Professionals
Welcome to the Professionals pages, where you will find a range of resources, advice and guidelines to support you to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in Stoke-on-Trent.
Multi agency training
Stoke-on-Trent Safeguarding Children Partnership (SoTSCP) have developed a multi-agency training programme for people who work with children, young people and/or their parents/carers in Stoke-on-Trent (in a paid or voluntary capacity). To access the training courses, you can book directly onto our Learning Management System.
Overview of Safeguarding training
Level 1 Safeguarding Children Training
Level 1 mandatory training needs to be undertaken within three months of starting your employment and refreshed every three years if your job role includes contact with children, young people and/or their parents or carers.
Level 1 Safeguarding Children training is available from Stoke-on-Trent Safeguarding Children Partnership (SoTSCP). You can take the training in the following ways:
- Online via Microsoft Teams – sessions run once a month (except for August)
- eLearning – you can complete the training at your own pace
Alternatively, if your organisation wants to deliver this training to all staff internally, you can purchase the Level 1 Core Slides for £100. During the period of the licence, the slides will be updated with any changes to statutory regulations and legislative guidance and you will automatically be able to download the most up to date version from your booking on the Learner Management System. The Core Slides are licensed to you between 1 September, of the that year to 31 August, of the following year and must be renewed every September to ensure you have access to these updates.
Requirements – The Level 1 core slides must be delivered by a Designated Safeguarding Lead or professional who has received Level 2 SoTSCP training.
Level 2 Working Together to Safeguard Children Training
Level 2 multi-agency training is mandatory for those with particular responsibility for safeguarding children, such as designated lead or named professionals who may be responsible for safeguarding in their teams or organisations. This may include undertaking s47 (child abuse) enquiries, working with complex cases, or those who would regularly attend Child Protection Conferences. This training needs to be undertaken within 12 months of starting your employment and updated every two years with a Level 3 role specific training course. Pre-requisite SoTSCP Level 1 Safeguarding Children training.
Level 3 Multi-agency Training
These courses offer greater insight on specific topics and can provide the refresher or update required every two years*. These sessions are suitable for members of the workforce who work predominantly with children, young people and/or parents or carers.
*To update your Level 2 certificate every two years with multi-agency Level 3 training as related to your specific job role.
Level 4 Multi-agency Training
Level 4 training is aimed at staff with a lead responsibility for safeguarding, including Designated/Lead Officers, e.g. designated teachers, managers responsible for child protection in early years settings and council child protection officers. Also, for those with operational responsibility for receiving concerns about the safety and welfare of children and young people, who make decisions about what action needs to be taken and those with strategic responsibility in addition to the operational role. Pre-requisite SoTSCP Level 1 Safeguarding Children and SoTSCP Level 2 Working Together to Safeguard Children training.
Level 4 courses offered through the Partnership are:
- Level 4 Designated Safeguarding Lead Officer
- Level 4 Managing Allegations against Staff and Volunteers
To book your training, log-in, or register, please visit: Event list: Stoke-on-Tremt SCP.
Training charges and conditions of booking
- Level 1 Safeguarding Children (eLearning/MS Teams) - £30 per person
- Level 1 Core Slides - £100 per school
- Level 2 Working Together to Safeguard Children - £100 per person
- Level 3 Multi-agency Training - £30/£50 per person, depending upon course
- Level 4 Multi-agency Training - £50 per person
Course charges
Everyone will be charged the above to attend a course except for the three statutory safeguarding partners (Staffordshire Police, Clinical Commissioning Groups and Stoke-on-Trent City Council), voluntary, faith, charitable and community interest companies.
Please note – If the course states FREE in the title, then this course is free to everyone. However, the cancellation policy still applies to free courses
Conditions of booking
- Managers’ permission must be obtained to attend a Stoke-on-Trent Safeguarding Children Partnership course.
- Delegates must book and manage their own account.
- Delegates are required to complete the whole course to receive a certificate.
- Invoices for non-attendance/re-charge will be automatically applied.
eLearning
It is expected that the course is completed within three months of enrolling on the eLearning module and learners must take responsibility for their own learning.
Webinar
- You will need a strong internet connection.
- Training is delivered by MS Teams or Zoom; therefore, you must have suitable IT equipment to accommodate these platforms. Your equipment must also b running on the most up-to-date software. If you are unsure, please speak to your organisations IT department.
- Headsets are recommended but if you do not have a headset, please make sure that you are in a quiet room.
- The link for the course is available directly from your account.
- Please join the training at least 5 minutes before the start time just in case you have any technical issues.
- Delegates must not attend any later than 15 minutes and must take responsibility for their own learning.
- Please treat this as if you are out of the office/workplace by avoiding email or other work-related distractions. We will expect full participation. We would always prefer you to have your cameras on to ensure full engagement in the course.
- Delegates must participate in the course for the trainer to be able to complete a register of attendance. Failure to do so may result in a non-attendance charge being made.
Face to face
- Please attend the course at least 10 minutes before the start time.
- Delegates must not arrive any later than 15 minutes after the start time of the training.
- Participate fully in the course.
- The trainer will circulate a register on the day please make sure that you mark yourself as attended on the register.
Cancellation charges
Stoke-on-Trent Safeguarding Children Partnership retains the right to operate cancellation fees due to non-attendance and late cancellations. Charges are made to everyone for late cancellations and non-attendance, as outlined in this policy.
Please note that the cancellation policy still applies for free courses and everyone who receives free training.
eLearning: Once you have enrolled on an eLearning course, there will be no refunds.
Level 1 Core Slides: Once you have enrolled for the Core Slides, there will be no refunds.
Webinar/Face to Face: Demand for Stoke-on-Trent Safeguarding Children Partnership training is high and some applications may be unsuccessful, early cancellation is important to ensure places can be offered to other participants.
No charge will be applied if:
The delegate or their line manager arranges for someone for whom the training is appropriate to attend in their place, please inform safeguarding.training.administrator@stoke.gov.uk of this change.
A cancellation charge will be applied to everyone if:
Notification of non-attendance is not received within two weeks of the date of the course. The charge will apply even if the delegate re-books onto a later date. This also applies to the three statutory partners (Staffordshire Police, Stoke-on-Trent City Council & Clinical Commissioning Groups), voluntary, faith, charitable and community interest companies.
No representative attends in the place of the delegate.
If you are more than 15 minutes late a cancellation charge will apply, and you will not be permitted to stay for the duration of the course.
Delegates who leave early, with more than 15minutes of the course remaining, will be deemed to have not completed the training and therefore, will not receive a certificate of attendance and will be charged.
Cancellation costs
- Level 1 Safeguarding Children (eLearning/MS Teams) - £30 per person
- Level 1 Core Slides - £100 per school
- Level 2 Working Together to Safeguard Children - £100 per person
- Level 3 Multi-agency Training - £30/£50 per person, depending upon course
- Level 4 Multi-agency Training - £50 per person
- Free lunchtime learning/briefings - £20 per person
- Free half day training - £30 per person
- Free full day training - £50 per person unless otherwise stated in course details
Stoke-on-Trent Safeguarding Children Partnership Training Cancellation
Due to unforeseen circumstances such as trainer illness or adverse technical issues, the Stoke-on-Trent Safeguarding Children Partnership may be required to cancel training with limited notice. If this occurs, we will arrange another date for you to attend. Stoke-on-Trent Safeguarding Children Partnership do not reimburse other costs incurred by delegates, such as those incurred in releasing staff to attend courses.
