Child protection kawa

Definitions⁴ of terms used for the purpose of this kawaClosekawa
PoliciesView the full glossary are outlined below.

Child Abuse 
Defined in the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 as the “the harming (whether physically, emotionally, or sexually), ill-treatment, abuse, neglect or deprivation of any child or young person.” 

Child/children 
For the purpose of this kawa, any child/children under the age of 18 years who are not married or in a civil union.

Disclosure 
Information given to the Monitor’s staff by the child in relation to abuse or neglect.

Emotional Abuse 
Any act or omission that results in adverse or impaired psychological, social, intellectual and emotional functioning or development.

 It can include a pattern of criticising, rejecting, degrading, ignoring, isolating, corrupting, exploiting and terrorising a child. It may result from exposure to family violence or involvement in illegal or anti-social activities. 
Emotional abuse is almost always present when other forms of abuse occur.

The effects of this form of abuse are not always immediate or visible. The long-lasting effects of emotional abuse may only become evident as a child becomes older and begins to show difficult or disturbing behaviours or symptoms.

Neglect 
Neglect is a pattern of behaviour which occurs over a period of time and results in impaired functioning or development of a child or young person. It is the failure to provide for a child’s basic needs. 
 Neglect may be: 

• medical – failure to seek, obtain or follow through with medical care for the child or young person
• abandonment – leaving a child or young person in any situation without arranging necessary care for them and with no intention of returning
• neglectful supervision – failure to provide developmentally appropriate or legally required supervision
• refusal to assume parental responsibility – unwillingness or inability to provide appropriate care for a child or young person.

Physical Abuse
Physical abuse includes any acts that may result in physical harm to a child or young person. It can be, but is not limited to punching, beating, kicking, shaking, biting, burning or throwing the child. Physical abuse may also result from excessive or inappropriate discipline or violence within the family and is considered abuse regardless of whether or not it was intended to hurt the child. Physical abuse may be the result of a single episode or of a series of episodes.

Injuries to a child may vary in severity and range from minor bruising, burns, welts or bite marks, major fractures of the long bones or skull, to its most extreme form, the death of a child.

Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse includes acts or behaviours where an adult, older or more powerful person uses a child or young person for a sexual purpose. While it may involve a stranger, most sexual abuse is perpetrated by someone the child knows and trusts.

It includes any acts that involve forcing or enticing a child to take part in sexual activities, whether or not they are aware of what is happening. Sexual abuse includes, but is not limited to, any touching for sexual purpose, fondling of breasts, buttocks, genitals, oral sex, sexual intercourse, an adult exposing themselves to the child or young person, or seeking to have a child touch them for a sexual purpose. It also includes non-contact abuse, such as voyeurism, photographing children or young people inappropriately, involving the child or young person in pornographic activities or prostitution or using the internet and phone to initiate sexual conversations with children or young people.

The link between family violence⁵ and child abuse
The emotional, psychological and physical wellbeing of tamarikiClosetamariki
Children (plural) aged 0-13 yearsView the full glossary can be impacted when they're exposed to family violence. Given the link between family violence and child abuse, it is also important we understand the definition of family violence and its application under the Family Violence Act 2018. Disclosure of family violence may also reveal an adult at risk – discuss this with your manager if this is the case.

Family violence has been defined by the NZ Family Violence Clearinghouse⁶ as violence and abuse against any person whom that person is, or has been, in a domestic relationship with. This can include sibling against sibling, child against adult, adult against child and violence by an intimate partner against the other partner.

It is also beneficial to be aware of the definition of psychological abuse under the Family Violence Act 2018:

• Section 11, Family Violence Act 2018 defines a person is psychologically abusing a child if that person;
  • a) causes or allows the child to see or hear the physical, sexual, or psychological abuse of a person with whom the child has a family relationship; or
  • b) puts the child, or allows the child to be put, at real risk of seeing or hearing that abuse occurring.

Aroturuki TamarikiCloseTamariki
Children (plural) aged 0-13 yearsView the full glossary has reporting obligations under the Oversight of the Oranga Tamariki System Act 2022 and under the Oversight of the Oranga Tamariki System Regulations 2023:

Section 55, Oversight of the Oranga Tamariki System Act 2022: The Monitor must notify the person (or persons) prescribed by regulations made under section 57(1)(a) if the Monitor becomes aware of any non-compliance with the national care standard regulations or any other matter that places a child or young person in care or custody at immediate risk of suffering, or being likely to suffer, serious harm.

