CHILD ABUSE: A PROPOSAL FOR ESTABLISHING LOCAL MULTIPROFESSIONAL TASK FORCES

Key words: Child abuse, Community paediatrics, Multiprofessional teams

Child abuse was recently recognized by the Italian Department of Social Affairs as a national priority and national guidelines have been issued to promote prevention, training and multiprofessional work at local level. The present proposal, developed by a district child and adolescent health unit in Trieste, stems from the present situation of insufficient communication and collaboration among the various professionals involved in school, health, social and judicial services for children. It envisages the establishment, at District level (population under 14 served around 10.000), of small multidisciplinary teams comprising child psychologist, community paediatrician, social worker and health visitor. The tasks of the district team include basic training and support to professionals involved in educational social and health child services for the management of child abuse cases. A larger multidisciplinary team including school, police and Family Court officers at Health Authority level (3 to 4 districts) is envisaged for monitoring, planning and supervising prevention and training strategies and for coordinating the intervention on child abuse among the various Agencies involved.