Appeals Process
Stoke-on-Trent Safeguarding Children Partnership are committed to reducing the level of non-attendance and late cancellations. It is accepted there will be exceptional circumstances when delegates are justifiably unable to attend at short notice. The delegate’s line manager is expected to appeal in writing to the safeguarding.training.administrator@stoke.gov.uk within five days of receipt of notification of non-attendance. Appeals will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Privacy Notice
We are fully committed to complying with the Data Protection Act 2018 legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which regulates how we process personal information. You can read more about how we collect and use personal data, along with information about your rights and give contact details for help and advice. Visit our Privacy Notice for more information.
Free training and resources
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) - £5 training
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
Child Protection and Safeguarding Podcasts from the NSPCC – Free resources
The podcasts feature experts from the NSPCC and external organisations discussing a range of child protection issues. They look at what is being done to actively keep children safe the wider community and how to continue to improve practices and prevent abuse from occurring. NSPCC Podcasts
Child Safety Campaigns – Free Resources
Please click on the link to take you to the Child Accident Prevention page on the SoTSCP website
Child Sexual Exploitation – Free Resources and Training
- How do I know if I’m being groomed? Voice Box, Childline’s weekly video chat features Lucy Fallon, who plays Bethany Platt in Coronation Street and Helen, a Childline Counsellor, talking about grooming. They give advice on how to spot the signs of grooming and how young people can get support if they are worried that they or a friend are being groomed.
Source: YouTube Date: 07 June 2017
Further information: Childline
- Keeping them Safe: Protecting Children from Child Sexual Exploitation
- Child Criminal Exploitation and County Lines
E-Safety – Free Resources
Female Genital Mutilation – Free Resources and Training
Please see below three YouTube clips of different perspectives:
- Video 1: #EndFGM | The Words Don't Come
- Video 2: #EndFGM | Our Daughters
- Video 3: #EndFGM | It's Our Time Now
Free External eLearning Training – An Awareness of Forced Marriage
Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking – Free Training
Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking
Prevent – Free Training
Safer Sleep Awareness Workshop – Free Virtual Training and Resources
To increase awareness and knowledge of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and your role in the prevention and reduction.
To find out more information and to book your place visit here
Small YouTube clips from the lullaby trust that are FREE please click here
Trauma Informed – Supporting Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire to be Trauma Informed
Trauma Informed Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire (TrISS) has developed a suite of resources to assist professionals and organisations to realise, recognise, respond and resist re-traumatisation.
For more information and resources, please click here
Events coming up
Working together
Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Whether you work in the statutory, private, voluntary or independent sector in Stoke-on-Trent and provide services for, or come into contact with, children and young people, you have an important role to play in keeping them safe. This includes volunteers who provide support and services to children.
Restorative Practice:
Stoke-on-Trent Safeguarding Children Partnership will develop and embed a restorative approach in our work with each other and with the children and families that our agencies work with.
Restorative Practice is a proactive strength-based approach that reinforces the importance of building and maintaining positive relationships by seeking to understand the needs of the people in your community. The Restorative Approach involves a journey of change using the principles of collaboration and inclusion.
Restorative Practice is a way to be, not a process to follow or a thing to do at certain times. It’s a term used to describe principles, behaviours and approaches which build and maintain healthy relationships and a sense of community and can resolve difficulties and repair harm where there has been conflict. It is a way of being with people, essentially to work with and alongside others to create sustainable change.
Restorative practice is built on a number of key principles that are supported by research. These principles include:
- Relationships are central to effective working
- Everyone’s voices should be heard and valued
- Problem-solving should be collaborative
- Accountability and responsibility lead to change and growth
Restorative practice is about creating and maintaining respectful and trusting relationships and working WITH people, rather than just “doing to” or “doing for”.
The relationships practitioners build should be child focused and engage the whole family. Recognising that to achieve and sustain change we need to support parents to care for children, not just repeatedly assess or criticise. Instead we need to provide practical support and recognise that families are the experts in their lives and their strengths and goals will be central to our approach.
Restorative practice is also about high support and high challenge. Recognising we support parents but we will also not collude with each other as professionals or with parents. Therefore, high challenge, inquisitive practice and escalation where needed is vital and central to the approach being taken.
Making a referral
Stoke-on-Trent City Council now use an integrated partnership approach to assessing referrals. The Integrated Front Door works with referrers to understand decision making thresholds and the support a child and family may need. We want to make sure children and young people get the right help at the right time.
If you think a child is in immediate danger, call the Police on 999 or 101
- If the child is not in immediate danger, but you’re still concerned that they need risk support, you can make a referral to the Integrated Front Door for Stoke-on-Trent Children and Family Services on the online portal: childrensportallcs.stoke.gov.uk/web/portal/pages/marfprof
- If you have reasonable cause to suspect that a child has suffered or is likely to suffer significant harm, you can call the Integrated Front Door on 01782 235100 (Mon-Thurs, 8.30am – 5pm and Fri, 8.30am – 4.30pm), or call the Emergency Duty Team on 01782 234234 if you are calling out of office hours, at weekends or on bank holidays.
- To request information and advice: childrensportallcs.stoke.gov.uk
- Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) – LADO referrals are made through the Integrated Front Door service on 01782 235100.
Threshold framework
The multi-agency threshold framework supports agencies across Stoke-on-Trent to assess and identify a child’s level of need and how to access the right level of support at the right time.
This guidance for thresholds of need and intervention underpins the local vision to provide support for children and families at the earliest opportunity - right through to specialist and statutory interventions when it is needed to promote the wellbeing and safety of children and young people.
It aims to offer a clear framework and a common understanding of ‘thresholds of need’ for practitioners within all agencies, to help to promote a shared awareness of the different interventions required to effectively support children, young people and their families or carers.
Information sharing
Effective sharing of information between practitioners and agencies is essential for early identification of need, assessment and service provision to keep children safe. Practitioners should be proactive in sharing information as early as possible to help identify, assess and respond to risks or concerns about the safety and welfare of children, whether this is when problems are first emerging, or where a child is already known to agencies.
Information sharing is also essential for the identification of patterns of behaviour when a child is at risk of going missing or has gone missing or when multiple children appear associated to the same context or locations of risk.
Seven Golden Rules to Information Sharing:
- The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Data Protection Act 2018 and human rights law are not barriers to justified information sharing, but provide a framework to ensure that personal information about living individuals is shared appropriately.
- Be open and honest with the individual (and/or their family where appropriate) from the outset about why, what, how and with whom information will, or could be shared, and seek their agreement, unless it is unsafe or inappropriate to do so.
- Seek advice from other practitioners, or your information governance lead, if you are in any doubt about sharing the information concerned, without disclosing the identity of the individual where possible.
- Where possible, share information with consent, and respect the wishes of those who do not consent to having their information shared. Under the GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 you may share information without consent if, in your judgement, there is a lawful basis to do so, such as where safety may be at risk. You will need to base your judgement on the facts of the case. When you are sharing or requesting personal information from someone, be clear of the basis upon which you are doing so. Where you do not have consent, be mindful that an individual might not expect information to be shared.
