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Please note that this insight was first published in June 2022, and therefore whilst the subject matter is still relevant, it may not represent the most up to date information in this area.
Introduction
The Department for Education’s annual Child In Need data, published in October 2021, shows that between 2020 and 2021 there were 12, 720 children identified by Children’s Social Care as being at risk of exploitation by gangs. In addition, the same data shows concerns around Child Sexual Exploitation was a factor in assessments by Children’s Social Care of 16, 830 children and 2710 children where trafficking was a concern (Characteristics of Children In Need, Department for Education 2021). As concerning as these statistics are, it would be reasonable to conclude the true number of children experiencing or vulnerable to child exploitation could be far higher.
Child exploitation is a far reaching and complex area. In order to approach this, it is important that agencies have the time, training and skills to develop an understanding of what really works to prevent and disrupt exploitation and the commitment to continually develop practice and work tenaciously with children and families. That, perhaps, is easier said than done at a time when many agencies are facing the consequences of cut-backs and families are facing increasing cost of living, increasing stress within households and relationships.
When considering any aspect of safeguarding we need to know what to look for and how to respond. Many organisations and agencies need this to be a key part of their strategy in order to protect those who need it when at risk of harm. However, there is also a place for highlighting practice which has provided interesting intervention for children and young people experiencing or vulnerable to being exploited. Safeguarding can feel saturated with negatives at times, and the aim of this collaboration was to draw attention to the practice going on amongst frontline professionals impacting, thus providing empowerment through sharing this practice with professionals in our networks.
It is recognised widely and explicitly outlined in safeguarding guidance (Keeping children safe in education) that education settings are key players in being able to provide a safe environment and opportunities for prevention and early intervention of safeguarding issues. This applies to child exploitation. NWG Network and Safeguarding Network have collaborated to explore frontline practice in education settings in order to capture promising practice where settings have provided early intervention and prevention in the area of child exploitation which has positive impact on the lives of children and young people.
Our aim has been to shine a light on this information to bring to the foreground and support professionals tackling this issue and reinforcing the message that, despite what can feel like a vast and overwhelming area, by drawing our focus to the potential of early help and prevention, we can provide an empowering lens to view the potential of all professionals working frontline in this area and really celebrate all the good work going on.
Who We Are
NWG Network is the only cross sector capacity building charity of its kind in the UK with 13,808 named members all working together to tackle child exploitation (CE). Our members represent small local voluntary projects/organisations, large national children's charities, local authorities, and statutory agencies including police, education, health, and social care. The NWG is an essential lifeline for front-line workers and safeguarding leads seeking guidance to understand all forms of child exploitation. The overall aim of our work is to stop child exploitation. We do this by enhancing the capacity of front-line practitioners so that they are better equipped to know how to PREVENT and DISRUPT CE and provide the best possible RESPONSE to victims and survivors. By being an accelerant for change in the field of CE we want to really make a difference to the lives of children and young people, who are at the very heart of everything we do. We have a team to support those working with children and young people that offer support in a range of specialisms. See our knowledge hub and look up our team here
Safeguarding Network believes that all children have a right to a safe childhood where they can thrive. Safeguarding Network offers a range of professional services to education settings across the spectrum with the aim of building confidence in safeguarding. Services include membership to access different levels of service providing support on all aspects of safeguarding in education, in line with statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education and Working Together to Safeguard Children. Built with DSLs, for DSLs, services will support in contributing to a safer environment in education.
What we did
This project was born out of an initial discussion between both organisations around looking at the strengths and possibilities of adults working with children and young people. We felt it was important to celebrate the practice by many professionals and the positive impact on the lives of children and young people. By asking practitioners to reflect on their practice and share examples of good practice we hoped to provide a useful guide to inspire creative thinking and support around tackling child exploitation.
NWG Network and Safeguarding Network collaborated to devise a survey for education settings to capture the views of staff members working within safeguarding in education on how they have provided early intervention and prevention around child exploitation. In addition, views on experiences of partnership working and support from Local Child Safeguarding Partnerships were sought.
The survey was designed to be short.
The survey posed 5 questions:
- How have you supported children that are being/at risk of being exploited?
- What are you doing to provide early intervention in your school?
- What further could schools and your local safeguarding partnership be doing to support early intervention?
- How are you working effectively in partnership to respond to exploitation?
- What additional support would you like to enhance your practice in this area?
- Training for DSLs
- Training for staff
- Resources for staff
- E-learning
- Bespoke advice
- Resources for children
- Resources for working with families
- Support with effective multi-agency working
- Support from multi-agency safeguarding partners
- Other – please specify
The first four questions were answerable by a long text answer, with the fifth question being multi-choice with the options outlined above.
