Criterion HS222
A written child protection policy and procedure is implemented that meets the requirements of the Children's Act 2014.
The policy and procedure contain provisions for:
the identification and reporting of child abuse and neglect
information about how the service will keep children safe from abuse and neglect and
how the service will respond to suspected child abuse and neglect.
The policy and procedure must be reviewed every 3 years to assess how well it has supported or would support the service's response to child abuse and neglect.
Documentation required (written or digital)
A written child protection policy that contains:
provisions for the service's identification and reporting of child abuse and neglect
information about the practices the service employs to keep children safe from abuse and neglect and
information about how the service will respond to suspected child abuse and neglect.
A procedure that sets out how the service will identify and respond to suspected child abuse and/or neglect.
Evidence the service has reviewed the policy and procedure every 3 years. As part of the review, the service must evaluate how well the policy and procedure works using at least one example of either:
how well the policy and procedure has supported the service to respond or
how well the policy and procedure would support the service to respond using a hypothetical scenario.
Guidance
Anyone who believes that a child or young person has been, or is likely to be, harmed, ill-treated, abused, (whether physically, emotionally, or sexually), neglected, or deprived, or who has concerns about the wellbeing of a child or young person can make a report of concern.
Worried about a child? Tell us – Oranga Tamariki | Ministry for Children
How to show you are complying
You need to have a child protection policy and procedure that is consistent with the Children's Act's 2014.
The policy must include:
a definition of child abuse and neglect to support awareness of what to look for
information about how your service will keep children safe from abuse and neglect
how your service will respond to suspected child abuse and neglect.
The procedure must describe:
signs of abuse or neglect to look out for
what to do if anyone suspects a child is being abused or neglected which includes any disclosures made by a child
the steps to follow to report suspected or identified child abuse or neglect, and the appropriate agencies to contact.
Civil, criminal or disciplinary action cannot be taken against you for reporting your concerns of neglect or abuse of a child or young person to Oranga Tamariki or the Police, if you provided the information in good faith.
See the tools to help you comply for guidance to help you develop a policy including a checklist and an example policy.
Review
You must review your child protection policy and procedure at least every three years.
You must consider how the policy and procedure will support your service to protect children and respond quickly when a child needs to be kept safe.
You can use one of the example scenarios in the tools section or reflect on a real situation where you used your policy to respond to concerns about a child.
To meet criterion GMA201 – Information provided to parents, your child protection policy and procedures should be made available to parents and whānau.
When assessing whether you comply with HS222
Questions we are likely to ask
Have you ever felt concerned about a child’s health and safety? What happened, and how did you respond?
Have you used your child protection policy and procedure in a real situation or as part of a review using a scenario? If so, how did the policy and procedure help you to keep children safe? Did you make any changes to either your policy and procedure afterwards?
How do you ensure all educators are aware and remain aware of the child protection policy and the procedures they must follow?
We are likely to look at, measure or count
If the policy and procedure clearly explain the signs of abuse and neglect to look out for.
If it clearly explains the steps to take to respond and how to report concerns to appropriate agencies
We are likely to request
Your child protection policy and procedure.
Information that shows how you have reviewed your child protection policy and procedure every 3 years to assess how well it has supported or would support the service’s response to child abuse and neglect.
The tools below are here to support you, but you do not have to use them. You can use other tools or methods that work better for your service.
Developing a child protection policy and procedure
The Working together guide from Oranga Tamariki is designed to sit alongside your child protection policy.
Working together to support tamariki, rangatahi and their family/whānau – Oranga Tamariki
Indicators of abuse or neglect
Oranga Tamariki has several resources to support identification of abuse or neglect.
Identify abuse – Oranga Tamariki
STOP provide a guide to support understanding of sexualised behaviour in young children.
Child Matters also has information on how to handle disclosures of child abuse, and indicators of child abuse.
Educating to prevent child abuse – ChildMatters
Policy example
Child protection policy and procedure [DOCX, 92KB]
Annex 1 Indicators of child abuse [PDF, 128KB]
Annex 2 Child abuse or neglect suspected, witnessed or disclosed chart [PDF, 124KB]
Training
Regular child protection training helps staff confidently recognise and respond to signs of abuse or neglect, creating a safe and supportive environment for children.
On-line child protection training resource
The Ministry of Education, alongside Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood New Zealand and Safeguarding Children, have developed a digital child protection resource specifically for the early learning sector. To access this child protection training you need an Education Sector Logon (ESL).
See the instructions below to access the resource:
Go to Education Learning Management System at training.education.govt.nz
Select 'Login with ESL'
Select 'Catalogue' from the top menu
Search for 'Child Protection'.
ESL Delegated Authoriser
To get an ESL account, please contact your organisation’s ESL Delegated Authoriser.
For help, call Education Service Desk on 0800 422 599 or email them on service.desk@education.govt.nz .
You can learn more about ESL and how it works with the Education Learning Management System.
Education Sector Logon (ESL) – Applications and Online Systems
Training courses you can attend
Working together seminars are for professionals who work with tamariki – they are free and run in partnership with Child Matters.
Working together seminars – Oranga Tamariki | Ministry for Children
Safeguarding Children offer practical, evidence-based, frontline-tested solutions, specifically tailored for those with responsibility towards children.
Scenarios
To support the review of your policy and procedures, some hypothetical scenarios are provided.
Scenario 1
You are visiting an educator and see them grab a child roughly and pull them by the arm. The educator looks stressed and is speaking very close to the child’s face. The child seems upset, but you cannot hear what they are saying.
