How as professionals can you ensure risk is managed?
Working with children where there are concerns of intra-familial CSA is complicated. Managing that risk as professionals may even feel daunting and is therefore important that all relevant agencies are included in the safety planning process, whether this be through strategy discussions, professionals’ meetings or child protection conferences. Either through strategy discussions, professional meetings or child protection conferences.
It is important that professional curiosity influences the plans and that any professional disagreements are Whenever a child reports that they are suffering or have suffered significant harm through sexual abuse the initial response from all practitioners should be to listen carefully to what the child says and to observe the child’s behaviour and circumstances. Practitioners must:
Clarify concerns
Clarify the concerns that were raised
Offer reassurrance
Offer reassurance about how the child will be kept safe
Explain actions to be taken
Explain what action will be taken and within what timeframe
The child must not be pressed for information, led or cross-examined or given false assurances of absolute confidentiality, as this could prejudice police investigations, especially in cases of sexual abuse.
For more information, see these resources:
Where a Strategy Discussion/Meeting takes place the core agencies involved with the child should participate. A clear plan should be agreed and circulated to each agency participant. Wherever possible these should be face to face meetings rather than telephone discussions to allow better analysis of the available information.
At the conclusion of the investigation, if the case does not proceed to an Initial Child Protection Conference a second de-briefing strategy meeting should be held to ensure that any ongoing risks are understood and protective action can be undertaken.
Any child protection medical assessment must be planned carefully in order to secure any forensic evidence, if it is judged to be appropriate.
Visually recorded interviews must be planned and conducted jointly by trained police officers and social workers in accordance with the Achieving Best Evidence in Criminal Proceedings: Guidance on interviewing victims and witnesses, and guidance on using special measures (Ministry of Justice). All events up to the time of the video interview must be fully recorded. Consideration of the use of video recorded evidence should take into account situations where the child has been subject to abuse using recording equipment.
Visually recorded interviews
Visually recorded interviews serve two primary purposes:
Evidence gathering for criminal proceedings
Examination in chief of a child witness
Where you need independent support or assurance or wish to raise professional differences and escalate concerns to protect the child the PSCP case resolution process can support and if appropriate escalate through the Plymouth Safeguarding Children Partnership. Particularly if there are concerns about delay. Dealing with and responding to CSA promptly will be critical to ensure immediate safeguarding and secure forensic evidence. It should never be assumed that an older child can keep themselves safe from abuse. Managing the risk of CSA is the responsibility of multi-agency professionals, and never the child.
Children who are held as having some degree of responsibility for keeping themselves safe or not feeling they are believed may experience increased negative outcomes, such as amplified self-blame. Similarly, blaming non-offending parents can impede their ability to support their child once abuse has come to light. Understanding the factors that influence how people perceive the child, caregiver, and adult causing the harm is imperative for the protection and treatment of families who have experienced sexual abuse.
Complex Strategy Discussions
When there are multiple children and/or multiple perpetrators involved in allegations of sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation then a Complex Strategy Discussion should take place to ensure all children and young people that may be involved are considered and all necessary safeguarding plans put into place.
Complex Strategy Discussions should be chaired by a Service Manager within the Local Authority Children’s Services and should involve all the professionals concerned, key agencies such as Devon & Cornwall SARC (Sexual Assault Referral Centre) should be engaged.
Practice Tips
Historical concerns should inform your current view of risk. You need to be able to see patterns of harm over a period of time and a good multi-agency chronology will support identification of risk to inform how professionals can manage the risk. Given the complexities of intra-familial abuse, it will sometimes be appropriate to undertake joint visits with a colleague. This could be a support worker, an advanced practitioner etc. This will give the second person an opportunity to observe behaviours and interactions and enable reflective discussion and hypothesis.
Some helpful learning from children and families from safeguarding practice reviews:
Listen to children carefully
Listen to children carefully and offer a non-judgemental approach, especially when retraction is made. “The words you use with us are powerful and stick in our minds. We also try to tell you through some of the things we do”.
Children do not want to re-tell stories
Children are unlikely to keep wanting to re-tell their story or build new relationships if workers keep changing. It is too difficult to do this, even if you try “really hard”.
The child’s perspective
“Some decisions we make need to be seen through our eyes as children. Check out hypotheses with us directly as sometimes the decisions we make are because of other dilemmas in our lives, such as wanting to stay at the same school where we have friends and feel safe versus where we live”.
Explain the options
“Explain what choices and options there are in a way that we can understand, as the language and jargon is confusing, and then check again that we understand this”.
Support non-abusing parents
Work with the non-abusing parent by listening to their views more and offer support to them. Share the actual reports and information at the time you receive them.
Consider what feels safest
Ask the child and non-abusing parent how meetings should be run and how participation feels safest for them or there is a risk it is more damaging, albeit non-intentionally
Consider social worker allocation
Social Workers, or any professional working with the family, should take care not to be “sucked in” by adults who are highly manipulative and maybe consider visiting our home in two’s so that observations can be made of the family dynamics and interactions. Consider the allocation of social workers, or any professional working with the family, in some family situations where misogyny and male power is highly dominant and controlling of situations.
The single and most important consideration is the safety and well-being of the child or children.
In reconciling the difference between the standard of evidence required for child protection purposes and the standard required for criminal proceedings, emphasis must be given to the protection of the children as the prime consideration.
The investigation and enquiries must also address the religious, cultural, language, sexual orientation and gender needs of the child, together with any special needs of the child arising from illness or disability.
A victim support strategy and service should be established at the outset. Support will be required in pre-trial, trial and post-trial periods if the case/s proceed to court. Minimum periods for contact should be established. It is clear from experience in research about sexual abuse investigations that many victims and families feel strongly that it is important that they remain in contact with the same practitioners throughout the investigative process.
Where an Initial Child Protection Conference takes place great care should be taken beforehand if the child / young person wishes to participate. The child should not be put in the position of meeting the alleged perpetrator or of attending the meeting at the same time.
Barriers to Disclosure
Children may disclose sexual abuse directly and verbally while others may attempt to disclose by non-verbal means including changes in their behaviours, requiring those around them not just to focus on the behaviour but why the behaviour may be happening. Rates of verbal disclosure are low at the time that abuse occurs in childhood.
However, children say they are trying to disclose their abuse when they show signs or act in ways that they hope adults will notice and react to. This is particularly important for disabled children.
Children and young people often disclose abuse while it is still ongoing, there may be a significant delay between the onset of the abuse and any disclosure. The younger the age of the child when the sexual abuse starts, the longer it usually takes to disclose.
Many children are experiencing multiple forms of abuse and may live in households that are not safe and in which emotional support is not available to them.
