Assignment task:
Review the Little Catalysts ELC Privacy and Confidentiality Policy. Describe how documents should be kept after making a mandatory report on suspected child abuse? (Approximately 50 words)
Scenario: CONTENT WARNING: The following scenario describes an instance of suspected child abuse.
You have some concerns about one of the children in your room at Little Catalysts ELC. Ten-month-old, Natha Lauder, lives with her mother, Liza Roacher. She started at your service a few months ago and always arrives very early in the morning, usually just after opening at 6am and is often the last to leave, at around 6pm.
Today you started on an early shift and when Natha was brought in she had matted hair and smelled strongly of cigarette smoke. She was wearing a stained onesie and Liza explained that she had just woken her to come to the service, so she hadn't had a chance to dress her or give her any breakfast.
You have often seen Natha wearing stained, food covered onesies and had thought that this must happen from when she eats breakfast. When you looked in her bag, you found two more stained and food covered onesies, a jumper that looks too small for Natha, two clean nappies, two dirty bottles and a tin of formula that's nearly empty that had a note on the top asking that you use the formula up and then use cow's milk for the rest of her bottles.
You noticed that Natha seems a little small for her age and that she always has a green-runny nose and a cough but has not been on any medications at the service. When you hold her, she is often a little cold to touch, and you've often used spare singlets and socks from the service to add some extra layers to warm her up.
When your room leader arrives for her shift, you have a chat with her about your concerns for Natha and she explains, "I can see why you have some concerns and I have thought about reporting her as being at risk of harm, but we haven't seen any bruises or anything like that to show abuse and Liza is so nice. She's just struggling as a single parent. She hasn't even been able to find a job yet, so she has enough to worry about. It's a good thing that she drops Natha off here so we can care for her."