Safeguarding Children in
Partnership with London’s
BME & Faith Communities
13th May 2011
Emma Aiyere
Pan-London Project Co-ordinator
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Outline
• Project Aims
• Project Outputs
• Project Strands
1. Local projects (12 Local Authorities)
2. LSCB Audits
3. Focus Groups
 Professionals
 Culture community
 Faith community
• Project timeline and information
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Project Aims
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London Safeguarding
Children Culture & Faith
Project
Co-ordination of this project is jointly by London
Board & London Borough of Bexley.
Project Aims are:
 To build capacity in BME & faith communities to
safeguard children
 To foster partnership working between statutory
services and the communities they serve
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Project Outputs
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Project Outputs
 Guidance on culture and faith issues to accompany
the London Child Protection Procedures
 A Strategy Toolkit to assist LSCBs engage with
local communities whose culture and faith
distinguishes them from the host nation
 A Training Toolkit to assist professionals to better
safeguard children whose circumstances include
culture and faith issues
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Project Strand 1 – Local Projects
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London Safeguarding
Children Culture & Faith
Project
Local projects:
 Barnet is developing a voluntary and community sector
safeguarding advice service; supporting progress in
safeguarding by faith groups & engaging with supplementary
schools
 Bexley is piloting community parenting support groups to assist
families from minority ethnic communities and faith groups
 Brent is undertaking a comprehensive community engagement
exercise, followed by establishment of a community-led subgroup within the LSCB
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London Safeguarding
Children Culture & Faith
Project
Local projects continued:
 Enfield is piloting a training programme for professionals, church &
community leaders and parents aimed at promoting prevention of
harm and early intervention
 Greenwich is improving the engagement of the voluntary sector
with the Greenwich Safeguarding Children Board in six key areas
e.g. information sharing
 Hackney’s Youth Parliament members are interviewing young
people and parents on the topics of HBV, domestic violence and
forced marriage, to make recommendations for improving practice
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London Safeguarding
Children Culture & Faith
Project
Local projects continued:
 Haringey is developing a best practice training toolkit to equip
staff to work competently with BME and faith communities
 Merton is tracking child protection interventions for minority
ethnic & faith communities and engaging communities to better
safeguard children;
 Also Merton children & young people will interview their peers to
identify any culture or faith related differences in their views
about their own safety& wellbeing
 Newham is piloting an education programme to raise community
and multi-agency/faith understanding & awareness of child
sexual abuse and spirit possession
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London Safeguarding
Children Culture & Faith
Project
Local projects continued:
 Newham is piloting an education programme to raise community
and multi-agency/faith understanding & awareness of child sexual
abuse and spirit possession
 Sutton is engaging local faith and community groups (and
supplementary schools) and linking them into local voluntary sector
umbrella organisation with advice and training
 Tower Hamlets is piloting the introduction of a multi-agency cultural
competence training programme for professionals, to assist them to
respond competently to children & families from a variety of
communities and faiths
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Individual Borough Project
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Individual Borough Project
Borough & project profile:
 Population – 33%+ ‘other than White’; over one third born outside
UK; 170 languages and dialects spoken in schools; Christian,
Jewish, Hindu, Muslim & other faiths. 25% children (much higher
proportion of children in minority ethnic groups than in adult
population)
 Key project strengths – joint project management between LA &
local voluntary service; senior LA & LSCB buy-in and the project
builds on existing relationships between the statutory and voluntary
sectors and uses existing community & faith networks
 Goodwill & trust was already being fostered e.g. with an annual
‘BME month’ and a part-time voluntary sector safeguarding support
service
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Individual Borough Project
Emerging themes:
 Community & faith group priority is for trust and confidentiality
 Communities & faith groups are not clear about the difference
between parenting support and safeguarding
 Individuals in community and faith groups have concerns over
bringing shame on their community or group through reporting
 Local faith leaders are powerful and it is difficult for followers to
challenge them. The leaders need to be positively engaged
 Professionals need to better understand cultural norms e.g. the
caring role of older siblings in some large BME families
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Individual Borough Project
Emerging themes continued:
 Professionals need to understand extremes within a faith and culture
 Professionals should query and understand perceptions of disability
across different faiths and cultures
 Professionals lack the confidence to challenge where the
safeguarding issue clearly has a cultural origin
 Stereotyping of communities & faith groups continues to be evident
 Media stereotypes of faith groups – negative images of extremism
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Individual Borough Project
Areas for improvement:
 Protocols to include involvement of voluntary sector groups relevant
to family culture. Joint assessments. Consistent practice. Better
signposting needed
 Improved networking across statutory and voluntary sector
professionals re safeguarding
 Guidance/training on rules of engagement with a family of a different
culture e.g. times to ring, suitable dress, norms for eye contact.
Increase understanding of cultural norms and where they come
from. For statutory and voluntary sector staff working across cultures
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Individual Borough Project
Areas for improvement continued:
 Improve training for statutory services about the local community
profile and the voluntary sector – update and deliver frequently to
cover new staff/turnover
 Encourage diversity in members of the LSCB
 Develop a role for safeguarding advisers from the voluntary sector
with knowledge of community languages – to advocate for a family
 Create more opportunities for dialogue across faiths to get a better
understanding of beliefs in different areas e.g. faith and health, faith
and parenting, faith & marriage
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Individual Borough Project
Areas for improvement continued:
 Develop a list of individuals and groups who can provide advice on
faith/culture, with an understanding of safeguarding
 Provide information simply & in different languages
 Provide parenting programmes delivered in community languages
 Increase preventative work with families
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Project Strand 2 –
Audits for all 32 LSCBs
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Policies and Procedures
 Most LSCBs audited have Child Protection Policy in place, quality
assured and reviewed annually or in the event of local or national
developments
 Professionals and service users are aware of the Child Protection
policy and have access to it via the borough’s intranet (with links to it
via the LSCB website) and hard copies distributed during training
 Recording of incidents, concerns and referrals in relation to BME
children and young people achieved by
– Routinely collecting data on ethnicity on contact, referral and interventions by
Management information
– Publishing equality data reports specifically for Children Services
– Including monitoring of ethnicity in referrals made to Children Social Care and
reported on in dataset
 Equalities Impact Assessment in relation to safeguarding processes
has been carried out by some, while the rest are proposing to have it
done
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Responsibility, supervision &
communication
 Few LSCBs have a designated person / officer within the LA with
clearly defined role and responsibilities in relation to safeguarding
BME children and Faith communities at senior management level
while most claimed that it is an integral part of everybody’s job
 Few LSCBs claimed that their professionals and volunteers are
clear about who within the Local Authority are the designated people
and of the circumstances in which they should be contacted
 All LSCBs audited confirmed that professionals and volunteers have
access to a supervision/support structure whilst working with BME
children / young person or FAITH communities
 Most LSCBs audited confirmed that there are mechanisms in place
that enable the views of BME children / young people and FAITH
communities to be taken into account in the planning and provision
of services
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Good practice promoting
safeguarding
To further promote the safeguarding of BME and Faith
communities:
 All LSCBs audited have a current / recent project in place
 Most LSCBs have publications such as guidance / leaflets, posters
etc in place
 Most LSCBs have an active engagement with BME children and
Faith communities e.g. Through Youth LSCB
 Most LSCBs use diverse methods to actively engage BME children
and Faith communities eg. Use of visual aids within the disabled
children’s service to actively engage BME children that are LAC.
Diverse methods used are appropriate to the children’s needs /
abilities
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Good practice promoting
safeguarding
continued:
 Most LSCBs have carried out an area mapping of ethnicity / faith
population as part of an assessment of local need e.g. language
spoken
 Most LSCBs have a parenting support group as well as other
support groups in place eg. Children’s center offering language
support classes for parents whose first language is not English;
Islamic Women’s Resource Centre
Training for professionals
All LSCBs audited:

