The role and sufficiency of youth services - Joint Briefing
A joint briefing from Barnardos and The Children's Society for the general debate on the role and sufficiency of youth services - 24th July 2019
Counting Lives: Responding to children who are criminally exploited - Briefing for Parliamentarians
Briefing for Parliamentarians summarising the findings of our research report titled Counting Lives: Responding to Children who are being Criminally Exploited.
Counting Lives Report: responding to children who are criminally exploited
Sadly there is nothing new about children being exploited by criminals. And right now we are seeing countless young lives torn apart by horrific violence and abuse.
We hear from children being criminally exploited in many ways: forced to work in cannabis factories, coerced into moving drugs across the country, forced to shoplift, pickpocket or threaten violence against others. Children are being cynically exploited with the promise of money, drugs, status and affection. They’re being controlled using threats, violence and sexual abuse, leaving them traumatised and living in fear.
This report suggests that the criminals are winning, and professionals are struggling to keep up with the scale and context of criminal exploitation. The response from statutory agencies is too variable and often comes too late. Children are being too easily criminalised, and are not viewed as victims of exploitation. There is also a concerning lack of data and reporting about children at risk of criminal exploitation.
This report is a call to action for professionals to recognise child criminal exploitation and provide a coordinated safeguarding response.
Briefing for debate on children and mental health services, July 19
A briefing for MPs in advance of the debate on Children and mental health services on Tuesday 16th July 2019. This briefing shares insights on the scale of mental health need amongst children aged 10-17 and how parents seek help and support regarding their children's mental health.
Knife Crime Inquiry Written Evidence - Youth Select Committee
The Children's Society Written Evidence to the Youth Select Committee for their Knife Crime Inquiry.
The range and magnitude of alcohol's harm to others
An evidence review of the harm caused by alcohol to the people around those who are drinking. The report is for professionals who work in areas such as health, crime, and social services, where they will come across alcohol-related harm. It will help them get a better understanding about the extent of alcohol’s effect on individuals, communities, and society as a whole. It will also help them to decide how they can implement policies and interventions to reduce the harms to others.
The connection between abuse and addiction
Adults who had parents who struggled with addiction, intimate partner violence and mental illness are more than 30 times more likely to have been victims of childhood physical abuse, this new study finds.
Care to share: Social media conversation about addiction, recovery and stigma
Engaging in social media with educational content, and by showing stories of personal change and recovery within a context of life and relationships, can reduce stigma of problematic substance use by combatting the dehumanisation of people affected by addiction.
Prenatal alcohol screening during pregnancy by midwives and nurses
The findings in this report expand on previous research indicating that many prenatal care providers remain inadequately informed of the risks of drinking during pregnancy, and fail to screen actively for alcohol use. The researchers believe that providers, including midwives, require more comprehensive training on the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure and the importance of screening, as well as on the specific screening tools available. This would improve detection of drinking during pregnancy and provide more opportunities for meaningful intervention and education ─and would ultimately reduce the numbers of children born with FASD.
Finding Help: Children, young people and families navigating the system to get the mental health support they need
This briefing explores the processes children, young people and their parents/carers go through when they decide they need support with the mental and emotional challenges they are experiencing.