CYSCP
City of York Safeguarding Children Partnership Documents and Resources
Tools
This page contains all CYSCP Tools.
- Capturing the lived experience of the pre-verbal child - PRESENT Tool
- Children and Young People Presenting with Harmful Sexual Behaviours - Toolkit
- Child Exploitation Screening Tool
- Early Help Assessment Tool
- HEAT Lite Tool
- MATAC for Partners Tool
- Modern Slavery Toolkit
- Assessing and responding to the impact of Parental Mental Ill Health on Children - The PAMIC Tool
- Participation Impact Measuring Tool
Capturing the lived experience of the pre-verbal child - PRESENT Tool
Acknowledgment of, and insight into, the lived experience of children provides essential understanding that is required to safeguard, promote positive infant mental health, and realises the human rights of infants and very young children.
The Capturing the Lived Experience of the Pre-Verbal Child - PRESENT Tool is to be used to support direct observation of pre-verbal children, record keeping, report writing, personal reflection, reflective discussions, and professional supervision. It can be adapted for use with non-verbal children.
Please note this tool should only be used after reading the PRESENT Tool Practice Guidance and watching the PRESENT Training presentation which is available on the CYSCP E-learning platform.
Children and Young People Presenting with Harmful Sexual Behaviours
The CYSCP recommend using the Hackett Continuum if you have concerns about responding to children and young people displaying harmful sexual behaviour:
1. Normal:
- Developmentally expected
- Socially acceptable
- Consensual, mutual, reciprocal
- Shared decision-making
2. Inappropriate:
- Single instance of inappropriate behaviour
- Socially acceptable behaviour within peer group
- Context for behaviour may be inappropriate
- Generally consensual and reciprocal
3. Problematic:
- Problematic and concerning behaviours
- Developmentally unusual and socially unexpected
- No overt elements of victimisation
- Consent issues may be unclear
- May lack reciprocity or equal power
- May include levels of compulsivity
4. Abusive:
- Victimising intent or outcome
- Includes misuse of power
- Coercion and force to ensure victim compliance
- Intrusive
- Informed consent lacking or not able to be freely given by victim
- May include elements of expressive violence
5. Violent:
- Physically violent sexual abuse
- Highly intrusive
- Instrumental violence which is physiologically and/or sexually arousing to the perpetrator
- Sadism
NSPCC have produced a useful one-page summary advising how to respond to children and young people displaying harmful sexual behaviours.
Further advice and guidance about harmful sexual behaviour is available on the NSPCC website.
Although this information is targeted for health professionals, all professionals will benefit from this information.
Children and Young People Presenting with Harmful Sexual Behaviours is a toolkit for professionals produced by The Children’s Society as part of the National CSAE Prevention Programme for England and Wales, in partnership with Victim Support and the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC).
Child Exploitation Screening Tool
The CYSCP Child Exploitation Screening Tool is to be used as an aid by practitioners to help them consider the level of risk a child or young person might be at, through thinking about their individual needs via their behaviour and known information.
Early Help Assessment Tool
The Early Help Assessment Tool can be used by any practitioner.
See further information and documentation in relation to support for partners in delivering Early Help for families.
HEAT Lite Tool
The HEAT Lite Tool is intended for use by practitioners to be completed jointly and with the consent of parents/carers at a first visit to their home.
This tool aims to enable open and supportive conversations and a shared understanding of the areas that may cause concern and enable support to be provided where required.
MATAC for Partners Tool
Modern Slavery Toolkit
The Modern Slavery Toolkit has been developed to equip all partner organisations, and First Responders across North Yorkshire and the City of York, to recognise modern slavery and/or human trafficking, and report concerns about a child, young person, or adult at risk, who is at risk of, or is being exploited or trafficked, and to respond appropriately.
Assessing and responding to the impact of Parental Mental Ill Health on Children - also known as The PAMIC Tool
The PAMIC Tool is to be used 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.
See multi-agency online training for details of the PAMIC tool - Impact of Parental/Carer Mental Ill Health on Children online training course.
Tees Esk Wear Valley NHS Foundation Trust have produced a PAMIC poster for professionals, which is a useful reminder about the impact of parental mental health and the PAMIC Tool.
Parent and carer mental health
Parental and carer mental health difficulties can adversely affect the development and sometimes the safety of children.
Living with a parent or carer that has mental health difficulties can have a negative effect on a child’s development. They may be providing a caring role, or they may be confused or scared about the wellbeing of people they love. This can have a negative impact on their day to day lives. Children, particularly those with emotional behavioural or chronic physical difficulties, can increase the challenges in an adult carers life, which may increase stressors for them and impact on their mental health, which may require additional support.
Being aware of risk factors and using the think family approach encourages staff to recognise when children are present in a family and where there may be challenges for parents and carers. It ensures that a holistic approach to assessment is applied which considers the family environment, and the social and cultural systems that families live within.
It helps us to develop a greater understanding of the links and relationships between risk of poor outcomes and resilience. It helps us to understand the risks to health and wellbeing that occur across generations and manage these to reduce the impact.
A think family approach ensures that we are always curious about what life is like for a family.
Think Family - Use a think family approach in all you do
Think family recognises and promotes the importance of a whole family approach which ensures a system of joined up support and coordination between adult and children's services. Whether we're working with an adult or a child, the whole family’s needs should be considered. This includes extended family such as grandparents and partners that take any caring responsibility for children and young people (up to the age of 18, young people are legally classed as children and should be considered as such throughout assessment).
We must remember that the family and carers may not live in the same address. Evidence suggests that fathers and male carers are often not recognised as having caring responsibility for children, and assessment of them as fathers or carers is not considered. When assessing adults of any age we should be asking if they have regular contact and caring responsibilities for children and, if so, details of these children should be recorded in electronic care records. When assessing children, details of those that provide care for them should be recorded.
Practitioners should work in partnerships with families recognising and promoting resilience and helping them to be empowered to manage challenges that they may face. A think family approach supports effective multidisciplinary working and encourages us to work in partnership with all organisations that support families.
Measuring the Impact of Participation Tool
Sharing the impact of their contribution means young people and carers are more likely to continue engaging in participation activities. It also gives participants the opportunity to reflect on any achievements and skills developed; further ensuring involvement is meaningful and worthwhile.
This short guide summarises the Young Minds Amplified guide for professionals on evaluating participation.