This resource sheet accompanies the NLCBF Transitional Safeguarding (TS) events taking place from June 2022. The sheet has been produced by NLCBF, NWG and Dr. Claire Baker. It will be updated after each event to reflect content / conversations that take place at the events. Resources include research briefings, national guidance, tools and local authority resources.
The concept of Transitional safeguarding was first coined by Research in Practice’s strategic briefing (2018). This was followed up in 2021 by a Knowledge briefing (Bridging the Gap) produced by RIP, Office of the Chief social worker for adults, ADAS, BASW, Care and health improvement programme, NWG network and police.
Transitional safeguarding – adolescence to adulthood: Strategic briefing (2018)
Resource for research in practice members. This briefing makes the case for ensuring a transitional approach to safeguarding adolescents and young children is made more effective, and proposes key considerations for innovation. It explores how a transitional approach to safeguarding could be developed; an approach to safeguarding adolescents and young adults fluidly across developmental stages which builds on the best available evidence, learns from both children’s and adult safeguarding practice and which prepares young people for their adult lives.
There is an additional free online learning course for Research In Practice members available from their website.
Bridging the Gap – transitional Safeguarding and the role of social work with adults (June 2021)
Knowledge briefing aimed at all those committed to ensuring high quality social work with young adults, from practitioners and people receiving support through to strategic leaders across local safeguarding partnerships. It draws on evidence from research and knowledge from local areas in order to describe what Transitional Safeguarding is, why it is needed and how the contribution of adult social work is key to developing and embedding a more transitional approach to safeguarding young people into adulthood.
Innovate project
The Innovate project is a four year pan-UK study funded by ESRC to explore how social care and other safeguarding agencies are innovating to address the extra-familial risks and or harms that young people may encounter and experience beyond the family home (including online).
Transitional safeguarding has 3 distinctive characteristics:
- It is an approach or perspective and not a definite model which requires fidelity in its application
- It is a bottom-up approach which is locally conceived and context specific
- It requires whole system change within an organisation and across inter-connected organisations
Resources on website include video introducing Transitional Safeguarding.
Other resources
- Film from Research in Practice
- Safeguarding during adolescence: the relationship between Contextual Safeguarding, Complex Safeguarding and Transitional Safeguarding – A briefing authored by Carlene Firmin, Jayne Horan, Dez Holmes and Gail Hopper
- Risk, vulnerability and complexity: transitional safeguarding as a reframing of binary perspectives (Practice: Social work in action), 2021, N Huegler & G Ruch
- Transitional safeguarding (March 2022) Academic insight paper aimed at professionals and policy makers working within the youth and criminal justice systems.
- Home Office Criminal Exploitation of children and vulnerable adults: County Lines guidance (2018)
- NICE guidance (2016)
- NWG film – Transitional safeguarding and the role of health (in conversation with Sarah Cerioli – deputy designated safeguarding transitional nurse – Sussex)
- Independent care review (May 2022) – recommendations related to extra familial harm
- Recommendation: Government should amend Working Together to introduce a Child Community Safety Plan to clarify where primary harm is not attributable to families, supported by practice guides and the Early Career Framework.
- Recommendation: There should be clearer expectations about partnership responses to extra familial harms across an area and this should be a priority area for learning.
- Recommendation: Government should integrate funding aimed at preventing individual harms into a single local response to extra familial harms, including enabling areas to integrate their Violence Reduction Unit funding and infrastructure into their local response to extra familial harms.
- Making Safeguarding Personal – Adi Cooper (2019 film)
- Learning from safeguarding adult reviews about transitional safeguarding: building an evidence base – Preston-Shoot, M., Cocker, C., & Cooper, A. (2022)
- Transitional Safeguarding – Norfolk Safeguarding Adults board (7 minute briefing)
- Northumberland Transitions safeguarding protocol (2021) The aim of the protocol is to promote robust transitional arrangements, and ensure effective and timely referrals between Children’s and Adult Services in Northumberland. It recognises that harm is likely to continue post 18, and that abusers target vulnerability irrespective of age.
- Transitional Safeguarding in Brent – a scrutiny task group report The Transitional Safeguarding Task Group was set up to review the development of transitional safeguarding in Brent. The evolution of practice nationally and the development of transitional safeguarding arrangements in Brent made the creation of the scrutiny task group timely, and has enabled members to review these arrangements at an early stage.
- South Gloucestershire: Missing from home, school and care policy – includes brief section regarding care leavers (page 17)
- South Gloucestershire: Risk management pathway – to enhance the support to care leavers who are missing/risk of/are being exploited.
- Introduction to Transitional safeguarding (Dez Holmes in partnership with Camden) – This digital briefing is for those working with adolescents (10-24 years old). The film describes what transitional safeguarding is, why it is essential to develop and embed in order to safeguard young people into adulthood.
- Safeguarding Adult Review – Croydon (Madeleine) Final Report and 7 minute briefing.
NWG prevention and disruption toolkit
Exploitation poses a national threat, which transcends geographical boundaries; the scale and nature of the problem can devastate the lives of individuals, impact families and entire communities.
There is a requirement for agencies to respond to increasingly complex safeguarding and public protection risks, linked to exploitation. As offenders use more sophisticated methods to commit crimes, identify, groom and exploit individuals, partners and agencies must work together to explore innovative and creative opportunities for intervention.
The NWG Prevention and Disruption Toolkit is aimed at statutory and voluntary agency professionals involved in the safeguarding and investigation of exploitation. It can be used by individuals or organisations, in single agency settings, multi-agency settings, exploitation investigations, safeguarding focused meetings or perpetrator disruption focused meetings (the list is not exhaustive). This toolkit is to consider options available to disrupt perpetrators, using a variety of different powers and tools, which are available through a multi-agency approach.
- Version 2 of the toolkit, updated in June 2021 is accessible to our members through our Knowledge Hub portal – search NWG Exploitation Disruption Toolkit. Version 3 is due to be released later this year and will replace version 2 on the hub.
- The toolkit is aimed at all agencies to enhance prevention and disruption measures. To access the toolkit please go through your membership log in. If your organisation is not a fully paid member, find our membership details here.
- To add value to the Prevention and Disruption Toolkit we offer the opportunity to learn more about disrupting exploitation through our training.