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This paper presents the results of a qualitative study completed with 16 designated liaison persons (DLPs) for child protection in Ireland. The care practices and systems in place in Irish primary schools that support child protection work are the particular focus of this paper. Recent changes in legislation, following the publication of the Children First Act 2015 (Government of Ireland, Irish Statute Book; Office of the Attorney General), are considered. The Act recognises all teachers registered with the Teaching Council as mandated persons. Mandated persons are recognised as persons who work with children and young people and are required to report child abuse, above a defined threshold, which comes to their attention in the course of their professional or employment duties. Semi‐structured interviews were completed with the DLPs, and an exploratory approach using interpretative phenomenologial analysis was deemed the most suitable method of analysis for the study. Five superordinate themes emerged from the findings, alongside a number of subordinate themes; the theme 'The School Story' which focuses on the care practices that are undertaken in schools daily is illuminated throughout this paper. The findings highlight the need for formal acknowledgement of this work in schools and also for greater interagency communication and collaboration in the area of child protection. 'This paper presents the results of a qualitative study completed with 16 designated liaison persons (DLPs) for child protection in Ireland' Key Practitioner Messages: Teachers, in their day‐to‐day work in schools and through the care structures in place in schools, contribute in a significant way to the safety and protection of children.There is a need for greater communication and collaboration between schools and the Child and Family Agency to support children at risk of abuse effectively.There should be formal recognition in the evaluations undertaken by the Department of Education of the care practices that exist in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been associated with negative mental and physical health consequences. Neighbourhood police officers (NPOs) are thought to be well placed to identify and support children experiencing ACEs. Within this paper, we describe a qualitative exploration of an initiative deployed by a large UK police force which aimed to aid early identification of young people with ACEs using police data and provide subsequent support given by NPOs. A thematic analysis was conducted using transcripts from three focus groups of NPOs, supplemented by questionnaires. Key themes identified in both sets of data offer reflections for policing and other public service provision seeking to target on the basis of ACEs, including: limitations in the usefulness of police data to identify childhood adversity; challenges using the ACEs framework as a means to target such 'early intervention'; and debates regarding the appropriate role of the police in supporting young people in adversity. Prior to replication of this intervention elsewhere, there are several points to consider: whether police data alone are sufficient in identifying ACEs; ensuring clarity regarding the role of the public sector agencies in such intervention; and determining an apt measure of success for the scheme. Key practitioner messages: Modelling using only police data can provide insight into the population of children who may have suffered from ACEs but may not provide significant opportunities for early interventionThere is a clear need for defining the role of UK police forces in the delivery of early interventionIt is evident that multi‐agency working/data sharing is crucial to preventing the duplication of referrals and interventions conducted with young people who have experienced ACEs 'There is a clear need for defining the role of UK police forces in the delivery of early intervention' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many children are exposed to intimate partner violence against their mothers. Countering assumptions that abused women 'fail to protect' their children, this paper presents the results of a Canadian qualitative study that examined the protective strategies of 18 abused mothers, most of whom are Aboriginal. Half of these women were living in a large city and half were living in remote, northern communities. Despite geographic location, abused mothers engage in acts and behaviours to not only protect their children from immediate physical violence but also to mitigate the potential emotional harms of exposure to violence and to prevent their children from continuing the violence in their own future relationships. Relying on informal supports, such as family, was especially important for mothers living in northern, remote communities, and is not surprising given the few services available. Professionals must be aware of the range of strategies and approaches that mothers use, including those that do not involve formal systems (i.e. the police or shelter). Focusing on their strengths and protective capacities will help to empower abused mothers and limit unnecessary, inappropriate, or intrusive interventions. Recognising mothers' capacities will also lead to better outcomes for children, who fare best when their mothers are appropriately supported. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Messages Abused mothers engage in acts and behaviours to protect their children from the harms of exposure to violence, and these may differ for mothers living in remote, isolated communities., Mothers' protective acts extend beyond calling the police or going to shelter, and include informal supports., Professionals must inquire about mothers' protective strategies and incorporate into case plans., Professionals must support abused mothers so that they can help strengthen the mother-child relationship and help children recover from violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to explore negative peer interactions in foster care. Looked after children and young people have highlighted the impact of negative peer interactions, and especially peer violence and intimidation, on their care experiences. However, to date, no specific fostering research has addressed this important issue. In response to this gap, we undertook focus groups with 32 foster carers in the South West of England. Group discussions were semi-structured based around the issue of negative peer interactions in foster care. The analysis revealed five main associated themes: the impact on the carers' birth children; a lack of placement planning; inadequate referral information; a negative view of social work support; and insufficient external interventions. