13-29 Annex A - Administrative Procedures – Child Abuse

Cadet Administrative and Training Orders (CATOs)

General

1. This annex serves as an administrative guide for situations where a cadet discloses information that suggests that s/he is victim of Child Abuse or s/he knows someone who is victim of Child Abuse.

Definitions

“Child Age” for the purposes of child protection the age of a child is defined in child protection legislation by each province/territory. See Appendix 1 for your provincial/territorial legislation. (Âge d’un enfant)

“Child Abuse” the term Child Abuse may be defined as a situation in which a child is in need of protection when his/her safety or his/her development is compromised. See Appendix 1 for your provincial/territorial legislation. (Abus envers les enfants)

“Child Protection Agency” a Child Protection Agency (CPA) is a generic term that includes the child protection services/agencies of all provinces/territories. (Agence de protection de la jeunesse)

“Child Witnessing Family Violence” some provinces recognize that exposing a child to family violence is an offence. This legislation recognizes that a child in this situation may be in need of protection. See Appendix 1 for your provincial/territorial legislation. (Enfant témoin de violence familiale)

“Safety Plan” it means a plan to help victims protect themselves in the event of a future occurrence. In cases of Child Abuse, the CPA has sole responsibility; however the Commanding Officer (CO) or the Officer in Charge (OIC) must ensure that any component of the safety plan that is known and has an impact on the Canadian Cadet Organizations (CCO) is acted upon. (Plan de sauvegarde)

Categories of Child Abuse

2. Forms of Child Abuse generally fall under four broad categories: emotional, physical, sexual and neglect. A child is in need of protection when a child appears to be suffering from any of these behaviours.

3. Emotional abuse is a chronic attack on a child’s self-esteem. It is psychologically destructive behaviour by a person in a position of power, authority or trust.  It can take the form of name-calling, threatening, ridiculing, belittling, intimidating, isolating, hazing or ignoring the child’s needs. Serious emotional abuse can consist of:

1. Rejecting: to refuse to acknowledge,  believe, hear, or support the child’s/youth’s worth, or the legitimacy of his or her needs;
2. Isolating: unreasonable separation from others; to cut a child/youth off from normal social experiences, which results in extreme aloneness;
3. Ignoring: to fail to provide sensitive, responsive care giving; to deprive children/youth of essential stimulation and responsiveness; to interact only when necessary; to be psychologically unavailable;
4. Exploiting:  to make use of someone for one’s own advantage or profit; to make excessive inappropriate demands considering the child’s age;
5. Confinement: forcible isolation in an enclosed space;
6. Terrorizing: to coerce by intimidation, causing a state or instance of extreme fear, violent dread, or fright. Children can be terrorized through observing or being threatened by violence; and
7. Corrupting: to render anti-social or maladjusted; to change from good to bad; to encourage destructive, anti-social behaviour. Encouraging other children to physically assault another member.

4. Physical abuse occurs when a parent, a legal guardian, or any other person in a child’s home environment injures or threatens to injure this child.

5. Sexual abuse occurs when a parent, a legal guardian, or any other person in a child’s home environment uses this child for sexual gratification.

6. Neglect is chronic inattention to the basic necessities of life such as clothing, shelter, nutritious diet, education, good hygiene, supervision, medical and dental care, adequate rest, safe environment, moral guidance and discipline, exercise and fresh air.

Administrative Procedures

7. Regardless of which province/territory you are in, any person who believes that Child Abuse has occurred shall report the matter to the local CPA and ensure that the CO/OIC is informed. The CO/OIC shall inform the Detachment/Region within 3 days.

8. The CO/OIC shall also ask the CPA what role he/she will have to play, if any in the establishment of the safety plan.

9. Appendix 1 presents a brief summary of the provincial/territorial legislation; identifying child age, defining Child Abuse, and identifying which province/territory has legislation in effect for child witnessing family violence.

Incident Report Form

10. The incident report form found at Annex H in CATO 13-24 is used to advise the chain of command of incidents of concern. An incident report is required when a situation is reported to the local CPA.

Appendix

Appendix 1

Table

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