Transitional Safeguarding
Supporting our young people from adolescence to adulthood
What do we mean by Transitional Safeguarding?
Transitional Safeguarding is recognition of the journey from adolescence to adulthood and the specific needs that young people (aged 11 – 25) have at this time in their lives. It is described by Research in Practice as “an approach to safeguarding adolescents and young adults fluidly across developmental stages which builds on best evidence, learns from both children’s and adult safeguarding practice and which prepares young people for their adult lives”.
How is it different to what is currently out there?
Transitional Safeguarding is a new concept and emerging practice. Over the last five years research into supporting young people who are moving through and beyond services has been taking place. Wiltshire is at the forefront of this research with a pilot project and ‘proof of concept’ approach designed to change the way we work with young people who may be involved in or at risk of exploitation and/or county lines, or those who may be living chaotic lives which may include a high level of risk or concern and are in need of ongoing support beyond their 18th birthday. Transitional Safeguarding recognises that children don’t automatically transform into adults overnight and that harm does not stop at 18. Our work is focused on the whole system and its collection of agencies, exploring how we can work together to best meet needs irrespective of age and prevent the ‘cliff edges’ that result in fragmented support and poor outcomes.
What did we do in the pilot?
It was important in our pilot phase that we took a system-wide view of this agenda; the work was led by the Families and Children’s Transformation (FACT) Programme and involved a wide range of partners and services.
During the pilot period, the project worked with a defined group of young people to understand their individual journeys. Alongside data analysis and monitoring, the pilot sought the views of young people and tested a number of new approaches to working in this context.
Key areas of practice explored included how we plan for transition, understanding the inter-relationship between Special Education Needs and exploitation, how vulnerability related to exploitation relates to the Care Act and how to overcome the challenges of working across and between the legislative frameworks for pre/post-18.
The Creative Solutions Board provided a structured and controlled environment for a multi-agency group to work differently with complex cases and to test new solutions. Consultation Forums were made available to professionals working with complex cases and a new mentoring scheme was available to young people who are experiencing difficulties in their transition from adolescence to adulthood.
In addition, practitioners were offered the opportunity to take part in development sessions which offer further insight into key areas of practice and legislation affecting young people and their journeys.
What did we learn?
The approach in Wiltshire has been created explicitly as a whole-system approach informed by extensive consultation with other local authorities and national network activity. Importantly, our approach has been co-created with input from a wide range of system partners and the buy-in of these partners is vital to the longer-term arrangements. Where areas have developed a response that is solely focussed on Children’s and Adults’ Social Care, the feedback is that progress and impact have been limited whilst areas that have adopted a wider system-based response report greater impact.
Summarising our learning:
- Multi-agency collaboration is essential
- In this specific context, young people place great value on relationships, therefore the system response needs to be relationship-driven
- Planning for transition for young people who face risk outside of the home context needs to take place earlier and involve both pre- and post-18 services, underpinned by robust information sharing arrangements
- Understanding of the risks associated with and context of exploitation needs to be developed particularly in post-18 services and outside of the Children’s Social Care context
- Greater account needs to be taken of the strong correlations between those young people who are vulnerable to exploitation and those who have SEND and emotional well-being related needs
- Mechanisms need to be in place so that more creative responses can be considered and applied when working with complexity and vulnerability associated with exploitation; multi-agency problem solving mechanisms worked well in the project
- It is vital that organisations work together to share information and to establish a single view of risk and response when working with young people in this context
Will young people see a difference?
The pilot project helped us understand where the ‘system blocks’ lie which then informed our response in terms of changes to the ways of working and the nature of our offer of support both pre and post-18.
What are the next steps now that the pilot has finished?
The FACT project set out to explore if effective change could be achieved without structural change and concluded that this is not a viable approach. Actions to achieve changes in practice, systems and culture continue but the desired impact also demands a degree of structural change specifically in Adult Social Care.
As a result of the project, the following changes are taking place:
- Enhanced collaboration between Children’s and Adults’ Social Care to plan for transition at an earlier age
- Adoption of the Creative Solutions Board
- Creation of a post-18 ‘Exploitation Hub’ led by Adult Social Care
- Introduction of an Exploitation Screening Tool and High Risk Exploitation Meetings
- Specific support for 18-25 year olds vulnerable to exploitation in the Prevention and Wellbeing Team
In addition, work is ongoing to seek solutions to specific issues associated with the provision of housing and associated support for this cohort of young people.
Further information about Transitional Safeguarding including the Creative Solutions Board can be found under the 'Transitional Safeguarding' heading on the Policies, Reports, Guidance and Resources page of the Resource Hub. If you’d like to make contact please email transitionalsafeguarding@wiltshire.gov.uk
Transitional safeguarding - breaking new ground in Wiltshire