Report to Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee. Dorothy Hawthorn, Head of Child Care and Criminal Justice

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1 Report to Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee Date: 25th March 2015 From: Subject: Dorothy Hawthorn, Head of Child Care and Criminal Justice Child Sexual Exploitation 1. Purpose of report To furnish members with a position statement in order to update members regarding service developments in relation to vulnerable young people who may be at risk of sexual exploitation. 2. Summary 2.1 In December 2014 Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee partners produced a position statement as part of the Care Inspectorate led Joint Inspection of Services for Children and Young People in Renfrewshire. 2.2 Key points highlighted in the position statement include: Renfrewshire Community Planning Partnership has developed a coordinated approach to tackling Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE). In Renfrewshire, strategic and operational planning in relation to CSE is overseen by a Vulnerable Young Persons Strategic Group, which meets on a quarterly basis. The work of the Strategic Group is reported to the Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee and Chief Officer s group. Additional reporting in respect of missing children and children at risk of exploitation is provided to the Convenor and Depute Convenor of the Renfrewshire Social Work, Health and Well-being Policy Board on a regular basis. In January 2013, Renfrewshire Council and Police Scotland established a tripartnership approach with Barnardo s Scotland to deliver a support service for young people who go missing from home or care and may be at risk of sexual exploitation. Renfrewshire has participated in the work of Operation DASH, led by the Police to consider child sexual exploitation in the west of Scotland. Between July 2014 and November 2014, Renfrewshire social work and education services, NHS GGC and Barnardo s have formed part of a multi agency screening group with Police Scotland as part of Operation DASH. Page 1 of 3

2 Where a Renfrewshire young person is considered to be potentially at risk of CSE, a multi agency discussion takes place in the Vulnerable Young Persons Operational Group in respect of the potential risks to and needs of the young person. Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee has commissioned Barnardo s Scotland to provide multi agency training for staff in respect of CSE. 2.3 The Care Inspectorate has welcomed Renfrewshire putting forward our approach to addressing CSE as a good practice example. 2.5 Renfrewshire continues to be represented on the national CSE sub group progressing Scotland s national Action Plan to tackle CSE 3. Recommendations RCPC members are asked to: Note the contents of this report. Note the progress made in service delivery as outlined in the position statement 4. Background 4.1 The sexual exploitation of children and young people is an often hidden form of children sexual abuse, with distinctive elements of exploitation and exchange. In practice, the sexual exploitation of children and young people under 18 might involve young people being coerced, manipulated, forced or deceived into performing and/or others performing on them, sexual activities in exchange for receiving some form of material goods or other entity (for example, food, accommodation, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, gifts, affection). Sexual exploitation can occur through the use of technology and without the child s immediate recognition. 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 often common features; involvement in exploitative relationships being characterized in the main by the child/young person s limited availability of choice resulting from their social, economic and/or emotional vulnerability. In some cases, the sexual activity may just take place between one young person and the perpetrator (whether an adult or peer). In other situations a young person may be passed for sex between two or more perpetrators or this may be organised exploitation (often by criminal gangs or organised groups). Sexual exploitation is abuse and should be treated accordingly. Practitioners should be mindful that a dual approach is key in tackling CSE; whilst a young person must be both engaged with and supported, there must also be a focus on Page 2 of 3