- Consider safety and well-being: base your information sharing decisions on considerations of the safety and well-being of the individual and others who may be affected by their actions.
- Necessary, proportionate, relevant, adequate, accurate, timely and secure: ensure that the information you share is necessary for the purpose for which you are sharing it, is shared only with those individuals who need to have it, is accurate and up to-date, is shared in a timely fashion, and is shared securely (see principles).
- Keep a record of your decision and the reasons for it – whether it is to share information or not. If you decide to share, then record what you have shared, with whom and for what purpose.
Managing allegations against adults that work with children
The Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) has responsibility for managing allegations against people who work with children. (See: Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 and Keeping Children Safe in Education 2024).
The LADO procedures for Stoke-on-Trent SCP (see Resources section) provide guidance relevant to a wide range of situations in which an allegation or concern arises about the conduct of a person who works with children.
This includes: those in paid employment, including temporary, casual, and agency staff; volunteers; individuals who are self-employed; prospective adopters, or adult members of their household (standard 22 Adoption: national minimum standards). A useful test for deciding upon the applicability of the LADO procedures is to consider whether the individual subject to the allegation or concern occupies a position of trust.
Where the following threshold criteria apply, a referral to LADO should be made within 24 hours. An allegation relating to a person who works with children who has:
- behaved in a way that has harmed a child, or may have harmed a child
- possibly committed a criminal offence against or related to a child
- behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates they may pose a risk of harm to children
- behaved or may have behaved in a way that indicates they may not be suitable to work with children
The allegation could be about physical, sexual, emotional, online abuse and neglect. The allegation can be recent and/or historical. It may relate to a single incident or be a cumulation of concerns. The suitability criteria may also cover other forms of behaviours and attitudes either at or outside of the work place, particularly where this calls into question the values that govern the person’s personal behaviour and/or area of work, or questions their ability to safeguarding children.
LADO referrals should be made via the Integrated Front Door service on 01782 235100.
If immediate LADO advice is needed please call Integrated Front Door and ask to speak with one of the Social Workers or Team Managers. Referrals should be triaged by the Integrated Front Door service to determine if there are any safeguarding issues relating to a child.
The LADO will hold an initial discussion with the Senior Manager to consider the nature, content, and context of the allegation, and to agree an appropriate course of action.
The LADO may hold LADO meetings (also known as Position of Trust) to consider the allegation more fully. Detailed guidance on the Stoke-on-Trent LADO procedures can be found in the Resurces section of this website.
Information about LADO training can be obtained by contacting: safeguarding.training.administrator@stoke.gov.uk
Whistleblowing
All organisations working with children should be responsive to concerns raised by staff about another person’s practice or behaviour. It is important that all professionals have the confidence to come forward to speak or act if they are unhappy with anything and that they will be supported by the organisation to do this.
Whistleblowing occurs when a person raises a concern about dangerous illegal activity or any wrong doing within their organisation, such as:
- Potentially vital information about health and safety risks
- Possible fraud
- Harm of children or vulnerable adults
- Concerns about someone’s behaviour
It is essential that these issues are addressed immediately, so, ‘blowing the whistle’ as early as possible is important in order to prevent further harm being done.
What should professionals do?
- Each agency should have their own policy on whistleblowing that you can refer to
- Every situation is different so it is advisable to seek advice before blowing the whistle, from someone independent to your allegation
For more information:
Early help services
Getting the right level of help to children and families at the right time and as early as possible can prevent long term harm and abuse. This starts with universal services, such as schools, the health service and the police. Families needing ‘more help’ may need to access other services too. There are a range of services in Stoke-on-Trent who can support families to thrive for longer, by providing short term support when needs arise.
Sometimes it may be necessary for more than one service to work together to provide more help to families with multiple or complex needs. It may then be necessary to identify a lead worker to co-ordinate their support through an early help assessment and plan.
The Stoke-onTrent Early Help and Prevention Strategy sets out our approach to ensuring that effective early help and support is available to children and families in Stoke-on-Trent. A copy of the strategy can be found here:
Stoke-on-Trent Early Help and Prevention Strategy
The Supporting Families Service is Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s early help service. The service delivers the national Supporting Families Programme working with families with multiple complex needs to prevent needs escalating or becoming entrenched. The following documents set out the details of the service.
- Introduction to Supporting Families
- Introduction to Supporting Schools
- Family Support Groupwork Programme
- Stoke-on-Trent Community Directory
Family hubs
Family Hubs are a network of places and spaces across Stoke-on-Trent for children, young people and their families. They are a place families can visit to receive information and guidance on supporting the health and wellbeing of their family and themselves.
Private fostering
Private fostering is the term used when someone who is not a parent or a 'close relative' (e.g. great aunt, cousin, mum's friend or a neighbour) is looking after a child or young person under the age of 16 (under 18 if they are disabled) for 28 days or more in their own home. It also covers children who stay at a residential school for more than two weeks of the school holidays.
A relative is defined in the Children Act 1989 as a grandparent, uncle or aunt (whether by full-blood, half-blood or by marriage or civil partnership), sibling or step-parent.
Common Situations in Which Children are Privately Fostered:
- Children with parents or families overseas
- Children with parents working or studying in the UK
- Asylum seekers and refugees
- Trafficked children
- Local children living apart from their families
- Adolescents and teenagers
- Children attending language schools
- Children at independent boarding schools who do not return home for holidays
- Children brought in from abroad with a view to adoption
Birth parents, private foster carers and persons who are arranging for a child to be privately fostered are required by law to notify the local council’s Children’s Services department of the arrangement. If you know someone in a personal or professional capacity who is privately fostering or is about to, you should encourage them to notify Children’s Services and if they are not able to do so then you should take responsibility for notifying them.
A social worker will visit the home to speak to the carer and the child to ensure the child is safe, carry out background checks and make sure support is being provided.
Support available for private foster carers may include:
- advice on benefits and possible funding for some essential itmes
- parenting support and advice
- help in bringing families in crisis back together
If you know someone that is privately fostering you will need to refer that individual to the Integrated Front Door service on 01782 235100 for an assessment.
Additional information:
CoramBAAF have produced a helpful Advice Note Private fostering (England and Wales). There is also a guide written for children Private fostering: what it is and what it means.
Working with families
This area contains information to consider when working with families.
Safe sleeping
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden and unexplained death of a baby where no cause is found. While SIDS is rare, it can still happen and there are steps parents and carers can take to help reduce the chance of this tragedy occurring.
As professionals, it’s important you know and can talk to families about Safe Sleeping particularly when parents have additional vulnerabilities that may place babies and young children at risk.
QUICK TIPS FOR SAFER SLEEP
The mechanisms that cause unexplained deaths in infancy is not yet fully understood, therefore it is not possible for any manufacturer to say that a particular product will prevent SIDS. It is possible, however, to significantly lower the chances of it happening by following this safer sleep guidance. This advice is based on strong scientific evidence where, unlike many products, safety has been proven. You should give the advice to parents for all sleep periods where possible, not just at night.
