Solihull LSCB Strategy to tackle Child Sexual Exploitation
2015-2016
May 2015
Introduction
1.1 In August last year Professor Alexis Jay published a review of child sexual exploitation in Rotherham. It showed that organised child sexual exploitation had been happening on a massive scale over many years. The Government is determined that this will not be allowed to happen again. Child sexual exploitation affects all our communities. While the full extent of this crime is still unknown, we do know that it is not confined to one area.
1.2 This strategy is informed by the government response to the Rotherham report and local and regional experience.
1.3 Much work has been achieved at regional level, with LSCB’s and Local Authorities in the West Midlands sharing information and disseminating locally resulting in increased awareness through conferences and seminars on local activities to tackle CSE.
1.4 This strategy sets out Solihull LSCB’s local action to protect children and young people from sexual exploitation, a key priority for the LSCB in 2015-2016.
1.5 The LSCB objectives are to;
· Raise awareness among children and young people about safe and healthy relationships, including on line safety
· Raise awareness among parents about CSE
· Raise awareness in the general community about CSE
· Target children at risk of CSE using the regional problem profile and local intelligence
· Assess quality of help to these children by ensuring the risks are reduced.
· Ensure we understand the experience of children missing form home or from care by analysing return interview data.
· Use available criminal and civil interventions to disrupt local perpetrator activities.
(Each objective has a specific set of actions and key performance indicators identified in the CSE Action plan at Appendix one)
Full LSCB guidance on CSE is available on http://solihulllscb.proceduresonline.com/chapters/contents.html
What is Child Sexual Exploitation?
2.1 The LSCB has adopted the definition of sexual exploitation that is set out in statutory guidance:
“Sexual exploitation of children and young people under 18 involves exploitative situations, contexts and relationships where young people (or a third person or persons) receive ‘something’ (e.g. food, accommodation, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, affection, gifts, money) as a result of them performing, and/or another or others performing on them, sexual activities. Child sexual exploitation can occur through the use of technology without the child’s immediate recognition; for example being persuaded to post sexual images on the Internet/mobile phones without immediate payment or gain. In all cases, those exploiting the child/young person have power over them by virtue of their age, gender, intellect, physical strength and/or economic or other resources. Violence, coercion and intimidation are common, involvement in exploitative relationships being characterised in the main by the child or young person’s limited availability of choice resulting from their social/economic and/or emotional vulnerability.”
Identifying children at risk of CSE
3.1 This strategy aims to continue the work to promote awareness in the professional and general community about the vulnerability of children and young people to this form of abuse. Although all children and young people are vulnerable, those living with additional features may be especially so, as they can be targeted by perpetrators. These additional features are listed in Appendix 5. They form the basis of the LSCB awareness raising and training programmes to enable early identification of children at risk in practice.
3.2 Key facts;
· Perpetrators target victims that are known to them with introductions made through a friend being the most common form of targeting.
· There has been a significant increase in the number of identified victims at risk of CSE in the West Midlands and it is considered that this may reflect the proactive work done in the last 3 years to raise awareness of this form of abuse.
· White British born females with an average age of 15 are the most commonly identified victims.74% of offences linked to CSE occur within a dwelling.
· Not all young people who are at risk of CSE go frequently missing: 11% have never been reported missing to police.
· Suspects target individual victims as well as groups of victims.
Principles of Effective Practice
4.1 The child’s best interests must be the top priority
The best interests of children and young people and their rights to protection must drive all decision making. The paramountcy principle (Children Act 1989) must be adhered to where applicable and children’s rights under UNCRC Article 3 fully honoured.
4.2 Participation of children and young people
Services need to involve children and young people when decisions are being made about their care, protection and on-going support and be kept informed on any issues that affect them throughout. Professionals must be mindful of children and young people’s needs and equalities. Their UNCRC Article 12 rights must be honoured.
