Child Protection Principles and Policies

CHILD PROTECT ON PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES

Thought Leadership from Collaborate

Collaborate A FORUM FOR GLOBAL LEADERS

CAFO Collaborate workshops initiate conversations about effective care for orphans and vulnerable children within developing local church and NGO networks around the world.

These workshops generate ideas to: • creatively share information • involve more churches and individuals, • equip local churches for more effective care of vulnerable children in their communities.

Due to COVID-19, Collaborate 2020 moved to a virtual format. In July 2020, over 50 global leaders from 30 nations brainstormed about creating and implementing Child Protection Policies in their cultural context. This publication is a summary of those discussions.

God is vested, deeply and personally, in the plight of orphaned and vulnerable children—and in all who are destitute and defenseless (Deuteronomy 10:18; Psalm 10:14; Psalm 68:5-6, Isaiah 58:5-12). God calls His people to reflect His special love for these children in both word and deed (Isaiah 1:17; James 1:27; Matthew 25:40). Our world today is home to millions of orphans and vulnerable children. These children are at increased risk of exploitation and abuse.

As leaders of programs caring for vulnerable children and families, protecting children and vulnerable adults needs to be at the center of all we do. The goal is to infuse our programs, staff, and stakeholders with knowledge of what to look for and how to

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respond in order to protect children and vulnerable adults.

Children outside parental care are without the natural love and protection that comes from being part of a healthy family. This leaves them vulnerable to maltreatment.

We have the opportunity to play a significant role in protecting them. Further, as we interact with children and families, we need to ensure our programs are not introducing risk of harm. This requires humility, self-reflection, and the willingness to invest the time and resources required to properly care for children and vulnerable adults impacted by our programs.

Collaborate leaders discussed reasons churches and NGOs should create and maintain active child protection policies. They also identified key stakeholders within their cultures who have the influence and power to adopt and implement strong child protection policies. Lastly, leaders discussed methods to train NGOs and churches on the methods and principles of child protection.

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WHAT IS CHILD PROTECTION? Child protection includes all measures taken to prevent and respond to abuse, neglect, exploitation, and all other forms of violence against children.

Foundational principles of child protection include a child-rights based approach, ownership, consultation, confidentiality, transparency, and sensitivity.

Child rights-based approach

Consultation

Transparency

Ownership

CHILD PROTECTION

Confidentiality

Sensitivity

Safeguarding includes guidelines, protocols, and practices put into place to protect beneficiaries served by preventing, reporting and responding to harm or abuse.

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WHY DEVELOP CHILD PROTECTION POLICIES? WHY IMPLEMENT? Collaborate leaders identified five areas of responsibility which provide a framework for the “why” of child protection and implementation of child protection policies.

Felt Safety First and foremost children must have both real and perceived safety. As a fundamental human need, safety is key to positive child development and attachment. Essentially, if children don’t feel safe, they will not grow and develop properly. By providing clear guidelines for child protection and empowering children with the knowledge of their rights, organizations can aid in helping children feel safe in their interactions with adults.

Self Actualization

Esteem

Love/ Belonging

Safety

Physiological

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Growth Creativity Development Love Belonging Inclusion

Self-Esteem Respect Strength

Safety Security

Food Water Warmth Rest

Ethical Responsibility It is the ethical responsibility of adults working with children to help prevent violence towards children. We are called to be a voice for the voiceless and a defender of the vulnerable. It is of of utmost importance that child welfare workers, pastors, educators, healthcare workers, volunteers and others working with children are held to the highest standards of ethical responsibility in regards to children.

Educational Responsibility It is the educational responsibility of organizations to create self awareness in their staff and volunteers who work with children. Training and education on child protection principles and policies as well as standardized processes and procedures for responding to a child protection concern can help ensure children are kept safe.

Personal/Professional Responsibility It is the primary responsibility of organizations to keep children safe. Secondarily, it is the professional responsibility of organizations to safeguard employees and volunteers against false claims through effective child protection policies. If a child protection policy is clearly outlined and implemented, claims may be quickly investigated.

Legal Responsibility Child protection policies help ensure compliance with local laws. Many governments have laws relating to child protection and how children should be supervised when outside of parental care. To help ensure compliance with the law, organizations should form comprehensive policies and provide training to employees and volunteers working within the organization.

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WHO SHOULD WE INSPIRE TO NOT ONLY CHANGE POLICIES, BUT TO ALSO IMPLEMENT THE CHANGED POLICIES? Collaborate leaders identified nine stakeholders to be inspired to create and implement policy.

Churches and Church Leadership First and foremost, support for child protection should come from the church. Church leaders and elders should champion the creation of child protection policies as they seek to reflect the love of God for children. As such, churches should be above reproach in their protection of children - creating, implementing, and reviewing child protection policies to safeguard the children with whom they work.

NGOs NGOs who are involved in the care of vulnerable children should have policies to protect the children. These policies guide the organization in appropriate interaction with children, safeguarding, and appropriate reporting practices. It is important that NGOs serving children in any particular area work together to create policies.

Collaboration is key, as we are better together!

Police Police should be aware of child protection principles. Organizations, churches, and schools should have a readily available copy of their policy to give to police in the case of any misconduct among staff that would require formal reporting to law

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enforcement. Child protection officers should work closely with police in creating and implementing child protection policies as the police are responsible for enforcing child abuse and neglect laws.

Healthcare Workers Healthcare workers serving on the front lines are in an excellent position to implement child protection. As key stakeholders, they should be well versed in child protection and ready to include social workers and law enforcement in the implementation of child protection when they observe questionable injury or behavior in a child or adolescent.

Traditional Leaders Traditional leaders such as cultural kings and local councils hold great influence in their communities. In many instances, they also serve as law enforcement for local villages, thus they should be well versed in child protection principles and policies.

Government Government entities should be involved in both the creation and implementation of child protection policy. Working together with experts in child welfare, they may effectively craft legislation to protect children.

Social Workers Social workers are highly trained and highly skilled in child welfare and child protection principles. They, much like healthcare workers, serve on the front lines in child protection. They should serve as consultants in the development of child protection policies in organizations and government.

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Schools Schools should have thorough child protection policies that are well understood by administration, staff, teachers, and students alike. Policies in schools safeguard students and educators alike.

Children Children are the primary stakeholders in child protection as they are the benefactors of these policies. Children should be involved in the process of policy creation when content can be presented in an age-appropriate way. Children should be aware of their rights and processes for reporting inappropriate behavior to safe adults.

In every case, Child Protection Policies should be reviewed and revised often to keep up with best practices in child welfare and adapted to best serve the needs of children in each stakeholder’s unique circumstances. As one may see, each stakeholder should work with others in the creation and implementation of policies. No stakeholder stands alone on an island; rather the child welfare community as a whole should work together to ensure children are safe, loved and protected.

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HOW SHOULD CHILD PROTECTION PRINCIPLES BE SHARED SO THEY ARE UNDERSTOOD AND APPLIED APPROPRIATELY WITHIN EACH CULTURAL CONTEXT? Collaborate leaders identified four strategies for training and equipping organizations and individuals on the principles of child protection.

Develop and Implement a Plan for Evaluation When working with a topic as important as child protection, evaluation of training practices is key. Trainees may be evaluated using a variety of methods to assess their knowledge and ability to implement child protection policies.

Build a Network of Trainers A network of local trainers is needed to capacitate organizations, schools and churches in communities. This should be a diverse group, so trainers could be assigned to work with groups with whom the trainer is culturally relevant. It is important to have trainers who can communicate in a variety of settings. Each trainer should be grounded and well educated in child protection so that they may effectively train others.

Train Via Virtual Platforms With ever increasing globalization, virtual platforms such as Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and others create wonderful opportunities for training. No longer does training have to be face to face; training can take place virtually and include trainers/facilitators who may not even live locally. Virtual platforms also allow for

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training to continue when it may not be safe to do so in a face-to-face setting.

Identify Champions Networks may identify champions or special advocates by region or church who may effectively train in their own culture or “space.” By training local champions, child protection policies may be more greatly diffused throughout communities and cultures.

Sources: This document was created in collaboration with the following organizations, CAFO Global Network CAFO Research Center CERI Related Resources: Link to Child Protection Training Module webpage » Child Protection ecourse (2 training hours) [English »] [Spanish »] Child Protection Training Module PDF [English »] [Spanish »]

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