For more information, go to the Lullaby Trust site.
Working with fathers and male carers
Fathers matter a great deal to children; they play a significant role within the family, whether or not they are resident, and increasingly want to be fully involved in their children’s upbringing.
Despite this, many children and family services are still predominantly mother-focused and often struggle to engage with fathers as a result. Services need to look at how they can change this or they will fail to meet the needs of children and families.
The ‘Dad Test Guide’ aims to help health, family and children’s services, schools and third sector agencies identify how they can engage more effectively with fathers. It explains why supporting father involvement is crucial to the well-being and educational development of children.
It contains a simple ‘Dad Test’ to help managers and practitioners start to assess how father-inclusive their service is, with ideas for small changes they can make to meet the needs of both parents more effectively.
Professionals know that mothers are important. What is less well understood is that when dads are positively involved, children do better in all sorts of ways.
Fatherhood Institute has produced a series of ‘Why dads matter’ five-minute digests which can be downloaded and shared:
- Five-minute guide 01 – Dads during pregnancy and birth
- Five-minute guide 02 – Dads in the early years
- Five-minute guide 03 – Dads in the school years
- Five-minute guide 04 – Dads and older children
- Five-minute guide 05 – Different types of dads
Bringing Fathers In is a series of evidence-based information sheets
The sheets and the supporting research summaries, are intended for an international audience of health, education and social care professionals, policy makers, programme managers and designers, researchers and evaluators. Topics include:
- ‘why’ to engage dads
- 'how’ to engage dads effectively
The National review Panel have published their third Annual Review The Myth of Invisible Men” Safeguarding children under 1 from non-accidental injury caused by male carers – it can be found here:
Children with disabilities
The Children Act 1989 states that a child is disabled if s/he is ‘blind, deaf or dumb or suffers from mental disorder of any kind or is substantially and permanently handicapped by illness, injury or congenital deformity or other such disability as may be prescribed.’
Disabled children are recognised as one of the most vulnerable groups in terms of safeguarding their wellbeing because they trust and rely on their care-givers to be sensitive to their personal care needs, their health, their emotional well-being and their safety. Disabled children may be especially vulnerable due to a number of reasons; for example, they may:
- have fewer outside contacts than other children
- receive intimate care, possibly from a number of carers, which may both increase the risk of abusive
- behaviour and make it more difficult to set and maintain physical boundaries
- have an impaired capacity to resist or avoid abuse
- have communication difficulties which may make it difficult to tell others what is happening
- be inhibited about complaining through fear of losing services
- be especially vulnerable to bullying and intimidation
- be more vulnerable to abuse by peers
It is important to remember that evidence of good quality care does not always mean that there are no safeguarding issues.
Additional Information:
Domestic abuse
Domestic Abuse includes any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. This can encompass but is not limited to the following types of abuse:
- Psychological;
- Physical;
- Sexual;
- Financial;
- Emotional;
Controlling behaviour is: a range of acts designed to make a person subordinate and/or dependent by isolating them from sources of support, exploiting their resources and capacities for personal gain, depriving them of the means needed for independence, resistance and escape and regulating their everyday behaviour.
Coercive behaviour is: an act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim.
This definition, which is not a legal definition, includes so called ‘Honour’ based violence, female genital mutilation (FGM) and forced marriage, and is clear that victims are not confined to one gender or ethnic group.
Domestic Abuse Act:
The Domestic Abuse Act was published in April 2021. The aim of the Act is to ensure that domestic abuse is properly understood and that it is considered unacceptable behaviour that will be challenged in the cCourts and in the minds of the public.
The new Act supports the view that domestic abuse can take many forms. The legal definition now incorporates a range of abuses beyond physical violence, including emotional, coercive or controlling behaviour and economic abuse. The abuse can be behaviour consisting of a single incident or a course of conduct.
The new Actlegislation will also provide further protection to the millions of people who experience domestic abuse, as well as strengthen measures to tackle perpetrators.
The full Act can be accessed by clicking here.
The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme:
The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme(DVDS) was introduced on the 8th of March 2014.The DVDS gives members of the public a formal mechanism to make enquires about an individual who they are in a relationship with, or who is in a relationship with someone they know, where there is a concern that the individual may be violent towards their partner. This scheme adds a further dimension to the information sharing about children where there are concerns that domestic violence and abuse is impacting on the care and welfare of the children in the family.
Members of the public can make an application for a disclosure, known as the ‘right to ask’. Anybody can make an enquiry, but information will only be given to someone at risk or a person in a position to safeguard the victim. The scheme is for anyone in an intimate relationship regardless of gender.
Partner agencies can also request disclosure is made of an offender’s past history where it is believed someone is at risk of harm. This is known as ‘right to know’. If a potentially violent individual is identified as having convictions for violent offences, or information is held about their behaviour which reasonably leads the police and other agencies to believe they pose a risk of harm to their partner, a disclosure will be made.
Domestic Abuse and Children:
Children living with domestic violence and abuse is now recognised as a matter for concern in its own right by both government and key children’s services agencies. The link between child physical abuse and domestic violence is high, with estimates ranging between 30% to 66%.
In 2002, nearly three quarters of children subject of a Child Protection Plan lived in households where domestic violence and abuse occurs.
Children living in a family environment where there is dDomestic violence and aAbuse are at risk whether or not they have directly witnessed the abuse. Some children living with domestic violence and abuse are at risk of significant harm.
A key concern in safeguarding children and young people is the potential for long term emotional damage caused by the presence of domestic violence and aAbuse during early formative years. Children can witness and be affected by domestic violence and aAbuse from all corners of the household, and over 90% are aware of it happening.
Additional Information:
Learning from Case Reviews- The NSPCC has published a briefing based on case reviews published since 2019 where children experienced domestic abuse. Domestic abuse: learning from case reviews | NSPCC Learning
The Staffordshire and Stoke Domestic Abuse strategy 2021-2024 can be found here. The strategy aims to: “Prevent domestic abuse from happening and to respond appropriately and effectively to those vulnerable to, or affected by, domestic abuse to enable them to move forward, living safe, fulfilling and independent lives.”
Parent substance misuse
Parental substance misuse refers to the abuse of drugs and/or alcohol by parents and carers of children and young people. Whilst there may be different treatment methodologies for adults with these problems, they are considered together because the consequences for the child are quite similar. Substance misuse refers to both illicit drugs, alcohol, prescription drugs and solvents, the consumption of which is either dependent use, or use associated with having harmful effect on the individual or the community.
Risks:
Drug or alcohol misuse of a parent can have a negative impact on children in a number of ways, including:
- Substance misuse in pregnancy may impair the development of an unborn child;
- The risk of physical injury to a child sleeping next to an adult, occurring as a result of the adult lying over or against the child (over lay) is increased if the adult is sedated due to the effects of alcohol and/or prescribed or illicit drugs;
- The risk from drugs and drug equipment being left lying around – there have been a number of cases recently in Wirral where children have ingested methadone that was left unattended
- A parent’s practical caring skills may be diminished by substance misuse;
- Substance misuse, or withdrawal from substance misuse, may give rise to mental states or behaviour that put children at risk of injury, psychological/emotional distress or neglect;
- Children’s physical, emotional, social, intellectual and developmental needs can be adversely affected by their parent’s misuse of substances
- Substance misusing parents may find it difficult to prioritise the needs of the children over their own i.e.: health appointments, schooling;
- Children may be introduced to drug and alcohol misuse at an early age by the behaviour of the parents and the availability of the substances within the home.
