CHILD ABUSE FACTS

This is just a listing of resources to refer to if doing research on the topic or to better understand it for your self.

• The Department of Justice has a page called the Family Violence Initiative which talks about the definition of child abuse, how widespread is it, also the factors, consequences and ways to respond. It talks a lot about the law and facts accumulated on child abuse.
• Stats Canada also has a variety of reports such as: Homicide of Children and Youth which indicates the najority occur by family members, Assault against against Child and Youth in the family, and Incidents of assault in Canada.
• I found this resource that accumulated the stats from Health Canada, Stats Canada and the CIS called Child Abuse Statistics, Resources and Reasearch by Jim Hopper Ph.D.
• The Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services offer a thorough resource on child abuse and the duty to report.
• Also as a resource The Office of the Provincial Advocate has some helpful information regarding supporting the youth for their rights such as to "be and feel safe!"
• LAST but not least here is the Annual Report by the Toronto CAS highlighting what they have done to help protect children and the reports of child abuse in Toronto.

Start at the End

When entering a therapeutic relationship one of the most important parts is having the client understand that the time in your care is limited and that either they will have to move on or you will.
Now this does not mean you will never see them again, in fact if everything goes well the next time you see them they will be well integrated in their family, community, school or facility setting.
The difference being is that the hope is you won't be working with them in the same way.
So when running a program or working in an environment where you have only a specific time frame it is very important to constantly remind the client(s) of the end of the program.
This aids in the separation process which will help them understand some relationships are only temporary and that is a normal thing.  Also sometimes its an important one too since we need to celebrate the time we are together with our client.
Here are some great activities during and at the end of your session:

Groups
* Thank you party banner  - The students reveal the banner as each day passes by removing the corresponding day which are in the shapes of stars, suns, balloons or anything that represents the children (i.e. sports balls)
* Farewell Balloons - Have each client make a thank you paper balloon and fill the inside of a card for the departing Staff.

Individual
* Scrapbook of Success - Make a few pages that identify highlights... allow empty pages for them to fill on their own

Have any ideas send them to me or post below