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Berkshire West Safeguarding Children Partnership (in Wokingham)Procedures Manual

Children with Disabilities

AMENDMENT

In September 2023, this chapter was updated to include information from the UK Social Work Practice in Safeguarding Disabled Children and Young People report.

Contents

  1. Definition
  2. Risks
  3. Indicators
  4. Protection and Action to be Taken
  5. Issues
  6. Law
  7. Further Information
  8. Local Information

1. Definition

Children with a disability are children first and foremost, and deserving of the same rights and protection as other children. By definition, any child with a disability should also be considered as a child in need. A child can be considered to be disabled if he or she has significant problems with learning, communication, comprehension, vision, hearing or physical functioning (Children Act 1989).

2. Risks

Many factors can make a child with a disability more vulnerable to abuse than a non-disabled child of the same age. Safeguarding children with disabilities demands a greater awareness of their vulnerability, individuality and particular needs. It is also important to see the child in the context of the whole family and community supports that are present.

Children with disabilities may be especially vulnerable to abuse for a number of reasons. Some children with disabilities may:

  • Be isolated and have limited contact with others;
  • Receive intimate care from a number of carers, which may increase the risk of exposure to abusive behaviour and make it more difficult to set and maintain physical boundaries;
  • Have an impaired capacity to resist or avoid abuse;
  • Have communication difficulties that may make it difficult to tell others what is happening and no support around their Speech and Language difficulties;
  • Be inhibited about complaining for fear of losing services and/or not aware services are abusive;
  • Be especially vulnerable to bullying and intimidation (see Bullying) and more willing to accept bullying due to lack of recognition of those issues;
  • Be more vulnerable than other children to abuse by their peers.

Attitudes and discrimination can mean that only their disability is seen rather than the full picture.

Additional factors may be:

  • The child's dependence on carers could result in the child having a problem in recognising what is abuse. The child may have little privacy, a poor body image or low self-esteem;
  • Carers and staff may lack the ability to communicate adequately with the child, and may not be trained appropriately to meet the needs of the child;
  • A lack of continuity in care or multi-disciplinary working which leads to an increased risk that behavioural changes may go unnoticed;
  • Lack of access to 'keep safe' strategies available to others and overprotectiveness of carers/services so the child or young person cannot identify what abuse is;
  • Children with disabilities living away from home and the community are not seen daily by others outside of the organisation they live in. This can lead to poorly managed settings and poor care and abuse can occur;such as issues around over-medication, poor feeding regimes, toileting arrangements, issues around control of challenging behaviour, and lack of stimulations and emotional support (see Children Living Away from Home with Other Families);
  • Parents'/carers' own needs and ways of coping may conflict with the needs of the child; pressure on family carers with limited support can be a risk factor for the disabled child;
  • Some adult abusers may target children with disabilities in the belief that they are less likely to be detected evidence indicates a disabled child or young person is less likely to be seen as a reliable witness when they do disclose;
  • Signs and indicators can be inappropriately attributed to disability, such as normalisation or overuse of restraint. Issues around abuse and mental health issues may be ignored or not seen due to the focus on disability;
  • Services do not have the expertise to support a child with disabilities with other needs such as trauma, neglect etc.
  • Children with disabilities are less likely to be consulted in matters affecting them and as a result may feel they have no choice about whether to accept or reject sexual advances.

The UK Social Work Practice in Safeguarding Disabled Children and Young People report details some of the reasons why disabled children and young people are at greater risk and the reasons why, including where gaps in provision exist.

3. Indicators

In addition to the universal indicators of abuse/neglect, the following abusive behaviours must be considered:

  • Force feeding;
  • Unjustified or excessive physical restraint;
  • Rough handling;
  • Extreme behaviour modification including the deprivation of food medication, or clothing;
  • Misuse of medication, sedation, heavy tranquillisation;
  • Invasive procedures against the child's will;
  • Neglect of personal care needs;
  • Deliberate failure to follow medically recommended regimes;
  • Non-compliance with programmes or regimes;
  • Failure to address ill-fitting equipment e.g. callipers, sleep boards which may cause injury or pain, inappropriate splinting;
  • Misappropriation/misuse of a child's finances.

