Harmful sexual behaviour - Ofsted conducted its national safeguarding review in May 2021, in response to the ‘Everyone’s Invited’ website and the high profile it received. Essex was one of the Local Authorities interviewed as part of the review and the report of the review ‘Sexual Abuse in Schools’ was published in June 2021, with recommendations for leaders at all levels. Since then, extensive work to address harmful sexual behaviour has been undertaken with Essex education settings. The Education Safeguarding Team, in conjunction with other partners (including Police and Social Care) have delivered training, produced a guidance document and many accompanying resources to support settings in their approach to safeguarding and specifically to sexualised behaviour and harmful sexual behaviour. Further information and access to the resources is available here.
Key learning themes from a recent review:
1) Fluctuating service involvement - The use of ‘disguised compliance’ as a term to label children, young people, or adults involved with services is unhelpful, and not supported by evidence. The use of specific language to describe exactly what is happening enhances strengths-based approaches towards, and professional curiosity about, what may be behind service users’ behaviours/presentation, and the nature of the relationship practitioners have with them.
2) Multiple and repeat referrals - It is essential practitioners reconsider the additional support available to their service users when that support has not been taken up following previous referrals. This includes being open to re-refer at another time if the situation has not improved, or if things have changed. Referral forms could ask if someone has been referred before, and if so, what has changed to prompt the new referral. Processes could also ask the referrer to outline the support that has been provided to the person in relation to the referral, i.e., discussing what to expect from the service being referred to, and how the referrer will continue to support them until they access the new service.
3) Working in a trauma informed way with children and families - Services are developing to become more trauma informed; this needs to be seen from a whole-organisation perspective, not limited to the response of frontline practitioners to service users. Consider the training that may be needed for all levels of staff, and how the service design may need to be adapted to facilitate a trauma informed approach to service users, and also to staff.
4) Multi-agency approach with the whole family, including adults’ services - It is important for practitioners to consider the composition of the whole family, even where concerns only relate to one child. Use of genograms, and having open conversations with family members, help to develop this and ensure practitioners understand the whole family composition, and the roles played by each individual, e.g. whether they are supporting the child or a parent.
Adult services must consider the needs of service users’ children, even when there are no obvious concerns shared or significant safeguarding concerns. Adult services need to build relationships with child-focused services in a way that works for the whole family, in which each family member is supported according to need while recognising the connections between them. This may involve open and honest conversations with practitioners in adult services around their concerns in working in this way, and the training and support they need to develop this.
Challenging behaviour - Partners acknowledge the concerns that all members expressed about challenging behaviour towards professionals across a range of multi-agency settings.
Re-commissioning of the Southend, Essex and Thurrock (SET) Domestic Abuse Service – work being undertaken to ensure a good offer for the children’s workforce including what could work best around advocacy, positive activities, and what would work for children of different age groups, cultural needs and differences.
Working Together - The new version of Working Together has not yet been published but it is expected before Christmas. Partners to meet when it is published to discuss implications.
Modern Slavery – Updates have been made to the SET exploitation e-learning package.
Thematic review on Sudden Unexpected Deaths in Infancy (SUDI) – A thinking tool has been created for professionals working with mothers and their newborns. The aim of the tool is to prompt conversations in order to reduce SUDI. All professionals in contact with service users have a crucial role to support families to understand how to avoid the specific risks for their baby, targeted to their specific needs.
Youth Voices - this project run by the Essex Council for Voluntary Youth Services (ECVYS) and funded through the Essex Violence and Vulnerability Unit (VVU) saw 1553 young people from 73 youth clubs across Essex, Southend & Thurrock take part. The Youth Voices report gives an insight into what young people are saying about how safe they feel in their communities.
Risk in the Community - Risk in the Community is the Essex partnership approach to tackling exploitation of young people. To find out more about the approach visit the pages on the ESCB website where there are videos, information about the RIC pathway and information about Missing and Child Exploitation (MACE).
Child sexual abuse lecture series - Run by The Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse and delivered in partnership with Essex Social Care Academy, participants can attend one, two, or all three of these FREE sessions.
Online harm - Young people do not differentiate between the real and virtual world in the way that adults/professionals do. As such, the partnership must look at the way online safety and preventing online harms is approached. Young people must be educated and supported but must not feel the responsibility to stay safe is solely on them.
Children’s social care review - On 2 February 2023 the government published its strategy and consultation on children’s social care, Stable Homes, Built on Love.
Adultification podcast - The ESCB launched an adultification podcast linked to the Child Q review in Hackney in 2022. This podcast was led by the Anti-Racist Practice Manager in Essex County Council and had representation from across the partnership on the panel. Education are now working to produce information for schools over the coming months.
Reviews and Learning – Working Together Better - A number of themes have been identified from reviews – recently published on the ESCB website are resources around the themes of Neurodiversity and Disguised Compliance.