Children and Young People Who Display Sexually Inappropriate and Harmful Behaviour

Children and Young People who display Sexually Inappropriate and Harmful Behaviour

Multi-agency Policy and Procedure

December 2015

This procedure will be revised in December 2017

Lead Officer: Kathy Gill, Restorative Practice Manager

Therevision of this procedure was recommended from a Critical Incident Review undertaken by the Wirral Safeguarding Children Board in 2014. The Restorative Practice Team liased with several Children’s Services departments and other Merseyside Youth Offending Teams during the review, in particular Wirral Children and Young People’s Department Specialist Services, Targeted Services and WSCB, as well as Knowsley and Manchester LSCB.

The proposal has been developed using the findings from the review and the Knowsley LSCB revised Protocol and the existing Protocolin place in Greater Manchester Borough Council with support from Steve Bore, Children’s Service Manager, Barnardo’s Safer Futures.

This policyand procedure document is to be presented at the Wirral LSBC Board for approval.

Contents

PolicyPage

Introduction and Key Principles 4

What is Sexually Harmful Behaviour? 8

Denial used as a coping mechanism10

Practice Standards11

Procedure

Initial Procedure – Disclosure, Strategy and Single

Assessment13

Child Protection Case Conferences 15

Child in Need Process 16

Children Under 10 Years Old23

Risk Management in Schools and the Wider

Community24

Home Safety Planning24

Transition25

Child Looked After –Confidentiality

in Placement 25

Moving Out of Borough25

Complaints Procedures 26

References27

Appendices 28

Policy

Introduction and Key Principles

1.1Children and young people can exhibit sexually harmful behaviour towards other children and adults. This documentaims to clarify:

Definition of sexually harmful behaviour;
Identification when sexual behaviour by children and young people should be considered harmful and when it can be considered in the context of normal behaviours;
A consistent response to sexually inappropriate and harmful behaviour;
The key factors in undertaking an assessment;
The risk management process;
Methods of working with children and young people who display sexually harmful or inappropriate behaviours;
The training and Supervision required when dealing with sexually harmful behaviour.

1.2 The existing multi-agency response to sexually harmful behaviour was established in line with Working Together 2010 which stated that in relation to children and young people who display harmful sexual behaviour that:

There should be a co-ordinated approach on the part of youth justice, children’s social care, education (including educational psychology), health (including child and adolescent mental health agencies) and police;

LSCB and Youth Offending Services should ensure that there is a clear operational procedure within which assessment, decision making, and case management should take place. Neither child welfare nor criminal justice agencies should embark on a course of action that has implications for the other without appropriate consultation.

1.3Furthermore Working Together 2015 states that:

“Research has shown that taking a systematic approach to enquiries using a conceptual model is the best way to deliver a comprehensive assessment for children.”

1.4The Criminal Justice Joint Inspection “Examining Multi-Agency Responses to Children and Young People who Sexually Offend” (February 2013) highlighted that:

Cases were slow to get to Court, and took an average eight months between disclosure and sentence, resulting in lengthy periods when little or no work was done with the young person;
Neither potential risk of harm to others nor their safeguarding needs were sufficiently assessed or managed as little consideration was given to where these children and young people ‘fitted’ into children’s social care services, or why they had committed the offence, especially when the sexual harmful behaviour was denied;
Lack of persistence to engage parents/carers when they failed to co-operate;
Much work was characterised by poor communication between the relevant agencies, with inadequate assessment and joint planning;
Many young people had complex and multiple needs and positive examples of holistic interventions to address these delivered by a range of agencies were rare;
Once these children had been picked up by the justice system, their chances for rehabilitation improved from child focused YOT practice;
Assessments generally lacked analysis of the underlying reasons and workers were unclear how to approach risk assessment or management where offences were being denied;
Lack of confidence to address sexually harmful behaviour or understanding of risk factors linked to insufficient training received by social workers;
Standards of management oversight and supervision varied considerably, with insufficient challenge to the quality and appropriateness of interventions; and
Despite some successful outcomes, there was little evidence of routine evaluation at a strategic level of the quality and effectiveness of multi-agency work.

1.5Further support for early recognition and intervention came from Chief Inspector of Probation, Liz Calderbank, who reported on behalf of all inspectorates:

“The behaviour of this small but significant group of children and young people can be extremely damaging, often involving other children as victims. Yet the evidence from our inspection is that these children and young people do respond to intervention from youth offending teams and can be prevented from re-offending before developing entrenched patterns of behaviour”

“We were therefore very concerned to find that a sizeable number of cases had been referred on previous occasions to Children’s Social Care services but the significance of their sexual behaviour was either not recognised or dismissed, representing a lost opportunity both for the children and young people and their potential victims”

1.6 The Criminal Justice Joint Inspection contains a number of recommendations for local authorities,some of which include:

All agencies should from disclosure to the end of sentence, actively contribute to timely information sharing and assessment to both inform decision making and where appropriate, deliver interventions so that further incidents of sexual harmful behaviour can be prevented at the earliest possible stage;
Local Safeguarding Boards should ensure that in the Early Help Strategy the needs of children and young people who display, or are likely to develop sexually harmful behaviour are identified and recognised, and that they are provided with help and intervention at the earliest possible opportunity; and
Monitoring the effectiveness of the multi-agency response to such children and young people in their area, particularly including the identification of such cases, joint assessments and the interventions to them and their families and, where appropriate, their victims.

