Key Lines of Enquiry
NPIES Key Lines of Enquiry (Draft)
Demonstrate that trusted, consistent, relational working with families is key including flexible, confident and competent workers.
Recognise and evaluate the positive impact of working with parents as key partners has on the safeguarding of the child, and the disruption and conviction of perpetrators.
Understand the impact of trauma on the whole family and ensure practice is trauma responsive.
Create flexible, transparent, integrated, diverse services which value families as critical safeguarding partners whilst recognising their unique role within the partnership.
Build on a strengths-based approach when working with families which enables two-way constructive challenge and support; viewing the family through a human as well as a professional lens.
Recognise that a differentiated response is needed for families and that exploitation cannot be dealt with isolation.
Consider how we re-engage with families who may not have had a trusted, positive relationship with organisations including signposting to relevant services to gain access to information and services.
Develop a range of opportunities to hear and respond to the voice of the family; from service planning and evaluation through to the meetings they attend about their child.
Create advocacy opportunities for families to help them understand what is happening to their child, offer support and to help navigate the safeguarding systems / language we use.
Reframe the language and ways in which we describe families in assessments, case notes and meetings so as not to blame and punish.
Ensure assessments clearly differentiate between risk and harm and robust processes are in place to reduce the risk and respond to the harm to the child and family.
Services to clearly outline their remit early on with families including planned and coordinated exits so expectations are agreed.
Ensure the safety, welfare and impact of exploitation on siblings is considered and responded to in order to safeguard them but also to minimise fracture of relationships between siblings.
Utilise existing disruption tools and legislation to prevent and tackle perpetrators.
Services need to account for the direct levels of threat and use of violence both actual and implied towards family members so need to respond quickly.
Acknowledge the ever-changing complexities of exploitation and its impact on families, for example debt bondage.
Ensure transition to adult services is integrated in the safeguarding pathway.
Recognise the value and importance of ‘grass roots’ organisations which are embedded in the local community in building and maintaining positive/therapeutic relationships with children and their families.
The learning offer to professionals should be comprehensive and consistent whilst being flexible, accessible and dynamic and should target all relevant professional and community groups (e.g. housing officers).
We need to take the learning from CSE into wider exploitation and share emerging practice.