Regulation 5, Oversight of the Oranga Tamariki System Regulations 2023:

• (1) For the purposes of section 55 of the Act, the Monitor must notify the following persons if they become aware of any non-compliance with national care standards regulations or any other matter that places a child or young person in care or custody at immediate risk of suffering, or being likely to suffer, serious harm:
  • (a) the chief executive of Oranga Tamariki; and
  • (b) a constable.

See section 14AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 which provides that a child or young person suffers, or is likely to suffer, serious harm—

• (a) in the circumstances described in subsection (1) of that section; or
• (b) having regard to the circumstances in subsection (2) of that section.

Under this kawaClosekawa
PoliciesView the full glossary, we have three potential pathways to follow when determining our response to a concern. The pathway we follow will be determined after consultation with the visit manager.

The pathways are when:

1. A child is in immediate danger
2. A child is not in immediate danger
3. We have worries that do not require a report of concern to Oranga Tamariki or contact with Police, however they do need to be brought to the attention of the relevant local site or agency.

Sometimes during a conversation, with either a child or an adult, we may hear some information that is of concern. If you hear something that worries you, once the conversation has ended, contact your manager to discuss your concerns. If your concerns are raised during a monitoring visit, contact the visit monitoring manager.

Follow the indicators in this kawa to help determine whether the concerns are a report of concern or information that needs to be provided to the agency providing the care of the child or young person as well as the agency who may have custody, if they are different. Once a decision is made as to the course of action, follow the steps in the tables below.

After consulting with the manager and there is a belief the child is in immediate danger, contact the Police. We make sure the child knows what is happening and why, and that they are with a safe person while this is happening. Where there is a Connector for an engagement, let them know what steps you are taking. A report of concern is also required to be made to Oranga Tamariki.

We are obligated to notify Police and Oranga Tamariki if we make a report of concern about a child in care however, now we monitor across the whole Oranga Tamariki Act we may hear disclosures or concerns about children who are not in care. When a disclosure or concern is about a child who is not in care, discuss with the visit Manager the appropriate pathway:

• a report of concern, or
• information that the agency needs to know about the young person.

If it is a report of concern, discuss with the visit Manager whether to notify the Police and Oranga Tamariki directly, or if the decision to refer to Police sits better with Oranga Tamariki.

When a child makes a disclosure, or we are concerned that a child may be subject to abuse or neglect, it is important that any information is recorded accurately and promptly on our Concerns for a child or young person form. It is also important that any additional information is kept secure in SharePoint.

Confidentiality and information sharing

We follow our privacy principles to ensure that only selected staff, who need access to documentation relating to disclosures or suspected abuse, can access them. We follow our Information Rules and Code of Ethics in how we collect, handle and share information related to disclosures.

When we provide information to external agencies (for example, Police or Oranga Tamariki), we do so by sharing the minimum amount of information necessary to address the risk of harm. Read more about our privacy policies here.

If we make a report of concern and are not advised of the outcome by Oranga Tamariki, we may choose to follow this up. The Policy, Practice and Performance team member assigned the report of concern will contact the Oranga Tamariki relationship manager.

For further information on identifying and reporting serious concerns see Oranga Tamariki - Working Together Guide (2021) (PDF 2.1MB)

Steps for recording and notifying child abuse or neglect when you believe the child is in immediate danger:

1. Decision making for next steps
   • Immediately discuss your initial concerns with the visit monitoring manager to determine next steps.
   • If you are unable to make contact with your visit manager, contact another manager in their absence and explain you have been unable to make contact with the visit manager.
   • The visit manager (or their delegate) is to advise the Chief Monitor of the disclosure or concerns.
   • The visit manager (or their delegate) is to advise the Manager, Policy, Performance and Practice (PPP), who assigns it to a member of the PPP team to manage the information, including recording it in the Referral and Complaints register and allocating a unique identifier number for tracking purposes.
   • When making a decision, determine who will be responsible for what actions and agree timeframes for completing those actions.
     
     
2. Contact the Police
   • If the child is in immediate danger, and the child is in care, the information must be provided to the Police as soon as possible on the same day that the disclosure was made.
   • If the child is in immediate danger and is not in care, discuss with the visit manager whether to contact the police and Oranga Tamariki or whether that decision to refer to Police bests sits with Oranga Tamariki.
     
     
3. Recording
   As soon as possible, formally record in writing what happened or what was said using our Concerns for a child or young person form This is a living record and will be added to as any further actions are taken.
   
   Make sure you record the following:
   • anything said by the child
   • the date, time, location, who else was present and the names of anyone that may be relevant
   • the factual concerns or observations that have led to the suspicion of abuse or neglect (e.g. any physical, behavioural or developmental concerns)
   • any action taken at the time by Aroturuki TamarikiCloseTamariki
     Children (plural) aged 0-13 yearsView the full glossary- this can include any internal or conversations to discuss steps. 
     Note: if we deemed the child to be in immediate danger and we called the police, we record this and what their action was
   • any other information that may be relevant.
     