Things to consider:
what constitutes ill-treatment in an early childhood education and care setting?
how do you support the child?
how do you respond to this incident?
under your child protection policy and procedure what steps should you take?
what do you need to do to document and report this incident?
how should you address the educators’ behaviour?
do you need to report this incident to external agencies?
Scenario 2
You have ongoing concerns that a 4-year-old child may be exposed to family violence. The child is increasingly withdrawn, appears less clean (body and clothing), and they have started soiling themselves again. The child has also started acting aggressively towards other children, using threatening words and actions. The child’s parent has stopped communicating with the educator and often appears to have bruises on their face, which they try to hide.
Things to consider:
What are your immediate responsibilities to the child?
How do you approach the parent respectfully while assessing risk?
Who do you need to contact (for example, another Person Responsible, caregiver, supervisor, Oranga Tamariki, Police)?
What steps should you take based on your child protection policy and procedure?
Scenario 3
A 4-year-old child arrives with bruises on their upper arms and back. When asked, the child says they “fell down,” but the explanation does not match the injury pattern. This is the first time you have noticed anything concerning about the child.
Things to consider:
How do you make sure the child feels safe and supported?
What are your immediate concerns?
What steps should you take based on your child protection policy and procedure?
Where and how do you document this incident?
Scenario 4
A parent comes to pick up their child. You or the educator notice the parent is acting differently — they seem in a hurry and do not want to chat about the child’s day like they usually do. The parent seems agitated, has slurred speech, and has an unusual odour. You are worried the parent might be under the influence of drugs or alcohol and are concerned for the child’s safety, as the parent is driving.
Things to consider
What are your immediate responsibilities regarding the child’s safety?
How do you approach the parent respectfully while assessing risk?
What is your service’s policy for refusing release of a child?
Who do you need to contact (for example another Person Responsible, caregiver, supervisor, Oranga Tamariki, Police)?
What steps should you take based on your child protection policy and procedure?
Scenario 5
While you are sitting with a 3-year-old child reading, they tell you that an extended family member touches their bottom in bed at night. The person has interim custody of the child.
Things to consider:
What is your immediate response to the disclosure?
How do you make sure the child feels heard and safe?
How do you protect the child while maintaining confidentiality and following reporting procedures?
What steps should you take based on your child protection policy and procedure?
Scenario 6
Two siblings, aged 1 and 4 years, often arrive at your service hungry, tired and wearing clothes that do not suit the weather and have very little food in their lunch boxes. The 4-year-old has said they have been left alone at home with their little sister. Recently, the 1-year-old showed signs of being unwell, including a fever, tiredness and sleeping a lot, the parent refused to seek medical help when it was suggested.
Things to consider:
Are signs of neglect present?
What makes poverty different from neglect?
What support systems can be activated for the family?
How do you approach this sensitively with whānau?
What steps should you take based on your child protection policy and procedure?
Scenario 7
Two children of the same age are in a secluded area, and you heard 1 child encouraging the other to touch their genitals.
Things to consider:
What is the difference between sexual exploration that is age-appropriate curiosity and concerning sexualised behaviour?
How do you respond to both children?
What preventative actions can be implemented?
How do you support the children and their families?
Is communication with your learning community needed?
What steps should you take based on your child protection policy and procedure?
STOP provide a guide to support understanding of sexualised behaviour in young children.
Scenario 8
A parent tells the person responsible (visiting teacher or coordinator) that their child said their educator “pulled me hard and made me sit down.” The person responsible explains the educator is managing challenging behaviours and followed your service’s policy. The parent is not satisfied with this response and makes a formal complaint to management.
Things to consider:
Have you defined ill-treatment or boundaries of physical intervention?
How do you investigate the complaint fairly without bias?
How do you communicate with the parent while maintaining confidentiality?
What steps should you take based on your child protection policy and procedure?
Robust child protection policies and procedures enable adults to recognise signs of abuse or neglect and respond effectively, which help keep children safe.
Doing more than the basics can shape better outcomes for children. Here are some ideas or examples you might like to consider.
When developing your child protection policy, include recruitment and professional learning processes that equip your team to identify and respond to signs of child abuse or neglect.
Your policy should be tailored to the structure and needs of your service.
Scheduling regular professional learning for staff on recognising and responding to suspected abuse or neglect helps build confidence and ensures consistent, informed action.
Supporting child safety
You could consider including guidance about how you will respond to ill-treatment of children and protecting children’s health and safety in your child protection policy and procedure. This may help your service comply with regulations 56, 57 and 58.
Your service must act if there are reasonable grounds to believe that someone working in or visiting the service has:
physically harmed or abused a child, or committed a crime against children
used inappropriate discipline, such as:
solitary confinement
immobilising a child
withholding food, drink, warmth, shelter, or protection.
Your service must also respond if someone working in or visiting the service:
is in a physical or mental state that could pose a risk to children
has an infectious or contagious condition that could affect children’s health.
Your service must make sure that no child leaves the educator’s home with any person unless they:
have the role of providing day-to-day care for the child; or
is authorised in writing to take the child by a person who has the role of providing day-to-day care for the child.
Including advice on how your service will manage technology to protect children’s image and identity in the use of technology such as photos and video footage is useful.
You may also choose to include reference to associated licensing criteria and HS223 inappropriate materials and HS224 and HS225 relating to Alcohol and other substances.