3 proactive investigation and prosecution of those involved in sexually exploiting the young person.(national Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2014) 4.2 Every year an estimated 100,000 children run away. In research commissioned by the Children s Society, Rees and Lee (2005) found that looked after children are three times more likely to go missing than children at home. The Children s Society found evidence of children as young as 8yrs old running away. They also noted a typically higher lifetime running away rate amongst female children (Still Running III, 2011). Nazir Afzal, Chief Crown Prosecutor for North West England noted in 2012 that what characterised the child victims in the Rochdale child sexual exploitation case reported in the media was their vulnerability and availability. The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) recognise child sexual exploitation as both a cause and consequence of children going missing (CEOP 2011). 4.3 In April 2013 a Scottish Government Short-Life Ministerial Working Group was established review key challenges associated with child sexual exploitation and to test the work programme underway to address them. In November 2014 the Scottish Government published a National Action Plan to tackle Child Sexual Exploitation. It s recommendations include: Increase frontline practitioners understanding of CSE, including medical staff and teachers; Develop guidance for taxi-drivers, hotel workers and others in the night-time economy to help identity and report suspicions of CSE; Develop protocols for local authorities to be used as best practice and establish consistency across the country in supporting CSE services; Establish a children & young people steering group on CSE to advise on key issues such as areas for support; and Review current civil preventative orders on sexual offences. 4.4 Between 19th January 2015 and 5 th March 2015, Renfrewshire was subject to the Joint Inspection of Services for Children and Young People. Led by the Care Inspectorate, the inspection included a review of 108 children s files and approximately 70 meetings with children, parents, carers and staff as well as senior managers. As a result of the findings of the 2013 Short-Life Ministerial Working Group, the inspection had a particular focus on the local arrangements in place to address CSE. Appendix 1 Inspection 2014/ 15 Position Statement Child Sexual Exploitation Page 3 of 3

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5 Inspection 2014/ 15 Position Statement POSITION STATEMENT Child Sexual Exploitation Strategy and Leadership Renfrewshire Community Planning Partnership has developed a coordinated approach to tackling Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE). In 2006, Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee published Safeguarding Young People at Risk of Sexual Exploitation. This emphasised the inter-agency planning required to identify and support young people at risk of CSE. By 2010, the Committee had established a local Protocol in relation to addressing child trafficking which was supported by an extensive multi agency training programme. At this time the processes in place in respect of young people who go missing were also reviewed to ensure that they were robust. RCPC has an overarching policy relating to missing children. Since the Autumn of 2012, Renfrewshire partners have focussed on further strengthening our response to CSE. Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee, Chief Officers and Elected members have demonstrated they are committed to learning from recent enquiries about Child Sexual Exploitation. Professor Alexis Jay, the author of the Rotherham Inquiry report, accepted an invitation from Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee (RCPC) to discuss her findings. Professor Jay attended a meeting of the RCPC and then presented at a learning event on the 29 th October Her input will inform the continuous improvement of practice for addressing child sexual exploitation in Renfrewshire in relation to preventing children from being drawn into sexual exploitation, supporting victims to recover from the impact of child sexual exploitation and pursuing perpetrators of this form of child sexual abuse. She has been invited to be the keynote speaker at the annual RCPC conference in Effective leadership in this area is evidenced by the establishment of an Elected member / Senior Officer group which will provide scrutiny and monitor the progress of strategic developments in CSE. The group was established following reports being presented to the full Council and the Social Work Health and Well Being Policy Boards following the publication of the findings of the Rotherham Enquiry. The partnership is also committed to improving staff capacity to respond to this issue by providing robust training and awareness raising opportunities related to Child Sexual Exploitation. In Renfrewshire, strategic and operational planning in relation to CSE is overseen by a Vulnerable Young Person s Strategic Group, which meets on a quarterly basis. This group is chaired by the Head of Service for Child Care in Social Work and has senior manager representation from across the partnership. To monitor development and progress of the Barnardo s Safer Choices Missing Project and the Vulnerable Young Person s Operational

