Reducing pressure on the system through place-based prevention of CSA

Community social work engaging with the whole community is crucial in Together for Childhood (TfC), the NSPCC’s child abuse prevention programme.

At the Social Work Show in Manchester recently, NSPCC social workers Stephanie Edwards, Leila Ghafar and Chloe Harrigan discussed their work bringing TfC to prevent child sexual abuse (CSA) in Stoke.

‘It involved three small communities in the north of Stoke,’ said Ms Edwards. ‘About 10,000 households. It’s important to say that we worked there not because there was an especially high incidence of CSA but because there was a bidding process where the community said that they want to be part of TfC. They really accepted us and they wanted us to be there.’

They played a short video which introduced the plan locally and was used to empower professionals working with them.

It included several examples of the programme, including delivering better sex education in schools. This includes NSPCC practitioners working alongside teachers on bespoke, age-appropriate lessons. The NSPCC PANTS resources and lesson plans are used in classrooms from early years up to children aged 11.

Another example involved local police: working with Staffordshire Police Force, the NSPCC developed an extensive plan to ensure children are protected and their voice is always heard.

‘We ask children themselves how we can make their area safer,’ Ms Edwards said. She added that the team is also ‘looking a bit further to where children usually spend their time. So we look at takeaways, taxi-drivers, barbers – places and people where children go. People who have been around for years and across generations. We upskill them so when they were told or get to know about something for example in the barbers, they can tell them what to do.’

‘It is a public health approach from the ground up to strategic level,’ Leila Ghafar said, adding that it was co-developed and co-delivered across a wide range of activities.

At secondary schools, they worked with children tackling sexual harassment and bullying. Children made their own storyboards, animations, and films. ‘That enabled greater engagement than would have happened had we just sat them down and talked to them,’ she said.

‘It helped them with communication skills, confidence building, and they made films for future use.

‘We know that there are barriers but this way of using community leaders is a quick win. Long-term we are spending time with the communities and so over time we are trusted.

‘At a systemic level, it puts less pressure on a stressed system. We are firefighting less and reaching much more of the community.’

Chloe Harrigan discussed the links to social work practice. ‘Many of you are familiar with the assessment triangle (Working to Safeguard Children 2023). What we have seen is that there is a lot of value to be added to the assessment by working with the community. Working Together says assessment should build a full picture of the child’s life so it is about their community and their environment.’

Enablers in the approach included:
- being flexible but with boundaries
- a focus on communication, avoiding jargon and formalities
- reflection on outcomes and how the impact aligned to social work
- being patient and demonstrating humility

The team said that the programme has challenges, such as time constraints, the rigidity of roles and misaligned working patterns. There was also the general fatigue people feel about yet another new project, and mistrust of professionals. But TfC shows that the benefits are clear, including through contact with, and training for local community groups, the use of social media, and bringing local organisations to team meetings to share their services.