The survey was hosted on Safeguarding Network’s website and details were shared across both NWG Network and Safeguarding Network as well as being distributed by several Local Authorities, including Local Safeguarding Children Partnerships and safeguarding in education teams throughout April and May 2022.
Results
We received 41 responses from a range of professionals working with children, young people and families from different agencies (table below)[1]
Following analysis, there were five themes identified for interesting practice in the field of working with children, young people and families for prevention and early help where concerns over child exploitation were present. The five themes are explained below with some commentary and discussion around possible interpretation.
Theme one: Education
All results had the commonality of identifying education as playing an important role in prevention and early intervention. Responses mentioned delivering both general PSHE lessons aimed at the wide population of children and young people, specific assemblies and guest speakers as well as targeted group work and 1:1 intervention programmes ran with those who had been identified as vulnerable to child exploitation. This included delivery both internally by school staff and through external agencies.
‘Encouraging external agencies such as Fearless, Switch Cafe, WeAreWithYou, RestoreReform Respect to provide inputs and promote education/awareness in schools’ – School Police Officer
Responders felt that the preventative education delivered, as well as targeted support programmes, had had a real impact on raising awareness and reducing the vulnerabilities of children and young people.
‘PSHE lessons in school which explicitly teach about risks of exploitation’ – Designated Safeguarding Lead
Education was something that wasn’t just present in secondary settings; primary colleagues described laying the foundations through talking about keeping safe.
‘We talk to the children about feeling safe and what to do if they feel uncomfortable in the company of someone or don't like what a person is saying or doing.’ – Primary Headteacher
All responses discussed sessions being delivered in an education setting, be that mainstream schools, alternative provision or college, thus highlighting the importance of education settings and attendance. What the results didn’t explore was the how these sessions/lessons were delivered.
To reflect on this point, it’s important to think about not only the content, but the spaces and faces present when delivering preventative education and targeted programmes. In order to learn effectively, children and young people need to feel connected to their environment and have the space to be able to ask questions and explore key issues with honesty, free from fear of judgment from facilitators.
It is our working hypothesis that where responses have outlined education as having a positive impact through early help, intervention and prevention, these programmes and sessions have been delivered by facilitators who are able to create a safe environment for the content to be accessed.
One of our responders drew attention to the importance of how this work can support young people develop that connection.
‘Community work within school to help children feel a sense of belonging’ – Designated Safeguarding Lead
Time to reflect:
- Review your safeguarding curriculum. How regular is it? What’s the content like? What do learners feel about the sessions? How do you measure the impact? How can it be improved? You’ll be wanting to gain the views of those who participate in it for a thorough, child-centred review.
- How does your setting create a sense of belonging for your learners?
Theme two: Staff training
Secondly, the theme of staff training was identified as being a key part of providing early help and intervention. Results described how a regular programme of staff training promotes a wider awareness as staff are trained to identify concerns and know how to respond, report and support.
‘Key staff have attended training sessions facilitated by the local safeguarding partnership’ – Assistant Head
When thinking about staff training, we reflect more widely on how the staff training curriculum can be instrumental in developing the safeguarding culture within an organisation. One responder described how regular training can support developing a ‘culture of vigilance’ in identifying vulnerable children and families.
In settings with strong safeguarding practice training is delivered regularly and by a mix of internal staff members, local safeguarding partners and external agencies, including national networks and charities.
Effective training provides a balance between awareness raising and delves into how to apply this awareness to practice.
‘We’ve supported children through putting into practice skills learned through talking with other professionals and skills gained from taking part in professional development.’ – Primary Safeguarding Lead
Time to reflect:
- Reflect on how confident teaching and pastoral staff are with the subject matter?
- Review training schedule. How frequent is training delivered? Who delivers it?
- Training doesn’t have to be formal sessions, it can be delivered in house in bitesize chunks. Make the most of ‘snapshot’ CPD opportunities by ensuring materials and information is shared via a combination of different methods, email, staff meetings, common staff areas (back of the toilet doors is always a hit!)
- Consider how your setting embeds the knowledge from training to practical application. How can you evidence this?
Theme three: Multi-agency working
An interrelated theme, the benefits of multi-agency working when providing early help and intervention in the area of child exploitation was identified by all responders as a key strategy in addressing this issue.
One responder outlined working with agencies across the county to develop a Multi-Agency Support Panel for Early Help in the area of child exploitation as having a big impact in supporting the child/family holistically. Bringing representatives from safeguarding partners as well as safeguarding leads from housing, youth justice and early help services to review referrals, submitted with parental consent, where there are early indicators of vulnerability and exploitation was identified as a strong approach to early intervention.