     
4. Notifying Oranga Tamariki and/or an Approved Organisation
   

   The PPP team member notifies the Oranga Tamariki National Contact Centre on the same working day that they Police were contacted.

   Phone Oranga Tamariki: 0508 326 459

   If the concern arose during monitoring visits the visit manager will contact the relevant agency relationship manager/manager as a matter of urgency (the same working day) and advise of the concern and any action taken.

   The visit manager also advises the person who supported the engagement with the tamariki or rangatahiCloserangatahi
   Young person aged 14 – 21 years of ageView the full glossary on the same working day. Advise them of the concerns and what action we have taken. Which staff member/s contacts this person is determined during step 1 (decision making). It may be that the connector is the first person we talk with as they may have been present or near at the time of the disclosure.

5. Storing relevant information
   We store all documentation relating to a disclosure in Sharepoint and delete all the files off laptops once documents have been uploaded. Files will be uploaded to Sharepoint and deleted from laptops within 24 hours of the National Contact Centre being contacted. As the Sharepoint folder is only accessible to selected staff members for privacy reasons, documentation is stored in Sharepoint by the visit manager. The following information must be recorded and stored:
   • the record of the concern
   • a record of any related discussions after the disclosure, (including copies of correspondence, where appropriate)
   • a record of any people or agencies that were contacted and advised of the concern (e.g., Oranga Tamariki social worker, relationship manager, connector).
   • a record of any advice received (including copies of correspondence, where appropriate)
   • the action taken by any relevant organisation/s including any rationale.
   The allocated member of the PPP records on the Referral register when our reporting obligations have been met and the process is considered closed.

For example, when we hear concerns of self-harm, instances of bullying at school, or that a child has no clothing.

Decision-making and actions to consider

• Discuss your initial concerns with the visit manager to determine next steps
• the visit manager (or their delegate) is to advise the Chief Monitor of the concerns
• the visit manager (or their delegate) is to advise the Manager Advisor, Policy, Performance and Practice (PPP), who assigns it to a member of the PPP team to manage the concern, including recording it in the Referral and Complaints register and allocating a unique identifier number for tracking purposes
• if appropriate, we may decide to discuss our concerns with the Oranga Tamariki social worker and/or site manager– this is to occur as soon as possible within two working days from the conversation
• if appropriate, we may decide to discuss our concerns with the connector – this is to occur as soon as possible within two working days from the conversation
• if appropriate, we may decide to provide the social worker/site manager, and the connector with a written summary of the concerns
• concerns being shared with an agency/site manager/social worker are put in writing and emailed so we have a record of communications. Concerns are also to be shared in writing within five working days
• determine who will be responsible for what actions and agree timeframes for completing those actions.

Recording

Formally record in writing what happened or what was said as soon as you can after the conversation. This is a living record and will be added to as any further actions are taken. Make sure you record the following:

• anything said by the child
• the date, time, location, who else was present and the names of anyone that may be relevant
• the factual concerns or observations that have led to your concerns
• any action taken at the time by the Monitor- this can include any internal huiClosehui
  Meeting, gatheringView the full glossary or conversations to discuss steps. Any other information that may be relevant.

Share this record with the visit manager and the PPP team member who will update relevant details (e.g., dates and status) on the [Referral and Complaints register] against the unique identifier number. For privacy reasons, only relevant de-identified information is to be recorded on the register.

Advising Oranga Tamariki/ Agency national office

If we have decided it is appropriate to discuss concerns with the social worker and/or site manager in Step One, the PPP team member will contact the relevant relationship manager/manager of the agency and let them know of the concern and action taken. This will occur within five working days.

Storing relevant information

We store all documentation relating to a concern in Objective, and we delete all the files off our laptops once documents have been uploaded. Files will be uploaded to SharePoint and deleted from laptops within 24 hours of any external parties (e.g., agency social worker or a connector) being advised in writing of the concern. As the SharePoint folder is only accessible to selected staff members for privacy reasons, documentation will need to be stored in SharePoint by the visit manager. The following information must be recorded and stored:

• the record of the concern
• a record of any related discussions after the concern arose, (including copies of correspondence, where appropriate)
• a record of any external parties that were contacted and advised of the concern (e.g., Oranga Tamariki social worker, relationship manager, connector). Copies of all written communication emailed are also saved.
• a record of any advice received (including copies of correspondence, where appropriate)
• the action taken by any relevant organisation/s including any rationale.

The PPP team member records on the Referral register when our reporting obligations have been met and the process is considered closed.