- Money available to the household to meet basic needs may be reduced;
- Members of the family, including children, may be drawn into criminal activity;
- Children may be at risk of Physical Harm, or death if drugs and drugs paraphernalia are not stored safely and children have access to them;
- Children may be endangered if they are carried as passengers in vehicles driven by a substance misusing parent;
- Children being forced to take on a caring role and feeling they have the responsibility to solve their parent’s, alcohol and drug problems.
- There are potential risks to the child from parental acquaintances or family members if they are also involved in drug/alcohol misuse.
Protective Factors:
Risks associated with parental drug use can be mitigated by other protective factors. These include:
- Sufficient income and good physical standards in the home.
- A consistent and caring adult, who will provide for the child’s needs and give emotional support.
- Regular monitoring and help from health and social work professionals, including respite care and accommodation.
- An alternative, safe residence for mothers and children subjected to violence and the threat of violence.
- Regular attendance at nursery or school.
- Sympathetic and vigilant teachers.
- Belonging to organised out-of-school activities, including homework clubs.
Parental mental health issues
Some children grow up with parent(s) and or carers who have diagnosable mental health problems. Some of these mental health problems may be mild and or short-lived, whilst others may be severe and enduring which include: depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, personality disorders and bi-polar disorder. Some parents/ carers may also have long-term alcohol and or substance dependency and or a combined mental health problem and alcohol and substance dependency. Mental ill health in a parent or carer does not necessarily have an adverse impact on a child's development. Just as there is a range in severity of illness, so there is a range of potential impact on families.
It is important to recognise other issues that can exacerbate the risk presented by mental health issues. For example, the presence of drug or alcohol dependency and domestic abuse in addition to mental health problems with little or no family or community support would indicate an increased likelihood of risk of harm to the child, and to the parents' mental health and wellbeing. Relying on a diagnosis is not sufficient to assess levels of risk. This requires an assessment of every individual's level of impairment and the impact on the family and parenting capacity.
It is essential that the diagnosis of a parent/carer's mental health is not seen as defining the level of risk. Similarly, the absence of a diagnosis does not equate to there being little or no risk. An assessment should consider the impact on the child.
Where a parent has enduring and / or severe mental ill-health, children in the household are more likely to suffer significant harm. This could be through physical, sexual or emotional abuse, and / or neglect.
A child likely to suffer significant harm or whose well-being is affected, could be a child:
- Who features within parental delusions;
- Who is involved in parental obsessional compulsive behaviours;
- Who becomes a target for parental aggression or rejection;
- Who has to take on caring responsibilities
- Who may witness disturbing behaviour arising from the mental illness (e.g. self-harm, suicide, uninhibited behaviour, violence, homicide);
- Who is neglected physically and / or emotionally by an unwell parent;
- Who does not live with the unwell parent, but has contact (e.g. formal unsupervised contact sessions or the parent sees the child in visits to the home or on overnight stays)
The following factors may impact upon parenting capacity and increase concerns that a child may be suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm:
- History of mental health problems with an impact on parental functioning;
- Unmanaged mental health problems with an impact on parental functioning;
- Maladaptive coping strategies;
- Misuse of drugs, alcohol, or medication;
- Severe eating disorders;
- Self-harming and suicidal behaviour;
- Lack of insight into illness and impact on child, or insight not applied;
- Non-compliance with treatment;
- Poor engagement with services;
- Previous or current compulsory admissions to mental health hospital;
- Disorder deemed long term 'untreatable', or untreatable within time scales compatible with child's best interests;
- Mental health problems combined with domestic abuse and / or relationship difficulties;
- Mental health problems combined with isolation and / or poor support networks;
- Mental health problems combined with criminal offending (forensic);
- Non-identification of the illness by professionals (e.g., untreated post-natal depression can lead to significant attachment problems);
The NSPCC lists the potential impact on children when living with parents with mental health problems. These include:
- increased risk of developing behaviour problems such as physical aggression by the time they reach school age
- risk of developing mental health difficulties
- taking on a caring role, providing emotional and social support, basic household chores and more intimate tasks such as nursing or bathing their parents
- demands of caring may lead to fewer opportunities to have fun and build friendships, disruption of education, educational underachievement and reduced life chances
- constant worry about their parents' or carers' health and wellbeing and denial of their own needs and feelings
- distress if faced with frightening situations such as a parent's suicide attempt, overdose or volatile behaviour
- a lower standard of living or financial hardship if their parent's illness makes it difficult for them to work
- embarrassment or shame over their parents' or carers' condition, limiting their friendships and social interaction due to the social stigma attached to mental illness
- bullying and social isolation
- separation from parents or carers by Children's Services or the parent's hospitalisation
- in the most serious cases, children may suffer abuse or neglect from a parent or carer with a mental health problem.
Additional information:
- NSPCC,Parental mental health: How to help children living with parents with mental health problems
- Children and families at risk
- Think child, think parent, think family: a guide to parental mental health and child welfare
- Stress and resilience factors in parents with mental health problems and their children
Abuse
Child abuse
Safeguarding concerns may arise in many different contexts, and can vary greatly in terms of their nature and seriousness. Children may be abused in a family or in an institutional or community setting, by those known to them or by a stranger, including, via the internet. In the case of female genital mutilation, children may be taken out of the country to be abused. They may be abused by an adult or adults, or another child or children.
An abused child will often experience more than one type of abuse, as well as other difficulties in their lives. Abuse and neglect can happen over a period of time, but can also be a one-off event. Child abuse and neglect can have major long-term impacts on all aspects of a child's health, development and well-being.
The warning signs and symptoms of child abuse and neglect can vary from child to child. Disabled children may be especially vulnerable to abuse, including because they may have an impaired capacity to resist or avoid abuse. They may have speech, language and communication needs which may make it difficult to tell others what is happening. Children also develop and mature at different rates so what appears to be worrying for a younger child might be normal behaviour for an older child.
Parental behaviours may also indicate child abuse or neglect, so you should also be alert to parent-child interactions which are concerning and other parental behaviours. This could include parents who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol or if there is a sudden change in their mental health.
By understanding the warning signs, you can respond to problems as early as possible and provide the right support and services for the child and their family. It is important to recognise that a warning sign doesn’t automatically mean a child is being abused.
Physical abuse
Physical abuse is deliberately physically hurting a child. It might take a variety of different forms, including hitting, pinching, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning or suffocating a child.
Physical abuse can happen in any family, but children may be more at risk if their parents have problems with drugs, alcohol and mental health or if they live in a home where domestic abuse happens. Babies and disabled children also have a higher risk of suffering physical abuse.
Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness in a child. Physical abuse can also occur outside of the family environment.
Indicators of Physical Abuse:
Some of the following signs may be indicators of Physical Abuse:
- Children with frequent injuries;
- Children with unexplained or unusual fractures or broken bones;
- Children with unexplained, bruises, cuts, burns, scalds or bite marks.
