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 escalated.
Where you need independent support or assurance the Quality Assurance service can support and if appropriate escalate through the Pan Dorset Safeguarding Children Partnership [1]. 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.
The Pan-Dorset Safeguarding Children’s Partnership have developed a joint Intra-Familial Child Sexual Abuse protocol [2] between Dorset Council and Dorset Police which provides practitioners with additional steps to follow in relation the management of risk in these cases.
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 some recent Local Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews completed in Dorset:
- 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 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”.
- “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 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”.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
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