Children at risk Understanding risk factors

1
Children at riskUnderstanding risk factors
2
Purpose

• This resource provides an opportunity for
  teachers to understand risk factors.
• It is recommended that you allow approximately
  30 minutes to read, reflect and respond to the
  questions.

3
Risk factors

• Risk factors fall into three categories
• environmental, which may include poverty/income,
  parental style, number/quality of parents/carers,
  housing, family circumstances and lifestyle,
  non-English speaking or dual language families,
  rural and remote communities
• physical, which may include diet, nutrition,
  safety, health and neglect
• emotional, which may include verbal abuse,
  resilience, social literacy and psychological
  health.

4
Impact of risk factors

• It is important to note that the presence of one
  or more risk factors is not necessarily
  associated with abuse or neglect.
• Awareness of risk factors can, however, help
  services to build a picture of a situation in
  conjunction with known circumstances,
  observations or disclosures.

5
Strategies to support children at risk

• Ways to identify and respond to potential risks
• analyse existing information
• build relationships with families
• create a local community/client profile
• follow service policy
• communicate with parents/carers.

6
Analyse existing information
Start with the enrolment interview, which is the
first point of contact to begin to develop a
relationship with parents/carers and
children. An enrolment interview provides useful
information such as family structure, family
members occupations and language/s spoken at
home.
7
Build relationships with families

• Creating a supportive environment is a major step
  towards identifying and supporting children and
  families in need.
• Engage in open discussion with parents/carers,
  where appropriate, to invite sharing.

8
Create a local community profile

• Strategies for creating a community/client
  profile might include
• researching support groups available in your
  local community
• considering local community characteristics that
  may impact on children in your Kindergarten
  program.

9

• The sites below have useful information for
  creating a local community profile
• the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI)
  for a national collection of information on
  childrens developmenthttp//ww2.rch.org.au/aedi
  /index.cfm?doc_id13051
• the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for
  additional census datawww.abs.gov.au

10
Consult your service policy about gathering
information on indicators of possible risk.
Follow service policy

• Consider
• how you might record this information
• who you should include in discussions
• what action/s you might take.

11
Consider extra information that may provide
insight into a childs circumstances.
Communicate with parents/carers

• For example
• health, physical issues
• living arrangements
• custody issues
• home language.

12
Reflect
What actions might your service take to raise
awareness of children at risk? How might you
approach issues that arise in a way that is
respectful, professional and involves the
appropriate people to support your actions?
13
Support agencies

• Department of Communities, Child Safety and
  Disability Services www.communities.qld.gov.au/ga
  teway
• Kids Matter www.kidsmatter.edu.au/early-childhood
  
• Child Care Exchange www.childcareexchange.com
• A Guide to Special Child Care Benefit
  http//foi.deewr.gov.au/documents/guide-special-ch
  ild-care-benefit

14
More information

• For more information and resources on
  understanding risk factors please visit
• Office for Early Childhood Education and Care
  http//deta.qld.gov.au/earlychildhood/
• Queensland Studies Authority www.qsa.qld.edu.au/12
  974.html