City in 'strong position' to continue support for young people
Swansea is in a strong position to continue to improve children's lives by preventing harm and exploitation, not just in their homes but in other places where they spend time, according to experts.
The council is pioneering a new approach for Wales called Contextual Safeguarding so that children and young people get the right help they need from the right people, in the right place, and at the right time for them.
As well as increasing its youth work with five additional staff and increasing youth club provision, the council has worked with others - for example police and businesses - to reach into areas such as parks, the promenade, beach, and other community spaces where young people tend to gather and to make these places safer.
There are also now processes and practices in place to listen to young people, residents, and people in the community when there is a concern about the safety of young people and work together to make it safer place and space for all.
These concerns help inform part of the work of a multi-agency panel established last year which has actively considered 50 referrals and taken a range of actions from street lighting and help signage to outreach youth work, training in schools, and supporting community groups and businesses to help keep places safe.
This new Contextual Safeguarding approach is led by Swansea Council's Child and Family Services in partnership with more than 25 agencies from police and health to the third sector and local business.
It's the result of work that started two years ago when Swansea became one of just five test sites across England and Wales to successfully bid for Durham University and the University of Bedfordshire to work with them to develop a Contextual Safeguarding approach.
It offers new approaches and learning about safeguarding young people who come to harm and are at risk of exploitation beyond their family home.
Researchers say this has placed Swansea in a strong position to continue to improve the way it looks out for all its young people in the years ahead.
The programme also seen the council develop its single point of contact for Child and Family Services so that it now has a wide range of expertise and services to help families.
It provides information, advice and assistance and has staff with expertise in domestic abuse, safeguarding, intensive family support and specialist child sexual abuse and criminal exploitation services. Its Practice Lead for Safeguarding Children at Risk of Exploitation is also based there.
Dr Rachael Owens, Social Work Practice Advisor at Durham University, said at the heart of this Contextual Safeguarding approach is the importance of listening to young people, residents, and people in communities when there is a concern about the safety of young people.
"There are new partnerships with agencies who reach into, and have responsibility for, contexts and places where young people spend their time. Alongside these new partnerships, there are now processes to co-ordinate welfare-oriented responses to a child's situation. The idea is to target the social conditions of harm so that social care partners with the most appropriate agency or agencies can make the changes needed to keep the child safe.
"In terms of practice changes, Swansea Children's Services has increased its detached youth work provision. It means that alongside changing the environments, there is a commitment to building trusting relationships which increases the guardianship of young people in outdoor spaces, addresses their needs and supports them to learn from each other.
"This has all been possible because the team leading the Contextual Safeguarding at Swansea have engaged wholeheartedly with the process.
"They have executed a vision for making radical changes to the structure and offer of services, in order to increase safety for young people and are now in a strong positive to embed this into their 'practice as usual.'
"We look forward seeing how this learning develops and can support approaches to safeguarding young people outside the home across Wales."
Swansea Council's Cabinet Member for Children's Services, Elliott King, said: "I'm pleased that the council's determination and commitment to ensure all our young people are as safe as they can be, has been recognised.
"There has been a lot of work in recent years changing and improving the way we and our partners work and this would not have been possible with the commitment and professionalism of our staff and partners.
"We will always look to improve on what we do but I would like to recognise and thank all involved for the progress to date."