CYSCP
Latest news
Stay up to date with the latest news relating to safeguarding children and young people in York.
Read our recent news:
- YoungMinds training
- New commissioned exploitation support service
- Signs of Safety - Building Brighter Futures Practice Model Partner Briefing Session
- YorSexual Health Services available
- Operation Endeavour
- York Neurodiversity programme – Parent/Carer Webinars
- The Long Game
- NPSCC Pregnancy in Mind (PiM)
- Children and Young People' Plan
- National Child Exploitation Awareness Day
- Safer Sleep Week
- Young Carers Action Day
- Joint Serious Violence Strategy Published for York and North Yorkshire
- Commissioner Zoë Metcalfe announces start date for Chief Constable of North Yorkshire
- Managing Allegations - Good Practice Briefing
- Building Brighter Futures Practice Model Partner Briefing Session
- Together WE Can Partner Briefing Sessions
- School Attendance is Everyone's Business
- Parental Mental Health and The Impact on Children (PAMIC) Tool
- PREVENT Training
- Children's Society #LookCloser - Programme of learning
- New CYSCP Documents
YoungMinds training
Published 22 April 2024.
Our partners at Humber and North Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership have kindly partnered with us to offer our staff free places on the YoungMinds training in May and June 2024.
Training is delievered to over 10,000 professionals each year and their expert trainer consultants will give participants the practical skills to support the young people they work with. All training sessions will be delivered online via Zoom for a maximum of 30 York colleagues.
Book online now using the Eventbrite links below to secure your spot. All webinars are delivered via Zoom:
- 23 May 1.00pm-2.00pm Webinar for Trusted Adults supporting young people in the community. This webinar is designed for adults who may be supporting young people, formally or informally, in the community to understand the importance of their role in young people’s mental health. It is also designed to help them reflect on what they do and identify potential actions they could take to support young people further. Book online (I work in York) Book online (I work in North Yorkshire)
- 5 June 10:00am-1:30pm Introduction to adolescent mental health. This foundational course will help participants understand the processes involved in adolescence and how the transition from childhood to adulthood can impact the emotional wellbeing of young people. Book online (I work in York) Book online (I work in North Yorkshire)
- 11 June 1:00pm-4:30pm Involving young people facing marginalisation and barriers. Participants explore how marginalisation and barriers can affect young people and their experience of mental health services and how participation can help improve both. Book online (I work in York) Book online (I work in North Yorkshire)
- 13 June 1:00pm-2:00pm Trusted Adults supporting young people in the community. This webinar is designed for adults who may be supporting young people, formally or informally, in the community to understand the importance of their role in young people’s mental health. It is also designed to help them reflect on what they do and identify potential actions they could take to support young people further. Book online (I work in York) Book online (I work in North Yorkshire)
- 19 June 1:00pm-4:30pm Introduction to adolescent mental health. This foundational course will help participants understand the processes involved in adolescence and how the transition from childhood to adulthood can impact the emotional wellbeing of young people. Book online (I work in York) Book online (I work in North Yorkshire)
- 25 June 10:00am-1:30pm Involving young people facing marginalisation and barriers. Participants explore how marginalisation and barriers can affect young people and their experience of mental health services and how participation can help improve both. Book online (I work in York) Book online (I work in North Yorkshire)
There is no expectation to join each session, staff can access courses of their choice.
If you have questions about the training or booking system, please email [email protected]
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New commissioned exploitation support service
Published 22 April 2024.
Following a recent Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner tender exercise, St. Giles Trust will shortly be delivering North Yorkshire SOS+, a new exploitation support service for children and young adults in York and North Yorkshire.
Delivery will commence on Monday 13 May 2024. The SOS+ service will:
- support those aged 10 to 25 who have been victims of, or are at risk of all forms of exploitation, and those who repeatedly go missing
- focus on early intervention and prevention via community outreach and awareness raising across youth and educational settings
- provide support to victims of exploitation to cope with the immediate impacts of the crime and to rebuild resilience from the harm experienced
- provide bespoke support via keyworkers, who will establish the most appropriate type of support dependent upon needs, support can be offered via brief intervention or longer-term support
- include support from those with lived experience of exploitation
- capture the voice of the child/young adult and ensure this is fed into local arrangements
- raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of all forms of exploitation
- improve outcomes for the individuals supported by the service, across a range of pathways
There are 4 ‘Lunch & Learn’ sessions being held, where you can find out more information on North Yorkshire SOS+. These will be held on:
- Tuesday 7 May, 12.00pm to 12.30pm
- Thursday 9 May, 12.00pm to 12.30pm
- Monday 13 May, 1.00pm to 1.30pm
- Wednesday 15 May, 1.00pm to 1.30pm
Referral forms for the new service will be sent out soon.