‘The MASP (Multi-Agency Support Panel) includes representatives from Police, housing, CYJS, community partners, VRN (Violence Reduction Network), city council, primary and secondary schools, health, Early Help, Safeguarding hub - this is a collaborative approach.’ – Secondary Headteacher
Multi-agency working has been identified as an important theme in many reviews into practice in safeguarding, from Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews to National Inquiries. The statutory guidance – Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018 outlines the responsibilities of agencies to collaborate for effective safeguarding practice and organisations working within the field of safeguarding should be familiar with this guidance.
Effective multi-agency working requires a commitment and accountability from each organisation involved in a child’s journey. Strong practice sees professional relationships developed between agencies through clear communication and agreed actions which are reviewed regularly with all involved, including and centrally, the family and child. This supports dynamic ongoing assessments to ensure no drift in practice and those being supported receive the right level of support, at the right time, by the right person/agency.
The relationships developed between multi-agencies allows for a collaborative culture, with individuals recognising the value of each other’s input and providing a high level of ongoing practical support which exists both inside and outside of formal structures.
‘Everyone who comes into contact with children and families has a role to play’ – Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018
Time to reflect:
- Do you know how to liaise with your Local Safeguarding Children Partnership? Connect with safeguarding partners to build professional links.
- Build your own directory of agencies in your area and key contacts who can provide support.
Theme four: Information sharing
Hand in hand with theme three is theme four – Information sharing. Responders felt that through developing clear networks to share information appropriately really benefitted children and young people through being able to enhance multi-agency working and wrap support around a family.
One response also noted the importance of informal information gathering/sharing:
‘Gaining intel from students and staff in schools to help build a bigger picture’ – School Police Officer
As we consider information sharing it’s important to reflect on some key times when this is particularly relevant for education settings.
Firstly, we bring our attention to transitions. All children will experience transitions in their educational career. This can be a vulnerable time for children moving onto new settings who may not have the knowledge and relationships held by the previous setting.
Outside of natural transition points, we know there are many reasons children might move schools, including mid-year transfers, managed moves for behaviour, placements at Pupil Referral Units or as a result of exclusion and moving to special schools from mainstream settings. We recognise that school exclusion can perpetuate risk for exploitation and all of these transition points can increase vulnerability for children. Information sharing is key in providing support and intervention.
At the time of this report being written, many children will be finishing their GCSE exams and leaving secondary education. We have received feedback from many settings about the specific difficulty when children transition from secondary education to colleges, with further education colleges reporting delays in receiving information from previous settings.
Strong safeguarding practice occurs when children’s information is transferred in line with the statutory guidance Keeping Children Safe in Education which applies a 5 (school) day transfer window for any safeguarding information to be sent to the new setting. Of course, where complexities exist, this should be pre-empted handover from the setting transferring the child to the receiving setting via the DSLs. Its important to highlight where information isn’t forthcoming, this should be followed up and where needed, escalated by the receiving setting.
‘In addition to the child protection file, the designated safeguarding lead should also consider if it would be appropriate to share any additional information with the new school or college in advance of a child leaving to help them put in place the right support to safeguard this child and to help the child thrive in the school or college.’ – Keeping Children Safe in Education 2021
There are many other circumstances where information sharing will be imperative to early help and intervention. Of course, we remind all settings to be mindful of their responsibilities under the GDPR 2018, however, we also point to the direction of guidance on information sharing – which states:
‘The Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) do not prevent the sharing of information for the purposes of keeping children safe. Fears about sharing information must not be allowed to stand in the way of the need to promote the welfare and protect the safety of children’ – Working Together to Safeguarding Children 2018
One responder pointed out that information might not relate to an individual child, but instead form part of local contextual knowledge of places and spaces which are vulnerable for child exploitation. Local thematic knowledge is key in being able to build proactive and preventive support strategies into community safeguarding.
‘The importance of networking and sharing intelligence/information regarding local friendships and associations’ – Family Worker
Strong safeguarding and support for early intervention in child exploitation relies on effective information sharing, and it is likely that different agencies will all hold an important part of the jigsaw. Decisions for information sharing in relation to safeguarding children should be made within the best interests of the child and reasons recorded in the organisations recording mechanism.
Another response also captured the importance of sharing information regarding support available, pointing out the relevance of signposting to encourage positive activities.
‘Share local service information get young people involved with local groups in the area’ – Youth Worker
These aspects of information sharing reinforce the importance of local networks to gather the full picture of your setting’s community.
Time to reflect:
- Review your transition procedure – do you contact previous school for a verbal handover? Remember, all CP files should be shared within 5 school days. Does your setting follow up where information is not forthcoming?
- Consider the primary to secondary stage, yr 9 movement to colleges/academies and move to Universities.
- Explore your local procedures for networks – how do you engage with safeguarding partners in information sharing?
Theme five: Working with families/community support
Many of the responders described the importance of working with the whole family as well as community-based work and interventions.
