WEBVTT 1 00:00:07.725 --> 00:00:10.135 With the concept of transitional safeguarding 2 00:00:10.135 --> 00:00:13.055 gaining traction around the country, we've had lots 3 00:00:13.055 --> 00:00:14.855 of opportunities to work with the local areas 4 00:00:15.035 --> 00:00:16.175 to develop their thinking. 5 00:00:16.925 --> 00:00:19.495 This short video brings together some of our insights 6 00:00:19.595 --> 00:00:21.775 to help you think about the kind of support 7 00:00:21.775 --> 00:00:23.415 that you might need if you want 8 00:00:23.415 --> 00:00:25.895 to develop transitional safeguarding where you work. 9 00:00:29.395 --> 00:00:31.015 I'm sure all of us understand the need 10 00:00:31.015 --> 00:00:34.375 for transitional safeguarding. The two very different systems 11 00:00:34.605 --> 00:00:38.015 working with those under and over 18 were designed long 12 00:00:38.015 --> 00:00:39.255 before we knew 13 00:00:39.255 --> 00:00:41.695 what we now know about young people's development 14 00:00:41.695 --> 00:00:42.975 and the kinds of harms they face. 15 00:00:43.665 --> 00:00:46.735 These two systems often don't join up well, meaning 16 00:00:46.735 --> 00:00:49.135 that many young people are left without support. 17 00:00:49.695 --> 00:00:52.575 Partners are often left working in silos in quite a 18 00:00:52.815 --> 00:00:55.535 fragmented way, and too many young people can face what's 19 00:00:55.535 --> 00:00:57.655 often called a 'cliff edge' in terms of the help 20 00:00:57.675 --> 00:00:58.855 and support they receive. 21 00:01:00.685 --> 00:01:03.575 Back in 2018, we produced our first briefing 22 00:01:03.575 --> 00:01:05.895 and coined the term 'transitional safeguarding'. 23 00:01:06.835 --> 00:01:08.775 We define this very carefully. 24 00:01:09.015 --> 00:01:11.455 Transitional safeguarding means an approach 25 00:01:11.475 --> 00:01:13.295 to safeguarding adolescents 26 00:01:13.315 --> 00:01:15.015 and young adults in a way 27 00:01:15.015 --> 00:01:17.175 that's fluid across this developmental stage. 28 00:01:18.155 --> 00:01:19.695 It means drawing on the very best of 29 00:01:19.695 --> 00:01:20.695 how we safeguard children 30 00:01:21.035 --> 00:01:23.935 and adults to create something really fit for purpose 31 00:01:24.155 --> 00:01:26.535 for young people aged mid-teens to mid-twenties. 32 00:01:27.635 --> 00:01:30.775 And it means understanding an approach to safeguarding 33 00:01:30.785 --> 00:01:33.375 where we don't only protect young people, crucial 34 00:01:33.375 --> 00:01:37.095 though this is, we also prepare them for a healthy, happy, 35 00:01:37.285 --> 00:01:39.015 safe, fulfilling adult life. 36 00:01:40.455 --> 00:01:43.145 It's important to emphasise transitional safeguarding 37 00:01:43.295 --> 00:01:45.145 is not a practice intervention. 38 00:01:45.735 --> 00:01:47.345 It's not a service to be delivered. 39 00:01:47.805 --> 00:01:49.345 And so, as you think about the kind 40 00:01:49.345 --> 00:01:52.625 of support you might need, resist perhaps the temptation 41 00:01:52.965 --> 00:01:55.665 to see this as an issue of practitioner training. 42 00:01:56.735 --> 00:01:58.585 Continued Professional Development (CPD) is a really important part of the process, 43 00:01:59.165 --> 00:02:01.145 but this is not an intervention being 44 00:02:01.145 --> 00:02:03.065 delivered by practitioners. 45 00:02:03.735 --> 00:02:07.185 It's a concept for whole system change, underpinned 46 00:02:07.365 --> 00:02:08.665 by six key principles. 47 00:02:10.655 --> 00:02:14.805 Since 2018, we've produced all sorts of work in this space. 48 00:02:15.215 --> 00:02:16.925 We've been lucky enough to work with the Department 49 00:02:16.925 --> 00:02:19.405 of Health and Social Care, producing briefings 50 00:02:19.405 --> 00:02:22.445 and advice for those working in adult social work. 51 00:02:23.135 --> 00:02:25.325 We've worked with our wonderful colleagues at University 52 00:02:25.325 --> 00:02:27.365 of East Anglia and HM Inspectorate of Probation, 53 00:02:27.675 --> 00:02:30.205 undertaking primary research with youth justice 54 00:02:30.385 --> 00:02:32.405 and probation colleagues to understand 55 00:02:32.425 --> 00:02:35.245 how transitional safeguarding relates to the justice sector. 