1.7 Key Principles to guide the work with children and young people who exhibit sexually harmful behaviour:

Work with children and young people who abuse others must recognise that such children are likely to have considerable needs themselves, and should be treated as children in need of help or protection and that they also pose a risk of harm to other children and young people;
The needs of children and young people who abuse others should be considered separately from their victims;
Young people who sexually harm others have a right to be consulted and involved in all matters and decisions that affect their lives. Their parents have a right to information, respect and participation in matters that affect their family;
Considerable diversity exists among children and young people who display sexually harmful behaviours. This diversity applies to their backgrounds and experiences, the motivations and the meaning of their behaviours;
A number of factors indicate higher risk and for this reason a multi-agency assessment should be carried out in each case, appreciating these children may have considerable unmet needs, as well as specific needs arising from their behaviour;
Cognitive behavioural interventions, relapse prevention work and involvement of significant others such as parents/carers are effective alongside increasing resilience factors and reducing negative factors in a young person’s life.

1.8Research evidences (Hackett 2001) that young people who commit sexual offences are not a homogenous group and this form of behaviour indicates a level of complexity from an emotional, cognitive and behavioural perspective. There is no one single factor or experience which leads to the development of sexually harmful behaviour in a young person. Indeed it is common for a combination of factors which contributes to the development of the behaviour for example:

Personal abuse history
Attachment difficulties/deficits
Family dynamics including being given too much responsibility
Deficits in social skills and low self esteem
Lack of sexual knowledge
Socialisation difficulties

1.9 Evidence suggests that children and young people who display sexually harmful behaviour towards others may have suffered considerable disruption in their lives, been exposed to violence within the family, may have witnessed or been subjected to abuse, have problems with their educational and/or social development and may have committed other offences. Often the demonstration of sexually harmful behaviours is a means of communicating there is some form of unmet needs and/or distress. Such young people are likely to be children in need and some in addition will be suffering or be at risk of significant harm and may themselves be in need of protection. Children and young people who display sexually harmful behaviour are often emotionally immature and cannot be treated the same way as adults. Young people are still developing their sexual feelings and understanding. Early intervention can assist this development and channel it in a positive way.

1.10 There has been a broad shift in focus within research, as it has become increasingly clear that confrontational and punitive methods which were traditionally used in treating adult sex offenders have been rejected in the adolescent field. In their place has emerged a strong call for the notion of child-focused and holistic interventions, treating the whole child, not solely the issues specific to the offending behaviour. Children who display sexually harmful behaviours are first and foremost children and should not be regarded as mini sex offenders. (Hackett et al, 2003)

1.11 Research in Practice “Research Review: Children and young people with harmful sexual behaviours” (2014). Written by international expert Professor Simon Hackett, the Review provides leaders in safeguarding and child protection with essential evidence for developing strategy and services in this challenging area. Professor Hackett said: “Knowledge has developed steadily about children and young people with harmful sexual behaviours over the last two decades. It’s now time to take stock of what’s been learnt. It’s a complex problem that carries with it immense stigma for children and their families. We need a balanced approach to this issue that recognises both the risks and needs of children presenting with harmful sexual behaviours.”

2.What is Sexually Harmful Behaviour?

2.1 Sexually harmful behaviour is any behaviour of a sexual nature that takes place when:

There is no informed consent by the victim and/or
The young person has allegedly displayed a Sexually Harmful Behavioural threat (verbal, physical or emotional) to coerce, threaten or intimidate the victim.

2.2 To give consent to sex or a sexual act a person must be 16 years old or over, understand, and be able to make a choice or change their mind. If a young person is under the age of 13 years, under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 they cannot legally consent to any form of sexual activity. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 reinforces that, whilst mutually agreed, non-exploitative sexual activity between teenagers does take place and that often no harm comes from it, the age of consent should still remain at 16. This acknowledges that this group is still vulnerable, even when they do not view themselves as such. An assessment should be completed which should take into consideration the young person’s competency to give consent, and the nature of the relationship. Consideration must be given to age, maturity, developmental stages, functioning and experience and also the awareness of the potential consequences of their act.

2.3 In respect of sexual behaviours, there are sometimes difficulties in distinguishing between normal childhood sexual development and experimentation, and sexually inappropriate or harmful behaviour. The indicatorsbelow should be used as a guide only. Sometimes expert professional judgement may be needed within the context of knowledge of sexually harmful behaviours and normal child sexual development. It is also important to not over-react to the presenting behaviour as this can have long term consequences for the child (i.e.becoming ashamed about their sexuality or closing down opportunities for them to develop).