‘Team Around the Family meetings to ensure families are included in support and to share information and plan effective support’ – Family Intervention Worker
We know from research by Contextual Safeguarding Network that parents can feel they have lost control of their children and are powerless to intervene and protect where exploitation is happening.
We also know communities can be the strongest allies in protecting children from exploitation (Coffey at al, 2014).
Reflecting on how we work with families is important. The phrases ‘hard to reach’ or ‘non-engagement’ are frequently used by professionals providing support and intervention. In order to provide effective early intervention and support we need to revisit the principles of effective early help from the guidance WTTSC 2018, which states early help should be delivered with the agreement of parents and carers, involve the child and family and include the wishes and feeling of the child/ren involved.
An important question to ask when reflecting on ‘non-engagement’ would be: Who is it who is not engaging? Sometimes our own professional practice means we create barriers in supporting families.
“Do not create distance through the use of acronyms and words that prevent us thinking carefully about one another.” – Hillary Cottam – Radical Help
Where early intervention has been well received and effective there are often honest and supportive relationships developed between families and practitioners. These have formed the base for the intervention to take place.
One responder outlined a preventative approach to child exploitation through developing a parenting programme. The responder described how this programme was not designed by professionals only, but in collaboration with parents, recognising their experiences, challenges and strategies.
‘We have established a parenting programme. This was jointly created with parents around child exploitation’ – Headteacher
Another responder identified a community-based approach which aimed at exploring the local context, gathering qualitative information on spaces and places to be addressed by multi-agencies.
‘We have also just got the go ahead for a pilot scheme where a multiagency group will be going out and speaking to young people and community members on a Friday night to find out where they feel safe/unsafe, gather young peoples voices around concerns in the town.’ – Intervention Worker
Time to reflect:
- Review opportunities to engage with parents – can any parent sessions be delivered?
- What strengths does your community have?
- How do your learners experience their community?
- Consider the language used when referring to pupils exploited
- How does community safety/risk key information feed back into schools/pupils as a preventative model?
What there needs to be more of
When asked what further support responders feel is needed there was a consistent view that there is currently a lack of resources, both internally within educational settings and supporting agencies as well as across statutory agencies. The knock-on effect of this was increased waiting times for intervention as well as limited time to be able to provide intervention that was needed. Some responders described how this then added to barriers delivering early intervention and prevention as not only was the support not always easy to access, but by the time support had begun the circumstances for a child/family had escalated to a statutory intervention level and relationships with children and families had become less trusting.
Settings also outlined a desire for further training and resources to use with both families and children.
Conclusion
It is clear from the responses to this survey outlined above that the early help and intervention being provided by professionals in the field of child exploitation provides interesting practice and illustrates the potential that organisations can have in providing protective experiences for children and young people. When reflecting on how we could explore this area further it would be interesting to explore the views of children and young people who have experienced abuse through exploitation to gather their views on what they consider to be important in providing intervention. This could be a further piece of work in the future.
The five themes outlined above are aligned with many of the learning points from other research and reviews into safeguarding practice. The results draw many parallels to the most recent annual report by the Child Safeguarding Review Panel. Another study to highlight in terms of similarities would be the Positive Childhood Experiences study by Christine Bethell et al 2019 which identified 7 positive experiences that can be indicators of future good health outcomes. It is clear from the responses we received to this survey that professionals are key players in building those positive experiences.
Despite the interesting practice and examples of impact outlined in the responses, responders still felt there was more needed, largely through training and support from external agencies and organisations able to offer intervention and resources. We would like to acknowledge this as a valid point, and both NWG Network and Safeguarding Network are always looking for more ways in which collaboration between agencies, organisations, education settings and safeguarding partners can be improved and strengthened and support is offered to those who need it.
However, to conclude this report we would like to reinforce the positive messages of hope and possibility we have received. Through analysing the results, we have seen that agencies working with children and young people who might be vulnerable to abuse through exploitation are thinking creatively to overcome some of the barriers and practising in a way which is making a significant impact in the lives of the children and families they are working with.
We would like to encourage reflection on the potential that each adult in a child’s life has on providing intervention and support. The impact of the daily input by many adults in children’s lives is immeasurable and often practitioners will not ever truly know the full reach of their support. There are many studies which evidence the importance of relationships as well as overwhelming anecdotal accounts of the influence key adults have had in people’s lives.
When working in a field where child exploitation is a concern, relationships can be key, as it is through applying the reflection points above to our working relationships that we are able to identify concerns and provide intervention.
Throughout this report we have referred to people as professionals, parents, children and young people. However perhaps the best take away would be a reminder that despite our role or position, we are all bound by being human and connection at a human level is imperative for us all.
Next steps
Is this an area you feel you would like more support within your setting? We can review practice in this area as part of a safeguarding audit provide training for your setting to develop this area. Contact us to discuss this further.