Protecting children and youth

Child abuse is a serious concern for all Ontarians and everyone should take an active role in reporting suspected abuse and neglect. Although Hastings Children’s Aid Society is the community organization legally mandated to protect children and youth from abuse and neglect, we rely on concerned citizens to be the eyes and ears for children. We’re available 24 hours a day, 7 day a week, 365 days a year when people call out of concern for children or for assistance.

What is abuse?

Child abuse has many faces, and while all abuse hurts, different kinds of abuse can hurt in different ways.

Physical Abuse:

Physical abuse is when a child is injured or harmed by his or her caregiver, or when the caregiver fails to do something to protect the child. Injuries include bruises, cuts, welts, fractures, burns or internal injuries. Physical abuse can be one or two isolated incidents or can occur over a prolonged period of time.

Sexual Abuse:

Sexual abuse is any sexual exploitation of a child by a caregiver, or anyone else, and includes sexual touching, engaging in sexual activity with a child, exposing genitals to a child and incest. In addition to providing protection from sexual abuse, the Child and Family Services Act states that a child is also in need of protection when a caregiver is aware of the possibility of abuse and fails to protect the child.

Emotional Abuse:

Emotional abuse happens when a caregiver treats a child in an extremely negative way that damages self esteem and the concept of “self”. This type of behaviour might include constant yelling, demeaning remarks, rejection or isolation or exposing a child to domestic violence.

Neglect:

Most parents and caregivers don’t intend to neglect their children. Instead, neglect is usually the result of ignorance about parenting and an inability to plan ahead. Neglect is when a caregiver fails to provide a child’s basic needs like food, sleep, safety, supervision or appropriate clothing or medial treatment on a consistent basis. Neglect also occurs when a child has a medical, psychological or development condition that requires services or treatment and the person having charge of the child does not provide these services or treatment.

Abandonment/Separation:

Abandonment or separation is when a child has been abandoned, when a child’s parent has died or when the parent is unavailable to exercise his or her custodial rights over a child and has not made adequate provision for the child’s care and custody. It also occurs when a child is in residential placement and the parent refuses or is unable or unwilling to resume the child’s care and custody.

Caregiver Capacity:

Caregiver capacity is when no harm has come to a child and no evidence is apparent that a child may be in need of intervention but the caregiver demonstrates, or has demonstrated in the past, characteristics that indicate the child would be a risk of harm without intervention. These characteristics can include a history of abusing/neglecting a child, being unable to protect a child from harm, problems such as drug or alcohol abuse, mental health issues or limited care giving skills.

Signs of abuse

Here are some of the most common signs of abuse. The signs and indicators of abuse and neglect may include, but are not limited to those that follow. It is important to realize that the presence of any one indicator is not conclusive proof that a child has been abused. In most instances, abused children will exhibit a number of behavioural and physical indicators.

Neglect

Behavioural indicators

• Pale, listless, unkempt
• Frequent absences from school
• Inappropriate clothing for the weather, dirty clothes
• Engaged in delinquent acts, alcohol/drug abuse
• Frequently forgets lunch

Physical indicators

• Poor hygiene
• Unattended physical problems or medial needs, e.g. dental work, glasses
• Consistent lack of supervision
• Unsafe or hazardous living environment

Physical Abuse

Behavioural indicators

• Cannot recall how injuries occurred or offers an inconsistent explanation
• Wary of adults
• May cringe or flinch if touched unexpectedly
• Infants may display a vacant stare
• Extremely aggressive or extremely withdrawn
• Indiscriminately seeks affection
• Extremely compliant and/or eager to please

Physical indicators

• Injuries that are not consistent with explanation
• Presence of several injuries that are in various stages of healing
• Presence of various injuries over a period of time
• Facial injuries in infants and preschool children
• Injuries inconsistent with the child’s age and developmental phase

Emotional Abuse

Behavioural indicators

• Severe depression
• Extreme withdrawal or aggressiveness
• Overly compliant, too well mannered, too neat or clean
• Extreme attention seeking
• Displays extreme inhibition in play

Physical indicators

• Bed wetting that is non-medical in origin
• Frequent psychosomatic complaints, headaches, nausea, abdominal pains
• Child fails to thrive

Sexual abuse

Behavioural indicators

• Age inappropriate play of a sexual nature with toys, self or others
• Age inappropriate sexually explicit drawing and/or descriptions
• Bizarre, sophisticated or unusual sexual knowledge
• Prostitution
• Seductive behaviours

Physical indicators

• Unusual or excessive itching in the genital or anal area
• Torn, stained or bloody underwear (may be observed if the child needs bathroom assistance)
• Pregnancy
• Injuries to the genital or anal areas, e.g. bruising, swelling or infection
• Venereal disease

How it happens

Abuse and neglect of a child can happen in two ways – in acts of commission (doing something to a child) and in acts of omission (not doing something for a child).

