4.27 Supporting Children at Risk of, or Experiencing, Harm Outside the Home

1. Introduction

Some children will experience abuse and exploitation outside the home. This is often referred to as ‘extra-familial harm’. Harm can occur in a range of extra-familial contexts, including school and other educational settings, peer groups, or within community/public spaces, and/or online. Children may experience this type of harm from other children and/or from adults. Forms of extra-familial harm include exploitation by criminal and organised crime groups and individuals (such as county lines and financial exploitation), serious violence, modern slavery and trafficking, online harm, sexual exploitation, teenage relationship abuse, and the influences of extremism which could lead to radicalisation. Children of all ages can experience extra-familial harm.

2. Action to Take

Where there are concerns that a child is experiencing extra-familial harm, practitioners should consider all the  child’s needs and vulnerabilities. Some children will have vulnerabilities that can be exploited by others and will require support appropriate to their needs to minimise the potential for exploitation. All children, including those who may be causing harm to others, should receive a safeguarding response first, and practitioners should work with them to understand their experiences and what will reduce the likelihood of harm to themselves and others.

Where children may be experiencing extra-familial harm, children’s social care assessments should determine whether a child is in need under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 or whether to make enquires under section 47 of the same Act, following concerns that the child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. A good assessment should:

• build an understanding of the child’s strengths, interests, identity, and culture;
• respond to each of the vulnerabilities and/or challenges that the child may be facing, including any within the home;
• gather information on past experiences of trauma and how this may impact on the child’s current experience of harm and on how they interact with practitioners;
• explore how the child’s experiences within their families and networks, including their friends and peer groups, interplay with the risk of harm outside of the home and identify what needs to change;
• support parents, carers, and family networks to understand what is happening to the child, working with them to ensure they can best meet the child’s needs and play an active part in the solutions and processes to help create safety for the child;
• understand the risk of extra-familial harm for siblings, for example, where older children are exploited, younger siblings may also be at risk of being targeted.

See also Assessments procedure.

Where there are concerns that more than one child may be experiencing harm in an extra-familial context, practitioners should consider the individual needs of each child as well as work with the group. The children in the group may or may not already be known to local authority children’s social care. Working with the whole group enables practitioners to build an understanding of the dynamics between those within the group and the extra-familial context.

Practitioners will need to build an understanding of the context in which the harm is occurring and draw on relevant knowledge and information from the children and wider partners in order to decide on the most appropriate interventions. Practitioners should consider the influence of groups or individuals perpetrating harm, including where this takes place online, and identify patterns of harm, risk and protective factors in these contexts. This may include working across safeguarding and community safety partnerships to agree a plan for keeping children safe.

Key decisions should be recorded and communicated to both the child and their parents or carers, so that everyone understands the action that has, or will be, taken to safeguard and promote their welfare. It is important that all partners are clear how actions contribute to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child.