56 00:02:36.975 --> 00:02:39.685 We've supported colleagues working in nursing roles 57 00:02:40.025 --> 00:02:41.885 to create, by colleagues 58 00:02:41.985 --> 00:02:43.965 for health colleagues, knowledge briefings about 59 00:02:43.965 --> 00:02:45.245 transitional safeguarding. 60 00:02:45.745 --> 00:02:47.765 And most recently, I was lucky enough 61 00:02:47.765 --> 00:02:50.165 to co-author a book about transitional safeguarding 62 00:02:50.315 --> 00:02:52.485 with Professor Christine Cocker and Dr 63 00:02:52.685 --> 00:02:55.645 Adi Cooper. It's not just these written resources 64 00:02:55.715 --> 00:02:56.805 that have helped us learn. 65 00:02:57.295 --> 00:03:00.285 We've also been lucky enough to work in all sorts of places 66 00:03:00.285 --> 00:03:02.325 around the country, helping local areas 67 00:03:02.345 --> 00:03:04.365 and partnerships develop their approach 68 00:03:04.365 --> 00:03:05.685 to transitional safeguarding. 69 00:03:06.435 --> 00:03:09.805 Some of the key insights from this are, it always seems 70 00:03:09.805 --> 00:03:13.125 to work better when there's really clear, credible, 71 00:03:13.885 --> 00:03:15.245 explicit leadership. 72 00:03:17.105 --> 00:03:20.045 We often know that when we are being commissioned 73 00:03:20.045 --> 00:03:21.045 to support a local area 74 00:03:21.045 --> 00:03:24.565 and the request comes co-signed by the Chair of 75 00:03:24.565 --> 00:03:26.045 the Safeguarding Adults Board, 76 00:03:26.305 --> 00:03:29.005 and the Children's Safeguarding Partnership, the Director 77 00:03:29.005 --> 00:03:31.165 of Children's Services and Adults' Services, 78 00:03:31.465 --> 00:03:32.925 we know we're off to a great start. 79 00:03:33.635 --> 00:03:34.965 When Principal Social Workers 80 00:03:35.925 --> 00:03:39.285 approach us together collectively having talked in advance 81 00:03:39.285 --> 00:03:40.725 about the kind of help they want. 82 00:03:40.785 --> 00:03:43.365 That's a really important part of the commissioning process 83 00:03:43.675 --> 00:03:45.365 that might be useful to bear in mind. 84 00:03:46.655 --> 00:03:49.565 We've also found real diversity in terms of people's needs. 85 00:03:49.715 --> 00:03:51.725 Different local areas have different needs 86 00:03:51.725 --> 00:03:53.125 working in different contexts. 87 00:03:53.655 --> 00:03:55.925 We're explicitly accommodating of that. 88 00:03:56.205 --> 00:03:58.245 Transitional safeguarding is a concept 89 00:03:58.435 --> 00:03:59.805 with six key principles, 90 00:04:00.465 --> 00:04:03.645 but what colleagues in Wandsworth are able to prioritise 91 00:04:03.645 --> 00:04:05.485 and want to focus on will be different 92 00:04:05.485 --> 00:04:07.485 to colleagues in Weymouth, will be different 93 00:04:07.485 --> 00:04:10.085 to colleagues in Wigan, and that's as it should be. 94 00:04:10.505 --> 00:04:13.565 So making sure that as you think about the support you need, 95 00:04:13.865 --> 00:04:16.285 you're leaving lots of space for local innovation. 96 00:04:16.695 --> 00:04:19.205 There is no blueprint from the centre. 97 00:04:19.415 --> 00:04:22.685 There is no copy and paste function from other local areas. 98 00:04:23.645 --> 00:04:25.565 I always find it really rewarding to be able 99 00:04:25.565 --> 00:04:26.765 to join a local area 100 00:04:26.785 --> 00:04:29.605 and share insights from what's happening in Wiltshire, 101 00:04:30.185 --> 00:04:31.645 whilst also recognising that 102 00:04:31.725 --> 00:04:34.725 what happens in Haringey is very deliberately different. 103 00:04:35.185 --> 00:04:36.285 So leaving space 104 00:04:36.545 --> 00:04:39.245 for contextual adaptation is important here. 105 00:04:41.105 --> 00:04:44.235 Another thing that's really important to remember is not 106 00:04:44.295 --> 00:04:46.795 to pretend we can simplify complexity. 