4. Protection and Action to be Taken

People caring for and working with children with disabilities need to be alert to the signs and symptoms of abuse. See Recognising Abuse and Neglect Procedure.

Where there are concerns about a child with disabilities a referral should be made in accordance with the Referrals Procedure.

Children with disabilities should not be left in situations where there is a high level of neglect or other forms of abuse, because a practitioner feels that the parent, carer or service "is doing their best". Carers will need to be challenged in the same way as carers of non-disabled children.

Throughout any Assessment (see Single Assessment Procedure), including a Section 47 Enquiry, all service providers must ensure that they communicate clearly with the child with the disability and the family and with one another as there is likely to be a greater number of services and practitioners involved than for a non-disabled child. All steps must be taken to avoid confusion so that the welfare and protection of the child remains the focus. Where there are communication impairments or learning difficulties, particular attention should be paid to the communications needs of the child to ascertain the child's perception of events and his or her wishes and feelings.

Safeguards for children with disabilities are essentially the same as all other children:

  • Make it common practice to enable children with disabilities to make their wishes and feelings known in respect of their care and treatment;
  • Ensure that children with disabilities receive appropriate personal, health and social education (including sex education);
  • Make sure that all children with disabilities know how to raise concerns and give them access to a range of adults with whom they can communicate. This could mean using interpreters and Speech and Language support using the child's preferred method of communication; it may mean visiting a number of times;
  • Recognise and utilise key sources of support including staff in schools, friends and family members where appropriate;
  • Develop the safe support services that families want, and a culture of openness and joint working with parents and carers on the part of services;
  • Ensure that guidance on good practice is in place and being followed in relation to: intimate care; working with children of the opposite sex; managing behaviour that challenges families and services; issues around consent to treatment; anti-bullying and inclusion strategies; sexuality and safe sexual behaviour among young people; monitoring and challenging placement arrangements for young people living away from home.

5. Issues

Carers are relied upon (whether family or paid carers) as a source of information about children with disabilities and to interpret and explain behaviour or symptoms. Professional staff can potentially feel out of their depth in terms of knowledge of a disabled child's impairment, where the familiar developmental milestones may not apply.

When appropriate, carers will need to be challenged in the same way as carers of non-disabled children.

Where there are communication impairments or learning difficulties, particular attention should be paid to the communications needs of the child to ascertain the child's perception of events and his or her wishes and feelings.

Children's social care and the Police should be aware of non-verbal communication systems and should always access suitable interpreters and facilitators.

Agencies must not make assumptions about the inability of a child with disabilities to give credible evidence, or to withstand the rigours of the Court process.

Each child should be assessed carefully and supported, where relevant to participate in the criminal justice system when this is in their interests as set out in Achieving Best Evidence in Criminal Proceedings: Guidance on Vulnerable and Intimidated Witnesses (Home Office 2011) which includes comprehensive guidance on planning and conducting interviews with children and a specific section about interviewing children with disabilities.

Intermediary support can be provided if a disabled child needs support with communication in court or in a tribunal hearing. Please see the Government website around how to access an intermediary service - HMCTS intermediary services (GOV.UK).

Participation in all forms of meetings such as Child Protection Conferences and Core Groups must be encouraged and facilitated. The use of specialist advocates should be considered.

6. Law

The Children Act 1989 s17(1) creates a general duty on children's services authorities to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are 'in need'. So far as is consistent with this duty, children's services authorities must promote the upbringing of such children by their families.

The definition of 'children in need' is to be found at CA 1989 s17(10), which provides that a child is to be taken as 'in need' if:….

(c) he/she is disabled.

At subsection (11) the definition of 'disabled' for the purposes of CA 1989 Part III is given as follows:

'For the purposes of this Part, a child is disabled if he/she is blind, deaf or dumb or suffers from mental disorder of any kind or is substantially and permanently handicapped by illness, injury or congenital deformity or such other disability as may be prescribed'.




Local Information

To follow.