Title : Identifying and responding to child abuse and neglect

The objective of this presentation is to develop attendees’ knowledge and skills in identifying and responding to children and young people who have been abused or neglected in their family or by a trusted member of the household/community.

Children and young people presenting with signs, symptoms and concerns about child abuse and neglect (CAN) will have also suffered emotional abuse in addition to being physically or sexually abused and/or neglected. The presentation will begin by describing the signs and symptoms of different types of abuse or neglect, recognising that children may present with one or more type at the same time. Signs and symptoms may have been noticed by family members, professionals working with child child/and or family or during a mental health assessment. The child or young person themselves may also voice their concerns and ask for help.

The presentation will then focus on responding appropriately to these concerns within the legal framework for the protection of children from harm and promoting their safety and wellbeing. These responses will be sensitive to the age and stage of development and address the complexity and heterogeneity of children’s abusive and/or neglectful experiences. A framework for assessing the needs of the children and young people, and their parents’ capacities to respond to these within their family and environmental context will be described as part of this response process. The presentation will also discuss issues of consent and confidentiality that arise when there are concerns about a child or young person being abused or neglected.

The presentation will use experiential learning and video demonstrations to facilitate participants’ experiences. It will draw on the trainers’ experiences in a range of different countries.

In conclusion, the presentation will:

• provide a means of recognising the signs and symptoms of abused or neglect in children and young people
• enable professionals to know how to respond to concerns that children have or may be being abused or neglected within their own cultural, religious and linguistic context
• help non-abusing parents/caregivers to support their child.

Jenny Gray OBE is a Social Work Consultant and Expert Witness in Child Welfare litigation specialising in child protection. She holds a BSc from Otago University, and Post-Graduate Diplomas in Social Work (Canterbury University), Family Therapy (IFT, London) and Teaching and Curriculum Design (IOE, London). She was the child protection policy adviser for the British Government for over 20 years, has worked with the governments internationally, WHO, EU and Council of Europe primarily on child protection initiatives and published on child welfare. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Child and Family Training.