The Children’s Society who deliver the current Hand in Hand service will accept referrals until Monday 6 May 2024, if any referrals are received between Monday 6 May and Monday 13 May they will be held until Monday 13 May and picked up by the SOS+ team. Any open case that is held by the Hand in Hand service will be transferred over to the SOS+ service.
If you have any queries contact the St. Giles Trust Service Manager by email: [email protected].
Signs of Safety - Building Brighter Futures Practice Model Partner Briefing Session
Published 15 April 2024.
Following the overarching briefing session regarding Building Brighter Futures Practice Model (which covered Family Seeing and Signs of Safety Approaches) the Learning Development and Implementation Team Members will be holding a series of workshop style briefing sessions focusing on the different elements and tools that practitioners will be using within the new practice model.
- Wednesday 24 April 2024, 2.00pm to 3pm: Staying in the Middle Column – This session will focus on how we work with families in a solution focused, strength-based approach
- Thursday 16 May 2024, 12.00pm to 1.00pm: Wellbeing, Danger, Belonging Statements and Safety Goals – This session will focus on what these statement and goals mean, where you will see them and how they aid families in understanding professionals’ concerns
- Tuesday 18 June 2024, 12.00pm to 1.00pm: Using Scaling questions – This session will discuss how scaling questions are used in a variety of meetings and what this means for partners
These sessions are open to all multi-agency partners including Children’s Social Care and Adult Social Care, Police, Health, Local Authority, Education, Voluntary Sector.
All sessions are held on MicroSoft Teams. To book these sessions, Login to MyLO. Click access this course at the top of the course page and then ‘sign up’ next to the date that you want to attend. Contact WDU by email: [email protected] if you have any further queries.
YorSexual Health Services available
Published 12 April 2024.
A reminder for all professionals that YorSexual Health offer a range of services.
Counselling service
YorSexual Health run a free and confidential counselling service for people living within North Yorkshire and York who wish to seek support around different aspects of sexual health. Service users can self-refer through an online counselling service form.
SCCOT Team
Are you a professional concerned about unintended pregnancy, contraception, child sexual exploitation, sexual assault, or the sexual health needs of a service user? The Sexual Health Clinical and Community Outreach Team (SCCOT) works across York and North Yorkshire to provide good sexual health to any person over the age of 13 who may need support to access sexual healthcare. Make a referral via the SCOTT website. For more information, email: [email protected] or telephone: 01904 724525.
Condom distribution scheme and training for professionals
YorSexual Health provide essential training for safe condom distribution that enables professionals to order free condoms through their scheme. Sign up for our sexual health, LGBTQ and condom distribution scheme training. If you'd like to book face-to-face training for your team, or for general training inquiries, email: [email protected]
Operation Endeavour
Published 21 March 2024.
City of York are excited to be launching Operation Endeavour at the beginning of next term Operation Endeavour is a joint operation between City of York Children’s Services and North Yorkshire Police to safeguard children and young people at risk of harm from going missing.
Operation Endeavour aims to support children and young people who go missing from home. Children who go missing from home are at risk of significant harm and they may be vulnerable to sexual exploitation, violent crime, gang exploitation, or to drug and alcohol misuse.
As a result, following any report of a child going missing to the Police, the Police will contact Children’s Social Care who will then communicate relevant and necessary information to nominated school staff of that child’s school. The sharing of this valuable information allows school staff to be well informed and provide the right support to young people at the right time.
York Neurodiversity programme – Parent/Carer Webinars
Published 21 March 2024.
Free sessions for parents / carers
As part of York’s Neurodiversity Programme, City of York Council has commissioned the ADHD Foundation to host live support sessions to help you understand and support your child's unique needs.
These 90-minutes sessions are available exclusively online, not recorded, and tailored for parents/carers of children in York schools and early years settings. They cover ADHD, emotional regulation, sensory integration, diet/nutrition, and child development (age 7 and under).
If you have any questions about the sessions please contact Emma Weaver from the ADHD Foundation via email: [email protected]
The Long Game
Published 21 March 2024.