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Messages Negative peer interactions, particularly violence, were a major concern for foster carers, especially if they negatively impacted on the welfare of carers' birth children., An absence of pre-placement referral information on negative peer interactions was commonly reported and placed all children in the fostering household at risk., Associated social work support and external interventions were often perceived as lacking and inadequate., Fostering procedures, review and decisions need to recognise the impact of peer violence on all members of the fostering household. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2015, LVCT Health (a Kenyan non‐governmental organisation) conducted an exploratory study to assess the quality and comprehensiveness of services provided to child survivors of sexual violence at two public health facilities in Kenya. Both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods were used, including a retrospective review of 164 child survivor medical records, a health facility staff inventory, in‐depth interviews with 31 healthcare providers and 19 exit interviews with 14 child survivors and their caregivers. Ethical approval was obtained from two independent ethics committees. Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS version 22, while qualitative data were analysed using NVivo 10 based on a thematic coding framework. The health facility staff inventory indicated that only two out of 581 providers had undergone previous training on the management of child survivors of sexual violence. Both health facilities lacked the appropriate equipment for the collection of forensic evidence from children and private rooms in which to conduct the clinical examination. Providers cited challenges in offering psychosocial support to children. Only 27 per cent of child survivors were documented to have received trauma counselling. There is a need for health facilities to enhance their human resource and infrastructural capacity to facilitate the delivery of comprehensive care to child survivors. 'An exploratory study to assess the quality and comprehensiveness of services provided to child survivors of sexual violence... in Kenya' Key Practitioner Messages: There is a need to develop child‐specific guidelines for healthcare providers in order to ensure that child survivors of sexual violence receive good‐quality services at the facility level.Healthcare providers in public health facilities need competency‐based training to enable them to acquire knowledge and skills to identify and respond to child survivors of sexual violence, collect evidence, communicate with the children and offer counselling support to child survivors effectively.Services for child survivors should be centralised in health facilities to minimise the number of different contact points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how digital technology is being used to provide innovative family support services (FSS), and the challenges and opportunities that this holds for practitioners in delivering the service. Online services hold the possibility of accessing increasing numbers of parents, and providing support that fits with their own needs and availability. Using the parenting website Netmums as a case study, this article explores how staff who engage with parents online understand their role in both supporting parents and safeguarding children. This exploratory study involved in-depth semi-structured online interviews with Netmums′ staff (n = 13). A thematic analysis identified a number of key themes, the most frequently occurring being in relation to: identifying and responding to child safeguarding concerns; and the false impression by parents of anonymity in the online environment. This exploratory research raises more questions than it can answer, especially in relation to managing child safeguarding concerns while maintaining a 'mum friendly' approach. Online interventions show promise but there is a need for further evaluation of these forms of intervention. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Messages Online FSS provide an alternative, cost-effective service that can be accessed from anywhere, increasing opportunities for parents to become agents in their own support., Online FSS meet a much broader and largely unfiltered range of needs compared to offline services but they raise unique challenges in identifying and managing child safeguarding concerns., In-depth research into innovative online FSS adds to the wider discussion on the future development of family support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Looked after children are significantly more likely than other children to go missing. They face significant risk of harm through, for example, exposure to alcohol, drugs and sexual victimisation. While research identifies some factors which may reduce the likelihood of looked after children going missing, it is recognised that a greater understanding of effective practice is needed. The aim of the study was to investigate young people's experiences of going missing from care and to identify the issues that contributed to them running away; trigger factors that prompted episodes of going missing; support received during or following instances where they went missing; and factors that might prevent future absconding. Research on children's experiences is often reported from the adult's perspective rather than allowing children to have a voice. We therefore recruited two young people to collaborate with the researchers as peer researchers. A qualitative study was undertaken using the Critical Incident Technique. Twenty-eight young people with a history of running away were recruited from different locations in Scotland. They took part in six focus groups, which were held during May 2012. Data were analysed using a framework approach. Four themes were identified regarding reasons for running away: authority and power; friction; isolation; and environmental issues. Commonly cited consequences were being 'grounded' and having shoes removed (to prevent further running away). Young people were critical of a lack of support on return and a lack of boundaries. They stressed the importance of being heard, being treated with respect, being able to exercise autonomy and feeling that someone cares. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Messages Looked after children are significantly more likely than other children to go missing., When missing, young people are exposed to significant risk of harm., Reasons for running away are: authority and power; friction; isolation; and environmental issues., Approaches to responding to young people who go missing should be supportive and facilitative rather than punitive., Being heard, being treated with respect, being able to exercise autonomy and feeling that someone cares are crucial preventative factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]