What is Child Protection?

WHAT HAPPENS If A CHILD MAKES A DISCLOSURE?

If a child discloses abuse to an agency like the police, School, Birmingham Women’s Aid, Hospital/Doctors etc they can not keep the disclosure to themselves as they have a duty to keeping children safe. All these agencies and many more are bound by the Children Act 1989 to inform social services to ensure that the child/ren are not at risk or in any danger.

However all agencies have set procedures that they follow and listed below is how they may respond to a child’s disclosure.

• Listen carefully and believe the child
• Reassure the child that they are not to blame for the abuse
• Explain that they cannot maintain confidentiality as the child may be at risk
• Fill out an incident form immediately
• Discuss the disclosure with another relevant member of staff
• Where possible they should keep the child informed as to the procedures that are being followed
• They should tell the mother/carer if possible, and they should encourage that she makes a referral to social services herself; if this is not possible then they should make a referral.

At Birmingham Women’s Aid we believe that the best way to support a child is to support the mother.

If you work with children and young people you can look at the good practice guidelines of working with children who are affected by domestic violence. The guidelines have been developed in partnership with South Birmingham Domestic Violence Forum.