6 Group, regular meetings are chaired by the Children s Services and Addictions Manager with multi agency representation. The Rotherham Inquiry has been considered at the Strategic Group and its findings are being used to inform the development of the agenda going forward. The Strategic Group will consider the local implications of Scotland s National Action Plan to tackle Child Sexual Exploitation which was published on 11 th November Renfrewshire are represented on the newly formed National CSE group. This is a sub group of the Ministerial Working group that has been tasked with developing and progressing the actions identified in the National Action Plan for CSE. The work of the Strategic Group is reported to the Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee and Chief Officer s group. Additional reporting in respect of missing children and children at risk of exploitation is provided to the Convenor and Depute Convenor of the Renfrewshire Social Work, Health and Well-being Policy Board on a regular basis. Action In January 2013, Renfrewshire Council and Police Scotland established a tri-partnership approach with Barnardo s Scotland to deliver a support service for young people who go missing from home or care and may be at risk of sexual exploitation. The Barnardo s Safer Choices: Missing Service commenced in March 2013 and directly engages with young people to offer support and contribute to the overall assessment of risk. The Safer Choices: Missing Service assesses the risk of a young person s involvement in child sexual exploitation using the Barnardo s Sexual Exploitation Risk Assessment Framework (SERAF). Information from this is shared with police and social work to inform the overall assessment of needs and risks. During the period 18th March 2013 and the 31st March 2014, the service undertook 64 SERAF assessments in respect of 38 individual young people from Renfrewshire. Whilst specialist assessment is used, the Getting It Right for Every Child (GIFREC) approach ensures that planning is based a holistic assessment of need and risk and multiagency action plans are established. Referrals from Police Scotland are shared with Barnardo s via a secure facility. Police Scotland has established two posts as dedicated Child Protection Co-ordinators who are both based within the Concern Management Hub at Renfrew Police Office. They act as the key people for reviewing, researching and sharing of information regarding all vulnerable young missing persons, youth offending, Early & Effective Intervention (EEI) and police attendance at screening groups. These officers have developed excellent lines of communication with local authority children s houses, Scottish Children s Reporters Authority, Barnardos, and social work, thus enabling early sharing of information and the identification of any children potentially at risk of CSE. Within Renfrewshire Police Scotland have identified a Detective Inspector as the point of contact for operational guidance and oversight of all CSE reactive and proactive investigations. At the same time Renfrewshire has participated in the work of Operation DASH, led by the Police to consider child sexual exploitation in the west of Scotland. Between July 2014 and November 2014, Renfrewshire social work and education services, NHS GGC and Barnardo s have formed part of a multi agency screening group with Police Scotland as part of Operation DASH.

7 In March 2013 a secure facility was set up between Social Work and Police Scotland. This has facilitated the sharing of any "soft" information children's services staff receive (over and above anything we would deal with as child protection) which could indicate possible CSE eg a particular car appears to be regularly parked near a children's house with no explanation for this. Where a Renfrewshire young person is considered to be potentially at risk of CSE a multi agency discussion takes place in the Vulnerable Young Person s Operational Group in respect of the potential risks to and needs of the young person. Young people are usually referred to the group by Police Scotland or Barnardo s, however any agency can request consideration of a young person. Plans are in place to convene separate persons of concern meetings to further support information sharing between agencies and disruption of any criminal activity. The Vulnerable Young Persons (VYP) Operational Group was established in April 2013 to facilitate information sharing and provide multi agency scrutiny in respect of planning and action where a child or young person is potentially at risk of sexual exploitation. The group is chaired by the police and membership includes social work, education, health, Barnardo s and SCRA. The young person s key workers also attend and the Barnardo s SERAF and the Child s Plan are used to inform the meeting. The meeting facilitates multi agency information sharing in respect of young people s circumstances (eg associations, locations which increase risk) and considers the needs and risks to young people possibly at risk of sexual exploitation. In addition the group assists in the sharing of relevant information regarding potential persons of concern. The group meets approximately every 2 months dependent on need. Child sexual exploitation must be seen in the context of child sexual abuse. The Renfrewshire Women and Children 1 st service continues to support a rolling programme of multi agency training to ensure practitioners are alert to child sexual abuse and understand exploitation within this context. Following commencement of the Safer Choices project, Barnardos and Police Scotland visited Renfrewshire Children s Houses to deliver child sexual exploitation briefings to 31 residential staff. Police Scotland also delivered a child sexual exploitation training input as part of the 2013/14 social work child protection update training sessions. Since approximately 2007, Renfrewshire education service has had teaching staff trained by the Child Exploitation Online Protection (CEOP) service delivering a rolling programme of awareness sessions to parents and young people. The Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee annual conference in March 2013 specifically focused on child sexual exploitation. In January 2014, Barnardos Safer Choices Project Manager delivered a CSE input to the RCPC, a further presentation was subsequently delivered to the Chief Officers Group. Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee has commissioned Barnardo s to deliver further multi agency child sexual exploitation training, with a number of training events having already taken place. Training for trainers events will facilitate a rolling programme of child sexual exploitation training overseen by the Renfrewshire Child Protection Committee. 3 days of multi-agency CSE training took place in 2013/14 with 50 participants from across the partnership. These training sessions covered the following key issues to ensure we