The Long Game is a series of workshops for young people to reduce their risk of involvement in county lines and modern slavery in North Yorkshire. The workshops are delivered by Adam, a young adult with lived experience of exploitation in the county lines system. Adam’s model is unique, youth-led and engaging, combining his personal story with regular group discussion and questions. There are two versions tailored to young audiences, for school age and college age. The workshops are divided into mini-sections including regular group discussion. This method has been proven to keep young people engaged. Workshops cover:
- Modern slavery and county lines
- Key terminology, including ‘Clean skin’ individuals (those not known to services and with no criminal record)
- What county lines, organised crime gangs and drug trafficking really are
- How to spot the signs that you are being groomed and how instant gratification is used
- How to escape the system
- Embrace long term planning and delayed gratification
The Long Game is delivered by Leaders Unlocked, a non-profit enterprise, enabling young people to have a voice on the issues that affect their lives. Since 2013, we've collaborated with 18 PCCs and Forces in England and Wales to through our Youth Commissions on Police and Crime. We've been working in North Yorkshire since 2015. If you’d like to get in touch with Adam to find out more or to inquire about him presenting The Long Game to young people you work with, his email address is [email protected]
NSPCC Pregnancy in Mind (PiM)
Published 20 March 2024.
The NSPCC Pregnancy in Mind (PiM) service has been launched in three areas of North Yorkshire. Pregnancy in Mind (PiM) service is a preventative, evidence-based, groupwork, mental health service for parents-to-be who are at risk of or experiencing mild to moderate anxiety and / or depression during the perinatal period. The programme is for any expectant parent. It consists of 8 groupwork sessions, usually 1 per week. The group can be delivered face to face or virtually over skype or MS Teams. Programme Outline:
- mindfulness meditation
- active relaxation
- understanding my mental health and developing ways to manage it
- bringing baby into the room
- social support
- couple and co-parenting
- wellbeing measures
Referral criteria:
- Expectant parents from early pregnancy 12 – 26 weeks gestation, and/or their partners
- Are at risk of or are experiencing mild to moderate anxiety and/or depression
There does not have to be a medical diagnosis of anxiety and/or depression
For more information and to make a referral please contact: NSPCC North East, Yorkshire, and the Humber on telephone: 01274 381440 or by email: [email protected]
Children and Young People' Plan launched
Published 18 March 2024.
The City of York Council have just launched a new Children and Young People' Plan which sets out their ambitions and provides the city-wide strategic framework for all partners.
The plan sets out their shared moral purpose, values and how we work together with children, young people, families and communities. At its heart the plan reflects the key things that children, young people, parents and partners tell us matter most and what they need.
National Child Exploitation Awareness Day
Published 23 February 2024.
Date for your diaries: Tuesday 18 March.
The National Child Exploitation Awareness Day (CEADay) takes place on 18 March annually. The National Child Exploitation Awareness Day is a great way to highlight the issues surrounding Child Exploitation; encouraging everyone to think, spot and speak out against abuse and adopt a zero tolerance to adults developing inappropriate relationships with children or children exploiting and abusing their peers.
Join the conversation on social media at #CEADay. Further information is available on the National Child Exploitation Awareness Day website and resources can be found on the STOPCE website.
Safer Sleep Week
Published 23 February 2024.
Dates for your diary: Monday 11 March to Sunday 17 March.
Safer Sleep Week is a national campaign which takes place annually in March. Visit the Lullaby Trust website for further information including a resource pack, Safer Sleep leaflets and videos.
Young Carers Action Day
Published 23 February 2024.
Wednesday 13 March 2024 is Young Carers Action Day (YCAD) which is an annual event organised by Carers Trust.
It's a day of recognition and action for young carers and young adult carers across the UK. To celebrate Young Carers Action Day a wide range of events for Young Carers will be taking place. In the run up to York Carers Action Day, local MP's and schools will be written to across York to raise awareness of children and young people with caring responsibilities and the support that is available to them. You can read more about York Carers Action Day and pledge your support for young carers and young adult carers online.
Joint Serious Violence Strategy Published for York and North Yorkshire
Published 23 February 2024.
Key partners from across York and North Yorkshire have come together to publish a Serious Violence Response Strategy (SVRS), assessing the current state of serious violence across our region and assigning key priorities to help combat it.
The Serious Violence Duty (SVD) introduced by the Home Office in January 2023 requires the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner to convene key local partners to work in partnership to prevent and reduce serious violence that occurs in the local area.