4.3 Enduring relationships and support
Support must be tailored to meet the needs of the child, according to their age, identity, ethnicity, belief, sexual orientation, disability, language, and stage of development. Children and young people have told us that a consistent person who sticks with them throughout the whole period of their protection and on-going care is crucial to their recovery.
4.4 Comprehensive problem-profiling
It is critical that agencies regularly problem-profile their local area to analyse and understand all the patterns of exploitation to which children and young people are subjected to. A comprehensive problem-profile needs to be compiled with the oversight of the LSCB and should be shared across all key partners to inform the development of a multi-agency strategy and action plans, the commissioning of services and the delivery of training and awareness-raising activity to support local professionals.
4.5 Effective information-sharing within and between agencies
Every area should have a cross sector information-sharing protocol which is predicated on the best interests and safeguarding of children and young people. All relevant agencies and services should be signatories and it should clearly state what information should be shared, by whom and the process for doing this.
4.6 Supervision, support and training of staff
Services should invest in the development and support of staff including providing regular supervision and the opportunities for them to reflect on practice. Those professionals who offer direct support to sexually exploited children and young people might require further intensive training and must have regular opportunities to reflect on their practice with a skilled consultant or supervisor.
4.7 Evaluation and review
Evaluations and regular reviews of the effectiveness of the CSE strategy is necessary to ensure services and interventions are achieving their intended outcomes and meeting the child and young person’s needs. Children and young people must be directly involved in this process in compliance with Article 12 of the UNCRC. This will ensure that performance is driven continuously by a cycle that leads to improvement.
4.8 Essential foundations of good practice: (Office of the Childrens Commissioner)
4.9 Solihull LSCB is committed to translating these foundations into practice through its effective co-ordination of arrangements to respond to child sexual exploitation.
Voice of the Child
5.1 The LSCB is committed to ensuring the voice of the child influences and informs its work to prevent and respond to CSE.
5.2 Young people who have been victims of sexual exploitation have suggested the following statements/questions should be at the heart of all planning and decision-making about CSE:-
- Don’t make assumptions about who I am and what I need
- Help make me safe and stop it happening
- It’s not just me
- Punish the right people
- Don’t think there is a quick fix
5.3 Their messages for all agencies are:-
- Don’t turn your back, it happens, talk about it
- If the child or young person does not recognise the situation as abuse, consider what to do to help them see it is not acceptable
- Make sure that there is a shared plan you are working on with the young person so they can have a bright future
- Plan ways of engaging with children and young people and getting their feedback on whether prevention and protection processes work for them.
5.4 Monitoring the effectiveness of this strategy
5.5 The LSCB will receive quarterly reports from the CSE steering group on performance in relation to the key objectives described above with particular reference to outcomes for children achieved through the creation of the CMOG and MASE groups. (See performance indicators in the CSE action plan Appendix one)
5.6 The CSE steering group will monitor performance by analysing the data provided in relation to the objectives, ensuring delivery and taking remedial action where there are poor trajectories.
5.7 On an annual basis, the CSE steering group will carry out an assessment of the effectiveness of this strategy by providing a forum for the CSE, CMOG and MASE stakeholders to come together to analyse and reflect on performance. This assessment will inform an account of progress made and areas for development to the annual report.
Governance
6.1 The LSCB CSE steering group has devised an action plan for 2015-2016 setting out the work that will be undertaken in order to protect children from sexual exploitation in Solihull using the key objectives described in paragraph one of this strategy. (see Appendix 1). Performance on the objectives are scrutinised by the CSE steering group and reported to the LSCB on a quarterly basis.
6.2 The LSCB has an embedded CSE governance structure to protect children from sexual exploitation at operational, tactical and strategic levels, each with a set of performance indicators. These arrangements for challenge and scrutiny are summarised as follows;
· The CSE steering group monitors the effectiveness of the LSCB strategy. (See terms of reference Appendix 2)
· The CSE and Missing Operational Group (CMOG terms of reference Appendix 3) provides advice, support and challenge to practitioners involved in the protection of children from sexual exploitation. This group receives information on a number of children and so has insight into local developments and progress, reporting in this to the CSE steering group.
