A new report – Time to listen - a joined up response to child sexual exploitation and missing children – finds that child sexual exploitation can be tackled best when all partners take responsibility for their roles while also working collaboratively, with strategic goals clearly identified, understood and agreed across agencies.
The report also finds that finds that the police service needs to improve its response, by making sure children talk to one person of sufficient skill and experience to know how to help.
Senior staff in key agencies – in particular, the police and health – must also “maintain a grip on the matter”, says the report.
Tackling child sexual exploitation (CSE) is not just an issue for local authorities, say the report’s authors – and health and the police must ensure a sufficiently senior person leads this work.
A key concern remains that not all frontline healthcare staff are able to identify the signs of sexual exploitation.
Ofsted, Care Quality Commission, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and HM Inspectorate of Probation undertook the inspections and looked in depth at how local authorities, the police, probation services, Youth Offending Teams, health services and Local Safeguarding Children Boards are responding to children at risk of child sexual exploitation and those missing from home, school and care in Central Bedfordshire, Croydon, Liverpool, Oxfordshire, and South Tyneside.
The report finds that good progress has been made since 2014 to tackle child sexual exploitation and support children who have been missing.
The inspectorates found evidence of improvement in the multi-agency response to tackling child sexual exploitation over the last two years –
however, the report says there can be no room for complacency and more can still be done to ensure all children receive consistently good support from all agencies.
Raising awareness is also key to protecting vulnerable children – children themselves can also help in developing materials to help other children understand the risks.
Schools also have a critical role to play here, as do parents and carers, public services such as transport and recreation, and the local business community.
Ofsted National Director for Social Care, Eleanor Schooling, said:
“Helping victims of child sexual exploitation is a very tough task – we should be optimistic that this is a task that can be done effectively.
“Our inspections have found that when key frontline staff are well-trained, take their responsibilities seriously, work closely together and – possibly, most importantly, have the time to build relationships with children – the issues can be dealt with sensitively and successfully.
“We have found that strong leadership makes a huge difference – those areas where there was clear direction and a collective will to tackle this issue did well by their vulnerable children.
“Practice needs to improve – local authorities, police and health services need to gain a better understanding of why children run away from home.
“We need to understand why the current system of return home interviews is not working if we really want to help children who go missing.”
Duncan Lewis Family Solicitors
Duncan Lewis family solicitors can advise on a wide range of family and child care matters, including child abuse within the home, children taken into Local Authority care, Court of Protection, Section 38 enquiries and pre-proceedings meetings.
There are Duncan Lewis offices nationwide and our specialist child care and family solicitors are also able to advise on:
• Adoption and international adoption
• Child care arrangements
• Child maintenance
• Civil Partnerships
• Court Orders
• Divorce
• Domestic violence & honour crimes
• Dowry disputes
• FGM
• Forced marriage
• International child abduction
• International marriage and divorce
• Islamic marriage and divorce
• Property disputes
• Separation agreements
• Spouse abandonment
• Wills and trusts.
For expert legal advice on family law and child care matters, call Duncan Lewis family solicitors on 0333 772 0409.