8 develop a consistent and coherent approach in relation to CSE Definitions and terminology Key vulnerability factors for young people Potential risk indicators Understanding of the different ways in which young people can become involved in CSE Responding to concerns Information for professionals regarding CSE has been circulated widely within single agencies including social work and education and education managers have received a specific briefing. A Public Protection newsletter will shortly be circulated to all staff across the partnership which includes information and advice regarding CSE. Barnardo s Safer Choices Missing Service provides leaflet information for families and staff. Where a young person needs to be discussed at a VYP group, where appropriate this is discussed by the Barnardo s worker with the young person and their parent if living at home. Project staff also provide individual support regarding safety strategies as well as general awareness re CSE to parents/ for those young people who have been missing from home. In March 2014 the RCPC annual conference was opened to the public for the first time, and inputs included presentations on online safety, with a focus on the risk of on-line exploitation via sexting etc. 141 members of the public attended alongside 219 multi agency staff. In addition to the Barnardo s staff briefings to a range of multi-agency practitioners in Dec 2014 there will be similar events delivered with parents/carers and community groups in the new year. To ensure accurate recording of child sexual exploitation, Renfrewshire social work now records child sexual exploitation as a contact reason on the social work information system. Child sexual exploitation is also considered as a separate indicator of concern in respect of child protection registration in Renfrewshire. To date, no circumstances have been identified where child protection registration would have been the appropriate response. Outcomes In the first year of operation of the Safer Choices: Missing Service, return interviews were undertaken in respect of 48 Renfrewshire young people. The Barnardo s Safer Choices Missing service data indicates that for almost a quarter of the young people engaged with the service, there has been a (self reported) reduced consumption of controlled substances. A quarter of the young people also feel they are more able to identify abusive/exploitative behaviour. During the period 18th March 2013 and the 31st March 2014, the service undertook

9 64 SERAF assessments in respect of 38 individual young people from Renfrewshire. In just over a third of cases, the assessment indicates a reduction in the level of risk/ harm. Staff sharing of information has also contributed to an adult male being charged with offences in relation to the supply of illegal substances to minors. In relation to outcomes from the training / awareness raising sessions, there was an average shift of between 24% and 166% for each of the 8 learning outcomes. The impact of the training has been effective in that there was an 80% shift in relation to staff being able to explain their agencies role and knowing what to do should they be concerned that a child was at risk of CSE Next Steps The membership of the Vulnerable Young Persons Strategic Group has recently been extended to include Community Resources. Based on the information from the Rotherham Inquiry, consideration is being given as to what action requires to be taken in respect of community groups including religious communities and also with the local business community in particular those businesses related to night time trade and taxi firms. The persons of concern meetings will assist partners to develop a shared picture of intelligence to help identify any particular patterns, locations or groups to more effectively target resources. The RCPC Missing Protocol will again be reviewed to take account of recent developments and ensure we continue to have a robust co-ordinated approach to locating and protecting children and young people who go missing. Whilst there is a planned approach to identification, risk assessment and risk management, we will continue to develop our services to meet the long terms needs of victims of CSE. As part of the established RCPC case file audit programme, annual audit activity includes a focus on the appropriate recording within case records to ensure that risk assessments and risk management plans are robust, chronologies are present and that appropriate information is recorded. Whilst support and training for professionals has been established and will be subject to continuous review, the Public Protection Communications Group has also started to consider how awareness can continue to be raised with parents and carers, with a view to building on the initial work undertaken by opening up the annual RCPC conference to the public in early 2014.