CARE (children at risk of exploitation) Together

Who is CARE Together for?

We work with children, young people and adults aged 8-18 years who are at a medium risk of criminal or sexual exploitation. We also work with young people up to 25 years old if they are a care leaver or have a SEND diagnosis.

You need to live in Essex (excluding Southend and Thurrock) and not engaging with other support around exploitation - to ensure there is no duplication.  You'll need to be at medium risk around exploitation, which means there needs to be clear indicators of risks and concern. If you are felt to be at a high/active risk, then a request for support should be submitted via Social Care Children and Families Hub. 

What is 'medium risk'?

For a child or young person to be considered medium risk there will be examples of the below indicators;

• young person spending time with those known to pose a risk to young people
• concerns the young person is being groomed, and that parents/carers may not have the support to take protective measures, or are not attempting to take protective measures
• young person is frequently absent from school without valid reasons, or they have been permanently excluded due to behaviour potentially linked to exploitation or gang involvement
• young person may be coming to police attention on a regular basis or may be known to Essex Youth Justice Service for early intervention
• there is a sudden change to the young person's behaviour and/or appearance; they may have new/unknown friends and become isolated from others; the young person may become secretive with devices; they may reside in or frequently visit places known for high levels of violence, drug activity or gang presence
• there are potential risk factors such as the young person not understanding the sexual risk or being vulnerable to exploitation (including online)
• known involvement in gang or other criminal activity relating to serious or violent crime, or prolific offending, by a member of the family
• young person has unexplained injuries or unexplained payments that might be linked to exploitation. Unaccounted for money, goods, mobile phones, drugs or alcohol
• young person deems themself to be in relationship/friendship with someone and there are concerns about that person's age and/or the power and control they hold over them
• young person is often found in places where there are no known legitimate links. This could also include using transport such as taxis/trains, fare evading etc
• young person has known affiliations with gangs, has witnessed acts of violence, intimidation or criminal behaviour (including in their online presence).

How can we support you?

We know that everyone's experience is different. There is no one size fits all when it comes to support. That is why we give you options, so that you can feel comfortable. We offer:

• One-to-one therapeutic sessions — these sessions will assist you with becoming safer and understanding more around exploitation. They are aimed at helping you move forward, increasing your emotional well-being and keeping you safe.
• Targeted group work sessions - this 8-week program is there for when more than one person is identified as being at risk of exploitation and focuses on topics such as exploitation, grooming, consent and healthy relationships.
• Specialist Sexual Violence Counselling – For those that have experienced sexual violence/trauma because of exploitation, or those that have experienced something historically that is thought to have now made them more vulnerable and at a higher risk of exploitation. We will aim to hold an initial assessment with the young person and then around 6-10 sessions focused on this specific trauma.  Referrals can be made on the same referral form, either by specifically requesting the sexual violence counselling support or by detailing the young person's situation and the referral will be screened to see which service is most suitable.

We also support professionals to help them identify young people at risk of exploitation. Through training and consultation we aim to facilitate a good professional relationship with whoever is in need of help.

We accept referrals from any agency and/or individual working with a child, young person or family affected. Here we break it down for you:

• One-to-one, group work, and counselling referrals

These can be made by phoning 01245 493 311 or downloading the referral form. If you are unsure of the levels of risk, please review the ESCB Effective Support Windscreen here (page 24) and return the completed documents to us via email.

Referrals for group work can be made by downloading this referral form and returning to us via email.

We are always learning and aiming to improve wherever we can. Do you have a comment or question about our services? We want to hear from you today.

Email our Service Manager or call 01245 493 311 and ask to speak to a member of the Essex Exploitation team.

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