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Tuesday 2 April 2019

CASPAR Weekly Update

CASPAR: current awareness service for practice, policy and research 

Welcome to the latest CASPAR alert from NSPCC Knowledge and Information Service for week commencing Monday 25 March 2019 

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Online safety
NSPCC Learning has published a blog looking at how teachers can help keep children safe online. Key advice includes: online safety should be seen as part of normal safeguarding responsibilities; if you are worried about a child talk to them, record your concerns and follow your school's safeguarding policies and procedures.
Source: NSPCC Learning  Date: 20 March 2019
Training teachers to deliver messages about keeping safe
The NSPCC has published results of research investigating teachers' continuous professional development (CPD), in particular the skills needed to deliver messages about keeping children safe from abuse. The research identified key characteristics of effective CPD including: a focus on student outcomes; collaboration; reflection; being sustained over time; incorporating models of effective practice. As well as a research report and executive summary, the NSPCC has published a schools resource highlighting examples of best practice for teacher CPD.
Source: NSPCC Learning  Date: 25 March 2019
Positive relationships
The NSPCC has published a free online resource to help empower children aged 7-11 to make positive relationships matter in their school and community. Through starter activities and case studies, Primary AGENDA suggests inclusive, creative and rights-based approaches to a range of issues including: feelings and emotions; friendships and relationships; body image; consent; gender and sexuality equality; and equity.
Source: NSPCC Learning  Date: 19 March 2019
Further information: AGENDA wales 
Child sexual exploitation
The NSPCC is putting a spotlight on what works to support children and young people who have experienced or are at risk of child sexual exploitation (CSE). Findings from an evaluation of the Protect and Respect programme, which supports children and young people aged 11-19 who are affected by CSE, include: practitioners should work with a young person to understand what factors in their life may lead to an increased risk of CSE and identify what long-term support is needed. This may include working with families and advocating for engagement with other services.
Source: NSPCC Learning  Date: 25 March 2019 
Further information: Protect and Respect 
Funding children’s services
The Public Accounts Committee has published a report on funding for children’s services in England. Findings include: the Department for Education (DfE) cannot explain the wide variation between local authorities in the activity and cost of children’s social care, the increasing use of residential care is placing local authorities under extreme financial pressure and there is a lack of evidence on the effectiveness of early intervention in children’s social care. Recommendations include: the DfE should set out what improvements it is seeking in children’s social care by 2022; and the DfE should develop and lead on a cross government strategy for raising the quality in children’s social care.

