Source: www.csacentre.org.uk @csacentre
We are pleased to share the the last of an initial trio of resources for professionals – Supporting parents and carers: A guide for those working with families affected by child sexual abuse. The guide is now available on the centre of expertise on child sexual abuse website. NIROMP are proud to be be promoting the guide across our networks. Please do support us to promote and share the resource as widely as possible.
This new guide helps professionals to provide a confident, supportive response to parents and carers when concerns about the sexual abuse of their child have been raised or abuse has been identified. By supporting parents and carers, professionals can not only help the whole family recover, but also provide the best possible outcome for the child. The guide explains the impact that sexual abuse has on the whole family, the importance of the role of the main care givers and wider family in supporting a child who has been abused and, the importance of the role of professionals to support parents and carers to support their child.
This guide seeks to build the knowledge, confidence and skills in anyone whose role brings them into contact with children. For example, a social worker, teacher, teaching assistant, police officer, health professional, voluntary-sector worker, youth worker, sports coach or faith leader/worker.
The Supporting Parents and Carers Guide helps professionals to support parents and carers by:
- Explaining why parents and carers of abused children need support
- Outlining how professionals can support parents effectively
- Providing detailed advice to supporting parents and carers for professionals in particular roles and contexts
- Advising and encouraging professionals to look after their own well-being when working with families affected by child sexual abuse
With support from professionals, parents and carers will be better able to help their child by:
- Supporting them through the immediate and longer-term impacts of the abuse
- Providing – and encouraging – access to services and professional support
- Protecting their child from further abuse, especially in cases where a child doesn’t understand what they have experienced is abuse
- Ensuring their child feels believed and understands that their parents/carers do not blame them for the abuse or its consequences
- Creating a protective environment which is appropriate to their child’s needs and stage of development
This is the third in a new series of practice resources, designed by professionals for professionals to build knowledge, skills and confidence in identifying concerns of child sexual abuse; communicating with children and supporting parents and carers when there are concerns of child sexual abuse. This group of resources will be accompanied by a series of films explaining the need for and role of the resources. Further resources will be published over the coming months.
niromp.org 