Emotional abuse
Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child. It is also sometimes called psychological abuse and it can have severe and persistent adverse effects on a child’s emotional development.
Although the effects of emotional abuse might take a long time to be recognisable, practitioners will be in a position to observe it, for example, in the way that a parent interacts with their child.
Emotional abuse may involve deliberately telling a child that they are worthless, or unloved and inadequate. It may include not giving a child opportunity to express their views, deliberately silencing them or ‘making fun’ of what they say or how they communicate.
Emotional abuse may involve serious bullying – including online bullying through social networks, online games or mobile phones – by a child’s peers.
Indicators of Emotional Abuse:
Some of the following signs may be indicators of emotional abuse:
- Children who are excessively withdrawn, fearful, or anxious about doing something wrong;
- Parents or carers who withdraw their attention from their child, giving the child the ‘cold shoulder’;
- Parents or carers blaming their problems on their child;
- Parents or carers who humiliate their child, for example, by name-calling or making negative comparisons
Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse is any sexual activity with a child. You should be aware that many children and young people who are victims of sexual abuse do not recognise themselves as such. A child may not understand what is happening and may not even understand that it is wrong. Sexual abuse can have a long-term impact on mental health.
Sexual abuse may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration (for example, rape or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching outside clothing.
It may include non-contact activities, such as involving children in the production of sexual images, forcing children to look at sexual images or watch sexual activities, encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways or grooming a child in preparation for abuse (including via the internet).
Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males. Women can commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children.
Indicators of Sexual Abuse:
Some of the following signs may be indicators of sexual abuse:
- Children who display knowledge or interest in sexual acts inappropriate to their age;
- Children who use sexual language or have sexual knowledge that you wouldn’t expect them to have;
- Children who ask others to behave sexually or play sexual games;
- Children with physical sexual health problems, including soreness in the genital and anal areas, sexually transmitted infections or underage pregnancy
Find out more about sexual abuse in the links below:
- Information on Sexual Abuse (NSPCC)
- Spotting Signs of Sexual Abuse (NHS)
- Understanding medical examinations for child sexual abuse concerns (The CSA Centre)
Understanding and responding to AI generated Child Sexual Abuse Material
This guidance has been developed by the Internet Watch Foundation in response to the increasing amount of AI generated content being produced (up 400% in 2025). The concern is that it may be inevitable that full length AI generated child sexual abuse films will be produced – and these synthetic videos will become indistinguishable from real footage.
Harmful sexual behaviour
Harmful Sexual Behaviour – HSB (also called sexually harmful behaviour) is the term used to describe children or young people who sexually abuse other children, young people or adults. The sexual abuse perpetrated by children can be just as harmful as that perpetrated by an adult, so it is important to remember the impact on the victim of the abuse as well as to focus on the treatment of the child or young person exhibiting the HSB.
Harmful sexual behaviour can be defined as: ‘One or more children engaging in sexual discussions or acts that are inappropriate for their age or stage of development. These can range from using sexually explicit words and phrases to full penetrative sex with other children or adults’,NICE, September 2016
There is similarity between HSB and other forms of abuse, particularly child sexual exploitation and it is important that professionals are aware about what is HSB.
Harmful sexual behaviour includes using sexually explicit words and phrases, inappropriate touching, using sexual violence or threats, and full penetrative sex with other children or adults. It can happen face to face, virtual (on-line), through the use of gaming consoles (e.g. XBox, Play Station) and other social media and ‘apps’.
The understanding of harmful sexual behaviour needs to be within the context of healthy sexual behaviour and how to differentiate between harm and normal exploration and sexual development.
Abusive/inappropriate behaviour is often characterised by a lack of true consent, the presence of a power imbalance and exploitation.
Additional Information:
- NSPCC
- NSPCC Harmful Sexual Behaviour (HSB) Audit Framework
- Technology Assisted Harmful Sexual Behaviour - TA-HSB is when children and young people use the internet or other technology to engage in sexual activity that may be harmful to themselves and others. TA-HSB covers a range of behaviour including the developmentally inappropriate use of pornography, online sexual abuse, grooming, sexting.
- NICE Guidance
- What works for children and young people with harmful sexual behaviours, 2004 - Report from Barnardos which is available in summary form as a free download or the full report is available to purchase.
- Now I know it was wrong: Report of the parliamentary inquiry into support and sanctions for children who display harmful sexual behaviour, - Chaired by Nusrate Ghani MP, supported by Barnardo’s, 2016
Harmful practises
Harmful practices
Harmful traditional practices are forms of violence which have been committed, primarily against women and girls, in certain communities and societies for so long that they are considered, or presented by perpetrators, as part of accepted cultural practice. They have often been embedded in communities for a long time and are born out of community pressure.
The most common forms of harmful practices are:
- female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM).
- so called ‘honour’ based violence/abuse
- forced or early marriage
Other less common forms include:
- Spirit Possession
- Breast Ironing
Female genital mutilation
The World Health organisation defines female genital mutilation (FGM) as ‘all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.’ FGM is prevalent as a cultural ritual in 28 African countries as well as in parts of the Middle East and Asia. For this reason, FGM is also known by alternative definitions which are better received in the communities that practice it, who do not see themselves as engaging in mutilation. However, FGM is also recognised internationally as a violation of Human Rights and is illegal in the United Kingdom.
Honour based violence and abuse
For some communities, ‘honour’ is deemed to be extremely important. To compromise a family’s ‘honour’ is often to bring dishonour and shame and this can have severe consequences. The punishment for bringing dishonour can be emotional abuse, physical abuse, family disownment and in some cases even murder. In most honour-based abuse cases there are multiple perpetrators from the immediate family, sometimes the extended family and occasionally the community at large. Mothers, sisters, aunties and even grandmothers have been known to be involved in the conspiring of honour crimes.
- Karma Nirvanasupports victims of Honour Based Abuse and Forced Marriage.
- The Halo Projectprovides support for victims and advice for agencies.
- The Freedom Charityoffers a 24 hour helpline service to provide support and protection of victims of abuse.
Forced or early marriage
There is a clear distinction between a ‘forced’ marriage and an ‘arranged’ marriage. In arrangedging marriages, the families of both spouses take a leading role in arranging the marriage, but the choice whether or not to accept the marriage remains with the prospective spouses.
A ‘forced’ marriage is a marriage in which one or both spouses do not and/or cannot consent to the marriage and duress is involved. Duress can include physical, psychological, financial, sexual and emotional pressure. Duress cannot be justified on religious or cultural grounds.
Breast ironing/flattening
Breast Ironing also known as “Breast Flattening” is the process whereby young pubescent girls breasts are ironed, massaged and/or pounded down using hard or heated objects in order for the breasts to disappear or delay the development of the breasts entirely.
The United Nations states that breast ironing affects 3.8 million women around the world and has been identified as one of the five under-reported crimes relating to gender-based violence. The custom uses large stones, a hammer or spatulas that have been heated over scorching coals to compress the breast tissue of girls as young as 9 years old. Those who derive from richer families may opt to use an elastic belt to press the breasts so as to prevent them from growing. The mutilation is a traditional practice from Cameroon designed to make teenage girls look less “womanly” and to deter unwanted male attention, pregnancy and rape. Although there is no specific law against breast ironing, it is physical abuse and therefore professionals must make a referral to Children’s Services.
