Town Hall praised for ‘radical new approach’ to tackling criminal exploitation

Hackney Council has been singled out for praise by an independent Child Safeguarding Review Panel for its “radical new approach” to protecting vulnerable teenagers from exploitation by criminal gangs.

The work, known as ‘contextual safeguarding’ and developed by Dr Carlene Firmin of the University of Bedfordshire, shifts the focus of social work from the family home to look at a wider picture of relationships formed at school, within neighbourhoods and online.

The panel called on the government last week to provide more resources for safeguarding work, with the aim of introducing a national model which moves away from taking children out of unsafe environments towards creating safety within communities themselves.

Dale Simon CBE, who leads the panel, said: “Our panel reviews the most serious cases of child abuse and neglect so we can learn how to improve the safeguarding system.

“There are pockets of great work being undertaken in local areas to tackle the disturbing number of young people being exploited by criminal gangs.

“That’s why we want government to provide more investment for those working with children, so we can ensure every child gets the help they need, when they need it.”

The panel describes contextual safeguarding as a “challenge to the more traditional route into social care”, as it can seek to deal with concerns relating to groups of children rather than individuals, with partnerships established as part of the work with transport providers, local businesses and even fast food restaurants.

In one case study provided by the council, on an estate where there had been three significant violent incidents in five months, a neighbourhood forum was formed in which locals could share their concerns, as well as their own understanding of the contributing factors to the violence.

Following the forum’s establishment, the team involved spoke to local businesses, services and schools, and eventually a parents group was formed who would act as partners in safeguarding local kids, with residents speaking of the importance of learning to consider young people’s vulnerabilities, rather than seeing them as ‘problematic youths’.

One resident said: “I found it helpful to be able to say how I’m feeling and know that I’m not alone. When you have a teenager going through certain things you can talk to friends and family to a certain extent but unless they’re actually going through it or been through it, they don’t actually know what you’re going through.

“I found the parents’ group to be a release in having people understand where I’m coming from and the difficulties I’m facing, and them then having the resources or answers to my questions or suggestions as a parent who experiences something I’ve never been through before.”

As part of the independent panel’s first national review, it visited Hackney to observe contextual safeguarding as an “innovative solution” to keep young people safe from criminal exploitation, calling for greater recognition of ‘critical moments’ such as school exclusions, arrest, or injury, to which frontline practitioners must respond quickly.

In a policy document outlining contextual safeguarding as an approach, Dr Firmin calls on social care practitioners to engage with people and sectors in contexts over which parents and carers have “little influence,” in a bid to “expand the objectives” of child protection systems.

In another case study shared by Dr Firmin, a young person referred to as Dean was groomed by a neighbourhood gang to traffic drugs across the country, first approached with his friends at a local takeaway.

Dr Firmin writes: “The influence of those who have groomed him means that Dean doesn’t come home when his parents ask him too and stops answering their calls while running drugs.

“Slowly Dean’s parents lose control of him and when they try to lock him in the house he physically attacks his mother to get out. Dean is one of six peers who have all been approached at the take-away shop for the purposes of drug trafficking.

“Within a contextual safeguarding model the risk in Dean’s neighbourhood, and the group who have groomed him, appear to be more influential than his parents.

“Addressing this issue may in turn address the challenges that Dean is facing at home – whereas intervening with Dean’s family is unlikely to impact the risks he is facing in the community.”

While under a more traditional system Dean and his family would be referred, assessed and receive an intervention, Dr Firmin’s approach sees the street gang and/or Dean’s peer group as well as the takeaway shop subject to an intervention to keep Dean safe.

The contextual safeguarding work in Hackney is due to be formally evaluated by the University of Sussex over the next two years.

The panel identified “issues about parental consent” involved in referring groups of young people, with the council itself identifying “potential challenges” around the recording and sharing of information, with the Town Hall stating that parents would be contacted if it became aware of any risk that presented to their child as part of a group.

The council has also been proactive in speaking with local businesses on how they can help keep young people safe or respond to concerning incidents locally, going on to share information with business owners on how they can be “positive bystanders”, with a programme of community guardianship workshops set to be rolled out this year.

The panel’s report said: “It is clear that the response to children who are at risk of significant harm and exploitation from within their communities must be formulated in the light of that wider context. It cannot be solved by focusing on the family unit alone.

“Work to develop effective ways of working at a community level should continue and we should recognise that this may challenge the current approach from local agencies and require a deeper look at the skills required in multi-disciplinary teams.

“Consideration of the approaches needed from different agencies – both individually and collectively – to understand context and deliver interventions successfully is an important element to build into this work.”

Deputy Mayor of Hackney Cllr Anntoinette Bramble said: “We’re proud to be recognised for our groundbreaking contextual safeguarding work.

“As times change, so do young people’s experiences. It is imperative that we take new approaches to respond to their experiences, to make sure we do everything we can to look after vulnerable young people and give all children the best possible start in life.

“We’ve had a lot of support from our partners and the community to do this work, and we’re excited to continue its development.”