An act of commission is specifically when a parent or caregiver harms or is likely to harm a child. For example, striking a child or sexually molesting a child is an act of commission.

An act of abuse or neglect through omission results from a caregiver not taking action to protect a child. For example, allowing a small child to play near a busy street unsupervised or allowing a known sexual offender to be alone with your child could be acts of omission.

Why it happens

There are many factors contributing to child abuse and neglect and many reasons why children come into the care of Hastings Children’s Aid Society. Sometimes parents need help in identifying abusive patterns and learning techniques that can keep children safe at home. Other times, parents request assistance due to social and economic factors beyond their control.

Poverty

As front-line service providers with the legal responsibility to protect children from abuse and neglect, Hastings Children’s Aid knows, first-hand, the impact of economic uncertainty, plant closures, job loss and family stress on the well-being of children and youth. While poverty, on its own, does not result in child abuse and neglect, research clearly identifies a link between poverty and child abuse, mental health issues and woman abuse.

Source: Campaign 2000, Report On Child Poverty, 2008

Domestic Violence

Between 1991 and 2003 in Ontario, there was a 31 percent increase in substantiated reports of child abuse where exposure to domestic violence was the reason for the call. Source: Schumacher and Golden, Research Update: The 2008 Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse & Neglected; OACAS Journal Volume 52, Number 2, Summer 2009

Substance Abuse

Child abuse or neglect and substance abuse are very closely related. It is estimated that 40 to 80 percent of the three million children who come to the attention of the child welfare systems in Canada each year live in families with addiction problems, according to numerous surveys of child welfare agencies nationwide*. Approximately one million of these children are confirmed to be abused or neglected. **When parents are substance abusers, it more than doubles the risk of exposure to both childhood physical and sexual abuse.

*Source: Walsh, MacMillan, and Jamieson, E. The Relationship between Parental Sustance Abuse and Child Maltreatment: Findings from the Ontario Health Supplement. Child Abuse & Neglect: The International Journal December 2003, 27 (12)p. 1409-1425

**Source: Ibid

Mental Health

Mental health issues are prevalent in 23 percent of mothers and 14 percent of fathers in cases of substantiated child abuse where they are the abusers*. Funding support for mental health and addictions remains low. There are half a million children and youth in Ontario with mental health problems who may suffer from conditions including depression, anxiety, bullying or an eating disorder.

*Source: Ontario Incidence Study; 2003

How to report abuse

Child abuse is everyone’s responsibility and we need everyone’s help to protect children by reporting cases of suspected child abuse. It’s the right thing to do, morally and legally. Under Section 72 of the Child and Family Services Act, everyone is obligated to report their suspicions.

You don’t need to be sure. If you suspect that a child is being abused, call Hastings Children’s Aid Society right away. We will act immediately on your call and take the appropriate next steps. We are available 24-hours a day to talk about your concerns, and the information you give us, including your identity, will remain confidential when possible.

What happens when I call?

When you call with a question or concern for a child’s well-being, your call will be put through to a trained child protection worker. The worker will ask for some basic information including the child’s name, age and whereabouts, and why you are worried about the child’s safety.

The worker may ask you to identify yourself, but for non-professionals, like a neighbour or friend, this is not required. Professionals who work with children, such as teachers and doctors, are required by law to identify themselves.

The worker will determine if there is a child welfare issue and if there is, will investigate to decide if the child is at risk and needs to be protected by Hastings CAS or is in need of additional community services.

If you suspect a child is being abused or have protection concerns about a child, go to www.useyourvoice.ca or please contact us.

What happens during an investigation?

To begin the investigation, the worker may interview the child, family members or others who are involved to determine if abuse has occurred or if the child is at risk of being abused.

If the child is not at risk, the investigation is then complete and the worker may refer the child and family to community agencies for further support.

If the abuse is substantiated, the worker will plan a strategy to ensure the child is safe and the family gets the help it needs.

While in most cases the family remains together while working with Hastings Children’s Aid Society, it is sometimes necessary to remove children from their family and place them with other family members or foster parents. In most cases, however, we provide guidance and counseling and work with other community agencies to ensure a family receives the support it needs to adequately care for their children.

For more information about your duty to report go to www.useyourvoice.ca or please contact.