World Mental Health Day 

Tuesday 10 October 2017 is World Mental Health Day and this year's theme is Workplace Wellbeing, including raising awareness with employers about actions they can take to promote mental health in the workplace. Mental health problems at work are common. At least one in six workers is experiencing common mental health problems, including anxiety and depression.

Mind have some great tips for employees about staying well at work including:  

• Reclaiming your lunch break
• Using a to-do list
• Organising a group activity with colleagues
• Listening to music to eliminate distractions, encourage relaxation and reduce anxiety.
• Getting a better work-life balance 
• Asking for help

Our one day training course on Mental Health & Children’s Services: Working Together with Families explores the way parental mental health difficulties can impact on the lives of children and young people, and considers how we can work together to create better outcomes for families. The next session is on Wednesday 29 November 2017 and places can be booked through the Brighton & Hove Learning Gateway.

To access advice or support around mental health in Brighton & Hove please contact the Community Wellbeing Service 0300 002 0060 (Lines open Monday - Friday 8am - 6pm). www.brightonandhovewellbeing.org.

eLearning Child Neglect

To help professionals in the city better understand and combat child neglect we have worked with the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) to produce an hour long interactive eLearning course. 

• Neglect is one of the areas of priority for the LSCB and our partner members
• The impact of neglect on children and young people is enormous.
• Neglect causes great distress to children, leading to poor health, educational and social outcomes and is potentially fatal. 
• Neglect increases vulnerability and exposes children to other forms of abuse, e.g. child sexual exploitation, radicalisation etc.
• Neglect is identified as the form of maltreatment most likely to be repeated and the impact of which can be cumulative.
• Neglect is the most common and pervasive type of abuse in the UK today and requires a coordinated and rigorous professional response at all levels.

The session will increase your awareness of the key issues surrounding child neglect, and encourage you to explore your own perceptions of what is neglect and how professionals should deal with these situations. This training is free for all frontline workers and volunteers in Brighton & Hove, and is an excellent introduction to the themes of neglect both for those who regularly work with families and the wider workforce.  

If you are interested in taking part in this training, or would like further information, please email us at LSCB@Brighton-hove.gov.uk

We also run a day long multi-agency training session on Child Neglect, and you can read more about how we are working with our partners in the LSCB Neglect Strategy. 

Learning Together to Safeguard Sussex

Save the date! This year's Learning Together week will run from Monday 27 November -Friday 1 December 2017. For the past two years the LSCB has worked with Brighton & Hove Safeguarding Adults Board and the Safe in the City Partnership Board to put on a series of events to raise awareness of safeguarding issues. This year will be bigger and better than before as we are teaming up with the Safeguarding Boards in East and West Sussex to share learning across the county.

The programme will be announced soon, and there will be a variety of events to spotlight and debate some of the most important issues in our city which affect individuals, their families and the wider community. It will provide a space for professionals to explore their responsibilities in their everyday work, and reflect on their contribution to keeping people safe and well. The week will begin with a Pan-Sussex LSCB Conference on Neglect (more details to be announced soon), and close with the Brighton & Hove SAB's full day conference. 

"Empathy, tenacity and compassion": An evaluation of relationship-based practice in Brighton & Hove

In October 2015 Brighton & Hove implemented relationship-based practice as a whole system change across Children’s Social Work Services. The new model of practice, the Team Around the Relationship, involved a move to small social work teams, or pods, which support children from the assessment stage through the whole of their journey across social work services. 

To measure the impact of the changes, Children’s Social Work are undertaking an ongoing evaluation focusing on the context, mechanisms and outcomes of the model of practice. So far the evaluation has found that, in general:

• families have a better experience of social work;
• social workers feel more supported and more able to make a difference for families;
• relationship-based practice seems to be supporting safe and stable family lives for children, and;
• the model of practice appears to have decreased demand for social work (a 5.4% decrease in the number of open families) and high-level interventions (a 10% decrease in both children with child protection plans and in care) during a time of increasing national demand.

You can access the full report here, or read Principal Social Worker, Tom Stibbs. blog reflecting on the the last two years and why the pods are called pods.

Harmful Practices: Forced Marriage and so-called 'Honour' Based Violence

Presented with Safe in the City, this full day session will explore the definition of forced marriage and so-called 'honour' based violence, increase awareness of how to respond to cases of forced marriage and the key procedures that should be followed if risk is identified. Attendees will also explore recommendations and guidelines produced for practitioners by the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) and how to implement them in their practice.

This session will increase knowledge of Brighton & Hove's approach towards harmful practices, highlight local and national services and how to refer to these services appropriately. These forms of violence and abuse will also be contextualised within a wider context of Violence aginst Women and Girls (VAWG).

