Why are CSOs Good for Children?

This is article two of five that will be released over five days. These articles are for professionals in Australia that work with children and have heard the term ‘child safe organisation’ but are not sure how it applies to them, their sector or the work they do every day to keep children they work with safe. Click here to view article one – What is a Child Safe Organisation?

In Article one ‘What is a Child Safe Organisation? We explained what a CSO is. From now on, we’re going to assume you know what a CSO is. Click the link above if you missed Article One.

Children and young people have a right to be safe and protected from abuse and neglect in all environments. This was referenced in the ‘What is a Child Safe Organisation?’ article. It’s such a basic expectation from parents, that when they leave their children in the care of an institution, they may not even ask, “How is my child kept safe?” There is a basic level of trust, partly derived simply from the ongoing existence of the organisation (after all, if they routinely hurt children, someone would have done something and closed them down, right?), that the people paid to care for and protect children, will not be responsible for causing harm to those children.

Sadly, we know from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, as well as many other Commissions and Inquiries, that this historically has not been the case and is also the case today (Commonwealth of Australia, 2017b).

CSOs are good for children because those organisations place the child at the centre of decision making. Those organisations, when making decisions, ask – “How is this decision in the best interest of children?” More than that though – CSOs value and seek the input of children. CSOs ask the children – “what do you think is best to do here?” They actively engage children in making the decisions that affect them. When they do this, they reinforce to those children that their views and opinions are important, are valuable, are worth listening to and they empower children to have some control over their own lives. They reinforce that children have rights and that children should expect those rights to be respected.

The practice of protection through participation provides unique opportunity for organisations to gain insights they otherwise would not have. One example of this is to be able to address the safety concerns of children. Did you know that adults perceive safety differently to children? (Moore, 2018). In a study focusing on children’s perceptions of safety, which was conducted as part of the Royal Commission, it was found that, “Children and young people are often more concerned about feeling safe than being safe, and believe that adults often dismiss children’s need to feel safe – sometimes in an attempt to keep them safe” (Moore, et al, 2015, p. 29). By engaging children in the process of identifying and mitigating risks, CSOs are better able to respond to the safety concerns of the children they’re meant to be protecting to ensure those children also feel safe.

In studies as part of the Royal Commission, children reported in Moore 2018 (p.4) that they valued participating in their own protection because:

• They recognise that they need assistance to learn to recognise how to identify ‘safe’ and ‘unsafe’ situations

• They’re provided with opportunities to tell adults about what is making them feel unsafe

• They’re able to build relationships with trusted adults that will support them

• It increased their confidence that institutions will act to protect them, and

• It empowers them to be more able to protect themselves and their friends.

It should be stressed however, that even though CSOs promote and teach children skills to help protect themselves from abuse, the responsibility to protect children and young people from abuse and neglect is ALWAYS the responsibility of the adults.

Child abuse and neglect can occur in ANY institution but certain characteristics and factors about institutions may enable opportunities for abuse to occur, go undetected and prevent children from being able to speak about what is happening. (Commonwealth of Australia, 2017a). The Royal Commission identified that “Children are exposed to higher risk of sexual abuse in institutional context where they are not listened to as this can create an environment where it is unsafe for them to disclose abuse” (Commonwealth of Australia, 2017a, p.160). In CSOs, children are listened to, and proactive action is taken to consistently provide opportunity for children to speak about their worries – both big and small. However, only children that are connected to CSOs can experience these opportunities.

“Enabling children and young people to understand, identify and raise their safety concerns with a trusted adult and within safe organisations is vital” (Moore, 2017, p.1). Luckily, engaging children in decision making is not difficult. It can be as simple as asking the children you work with, “what is it about this space that makes you feel safe or unsafe?” and exploring their responses.

If you’d like to learn more Child Safe Organisations, why they’re important, and receive some free actionable advice – stay tuned. Over five days, PCA are publishing five articles explaining different aspects of being a child safe organisation. Find them on LinkedIn, on PCA’s website or on Twitter with the hashtag #CSOin5Days.

References

Commonwealth of Australia. (2017a). Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse: Final Report Volume 2 – Nature and Cause. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia

Commonwealth of Australia. (2017b). Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse: Final Report Volume 6 – Making Institutions Child Safe. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia

Moore, T. (2017). Protection Through Participation: Involving children in child-safe organisations. Child and Family Australia: Melbourne.

Moore, T. (2018). Protective Participation: The Voices of Young People on Safety. Institute of Child Protection Studies, Australian Catholic University: Melbourne. Available at https://www.safeguardingchildren.acu.edu.au/practice_tools

Moore, T., McArthur, M., Noble-Carr, D., & Harcourt, D. (2015) Taking us seriously: children and young people talk about safety and institutional responses to their safety concerns. Institute of Child Protection Studies, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne. Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Sydney.