Safeguarding children under Covid -19: what are we learning?

Abstract

This ‘view point’ identifies learning from a series of webinars held by the Association of Safeguarding Partners (www.theASP.org.uk). These webinars have been sharing information about both the challenges and opportunities presented in safeguarding children during the Covid-19 pandemic. They are advertised as open access and have been attended by UK safeguarding leads, including scrutineers of local safeguarding children partnerships (LSCPs), practitioners representing local authorities, police, health, and the Department for Education. Findings from the webinars note concerns about continuing and undetected abuse of children within and outside of the home; about the changing nature of criminal exploitation; and about the strains created by social distancing on children in families experiencing problems with poor mental health, drug and alcohol misuse and domestic abuse. Despite this, there have been some important and helpful lessons learnt, including the discovery of innovative ways of working, the rapid collation of data across partnerships and about different methods of engaging with children, young people, and their families. This ‘think piece’ gives a brief summary of these findings with suggestions about their possible impact on the future safeguarding of children.