Article Listing. You may hear about divorces, affairs, illnesses, money problems, drug addictions, abuse, as well as other pieces of personal and sensitive information. All of this information needs to be handled very carefully. Keep yourself informed of all laws and regulations regarding the handling of personal information. Make sure you follow the guidelines set-up by the federal government, state government, the authority that licenses your program, and your employer.
It is necessary to be aware of professional rules of confidentiality. Unfortunately, situations arise when childcare workers are expected to share information in order to protect the welfare of the child. They have a duty to do so. Any matters involving the safeguarding of children must be referred to a line manager or senior member of staff.
They need to know that information they share may be shared with a line manager if the childcare worker feels that they should do so. If they give certain types of private information, it will be necessary to explain that it cannot be kept confidential and that the information must be shared.
A childcare worker may have noticed signs of unexplained physical harm or is concerned about a significant change in a child's behaviour. The advice of social services must be sought in the case of any uncertainty. Childcare workers must reconsider the rules relating to confidentiality if a child 'discloses' that they are being abused or have been abused in the past.
This information must be shared with the line manager, and then with other agencies such as social services, the police or the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children NSPCC.
If a child shares information with a childcare worker, it must be explained that the information cannot be kept confidential. It might to tempting to allow the child to talk, without explaining the situation on confidentiality. Unfortunately, this would be poor practice as it misleads the child into thinking that the childcare worker is going to keep something confidential when they are unable to do so.
Means of recording should enable information to be gathered that is concise, non-judgemental and to the point. It should never become a task that is an end in itself, nor one in which the needs of the child become obfuscated beneath a pile of forms.
This must be in writing to each individual named, including the parents. Most agencies will refuse consent as the parent should go directly to them to see any records. Some individuals may wish to remain anonymous, such as another parent who shared concerns with you, and will refuse consent. A copy is made of the file and any entry where consent has been refused to share will be deleted.
What will remain in the file will be a trace of your work: your concerns and actions. This should never be handed over to the parent but the copy given to them and gone through with them, so that it can be explained and any areas of dispute identified.
The parent can take the cleaned copy with them, as they may need it to make their case, if there is one. They need to know when you have made a note in their file and for what reason — unless it would put the child in danger. They have a right to expect that information they share with you is treated as confidential, and to be informed that their consent will be sought, in most cases, if it must be shared; but they should be informed of circumstances where it may need to be shared without their consent.
Consent must be informed — that is the parent needs to understand why information will be shared, what will be shared, who will see information, the purpose of sharing it and the implications for them of sharing that information.
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