More information can be found on the National FGM Centre website.
Child abuse linked to faith or belief
The National Action Plan includes the ideas below when referring to Child Abuse Linked to Faith or Belief:
“Belief” in the concept of:
- witchcraft and spirit possession, demons or the devil acting through children or leading them astray (traditionally seen in some Christian beliefs),
- the evil eye or djinns (traditionally known in some Islamic faith contexts) and dakini (in the Hindu context);
- ritual or muti murders where the killing of children is believed to bring supernatural benefits or the use of their body parts is believed to produce potent magical remedies;
- use of belief in magic or witchcraft to create fear in children to make them more compliant when they are being trafficked for domestic slavery or sexual exploitation.
The above list is not exhaustive and there may well other examples of where children and young people have been harmed when one or more adults believe their actions have brought bad fortune.
The belief in “possession or “witchcraft” is widespread. It is not confined to particular countries, cultures or religions, nor is it confined to new immigrant communities in this country. The definition, which is commonly accepted across faith-based organisations, non-governmental organisations and the public sector, is the term ‘possession by evil spirits’ or ‘witchcraft’.
The number of known cases of child abuse linked to accusations of “possession” or “witchcraft” is small, but children involved can suffer damage to their physical and mental health, their capacity to learn, their ability to form relationships and to their self-esteem.
Such abuse generally occurs when a carer views a child as being “different”, attributes this difference to the child being “possessed” or involved in “witchcraft” and attempts to exorcise him or her. A child could be viewed as “different” for a variety of reasons such as, disobedience; independence; bed-wetting; nightmares; illness; or disability. There is often a weak bond of attachment between the carer and the child.
There are various social reasons that make a child more vulnerable to an accusation of “possession” or “witchcraft”. These include family stress and/or a change in the family structure. The attempt to “exorcise” may involve severe beating, burning, starvation, cutting or stabbing and isolation, and usually occurs in the household where the child lives. Siblings or other children in the household may be well cared for with all their needs met by the parents and carers. The other children may have been drawn in by the adults to view the child as “different” and may have been encouraged to participate in the adult activities.
Additional Information:
Neglect
All children and young people need food, clothing, warmth, love and attention, in order to grow and develop properly. Neglect is the ongoing failure to meet a child's basic needs and the most common form of child abuse. A child might be left hungry or dirty, or without proper clothing, shelter, supervision or health care. This can put children and young people in danger. And it can also have long term effects on their physical and mental wellbeing.
Stoke-on Trent Safeguarding Children Partnership have developed a Neglect Strategy and Toolkit to support practitioners to identify, assess and support children suffering or at risk of harm from neglect. The aim of the strategy is to prevent drift and delay and improve outcomes for children.
- Neglect strategy
- Impact chronologies
- Impact chronologies template
- Day in my life pre-birth - guidance
- Day in my life baby - guidance
- Day in my life baby - tools
- Day in my life pre-school - guidance
- Day in my life pre-school - tools
- Day in my life primary - guidance
- Day in my life primary - tools
- Day in my life secondary - guidance
- Day in my life secondary - tools
- Day in my life children with disabilities - guidance
- Day in my life children with disabilities - tools
Graded Care Profile 2 is a licenced NSPCC toolkit to support the identification and assessment of Neglect. Resources related to the NSPCC GCP2 are available on the practitioner zone of the website.
Exploitation
Risk, Rights, Relationships and Resilience: working with young people facing harm outside of the home workshop
Dez Holmes - Director, Research in Practice delivered an interactive workshop on Monday 7 April 2025 at Bentilee Neighbourhood Centre.
The workshop explored what the evidence says about adolescent development, reflected on the enablers for rational, right based practice with young people and considered how practitioners could influence young people’s resilience. As well as, learning about cross government, multi-agency principles for responding to child exploitation and harm outside of the home and discussing how to put these into practice in Stoke-on-Trent.
You can read the presentation here.
Child exploitation occurs where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, manipulate or deceive a child or young person under the age of 18 into sexual or criminal activity in exchange for something the victim needs or wants, and/or for the financial advantage or increased status of the perpetrator or facilitator. (Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023).
Exploited children are victims of abuse. Children do not make informed choices to enter into or to remain in exploitative situations, and only do so through coercion, enticement, manipulation or desperation. Children may also exploit other children and this can often be because they have been exploited themselves or perpetuate harm as a result of being groomed/fear of coercion. It is critical that professionals are careful they do not adopt a blame approach.
Children who are being exploited or, who are at risk of being exploited, will have varying levels of needs. They may have multiple vulnerabilities and therefore an appropriate multi- agency response and effective coordination is essential to ensure the child safety. Abuse does not occur because of a child’s vulnerability, it occurs because there is someone willing to take advantage of this vulnerability and because there are inadequate protective structures around the child and family to mediate against this.
Child Criminal Exploitation is the exploitation of a child to engage in criminal activity for the gain of another adult. County Lines is a term used to describe organised criminal networks exporting illegal drugs into one or more importing areas (within the UK). This can take many forms, including shoplifting, theft, robbery violent crime, carrying weapons, drug running, or dealing drugs on behalf of adults. They use dedicated mobile phones in the ‘dealing lines’ and often use children and adults to move and store drugs and money through coercion, intimidation, violence, sexual violence and weapons. To read more about County Lines click on the links below:
Child Sexual Exploitation is a form of child sexual abuse. Child Sexual Exploitation can affect any child or young person (male or female) under the age of 18 years, including 16 and 17 year olds who can legally consent to have sex. Children may have been sexually exploited when the sexual activity appears consensual as exploitation can involve enticement-based methods of compliance and may not always be accompanied by violence or threats of violence; it may occur without the child or young person’s immediate knowledge (through others copying videos or images they have created and posting on social media, for example). The abuse can be a one-off occurrence or a series of incidents over time, and range from opportunistic to complex organised abuse. Child Sexual Exploitation can include physical contact (penetrative and non-penetrative acts) it does not always involve physical contact, can take place in person or via technology, or a combination of both.
A common feature of child exploitation is that the child does not recognise the coercive nature of the relationship and therefore does not see themselves as a victim of exploitation. Therefore, the importance of professional curiosity, empathy and persistence are required when working with children who may be at risk or experiencing exploitation. Read more about child sexual exploitation below:
- Child Sexual Exploitation Information (NSPCC)
- How to Spot Child Sexual Exploitation (NHS)
- Online Child Sexual Exploitation (and Child Sexual Abuse)
Below is the Stoke-on-Trent multi-agency practice guidance and the Risk Factor Matrix:
- Child Exploitation Practice Guidance
- To request the CE Screening tool (Risk Factor Matrix), please email ChildExploitation@stoke.gov.uk
- Referral Pathway for CSE and CCE
Children who go missing from home or care
Whenever a child goes missing for home or care it is important that partners know what they need to do to report the children as missing, and to ensure appropriate intervention is in place to reduce further incidents of missing. Whilst not every missing episode indicates that a child is at risk of harm, missing episodes are highly correlated to concerns a child might be vulnerable to being exploited and therefore every episode needs to be treated as urgent until the circumstances for the child have been determined.
