44 research outputs found
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[Review] Wastell, D. and White, S. (2017) Blinded by science: the social implications of epigenetics and neuroscience
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Building trust with children and young people at risk of child sexual exploitation: the professional challenge
Research with children and young people at risk of child sexual exploitation (CSE) has highlighted that professionals need to engage children in relationships of trust if they are to be most successful in enabling children to explore and address risky behaviours, situations and relationships. More needs to be understood about professional approaches to building such trusting relationships, particularly when children feel (often with good cause) that professionals are not always able to balance their need for protection and guidance with their right to a voice and to make agentic choices about their own lives. This paper draws on interim findings from a two-year realist evaluation study funded by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner in England into the implementation and evaluation of a new child-centred framework for working with CSE , ‘See Me, Hear Me’, within three pilot local authority sites in different regions of England. A survey and qualitative interviews reveal how professionals from a range of disciplines draw on their knowledge, skills, personal qualities and values to develop trust. Key themes for effective practice were relationship-based practice, an ethically grounded approach, child-centred, and being skilled and knowledgeable in relation to working with CSE
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Piloting and evaluating the ‘See Me, Hear Me’ Framework for working with Child Sexual Exploitation
The ‘See Me, Hear Me’ (SMHM) Framework sets out a child-centred multi-agency approach for preventing the sexual exploitation of children, which focuses on identifying, protecting and supporting the victims, disrupting and stopping perpetrators, securing justice for victims, and obtaining convictions.
Developed following a two-year Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) in Gangs and Groups by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCC) (Berelowitz, et al., 2013), the Framework was envisioned as a model of ‘end to end’ prevention and support which links strategic leadership and co-ordination with multi-agency safeguarding arrangements on the ground in order to confront the risk and impact of sexual exploitation of children. The OCC sought to test the efficacy of the framework for practice by commissioning a pilot implementation and evaluation project, which was awarded to the University of Sussex in 2014. The project had three primary aims:
1. To support the implementation of the ‘See Me, Hear Me’ Framework in each locality (a set of rights-based/relationship-focused principles for practice across the multi-agency system as a whole);
2. To evaluate the efficacy of the service model developed in the three sites and the impact it achieves for children;
3. To recommend ways in which the diffusion of this approach might be achieved effectively, across similar local authority areas and in respect of safeguarding practice in general.
In this brief, summative report we will focus on describing key findings and areas of learning identified in conducting the evaluation for this pilot project. We will discuss the contrasting approaches to multi-agency practice developed across the pilot sites to put the integration of children’s right to both a voice and to protection at the heart of the child protection process, and consider the implications of findings on the process of piloting the SMHM framework for current policy and practice development in child protection relevant to CSE and other vulnerabilities. These key findings may be briefly summarised as:
1. A core challenge in addressing CSE in a multi-agency context is the need to hold the tension between children’s right to safety and protection, and their right to participate in making decisions that affect them. Professionals felt able to hold this tension and effectively balance children’s rights to both protection and participation when they prioritized transparent, strengths and relationship-based practice, partnered effectively with parents and other agencies, and were provided with both time and space to do the work.
2. Practice systems can be effectively built around the child-centred SMHM principles; they are useful and practical for diverse professionals, and may provide consistency and unity in multi-agency work. Local practice systems can differ and still effectively apply SMHM principles, as no ideal practice system configuration emerged in this study. Instead, having the freedom to determine how a local practice system best meets the needs of children at risk of CSE enables the system to work more effectively, if careful attention is first given to the facilitating and constraining conditions present in the system
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The Islington ‘doing what counts: measuring what matters'
The report evaluates the success of the project which aimed to improve outcomes for children and families that involved a statutory assessment of need in the London Borough of Islington
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Coram’s permanence improvement project: children’s social care innovation programme evaluation report 24
Research on improvements to the adoption services of 2 local authorities, including the development of a new diagnostic tool for special guardianship orders and the creation of a ‘permanence improvement’ academy.
The project was intended to support children who could not safely live at home, particularly those with the most complex needs, where adoption was the long-term plan
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‘Both/and’ not ‘either/or’: reconciling rights to protection and participation in working with child sexual exploitation
Analysis of data from a two-year evaluation of the piloting of a child-centred framework for addressing child sexual exploitation (CSE) in England revealed an intrinsic practice dilemma, whereby many practitioners experienced profound ontological, ethical, emotional and intellectual dilemmas in reconciling young people’s rights to voice, privacy and autonomy with their rights to safety, guidance and protection. ‘No-win’ scenarios left practitioners in a ‘double-bind’, whereby acting protectively might alienate a young person, paradoxically encouraging them to engage in further risky behaviours. An individual commitment to child-centred and participatory approaches, relational practice and reflective use of self was found to support professionals in exploring this tension with young people themselves, involving them as partners in reducing the risk of exploitation. However, practitioners will struggle to achieve this without manageable workloads, good supervision and organisational support for the emotional content of the work. Transformational learning is required across the disciplinary practice systems to achieve a more integrated practice of ‘both/and’ thinking and feeling. The tensions between protection and participation can then be surfaced in a way that is constructive rather than divisive
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[Review] Karen Clarke, Tony Maltby and Patricia Kennett, ed. (2007) Social policy review 19: analysis and debate in social policy
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