Are running training courses for the professionals on how to better
safeguard BME children and Faith communities

Have an induction process in place for all professionals who will have
contact with BME children and Faith communities which include
familiarisation with the Child Protection Policies and Procedures as
well as basic Child Protection training eg. LSCB’s multi-agency
training combined with the ‘Safer Network DVD’ for raising awareness
of safeguarding in black and ethnic minority communities

Have a register in place of all professionals who have completed the
induction process. Register is maintained by the LA Organisational
Development Team
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Training for professionals
All LSCBs audited
continued:

Have a register in place of all professionals who
have completed the induction process. Register is maintained
by the LA Organisational Development Team

Recognised that the professionals training needs
are periodically reviewed to ensure knowledge of safeguarding
BME children and Faith communities’ matters is maintained
and up-to-date

Confirmed that additional training is available for
all professionals working with BME children / young people
appropriate to role e.g. Training on ‘Effective working with
Black and Minority Ethnic Children and Families’
Project Strand 3 – Focus Groups
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London Project – Focus groups
Focus groups: These are being held in all 32 LSCB areas across
London with the
 Professionals working with children,
 Culture community and
 Faith community
An electronic survey is also taking place
Results / responses from these focus groups will be shared at the
next London Safeguarding Children Board Conference
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Project Timeline and Information
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London Safeguarding
Children Culture & Faith
Project
Project timeline & information:
 Project outputs launch will be at the London Safeguarding
Children Board Conference (30th November 2011 at Queen
Elizabeth II Conference Centre)
 For current information about the Project see the London Board
website: http://www.londonscb.gov.uk/culture_and_faith/
 The London Board welcomes all contributions which can inform
development of the Project outputs. If you wish to contribute,
please contact the Project Co-ordinator, Emma Aiyere at:
Emma.Aiyere@bexley.gov.uk
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