National review webinar series - Workshop 4

“Safeguarding partners should, with all relevant agencies such as the Probation Service, review how people who present a risk of sexual harm and who have contact with children are assessed and managed, with information about risk shared across agencies in a timely way. Partners should consider the use of civil orders and other measures to effectively manage the risk from the person of concern.”

National review into child sexual abuse within the family environment (2024)

About the workshop

This workshop is part four of six online sessions to support safeguarding partners to reflect, plan and lead the implementation the recommendations for safeguarding partners in England set out in the 2024 National review into child sexual abuse within the family environment.

The workshop is focused on Recommendation four, for safeguarding partners to review how people who present a risk of sexual harm and who have contact with children are assessed and managed.

The National review found evidence of a need for safeguarding partners and probation to work together to create single points of contact, have robust information sharing arrangements and promote effective learning across agencies. That is why this recommendation asks partners to work with relevant agencies such as the probation service and to make sure all information about risk is shared across agencies in a timely way. The review also says partners should consider the use of civil orders and other measures to effectively manage the risk from the person of concern.

In this workshop, we will discuss the findings from the report that led to this recommendation specifically develop an understanding of how sexual harm is assessed and managed in adults including those who have contact with children, and how this relates to safeguarding children from know or potential harm and how to review this practice.

During the session, we will discuss how robust and timely information sharing is important in safeguarding children but also how this can be achieved in practice, and look at the use of civil orders to .... Finally, it will offer useful detail on how safeguarding partners and probation service can achieve this in practice.

About the speakers

Anna Glinski is the Deputy Director for Knowledge & Practice Development at the CSA Centre and heads up the Practice Improvement Team, leading our work creating practice resources, devising training and advising individuals and organisations on how to improve their response to child sexual abuse.

TJ Abrahams is the Senior Policy Lead for Child and Adult Safeguarding at His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service, developing prison and probation operational safeguarding policy and working in partnership across government departments to support the development of legislation and statutory guidance. A qualified Probation Officer, TJ has extensive experience across the criminal justice system, and has held a range of positions including roles in youth custody, prison offender management, and Probation Service roles in the community. TJ holds a BA (Hons) in Criminology and Social Policy and an MSc in Criminal Justice, providing a strong academic foundation for evidence-based policy and practice.

What is the National review into child sexual abuse within the family environment?

In 2024, the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel published their National review into child sexual abuse within the family environment, conducted by the CSA Centre. It studied the experience of 193 individual children and uncovered significant and longstanding systemic issues in the identification of and response to child sexual abuse in family settings. Sadly, the review found that children who are sexually abused are frequently not being identified by practitioners, nor are they receiving the response needed for their ongoing safety and recovery.

The final report, "I wanted them all to notice": Protecting children and responding to child sexual abuse within the family environment, made 10 recommendations for national government and a further six recommendations for local safeguarding partnerships which they can implement immediately without waiting for changes at a national level.

About the workshop series

This is part four in our Strengthening multi-agency leadership in responding to intra-familial child sexual abuse series of workshops. Each free session takes a closer look at the recommendations of the National review into child sexual abuse within the family environment. Throughout the year we are holding five more workshops covering topics from improving professional knowledge, skills and practice, to how to talk to children about sexual abuse.