At the end of this course participants will:

• understand the difference between forced marriages (FM) and arranged marriages
• be able to explain the different types of actions that constitute 'honour' based violence (HBV)
• examine the perceieved cultural aspects behind forced marriages and the key motives for perpetration of FM and HBV
• know about the law surrounding FM, specifically the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 and the new criminal offence
• be able to recognise indicators and effects of FM and HBV on victims

MAPPA Workshop 

Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements, or MAPPA, is the process through which the police, probation and prison services work together with other agencies to assess and manage violent and sexual offenders in order to protect the public from harm.  It is a system of sharing information and combining resources to maximise the risk management in place for each individual offender. This sessions will give all frontline staff, who do not routinely work with offenders, and overview of the MAPPA process and how it protects children & local communities. 

At the end of this course participants will be able to:

• identify the agencies involved in the procedures
• consider the roles and responsibilities of each agency
• identify your own/agency responsibility

Dealing with Child Sexual Abuse 

This full day event will help you identify children who may be victims of sexual abuse, and consider how to respond appropriately, including liaising with the children's SARC for CSA medicals, and working alongside police investigations. It will also raise your awareness of the support that is in place to support the child or young person.

At the end of this course participants will be able to:

• raise an awareness of the signs and symptoms of child sexual abuse
• think about, who maybe the abusers
• understand what support services are in place to assist the child or young person
• consider the procedure for CSA medical at the SARC
• gain understanding of what processes are in place to report and investigate CSA
• consider how safeguarding and investigation work together

Working with Disguised Compliance and Forceful Counter Argument in Safeguarding 

Disguised compliance involves parents giving the appearance of co-operating with child welfare agencies to avoid raising suspicions and allay concerns.

Published case reviews highlight that professionals sometimes delay or avoid interventions due to parental disguised compliance. It is hard for professionals to work with families where there may be lack of cooperation and/or a hostile attitude.

When there are child welfare/protection issues, a failure to engage with the family may have serious implications and non-intervention is not an option.

This course has been produced to support professionals working with these problematic dynamics.

At the end of this course participants will be able to:

• understand Disguised Compliance in a way that will be helpful in practice
• be able to identify forceful counter arguments as a form of disguised compliance
• be able to consider the impact of themselves and other practitioners of working with parents who present themselves in a forceful articulate manner
• appreciate the importance of listening to parents whilst maintaining independent, child-centred assessments
• identify the possible motivations behind parents who disguise their level of commitment to the process of working together
• be able to consider ways of forming better partnerships with such parents
• understand the key messages from practice in working with parents who present in this way

Domestic Violence and Abuse: the Impact on Children and Young People 

This training deals with the aspects of emotional harm, physical risk and neglect often associated with domestic abuse. It will help you to develop an understanding of the issues faced by families in this situation, the impact of this kind of abuse, and will also signpost you to local multi-agency support available to intervene and thus reduce the risk to those impacted. The session is presented by Rise who have provided support for victims of domestic abuse in Brighton & Hove for over 20 years.

At the end of this course participants will be able to:

• increase the knowledge base regarding the impact of domestic violence/abuse on children and young people
• gain a greater understanding of the specific issues families face where domestic abuse is occurring
• widen knowledge and understanding of the role that interagency developments and interventions can have in reducing the risks
• increase opportunities to access and work effectively with other agency partners.

Working with Parents with a Learning Disability

This workshop will raise awareness of how multi-agency work can help address issues that may cause potential risk or harm to the children cared for by parents with a learning disability. It will look at best practice when working with these families and the local support available

At the end of this course participants will:

• have a better understanding of cognitive assessments and understanding differences between a learning disability and difficulty.
• be aware of the challenges faced by parents with learning disabilities and their children, as well as protective factors.
• be able to demonstrate good practice when engaging and communicating with parents who have a learning disability, including advocacy services.
• know referral pathways to specialist services and interventions (including PAMS) that can support parents and their children.
• Understand what is required when working with families in a child in need and child protection context.

Preventing & Disrupting the Sexual Exploitation of Children & Young People 
 

Presented by The WiSE Project, this session will help you 

• Understand the sexual exploitation of children and young people and places a young person at risk.
• Gain knowledge of prevalence and forms of young people’s sexual exploitation in Brighton & Hove.
• Recognise vulnerabilities and risk indicators.
• How to get support for young people who are exploited.
• Be aware of Sexual Offences Act 2003 and other relevant legislation and guidance.

Book your place on this session here   

Learning from Domestic Homicide Reviews

Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) are conducted when someone has died as a result of, or their death is suspected to have been caused by, domestic violence and abuse. Reviews play an important part in both individual and collective learning about how we can improve service responses for all victim/survivors, and their children, as well as considering how services can better identify and address perpetrator behaviour

These free lunchtime briefing sessions will focus on the lessons learnt from two reviews which occurred in East Sussex in 2015-16, as well as considering emerging learning from a further two reviews that occurred in 2016-17 and which are currently under way in East Sussex and Brighton & Hove.

This briefing is open to a range of practitioners with the aim of sharing essential learning from local  DHRs. The briefing will contextualise local lessons learnt in the context of national research findings. The briefings will take place as follows;

• Wednesday 4 October 2017, 1-2.15pm, Brighton Town Hall 
• Wednesday 25 October 2017, 12-13:15pm  Hove Town Hall

Book your place on these sessions through the Brighton & Hove Learning Gateway