This book offers a complete account of Contextual Safeguarding theory, policy, and practice frameworks for the first time. It highlights the particular challenge of extra-familial routes through which young people experience significant harm, such as child sexual exploitation, criminal exploitation, serious youth violence, domestic abuse in teenage relationships, bullying, gang-association, and radicalisation. Through analysing case reviews, observing professionals, and co-creating practices with them, Firmin provides a personal, philosophical, strategic, and practical account of the design, implementation and future of Contextual Safeguarding. Drawing together a wealth of practice examples, case studies, policy references, and practitioner insights for the first time, this book articulates a new safeguarding framework and provides a detailed account of its translation across an entire child protection system and its relevant component parts. It will be of interest to all scholars, students, and professionals working within social work, youth justice and youth work, policing and law enforcement, community safety, council services, forensic and clinical psychology, counselling, health, and education.

How do we respond to harm faced by young people beyond their front doors? Can practitioners keep young people safe at school, in their neighbourhoods or with their friends when social care systems are designed to work with families? The Contextual Safeguarding approach has transformed how policy makers, social care leaders, practitioners and researchers understand harm that happens to young people in their communities and what is required to respond. Since 2015 it has been tested across the UK and internationally. This book shares stories from child sexual exploitation, child criminal exploitation and peer violence about what has been learnt on this journey. For anyone interested in how we safeguard young people beyond their front doors, this book shows how much we have achieved and raises big questions about what more we need to do to ensure young people are safe – whatever the context.

Placing children at the centre of safeguarding principles and practices is vital for ensuring the best child protection. This essential resource provides early years practitioners with all that they need to be confident and competent as they fulfil their roles and obligations to safeguard and protect children. Exploring the main factors that impact on the lives of young children in the current safeguarding climate, this book is a starting point for understanding the risks and categories of abuse and neglect. Grounded in best practice, it gives practitioners encouragement and advice to help shape and drive practice forward with child-centred motives, practices and perspectives. The book offers: Insights into the current safeguarding climate backed by practical examples An introduction to managing the different safeguarding challenges faced by early years professionals Methods for contextualising these for children in the early years Guidance on supporting vulnerable children, their families and other agencies working alongside them Reflections, case studies and a wide range of example scenarios Voices and insights from across the sector woven throughout for a holistic understanding of safeguarding With accessible chapters drawing on best practice from across the sector at every level, this is a valuable resource for all those working in the early years, whether just starting out or highly experienced in the field.

The Child Protection Handbook explains how to recognise abuse and protect at-risk children for those working with children and young people aged under 18, including in social care, education, health services, and sport and leisure settings. The book has been fully updated to incorporate the impact of new technology as well as current legal and policy frameworks that govern statutory child protection intervention in the UK. It considers all aspects of child protection, including organisational issues, children’s rights, the needs of those from diverse backgrounds, and the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on child protection work. With accessible, up-to-date information presented in an easy-to-navigate format, the Handbook is ideal for all busy practitioners wanting to improve outcomes for children, young people and their families. Fully updated since the last edition in 2007 – perfect for all those working with children and young people Easy to navigate and locate information – suitable as a reference book for busy practitioners Illustrative boxes in each chapter, drawing on practice case examples to highlight current issues and dilemmas All concepts explained in straightforward, jargon-free language Reflective points to encourage the reader to think about their own practice and apply new knowledge Key questions for students and teachers to check understanding and to explore concepts further Links to resources and further reading Supporting social workers in child protection practice Poverty and child protection New forms of child abuse, including technology assisted child sexual abuse, child sexual exploitation, gangs and criminal exploitation, radicalisation, forced marriage of children and young people, female genital mutilation, and faith-based abuse Focus on teenagers, including child protection in adolescence, leaving care, safeguarding and children in conflict with the law, children and young people who have displayed harmful sexual behaviour, and child to parent violence and abuse Safeguarding in sport and leisure Working with parents at risk of repeat removal of their children through care proceedings

This fully-updated, accessible textbook considers the theory and practice of critical social work in addressing inequality and social injustice. It is essential reading for students, educators and practitioners of child and family social work.

Focusing on young people and adolescence, this book explores the complexity of contemporary adolescent safeguarding. It highlights evidence-informed practice and innovation in this area at the work, serving as an accessible and invaluable resource for all working with and supporting young people facing risk and harm. Core themes covered by the book are the nature of harms facing some young people, the potential pitfalls of some professional responses, and the current legal framework for safeguarding young people where harm occurs outside the family home. It includes an overview of adolescent development, and argues for a holistic, systemic response that addresses the structural disadvantage facing many young people at risk and incorporates participatory and trauma-informed practice designed to promote resilience. It draws on innovative approaches in local areas, such as Transitional Safeguarding, to make the case for a person-centred, evidence-informed and rights-based approach to safeguarding young people. As well as being invaluable to practitioners, managers and strategic leaders working in this field, this is also ideally suited to be a text for any social work course or professional development programme on adolescent safeguarding practice.

Safeguarding Children and Young People offers students and practitioners an accessible and multi-disciplinary guide to working together with other professionals to deliver a child-centred and co-ordinated approach to safeguarding, in line with the Working Together to Safeguard Children guidance. Taking a ‘whole systems’ approach, and offering support on prevention, assessment, intervention, systems, and leadership, the book reflects on recent challenges including contextual abuse, child sexual exploitation and cyber-abuse. The book includes case studies, activities and points for reflection to aid learning and test understanding.

The issue of Child Sexual Exploitation is firmly in the public spotlight internationally and in the UK, but just how well is it understood? To date, many CSE-related services have been developed in reaction to high profile cases rather than being designed more strategically. This much needed book breaks new ground by considering how psychosocial studies, feminist and geo-environmental theories, amongst others, can improve practice understanding and interventions. Edited by one of the leading scholars in the field, this text will help those planning strategic interventions and practice activities in social, youth and therapeutic work with young people to properly grasp how CSE arises and how to challenge the nature of abuse.

The Criminalisation and Exploitation of Children in Care explores the results of a recent qualitative study, which focused on multi-agency responses to children and young people in residential and foster care who were at risk of criminalisation and/or exploitation and abuse. Recent high-profile reports have highlighted an urgent need for effective multi-agency work to tackle the issues of criminalisation and exploitation of children and young people in care. However, progress to date has been slow, and it is clear that there is still some way to go before effective multi-agency working becomes widespread. In response, this book draws upon the experiences and perspectives of practitioners from a sample of co-located Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hubs, as well as the latest research, theory and policy developments in the field. In doing so, it explores both the benefits and challenges of multi-agency working and concludes with recommendations for future policy and practice. This timely study will be of great interest to students and scholars of criminology, criminal justice, policing studies, social work, health and childhood studies. It will also be a valuable tool for practitioners and policymakers in the criminal, youth justice and social service arenas.

Despite the pivotal role played by parents in the child protection process, little attention has been paid to how social workers perceive them. Exploring representations of parents within Children’s Services – at the levels of policy, organisation and frontline practice – the concept of citizenship is used to construct a typology with ten variants of parent-citizenship. The typology reveals the complexities of parental representations and their relationship to the content of policy, organisational environments and dominant societal themes, as it uncovers how social workers represent parents in their day-to-day practice. The book is a resource that can be used by students, practitioners, researchers and parent advocacy organisations to evaluate policy and practice and to contribute to the search for the best possible outcomes for families. Arguing that parental participation in the child protection process is essential, the book increases the visibility of parents and contributes to a much-needed dialogue about working with parents in Children’s Services.