The joint protocol for children missing from home or care contains information on the processes to be followed by the partnership in relation to missing children.
Assessment of Risk Outside the Home (Contextual Safeguarding)
Assessment of risk outside the home previously referred to as Contextual Safeguarding is an approach to understanding and responding to young people’s experiences of harm beyond their families. It recognises that the different relationships young people form in their neighbourhoods, schools and online can feature violence and abuse. These threats can take a variety of different forms and children can be vulnerable to multiple threats, including: exploitation by criminal gangs and organised crime groups such as county lines; trafficking; online abuse; teenage relationship abuse; sexual exploitation and the influences of extremism leading to radicalisation.
Parents and carers may have little influence over these contexts and young people’s experiences of extra familial abuse can undermine parent-child relationships. As individuals move from early childhood and into adolescence they spend greater amounts of time socialising independently of their families. During this time, peer relationships are increasingly influential; setting social norms and informing young people’s experiences, behaviours, choices and peer status. These relationships are shaped by, the school, neighbourhood and online contexts in which they develop.
The current child protection system and legislative/policy framework which underpins contextual safeguarding was designed to protect children and young people from risks posed by their families or situations where families have reduced capacity to safeguard those in their care. Assessment of risk outside the home supports the development of approaches which disrupt/change harmful extra familial contexts rather than move families/young people away from them. The approach extends the concept of ‘capacity to safeguard’ beyond families to those individuals and sectors who manage extra familial settings in which young people may encounter risk.
Radicalisation
Radicalisation can happen when a person develops extreme views or beliefs that support terrorist groups or activities.
Radicalisation can happen both in person or online.
Everyone is different, and there is no checklist that can tell us if someone is being radicalised or becoming involved in terrorism. But these signs may mean someone is being radicalised:
- accessing extremist content online or downloading propaganda material
- justifying the use of violence to solve societal issues
- altering their style of dress or appearance to accord with an extremist group
- being unwilling to engage with people who they see as different
- using certain symbols associated with terrorist organisations
For further information around Prevent, Channel Panel and how to access support, please click on the following link Prevent and Channel | Prevent and Channel | Stoke-on-Trent
Digital safeguarding
The internet is a great way for children and young people to connect with others and learn new things. As interactions between people are increasingly taking place on-line it is essential that we safeguard children as robustly in the digital world as we do in the real one. We can do this through:
- Promoting safe on-line behaviour to children, young people and their families
- Listening to children and families when they talk about their experiences in the digital world
- Taking children, young people and their families’ on-line activity and networks into account when assessing, planning and providing support
Children, young people and their families go online for a variety of reasons, including:
- To search for information or content on search engines
- Share images and watch videos through websites or mobile apps
- Use social networking websites
- Write or reply to messages on forums and message boards
- Play games alongside or with others through websites, apps or games consoles
- Chat with other people through on-line, games, messenger apps, games consoles, webcams, social network, and other instant communication tools
- Find new friends and partners
The digital world is accessed through a variety of mediums, including tablets, lap-tops, phones, games consoles, TVs. There are lots of benefits in going on-line, and also some risks. These risks include:
- Exposure to and sharing of explicit material (including sexting)
- Grooming
- Radicalisation
- Exploitation
- Identity theft
- Cyber-bullying
- Cyber-hacking
It’s important that as online activity is an increasingly significant part of children’s lives, we include this in our work with them. Practitioners should feel confident in talking with children, young people and their families about their on-line choices and interactions, such as:
- How they share their personal information on-line: privacy settings, contact details, location / geotagging
- On-line behaviours: sharing inappropriate images (e.g. sexting), online bullying or harassment; meeting up with on-line friends or potential partners,
- On-line networks and relationships: online friendships and support networks, genograms and ecomaps
Advice and Resources
- CEOP Thinkuknow provides advice for parents and carers, children and young people, and those that work with them.
- NSPCC Online Safety has further advice and tools.
- Online Abuse and Bullying prevention Guide for professionals working with young people
- CEOP is there to support young people, parents and carers while surfing online, and offers help and advice on topics such as cyberbullying, hacking and harmful content
It also enables people to immediately report anything on-line which they find concerning, such as harmful or inappropriate content, or possible grooming behaviour.
Voice of child
In order to safeguard and promote the welfare of children it is essential that practitioners gain a clear picture of their wishes, thoughts and feelings. Understanding the child’s lived experience will be achieved through listening to what children say, observing their non- verbal cues (particularly for pre-verbal and non-verbal children) and observing their interaction with family members and peers. It is good practice to ask the child or young person which practitioner they would like to gather this information from them.
- The right of a child or young person to be heard is included in the UN Convention of Rights
- The Children’s Act 2004 emphasises the importance of speaking to the child or young person as part of any assessment
- The importance of speaking to a child or young person and gathering their views has been consistently highlighted in lessons learned from serious case reviews.
In both local and national research children have said they need the following:
- Vigilance: to have adults notice when things are troubling them
- Understanding and action: to understand what is happening; to be heard and understood; and to have that understanding acted upon
- Stability: to be able to develop an ongoing stable relationship of trust with those helping them
- Respect: to be treated with the expectation that they are competent rather than not
- Information and engagement: to be informed about and involved in procedures, decisions, concerns and plans
- Explanation: to be informed of the outcome of assessments and decisions and reasons when their views have not met with a positive response
- Support: to be provided with support in their own right as well as a member of their family
- Advocacy: to be provided with advocacy to assist them in putting forward their views
- Protection: to be protected against all forms of abuse and discrimination and the right to special protection and help if a refugee.
The Stoke-on-Trent Safeguarding Children Partnership will be working with be supporting participation and engagement across all safeguarding activities through the Stoke-on-Trent Youth Participation Strategy.
When a child dies
Child Death Overview Panel
The Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP) was established in April 2008. The panel has created local structures and processes to review all deaths of children normally resident in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire. It is the final, independent scrutiny of a child’s death by professionals.
All child deaths are recorded on our secure electronic business system called eCDOP. To notify the Child Death Overview Panel of a child death please follow this link: Https://www.ecdop.co.uk/stafford/live/public
Contact CDOP
Child Protection & Exploitation Team, Staffordshire Police Headquarters, Weston Road, Stafford, ST180YY
Guidance for all deaths
The panel provides oversight and assurance of the whole child death review processes in accordance with the National Child Death Review Statutory and Operational Guidance (England) 2018 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-death-review-statutory-and-operational-guidance-england
Support for Family /Carers – ‘When a child dies’
A guide for parents, families, and carers to help understand and navigate the child death review process, When a Child Dies. This booklet is available from the NCMD in printed colour format and is offered to all bereaved families and /or carers. When a Child Dies – A Guide for Parents and Carers
Impact of abuse and trauma on children
Children can experience both short and long term cognitive, behavioral and emotional effects as a result of experiencing or witnessing abuse and neglect. Each child will respond differently to trauma and some may be resilient and not exhibit any negative effects particularly if they have protective factors in their family and/or community.
Children’s responses to trauma may vary according to a multitude of factors including, but not limited to, age, race, sex stage of development and the personality of the child.