards the disabled people and often it is seen that the
disabled children have extreme difficulty in explaining their ordeal to
other people.
 The bitter experience of abuse traumatizes the children to a great
extent7.
6 Risk And Protective Factors For Child Abuse And Neglect (2018) Child Family Community Australia
<https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/risk-and-protective-factors-child-abuse-and-neglect>.
7 Child Protection 'Crisis Worsening' As Concerns Of Abuse And Neglect Continue To Rise (2018) ABC News
<http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-16/child-abuse-concerns-highlighted-in-aihw-report/8359114>.

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o Gender
 The children are prone to some form of abuse or the other, and the girls
in particular, are more susceptible to abuse. The majority of the victims
of abuse are women and the elder males mainly commit the crime8.
8 Helen Davidson and Melissa Davey, Child Sexual Abuse Royal Commission Delivers Final Report – As It
Happened (2018) the Guardian <https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2017/dec/15/child-sexual-
abuse-royal-commission-delivers-final-report-live>.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Australian Child Protection Legislation (2018) Child Family Community Australia
https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/australian-child-protection-legislation
Child Protection 'Crisis Worsening' As Concerns Of Abuse And Neglect Continue To Rise
(2018) ABC News http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-16/child-abuse-concerns-
highlighted-in-aihw-report/8359114
Child Protection Protocol (2018) Education.vic.gov.au
<http://www.education.vic.gov.au/childhood/providers/regulation/Pages/
protectionprotocol.aspx#link43>
Davidson, Helen and Melissa Davey, Child Sexual Abuse Royal Commission Delivers Final
Report – As It Happened (2018) the Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2017/dec/15/child-sexual-abuse-royal-
commission-delivers-final-report-live
Department Of Communities, Child Safety And Disability Services (Queensland Government)
(2018) Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services (Queensland
Government) https://www.communities.qld.gov.au/
Media Coverage Of Traumatic Events: Research On Effects - PTSD: National Center For
PTSD (2018) Ptsd.va.gov <https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/trauma/basics/media-
coverage-traumatic-events.asp>
Risk And Protective Factors For Child Abuse And Neglect (2018) Child Family Community
Australia https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/risk-and-protective-factors-child-abuse-and-
neglect
UN Convention On The Rights Of The Child (UNCRC) - Unicef UK (2018) Unicef UK
https://www.unicef.org.uk/what-we-do/un-convention-child-rights/

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