The recruitment of foster carers: key messages from the research literature

This report summarises key learning from existing literature around the recruitment of foster carers

The Barnardo's Safe Accommodation Project: consultation with young people

This report presents the findings of a consultation with young people in the care system affected by sexual exploitation or trafficking, conducted as part of the Barnardo's Safe Accommodation project. The consultation focused on experiences of the care system and how these could be improved

Safe accommodation for sexually exploited and trafficked young people: briefing paper

This briefing paper considers the factors that will contribute to effective and safe accommodation by summarising key messages from literature related to sexually exploited and trafficked young people, as well as the provision of specialist foster care for vulnerable young people in general

Virtuous circles : theorising the impact of Parents Against Child Sexual Exploitation (Pace) : discussion paper

‘Parents against child sexual exploitation’ (Pace) is a charity that supports the parents and carers of children who are, or are at risk of being, sexually exploited by perpetrators external to the family. Between 2014-17 Pace delivered the grant-funded project ‘Parents as partners in safeguarding children and young people in Lancashire’, which centred around the work of a Parent Liaison Officer (PLO) placed in the multiagency ‘Engage’ child sexual exploitation (CSE) team in East Lancashire.1 The project was evaluated by the ‘International Centre: Researching child sexual exploitation, violence and trafficking’ (IC) at the University of Bedfordshire.2 Our evaluation (Shuker and Ackerley, 2017) confirmed the findings of other evaluations of the work of Pace in demonstrating that the PLO contributed to positive outcomes for both parents and professional partners. The evaluation also highlighted the scope for the ‘relational safeguarding model’ used in the project to be developed further through a clearer articulation of the links between the PLO’s activities and the outcomes they achieved. This discussion paper aims to support that process by reviewing three of the key outcomes achieved by the PLO (increased parental understanding, empowerment and resilience) and suggesting that together they create a virtuous circle. In the model of a virtuous circle, the PLO’s support for parents improves outcomes, which in turn can have a positive impact on professionals’ interactions with the family and relationships within the home – both of which continue to reinforce positive outcomes for parents and their children. At its simplest, this theory of change asserts that when the family unit is strengthened, parents and other family members are empowered to work alongside statutory agencies to safeguard the child

Evaluation of Barnardo’s Safe Accommodation Project for sexually exploited and trafficked young people

The Safe Accommodation Project piloted the use of specialist foster placements for young people at risk, or victims, of sexual exploitation and/or trafficking, for the first time in England, as well as providing training to foster carers and associated professionals, and 1-1 support to young people in other care settings

Empowering parents : evaluation of parents as partners in safeguarding children and young people in Lancashire project 2014 – 2017

This report presents the findings of an evaluation of the project ‘Parents as partners in safeguarding children and young people in Lancashire, June 2014 to May 2017’. The project was delivered by Parents against child sexual exploitation (Pace) and centred around the work of a Parent Liaison Officer (PLO) placed in the multi-agency ‘Engage’ team in Blackburn with Darwen, Lancashire

SEFA Hub and Spoke Evaluation - year two progress report and interim findings 2014-15

This report details findings from the second year of a four-year evaluation of the ‘Hub and Spoke’ initiative, being undertaken by the University of Bedfordshire. Funded by the Child Sexual Exploitation Funders’ Alliance (CSEFA), this initiative aims to improve services in relation to child sexual exploitation (CSE). It utilises the expertise, resources and infrastructure of an established voluntary sector CSE service (the ‘Hub’) by locating experienced CSE workers (known as ‘Spoke workers’) into new service delivery areas. The evaluation assesses the extent to which the Hub and Spoke model triggers cultural and systemic change in the way that services engaging with young people respond to CSE.

The ‘virtuous’ cycle of parental empowerment: Partnering with parents to safeguard young people from exploitation

When young people are sexually exploited, parents and professionals alike can feel uncertain about how to balance the need to protect the child's rights to agency and autonomy while also reducing the risk of harm. Despite the shared interest in keeping young people safe, there remains a substantial gap in the research literature about how practitioners engage parents to increase capacity to safeguard their children, particularly within the context of a child protection system ill-equipped to address forms of extrafamilial harm such as child sexual exploitation. This paper aims to contribute to understanding how professionals effectively engage parents by drawing upon evidence from research evaluations of two programmes in rural/urban North and urban South locations in England, both providing specialist support to parents/carers of sexually exploited children and young people. Through interrogating elements of effective support work evidenced across both programmes, a set of emerging key themes are presented, proposing that parent support and engagement can create a ‘virtuous’ cycle, whereby families are strengthened and are better able to protect their children from sexual exploitation and other forms of extrafamilial harm

Research into gang-associated sexual exploitation and sexual violence : interim report

The research has been commissioned by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England (OCC) as part of their Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Gangs and Groups (CSEGG).This report presents the interim findings of a two year study into gang-associated sexual exploitation and violenc