Harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) by children is a difficult issue to discuss yet research shows that it is a common feature of safeguarding practice with it being identified as a factor in 43% of child protection plans.

Children & Young People Now has teamed up with Amberleigh Care and Kites Children’s Services to host a webinar aimed at helping practitioners working with vulnerable children, young people and families to improve their response to HSB by children.

Areas to be covered:
• What HSB by children looks like and how to spot it in assessment
• Therapeutic approaches and what works best in different settings
• The outcomes that can be achieved and how that can be measured.

All too often practitioners find it difficult to talk to parents about what is and isn’t normal behaviour in childhood which can result in HSB being missed at initial assessment along with opportunities to intervene early.

Four leading experts in the field will be sharing their experiences and knowledge about a range of issues related to childhood HSB including how to identify it at assessment and start a conversation with parents, what therapeutic responses are available and how to tailor these to different settings, and what outcomes can be achieved and how to measure these.

The webinar is aimed at children’s social workers, safeguarding leads in schools, residential care and fostering services, children’s social care commissioners and third sector providers, and will include a panel discussion and opportunities for audience participation.