Getting injured by children and youth in child care work

This is the first in a series of thoughts around child and youth care workers getting physically injured by children and youth in  various settings.

On one hand the question will always be asked as to why we CHOSE to work with assaultive people when we knew what the risks were from the very beginning. Someone is bound to say " If you can't stand the heat, then why are you in the kitchen?"

On the other hand, there is always the comment that management is far more interested in the rights of the children and youth than it is about the rights of child and youth care workers.... the issue of being assaulted by the "client" is  loaded with questions for the professional and for management.

They stood in groups in the grounds of the Youth Centre. Large and small uniformed male child and youth care workers. They were known as "care officers there.No females on the staff!

They talked together in their huddles whilst the boys - all young people in trouble with the law, (then called - juvenile offenders) lolled around in the open grassed square..... doing nothing.... just lolling.

" So why don't you interact with them?" we asked. "Why don't you talk with them - Build or use your relationship with them?" we asked.

 "WE wont" they said. " and we wont until our demands are met. They are dangerous. .... they can injure us."

'We' were a team from the Cabinet Enquiry in to Places of Safety and Place of Detention for Youth Awaiting Trial. (as they were then called.) as instructed by the then President Mr Nelson Mandela.

"They" , it turns out were traumatised and scared by an incident involving a colleague four days earlier.

 The story was that that night the night shift heard a loud furore in one of the barred, locked boys' dorms. Each dorm slept six boys. The care officer 'on patrol' for that 'section' opened the barres security door of the dorm and walked in to investigate the problem.

 The boys were waiting for him. The noise was a decoy. It was a trap. Once just inside, they attacked him with ametal bar. His skull was indented by the force of the blow and at the time of our arrival he was still in a coma. The thinking was that he would have permanent brain damage.

 "We wont interact with these boys" they said "We demand danger money and we want to be issued with and trained to use "donkey tails" ..... A type of baton carried by security gaurds.

On the surface of it and under the circumstances it sounded sort of immediately understandable at least.... the fear and the reality of the work having the risk of serious personal injury.

But the issue in the team centred around relationships. " Relationship" as the "donkey tail' of child and youth care work. And training to be able to deal with escalating behaviours. And procedures to build safety and protection into situations where personal risk was possible.

Money was to be spent rather on that. We could not recommend that child and youth care workers carry weapons or get danger money.

The Cabinet allocated four and a half million South African Rand (ZAR) to training in all these Centres. It was called 'Operation Up-grade.'

Yet  issues remain.

What do you think?

Danger money? Donkey tails? Restraint techniques? Insurance?

and.... can you as a professional .... should you as professionals ... lay charges of assault against children and youth in care ???