Read the full SVRS strategy, which contains further detail about the nature of serious violence in North Yorkshire and the steps being taken by key partners to tackle it.
Commissioner Zoë Metcalfe announces start date for Chief Constable of North Yorkshire
Published 23 February 2024.
Tim Forber will start his role as Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police on Monday 1 April 2024. On 11 January, the Police, Fire & Crime Panel endorsed the Commissioner’s preferred candidate, Tim Forber, to be the next Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police. The Commissioner has confirmed that Tim will take up his role from 1 April 2024 following the retirement of Lisa Winward on 31 March 2024. Elliot Foskett is currently the Acting Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police.
Managing Allegations - Good Practice Briefing
Published 15 February 2024.
A free good practice session has been arranged by the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) in relation to Managing Allegations.
The session is aimed at Early Years and Childcare Designated Safeguarding Leads and deputies, and any other staff or committee members you feel may benefit from attending.
The session will cover the provision of advice and guidance to employers and voluntary organisations, procedures for identified cases and an opportunity to ask questions.
The session will also cover relevant themes identified, such as low level concerns.
This is a virtual session, delivered by Michelle Turner, LADO.
Date and time of session:
- Tuesday 14 May, 6.15pm to 7.30pm
To book a place email: [email protected].
Building Brighter Futures Practice Model Partner Briefing Session
Published 5 February 2024.
Colleagues within Children Social Care are hosting a free briefing session for multi-agency partners. The session is open to all multi-agency partners including Children’s Social Care and Adult Social Care Police, Health, Local Authority, Education, Voluntary Sector etc. The session is applicable to partners from all sectors and all roles from front line workers to senior managers.
This briefing session will cover:
- overview of the Building Brighter Futures Practice Model
- Signs of Safety - relationship grounded, safety organised approach to child protection practice
- Family Seeing - practice approach to engage networks of family members and other important adults to promote the safety, healthy development and healing of children and young people
- a child’s journey within Children’s Social Care using the new practice model and what that means for partners
- an opportunity to meet Signs of Safety Practice Leaders and ask any questions about the New Building brighter futures practice model
Dates and times of sessions:
- Tuesday 19 March 2024, 1.00pm to 2.00pm
Sign up for this Briefing Session on MyLo
Together WE Can Partner Briefing Sessions
Published 5 February 2024.
City of York Council are getting ready to launch a new residential, outreach, accommodation and support service for children and young people in York called Together, WE Can. This approach is based on the No Wrong Door model that was developed in North Yorkshire.
This model will see an innovative service supporting children and young people on the ‘edge of care’, in the Local Authority children’s home at Wenlock Terrace, supporting young people from residential care into independence and supporting young people aged between 16 and 18 years in supported accommodation.
A Together, WE Can team has been recruited to support this.
There are 4 main strands to the Together, WE Can model:
- Outreach/Edge of Care
- Staying Close
- Residential
- Supported Accommodation
Colleagues within Children Social Care are hosting a free briefing session for multi-agency partners to find out more about Together WE Can. The session is open to all multi-agency partners including Children’s Social Care and Adult Social Care Police, Health, Local Authority, Education, Voluntary Sector etc. The session is applicable to partners from all sectors and all roles from front line workers to senior managers.
Dates and times of sessions:
- Monday 19 February, 10.00am to 11.00am
- Thursday 22 February, 1.00pm to 2.00pm
- Thursday 29 February, 4.30pm to 5.30pm
Sign up for this briefing session on MyLO.
School Attendance is Everyone’s Business
Published 5 February 2024.
Since the pandemic, nationally schools have been seeing lower levels of school attendance.
Within City of York, multi-agency partners have been closely working together to improve this picture and data has improved but there is still further work to do particularly around those children and young people who fall within those vulnerable categories.
There are a multitude of reasons for low attendance. The DfE model considers the following barriers behind attendances:
- Complex - smallest cohort of children and young people
- Attendance as a symptom
- ‘Just Attendance’ - largest cohort of children and young people who may be absent for genuine reasons and for whom there are no great concerns.
Symptoms of schools absence are often around family issues such as Housing, Parental Mental Health, Financial Challenges, Parental employment and other family members with needs within the house.
Work in recovering school attendance post pandemic remains ongoing, and will need to be developed further to reach every child.
What does this have to do with me?