Source: The Public Accounts Committee  Date: 22 March 2019
Modern slavery
The Home Office has published the third and fourth interim reports from the Modern Slavery Act 2015 review. The third interim report looks at the Independent Child Trafficking Advocates (ICTA) scheme in England and Wales. Recommendations about the scheme, which provides children with an advocate to ensure their voices are taken into account in all decisions made about them, include: the service should be extended to young people up to the age of 21 or 25 depending on their circumstances; cases of children that go missing should be kept open and discussed; the service should help train authorities in a consistent approach to age assessment; and the full roll out of the service across England and Wales should take place as soon as possible. The fourth interim report looks at the legal application of the Act. Recommendations include: the Act should be amended to make it clearer that a child is not able to consent to any element of their trafficking.
Source: Gov.uk  Date: 21 March 2019
Modern slavery and human trafficking
The National Crime Agency (NCA) has published its end of year summary on potential victims of modern slavery and human trafficking. Findings from data on referrals to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), a framework for identifying victims and ensuring they receive appropriate care, include: 3,137 referrals related to potential child victims, a 48% increase on the 2017 total. The NCA largely attribute this increase to a rise in the number of referrals relating to county lines - a process through which urban gangs use children to move drugs and/or money to suburban areas, market towns and coastal towns.
Source: NCA Date: 20 March 2019
Troubled families programme
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has published a series of reports outlining findings from the evaluation of the Troubled Families Programme 2015 to 2020. Reports include: a summary of key findings from the different strands of the evaluation; an overview of data about the families worked with and the programme’s impact; qualitative findings from interviews with families and staff; and findings from surveys with the programme's coordinators, keyworkers, employment advisers and participants. Findings include: the programme appears to have reduced the proportion of looked after children and the proportion of adults and children receiving custodial sentences; evidence suggests families at risk are being identified more proactively and that multi-agency working has strengthened.
Mental health and schools
The Anna Freud Centre has published a booklet looking at ways schools can help children with their mental health and wellbeing. The booklet looks at how schools can support children with different mental health concerns by identifying problems and measuring and monitoring pupils' emotional wellbeing.
Source: Anna Freud  Date: 19 March 2019
Parents in emotional distress
Public Health England has published updated data on the proportion of children living with at least one parent reporting symptoms of emotional distress in England. Findings include: around one in three children lived with at least one parent reporting symptoms of emotional distress in 2016 to 2017 and there was an increase in the proportion of children living with parents in emotional distress compared to data reported between 2015 and 2016.
Source: Public Health England  Date: 19 March 2019
Families facing financial crisis
The Children's Society has published a report looking at the support available to families facing financial crisis. The research, which draws on responses to freedom of information (FOI) requests and interviews in local authority case study areas, finds that provision of crisis support has become increasingly fragmented since central government devolved responsibility to local authorities. Recommendations include: central government should provide the resources and guidance needed for local authorities to deliver crisis support that is fit for purpose; councils should make sure that support is available for child-related costs; agencies should be able to track vulnerable families through the local crisis support services to ensure they receive the follow up support they need and identify gaps in provision; and eligibility requirements should not prevent families with children and young people in financial crisis from getting help.
Source: Children’s Society  Date: 17 March 2019
Further information: Nowhere to turn report (PDF)
Sexual abuse of boys
Community care has published an article by a practice improvement advisor at the Centre of expertise on child sexual abuse about what social workers can do improve identification and encourage disclosure of sexual abuse amongst boys. Recommendations include: when working with males who display challenging behaviour, always look to understand the cause of the behaviour and not just address the behaviour itself; design a process to gain feedback from young males and include them in innovations and service design; and use supervision to practise receiving disclosures and asking gender-sensitive questions about child sexual abuse.
Source: Community Care  Date: 18 March 2019
Read more on NSPCC Learning: Protecting children from sexual abuse
Social media, mental health and wellbeing
The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on social media and young people's mental health and wellbeing has published a report. Findings include: social media can have a range of positive effects, but children who spend time on social networking sites are more likely to have symptoms of mental ill health than those who do not; and social media is seen by many young people as having a negative impact on their self esteem. Recommendations include: establish a duty of care on social media companies with registered UK users aged 24 and under; create a Social Media Health Alliance to fund research, educational initiatives and establish clearer guidance for the public; review whether the ‘addictive’ nature of social media is sufficient for official disease classification; and commission longitudinal research into understanding the impact of social media on young people's mental health and wellbeing.
Pupil poverty
The Association of Schools and College Leaders (ASCL) has published findings from a survey about pupil poverty. Findings from responses from the headteachers of 374 state-funded secondary schools in England and 33 in Wales include: 96% of headteachers said the extent of pupil poverty has increased over the past few years, 91% provide items of clothing for disadvantaged pupils and 75% provide breakfast clubs.
Source: ASCL  Date: 15 March 2019
Further information: The Guardian 
No deal preparations for children’s services
The Department for Education (DfE) has published advice for local authority children’s services in England on how to prepare in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal. Issues covered include: right to live and work in the UK for employees in children’s services; reciprocal recognition of professional qualifications for social workers; international child protection and children seeking asylum in the UK.
Source: DfE  Date: 15 March 2019
Evaluating interventions
The Early Intervention Foundation (EIF) has published a ten step guide for evaluating interventions and services for children and their families. Steps cover: planning and developing a new intervention; piloting and testing the intervention; refining and monitoring the intervention; and adapting and expanding the reach of the intervention.
Source: EIF  Date: 14 March 2019

Further information: 10 steps for evaluation success (PDF)
Care applications
Cafcass has published its monthly care application statistics for England. In February 2019, Cafcass received 1,001 new care applications. This is 16.1% (192 applications) lower than February 2018.
Source: Cafcass  Date: 05 March 2019
Read more on NSPCC Learning: Looked after children
Early help
The Isos Partnership has published a report commissioned by the Local Government Association (LGA) looking at what makes an early help offer successful. The research, which looked at interventions in eight local areas, identified a number of factors which enabled effective early help offers, including: strong leadership; a long term commitment; working closely with the local community; focusing on the needs of the whole family and being clear about the desired impact of interventions.
Source: Isos partnership  Date: 14 March 2019
Read more on NSPCC Learning: Early help (or early intervention)
Children and young people conference 2019
This conference, organised by Stonewall, focuses on lesbian, gay, bi and trans (LGBT) inclusion in services, youth groups and education settings. It takes place on 5 July 2019 in London.
Source: Stonewall
Sexual abuse and mental health: reducing the impact of abuse on mental health
This conference, organised by Healthcare Conferences UK (HC-UK), takes place on 10 June 2019 in London.
Source: HC-UK
Support services
The Independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA) has issued an invitation to tender for research into victims' and survivors' experiences of support services.
Source: IICSA
Adoption survey
Adoption UK has launched a survey of adoptive parents and prospective adopters to find out their experiences and views on adoption. The deadline for completing the survey is 11.59 pm on 3 April 2019.
Source: Adoption UK
Further information: Adoption barometer 2018
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