A Continuum of Sexual Behaviours from Healthy to Harmful

2.4Like all forms of human development, sexual development begins at birth. It includes not only the physical changes that occur as children grow, but also the sexual knowledge and beliefs they come to learn and the behaviours they show. There are a range of healthy sexual behaviours at each stage of a child’s development. However, not all sexual behaviours displayed by children or young people are healthy; some are harmful and some fall within a mid-range (inappropriate) which are not the most concerning but can cause an issue or develop into harmful behaviours. The term inappropriate is used to indicate that the behaviour is problematic. A guide to determining healthy to harmful behaviours within developmental age ranges is Brook Sexual Behaviours Traffic Light Tool () {See Appendix A}. This tool offers an innovative resource to help professionals who work with children and young people to identify, assess and respond appropriately to sexual behaviours.

2.5 A guide overview reference to the continuum of sexual behaviours is:

Healthy sexual behaviours / Inappropriate sexual behaviours / Harmful sexual behaviours
Mutual;
Consensual;
Exploratory and age appropriate;
No intent to cause harm;
Fun, humorous;
No power differential between participants;
Developmentally expected. / Displaying behaviours not age appropriate - e.g. invasion of personal space, sexual swear words in very young children;
Some ‘one off’ incidents of low-key behaviours such as touching over clothing;
Incidents where there is peer pressure to engage in the behaviour e.g. touching someone’s breast, exposure of bottom;
Behaviours are spontaneous rather than planned;
There are other balancing factors such as lack of intent to cause harm, or level of understanding in the young person about the behaviours, or some remorse;
Verbal, physical, or cyber/virtual sexual bullying involving aggression
Accessing exploitative or violent pornography;
Parental concern and interested in supporting the child to change;
Consent issues may be unclear. / Not age appropriate;
Elements of planning secrecy or force;
Elements of impulsivity;
Sexual activity with family members;
Preoccupation with sex, which interferes with daily function;
Power differentials between young people involved such as size status and strength;
Sexual degradation/humiliation of self or others;
Targeted children feel fear, anxiety, discomfort;
Negative feelings are expressed by the young person when carrying out the behaviour e.g. aggression;
The young person does not take responsibility for the behaviour and blames others or feels a strong sense of grievance;
Incidents are increasing in frequency and the young person’s interest in them is disproportionate to other aspects of their life;
Exposing genitals or masturbating in public;
Genital injury to self or others;
Sexual contact with animals; and
The viewing, ownership, making or distribution of indecent images of children.

2.6 Alongside sexually harmful/inappropriate behaviours there are often more complex behaviours evident such as conduct disorder, problems with anger management, PTSD, anxiety, clingy, aggression, disruption, poor peer relationships. Abuse, trauma, poor attachments with parents and siblings, little empathy, disrupted patterns of care and loss of a significant person and lack of role models are often features within harmful sexual behaviours. Specialist sexually harmful research and assessment tools will also highlight particular features within sexual harmful behaviours that will increase risk factors (e.g. behaviour committed in a public place, stalking, recent mood swings).

3. Denial used as a Coping Mechanism

3.1 Children and young people who deny an allegation of sexually harmful behaviour do so for a multitude of reasons, some of which are:

They are innocent;
It is a normal response to a challenge, specifically if it relates to something that is wrong and socially unacceptable so it is used as a coping mechanism as they fear the reaction of others; or
They are being advised by a solicitor to not discuss the allegation or minimise their involvement due to lack of evidence within police interviews or court proceedings.

3.2Clinicians had previously noted the existence of denial as a risk factor and often professionals deemed the young person’s risk to be higher because denial is present. However, research has found that denial and minimisation have no relationship with sexual recidivism (Worling 2002 quoted by Hackett 2004). Children and young people who deny their involvement in sexual offences even following conviction use denial as a coping mechanism. Denial or other types of coping mechanisms such as justification, minimising, or blaming others etc. is used as a means to protect themselves. These are normal responses especially in children when they have done something wrong. Given the serious nature of the behaviour it is completely understandable that these coping mechanisms will be present.

4.Practice Standards

4.1 It is integral that children and young people who display sexual harmful behaviours are assessed by qualified Social Workers via a single assessment. The Specialist Sexually Harmful Behaviour (SHB) Worker should also be a qualified Social Worker with specialist assessment and intervention training . Children’s Social Workers and Youth Offending Service (YOS) Workers who co-work with the specialist worker need to be highly skilled in completing assessments, as well as trained in completing specialised sexual harmful behaviour assessments and interventions. They require a broad knowledge base of what works with children and young person who display sexually harmful behaviours, including an increased understanding on attachment, trauma, and the effects of child abuse on development. Suggested training for workers (Appendix B)