· The CSE and Missing Operational group is a multi-agency group arranged to discuss and plan for individual children. (A summary of purpose is at Appendix 4 and full procedures is http://solihulllscb.proceduresonline.com/pdfs/cse_protocol.pdf)
6.3 Local intelligence is gathered using the regional problem profile identifying key areas of vulnerability and providing targeted awareness raising and intervention strategies to tackle CSE locally.
6.4 The LSCB links with regional and national developments through representation on regional groups and information sharing from national experience.
6.5 A comprehensive training programme has been devised to target professionals working with children and young people, raising awareness and developing workforce competencies to respond effectively to concerns. The training is under constant review.
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Appendix one
CSE Solihull Local action plan 2015-2016 SOLIHULL LSCB
CSE strategic objective one: Children and young people have an increased awareness of safe and healthy relationships.Action / Lead / KPI’s (the local CSE QA data set) as at March 2015
Raise awareness among children and young people about safe and healthy relationships, including on line safety / Ed sub
group / Nos. of schools where health and safety relationships is embedded in PHSE curriculum
Nos. of schools where governors have had training on; 1) CSE; 2) Online safety;
3) Relationships and sex education
Raise awareness in the local community, including business establishments. / Shabnam Beattie
(Police) / Nos of voluntary orgs reached Nos of youth groups reached (reaching both Solihull and non-Solihull children
Nos of business establishments reached
CSE strategic objective two; Parents and carers have an increased awareness of CSE
Action / Lead / KPI’s
Raise awareness among parents on CSE / TBA / TBA
CSE strategic objective three: Children and young people who are being sexually exploited are effectively supported
Action / Lead / KPI’s Nos at risk of CSE; / With CPP, / With CIN plan
Target children at risk of CSE using the regional problem profile and local intelligence. / LA CSE co-ordinator / By gender M F / By ethnicity / By age
CSE CLA
CSE CPP
Assess quality of help to these children by ensuring the risks are reduced. / CMOG / Nos Risk level 1 / Level 2 / Level 3
Analyse data from interviews of children returning from missing care or home. / TBA / Nos missing Nos missing LAC Nos missing age, gender, ethnicity location
CSE strategic objective four: Perpetrators are disrupted and/or held to account using appropriate criminal and/or civil interventions
Action / Lead / KPI
Use available criminal and civil interventions to disrupt local perpetrator activities. / Police / No of harbouring notices .No of those on remand. Other civil interventions. No of arrests No of criminal investigations/prosecutions
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Appendix 2
CSE Steering Group Terms of Reference
April 2015
1. MEMBERSHIP
Agency / Role / NameWest Midlands Police / Chair/ Lead for Child Abuse Investigation in Coventry and Solihull, Public Protection Unit
Chair of CMOG / Ian Green (Chair)
Jim Edmunds
Health (CCG) / Designated Nurse Safeguarding Adults and children & Mental Capacity Act Lead / Rosie Luce
Police / Vulnerability & Crime Officer / PC Shabnam Beattie
Youth Services & Youth Offending Service / Head of Service, Youth Offending Service / Shelley Ward
CSE Team / CSE Officer / Claire Patterson
SMBC-CYPF / Head of Service Children in Need / Frank McSheffrey
SMBC-CYPF / Aspire Through Care Team / Darren Bishton
SMBC-Education / Education Improvement Advisor – Health and Wellbeing / Bev Petch
SMBC-Education / Senior Education Welfare Officer / Jo Sierzega
SMBC / Local Authority Children’s Services Commissioner / Carole Bourne
SMBC / Lead Member / Councillor Ken Meeson
Solihull Community Housing / Neighbourhood Services Team Leader for Chelmlsey Wood / Sherry Studholme
Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust / Named Nurse / Cath Evans
Barnardos
LSCB
LSCB / Children’s Services Manager
Business manager
Training officer / Debbie Southwood
Betty Lynch
TBA
2. PURPOSE OF GROUP