Management and staff will be trained to ensure that any signs of neglect and abuse are thoroughly investigated, reported and/or referred timeously to the appropriate social service authorities.

Neglect: Is a pattern of failing to provide for a child’s basic needs, endangering a child’s physical and psychological well-being. The end result is a child who is not getting their physical or emotional needs met.

Abuse: Refers to physical, sexual and emotional abuse. Abuse is the ill-treatment of children that will cause physical or emotional harm to the child.

Staff are trained to look for signs of abuse which might include the following signs:

they seem too anxious and withdrawn

they exhibit sudden changes in behaviour or personality and lack concentration

they tend to become aggressive suddenly

they don’t seem to have any friends and don’t possess necessary social skills

they know about adult issues that are not age-appropriate

they are covered in bruises or appear to be in some form of pain

they are continually absent from school or start to perform poorly in their studies

Neglect or abuse might be discovered or disclosed in the following ways:

A child may disclose the abuse

Some else discloses the abuse and relays what a child may have told them or observed the abuse

A child may show signs of physical injury or a sudden change in behaviour

When a staff member suspects or becomes aware of abuse or neglect they will take the following action:

Listen carefully to the person reporting the abuse and take down all the facts

Be respectful and compassionate with the person reporting the abuse

Keep the report confidential except to report it to authorised management immediately

Management will do a thorough investigation and record all the evidence in writing. Evidence recorded will include:

̵Name of child

̵Name of parents

̵Name of person who reported the abuse

̵Details of the incident/neglect/abuse

̵Actions taken

̵Referral parties

Based on the nature of the incident management will make a decision as to whether to report the incident to the relevant social services department.

Management will maintain a list of referral agencies that will be contacted or provided to care givers.

If a child dies while attending, or because of an incident that happened at the ECD centre, a staff member of the centre must immediately report the child’s death to:

̵the care-giver of the child;

̵a police official, who should make sure that the death is investigated if an unnatural cause of death is suspected; and

̵The provincial HSD.

When the provincial HSD receives a report of an incident he or she must arrange for an investigation to be done.