Child protection

HS12 Medicine administration

Criteria

Medicine (prescription and non-prescription) is not given to a child unless it is given by authorised personnel, in an emergency or as part of the child's treatment as a patient of the hospital.

Rationale/intent

The criterion aims to uphold the health and safety of children by ensuring that medication is not administered inappropriately by services.

Amended 21 July 2011.

Guidance

Adults providing education and care must ensure any medicine given to a child is administered by authorised hospital personnel.

It may be useful for staff to familiarise themselves with the child’s medical requirements so they can be supportive.

Things to consider

Services might consider having policies for what, if any, treatment or medication giving can take place in activity rooms. Some services regard the activity room as an emotionally safe place where no treatment or medications can be given. Other services may consider that, for some children, certain types of medication are a regular part of their life, and therefore should be normalised and the child’s play should not need to be interrupted unnecessarily.

Considerations might vary depending on, for example:

• the age and understanding of the child
• how comfortable/familiar they are with the procedure
• whether or not it is (or will be) a regular, routine part of their daily life for some time to come
• whether other children are present who may be distressed by observing the treatment.

HS13 Child protection

Criteria

There is a written child protection policy that meets the requirements of the Children's Act 2014. The policy contains provisions for the identification and reporting of child abuse and neglect, and information about how the service will keep children safe from abuse and neglect, and how it will respond to suspected child abuse and neglect.

The policy must be reviewed every 3 years.

Documentation required

1. A written child protection policy that contains:
   • provisions for the service’s identification and reporting of child abuse and neglect;
   • information about the practices the service employs to keep children safe from abuse and neglect; and
   • information about how the service will respond to suspected child abuse and neglect.
2. A procedure that sets out how the service will identify and respond to suspected child abuse and/or neglect.

Intent

Child protection policies support children’s workers to identify and respond to vulnerability, including possible abuse and neglect.

Amended 26 February 2016.

Guidance

Services must have a child protection policy that meets the Children's Act 2014 requirements.

The policy must:

• contain provisions on the identification and reporting of neglect and abuse, and
• be written, and
• be reviewed every 3 years.

To be helpful, the policy should contain definitions of neglect and abuse so that staff can apply these consistently when needed.

Services must make the policy and information about its practices available to parents as required by criterion GMA2 Parent access to information.

GMA2 Parent access to information

We’ve published a guide to the help you navigate the child protection policy requirements set out in the Children’s Act 2014.

Documentation guidance

Safer organisations, Safer children

The Safer organisations, Safer children publication provides advice on good practice to help organisations draft high quality child protection policies and review their procedures.

The guidelines include a review tool to help services identify gaps in current policies, information about what to include in a new policy, as well as example policies including a policy used in an early childhood education setting.

Working together guide

The policy needs to be consistent with advice provided by Oranga Tamariki that can be found in the Working together guide – 'Working together to support tamariki, rangatahi and their family/whānau'.

Working together seminars – Oranga Tamariki | Ministry for Children

Service staff require guidelines and opportunities for training to further develop their knowledge and understanding of:

• the signs and symptoms of child abuse and neglect
• roles and responsibilities around record keeping and reporting
• responsibilities to children
• limitations of their role.

Digital child protection resource

The Ministry of Education, alongside Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood New Zealand and Safeguarding Children, have developed a digital child protection resource specifically for the early learning sector. See the instructions below to access the resource.

1. Go to Education Learning Management System at
   training.education.govt.nz
2. Select 'Login with ESL'
3. Select 'Catalogue' from the top menu
4. Search for 'Child Protection'.

In order to access child protection training you are required to have an Education Sector Logon (ESL) as there is a formal acknowledgment of completion. To get an ESL account, please contact your organisation’s ESL Delegated Authoriser.

If you would like to know more about having an Education Sector Login (ESL) to access the Education Learning Management System, refer to:

Education Sector Logon (ESL) – Applications and Online Systems

If you need assistance creating an ESL account, please ring the Education Service Desk on 0800 422 599 or email them to [email protected].

HS14 Inappropriate material

Criteria

All practicable steps are taken to protect children from exposure to inappropriate material (for example, of an explicitly sexual or violent nature).

Rationale/intent

The criterion aims to uphold the safety and wellbeing of children by ensuring that pornographic or violent material (electronic games, DVDs, websites, magazines, and so on) is not available to children.

Guidance

In a hospital, inappropriate material may also include exposure to frightening or inappropriate sights and sounds connected with medical treatment, equipment and procedures. Without skilled staff and sensitive opportunities to ask questions, express fears, and receive explanations, children can misunderstand what is happening and/or become very anxious.

Censor classifications on DVDs and games can be used as a guide, however material should be listened to or previewed to check for suitability before sharing it with children.

What may be regarded as not objectionable under the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act may, nevertheless, be inappropriate and harmful to children given the impact of the medium in which the publication is presented and the age of the children to whom the publication is available.

If there is access to the internet (either for use with the children or in an office) consider password protection and the use of parental locks.

Exposure to objectionable material may occur inadvertently through normal and legitimate searching activities or by unsolicited email delivery.

Play specialists should be aware of safe searching techniques and provide information to children on how to react and deal with unsolicited, inappropriate material.

Things to consider

What kinds of images are children able to see in the surrounding environment as well as in magazines and other print materials available for collage activities (for example ‘sealed sections’ and photo spreads appearing in some women’s magazines)?

Do children have access to the internet when at the service? How can their learning be supported while keeping them safe?

HS15 Alcohol

Criteria

Adults providing education and care must not use, or be under the influence of, alcohol or any other substance that has a detrimental effect on their functioning or behaviour while responsible for children participating in the service.

Rationale/intent

The criterion aims to uphold the safety and wellbeing of children.

Guidance

Hospital-based services will need to consider in advance the steps they would take if any adult providing education and care was found to be under the influence of alcohol or any other substance having a detrimental effect on their functioning or behaviour. This is a staff management issue and appropriate procedures would need to be followed.

The service should follow the hospital’s employment policy on alcohol.

Hospital service staff should be familiar with the hospital’s policy, and know who to take any concerns at possible breaches to.

HS16 Alcohol and other substances at the service

Criteria

All practicable steps are taken to ensure that children do not come into contact with any person on the premises who is under the influence of alcohol or any other substance that has a detrimental effect on their functioning or behaviour.

Rationale/intent

The criterion aims to uphold the safety and wellbeing of children by ensuring children attending the service are not exposed to the risks of persons under the influence of alcohol or other harmful substances.

Guidance

The service must follow the hospital’s policy on alcohol and other substances.

Staff of hospital services should be familiar with the hospital’s policy, and know to whom they should go with any concerns at possible breaches.

It is important for staff to have considered in advance the types of situations that might occur in a hospital-based setting and how these would be handled. For example, staff will need to have considered in advance what they would do in situations such as if a parent or caregiver under the influence of alcohol or any other substance arrives in the activity room.