The partnership welcomes the support of all agencies within the city to support increased school attendance as we believe that this makes children safer, increases their chances of success in later life, and offers positive experiences and development opportunities that all children and young people should regularly access.
Resources
There are local offers available to help support agencies if you are working with a child or family where school attendance is an issue:
- NHS Guidance advising when a child can safely sent to school with minor illness
- The Raise York website is designed to support parents, carers, children, young people and anyone who works with children, young people and families
- York Families Wellbeing Services
- York SEND Local Offer
- York Mental Health and Wellbeing Guide for Services in York
The following articles have also been recently published which you may find useful:
- The Annual Report of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills 2022/23
- The Children’s Commissioner for England briefing
- Ofsted blog post on persistent school absence in schools in England
If you have any questions, would like further information or would welcome a discussion around how your agency can be involved and help please contact Dan Bodey on [email protected]
Parental Mental Health and The Impact on Children (PAMIC) Tool
Published 5 February 2024.
A new training video has been produced explaining about the PAMIC Tool.
The PAMIC Tool is to be used by professionals when considering how likely and with what severity an adult’s mental ill health will impact on a child. It involves the practitioner thinking about the nature of risk and also the protective factors for the child so it includes the practitioner’s professional judgement.
The training video is now available on the CYSCP E-Learning Portal.
PREVENT Training
Published 5 February 2024.
North Yorkshire Police are delivering some free PREVENT awareness sessions.
The awareness session will cover:
- strategy and legislation
- including CONTEST, Counter Terrorism and Security Act and Prevent Duty
- national counter-terrorism threats
- North Yorkshire and York context and risks
- signs and symbols for Far Right
- make a Prevent referral in NY and Cases Studies
Dates and times of sessions:
- Monday 18 March 2024, 10.00am to 11.30am
- Monday 24 June 2024, 10.00am to 11.30am
- Monday 16 September 2024, 10.00am to 11.30am
- Monday 9 December 2024, 10.00am to 11.30am
Children’s Society #LookCloser - Programme of learning
Published 5 February 2024.
#LookCloser are providing a programme of free training sessions, which focus on a range of topics and seek to support professionals in their work to protect children and young people from exploitation and abuse.
All their sessions have been designed to be relevant to multiple professional audiences and stakeholders, so please feel free to share with anybody you think may benefit. Two sessions are available in February 2024 as follows:
- Monday 5 February, 2.00pm to 3.30pm - Digital lives and Online Exploitation
- Thursday 15 February, 10.00am to 11.30am - Preventing and Disrupting Child Exploitation within the Night Time Economy
For further information and to book on to the course, please visit the Children's Society website. New events for 2024 to 2025 will be added to the programme soon and we encourage you to visit their #LookCloser website for the latest information there.
Contact The Children’s Society’s Prevention team at [email protected] with any questions.
New CYSCP Documents
Published 5 February 2024.
Child Protection Procedure
There has been a minor update to the Multi-Agency Child Protection Procedure. Please can you ensure you and your colleagues have the latest version.
NEW 7 Point Briefings
The CYSCP regularly publish 7 point briefings to disseminate learning from cases or learning from audits. Two brand new 7 point briefings have been published as follows:
7 Point Briefing - Harmful Sexual Behaviour (HSB) Audit
The City of York Safeguarding Children Partnership (CYSCP) commissioned an audit undertaken by NSPCC to establish improvements and good practice, but also to identify potential gaps in multi-agency working when working with young people who display harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) within the City of York.
A multi-agency task group was subsequently established to consider the framework of HSB and significantly improve the offer available from April 2020. In June 2023, a multi-agency audit was undertaken to identify the impact upon practice.
Areas of good practice and learning points were identified within the audit and these have been shared within the 7 Point Briefing. The briefing also contains details of where to find resources in relation to HSB.
7 Point Briefing - Multi-agency audit of partnership responses to non-verbal babies and infants
Following the National Panel report regarding safeguarding children under one-year-old from non-accidental injury, the CYSCP Case Review sub-group undertook work regarding engaging with fathers and requested a multi-agency audit of practice with babies and infants who are non-verbal.
The remit of this audit was to consider: 'As a safeguarding partnership; how well do we understand and articulate the lived experience of children who are pre-verbal or have limited verbal skill’. ‘How well is this understanding reflected in assessment and planning for the child’?
All of the multi-agency 7 Point Briefings are available within the professionals section on the CYSCP website. Please take the time to familiarise yourself with these as a way to improve your practice.