Purpose of Multi-Agency Safeguarding toolkits:

It is important to start with defining the purpose of our Dorset Multi-Agency toolkits, so that our professionals working with young people and families know what to expect from this resource. The purpose of a toolkit is to provide professionals with additional resources, practice tips and to contribute to the embedding of learning from national and local child safeguarding practice reviews (LCSPRs) or other types of learning reviews, to enhance and help you in your everyday practice. A toolkit is not, therefore, a step-by-step guide outlining the core procedures when working with children, young people, and families. For the core safeguarding procedures in Dorset, professionals should refer to this link here Pan-Dorset Multi-Agency Safeguarding Policies and Procedures Manual (proceduresonline.com). The core safeguarding training offer can also be accessed through this webpage here Training – Pan-Dorset Safeguarding Children Partnership (pdscp.co.uk)

These toolkits will also take into account the Safeguarding Families Together approach, which is currently being piloted in the Chesil locality.

Purpose/background of this IFCSA Multi-Agency toolkit:

The aim of this IFCSA toolkit is to develop the confidence of child safeguarding practitioners in recognising and responding to intra-familial child sexual abuse. It takes into account local learning from child safeguarding practice reviews and will be further updated in the light of future reviews.

The local thematic review into intra-familial child sexual abuse published on the PDSCP website in March 2022 Final-Dorset-CSPR-Report-Thematic-summary-intra-familial-sexual-abuse-31.03.2022-1.pdf (pdscp.co.uk) recommended that the existing Dorset Council Child Sexual Abuse toolkit was expanded out for use by our multi-agency child safeguarding practitioners.

The local CSPR (LCSPR) regarding ‘the Siblings’ Dorset LCSPR report ‘The Siblings’ (August 2022)published in August 2022, made recommendations for areas to strengthen or include in this multi-agency IFCSA toolkit following learning identified within the review.

Scope of this toolkit:

As defined above, this toolkit focuses on intra-familial child sexual abuse. Intra-familial sexual abuse is defined as:

Child sexual abuse (CSA) that occurs within a family environment. Perpetrators may or may not be related to the child. The key consideration is whether the abuser feels like family from the child’s point of view[1].

For sexual abuse occurring outside the family, please see the new Dorset Extra-Familial Harm toolkit (replacing the Dorset Child Exploitation toolkit) which addresses child sexual exploitation (CSE).

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is also a form of abuse, and we have specific ways of working where this may be a factor. See the FGM Mandatory Reporting Guidance in our PDSCP library.

It is important to note that this toolkit is gender neutral, as while most perpetrators of child sexual abuse have been found to be male, abuse by women does occur.

Target audience:

This toolkit is aimed at all of those who work with or regularly encounter children and young people, including those in voluntary sector roles. Examples of these are:

• Health practitioners
• Police
• Social Workers
• Probation service
• Early years practitioners
• Alternative Provision
• Foster Carers
• Residential placements
• Teachers and other education officers
• Youth Service
• Holiday and After-School Clubs
• The CYP voluntary sector

How to use this toolkit

We have developed this toolkit in web format to increase its accessibility. The contents page contains hyperlinks to each main section of this toolkit; click on these to navigate your way through the toolkit. Alternatively, you can follow this toolkit through sequentially by scrolling down your screen. Within each section of the toolkit, there are links to return you to the contents page on the right hand-side of the screen.

You can easily retrieve the toolkit on your mobile phone if you scan the following QR code and bookmark the web address:

To provide feedback for this toolkit please click this link

You can also scan the QR code below to take you to the survey: