CHCPRT001 - Scenario: Chris - Child Protection

[EarthAngel]

Scenario

Chris is a 5 year old boy who attends the local children’s service. Chris has a good relationship with both the staff and his peers and has been attending the service for many months. He is usually very cooperative and socially out-going at the service and likes to participate in most activities.
After the last school holidays, staff notice a number of significant changes in Chris’s behaviour. He has become aggressive and picks fights with his peer and is also aggressive towards the male staff member. He has started swearing and while he used to enjoy interacting with a range of other children, he is now mostly alone.
Chris has started wearing jumpers and long pants even on warmer days and refuses to get changed even when he shows signs of being overheated. When encouraged by staff to take off his jumper Chris tells staff he has been told he’s not allowed to take it off. After further discussion and insistence by the staff because he is clearly too hot, Chris agrees to take the jumper off and as he does this his shirt lifts as well, revealing a mass of red welts and recent scarring. Chris says, “He told me not to take off my jumper, will I get into trouble now?”

Question 11
Describe how you would respond to this situation immediately after Chris makes the last comment to you from the scenario above. Include three (3) things you would say (key messages) and three (3) things you would do with Chris.
I would respond to Chris by being supportive and caring and letting him know that he did the right thing. I would remain calm and not act shocked by what he had just told me.

What I need help with is what are 'key messages'? I cannot find any such term in either textbook.
What the textbook does have is just a large list of strategies which include:

being supportive and not dismissive
not acting shocked
remaining calm
asking open ended questions
ensuring questions are appropriate for stage of development
listening carefully and letting the child speak without interuption
asking questions if the child stops talking like 'is there anything else you want to tell me'?
telling the child it will be necessary to involve others to find the best way to help him
keeping appropriate professional boundaries
addressing any individual differences
reassuring the child that it is not their fault
ensuring the child is supported after the conversation
reporting the disclosure as soon as possible

[Lorina]

Here is some further in on handling child abuse disclosures:

[attachment=0]child abuse handbook.pdf[/attachment]
I haven't heard of "key messages" but I have found the following:

Key Messages

I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for...

,
Lorina