107 00:04:47.735 --> 00:04:51.195 Trying to undertake, you know, system change 108 00:04:51.275 --> 00:04:54.675 of this nature, quite radical, 109 00:04:55.235 --> 00:04:56.915 I would say, innovation in some instances. 110 00:04:57.495 --> 00:04:59.875 It means we have to get comfortable with complexity. 111 00:05:01.135 --> 00:05:03.595 So I always advise local areas that we're working with 112 00:05:04.215 --> 00:05:06.355 to try and unlearn some of the habits 113 00:05:06.825 --> 00:05:09.995 that previously have been used to do change management. 114 00:05:10.905 --> 00:05:13.675 Some of those quite neat and linear approaches, task 115 00:05:13.735 --> 00:05:15.555 and finish groups, action planning. 116 00:05:15.905 --> 00:05:17.355 They might be helpful here, 117 00:05:17.935 --> 00:05:21.555 or they might be creating a situation where there is 118 00:05:21.755 --> 00:05:24.315 a full sense of simplicity inside the room, 119 00:05:25.055 --> 00:05:28.075 but outside the room feels very complex indeed 120 00:05:28.155 --> 00:05:30.835 for colleagues across the multi-agency partnership. 121 00:05:31.575 --> 00:05:34.675 So try not to see transitional safeguarding as a thing 122 00:05:34.695 --> 00:05:35.715 to be rolled out. 123 00:05:36.415 --> 00:05:38.875 Try to get comfortable with complexity. 124 00:05:39.545 --> 00:05:42.315 Part of the support that we provide includes reflective 125 00:05:42.315 --> 00:05:43.475 sessions for senior leaders 126 00:05:43.495 --> 00:05:45.635 and those in middle leadership roles in order 127 00:05:45.635 --> 00:05:49.195 that they can help to hold the complexity of system change. 128 00:05:52.705 --> 00:05:54.965 Really holding hard to the notion 129 00:05:54.965 --> 00:05:57.085 of systems leadership and boundary spanning. 130 00:05:57.205 --> 00:06:00.045 Transitional safeguarding at its heart is an issue 131 00:06:00.045 --> 00:06:03.205 of systems leadership, not practice intervention. 132 00:06:04.355 --> 00:06:07.005 That doesn't mean it only applies to senior managers. 133 00:06:07.315 --> 00:06:10.285 Everybody in their different roles has the opportunity 134 00:06:10.345 --> 00:06:11.645 to model systems leadership, 135 00:06:11.645 --> 00:06:16.045 that collective problem solving, that participatory approach 136 00:06:16.345 --> 00:06:18.725 to leading, and that absolute 137 00:06:19.285 --> 00:06:22.005 relentless intentional boundary spanning, whether 138 00:06:22.005 --> 00:06:23.925 that's spanning the boundary between Children's Sevices 139 00:06:23.925 --> 00:06:25.605 and Adults' Services, between the statutory 140 00:06:25.605 --> 00:06:27.605 and the voluntary sector, between research 141 00:06:27.625 --> 00:06:30.085 and practice, between different geographical areas. 142 00:06:30.725 --> 00:06:32.845 Transitional safeguarding is all about 143 00:06:33.485 --> 00:06:36.045 deliberately squirming our way into the spaces 144 00:06:36.395 --> 00:06:37.605 between the silos. 145 00:06:37.905 --> 00:06:39.205 So as you think about the kind 146 00:06:39.205 --> 00:06:40.605 of support you might need from us, 147 00:06:40.975 --> 00:06:42.805 think who needs to be in the room? 148 00:06:43.385 --> 00:06:44.405 Who needs to be included? 149 00:06:44.985 --> 00:06:46.885 How can we start as we mean to go on, 150 00:06:47.065 --> 00:06:50.725 be explicitly inclusive of communities, of young people, 151 00:06:51.265 --> 00:06:53.685 of non-traditional safeguarding partners, 152 00:06:54.025 --> 00:06:56.645 of local enterprises, of those 153 00:06:56.665 --> 00:06:58.885 who care about young people in our communities. 154 00:06:59.225 --> 00:07:01.685 Really bringing them to the table so they can be part 155 00:07:01.705 --> 00:07:03.365 of your change movement. 156 00:07:03.425 --> 00:07:05.125 And I use the word movement deliberately. 157 00:07:05.125 --> 00:07:06.805 It's a quote from a colleague 158 00:07:06.805 --> 00:07:09.445 we were helping in a local area, 159 00:07:09.545 --> 00:07:11.645 who quite rightly observed that we need to think 160 00:07:11.645 --> 00:07:14.085 of transitional safeguarding not as another project, 161 00:07:14.585 --> 00:07:16.165 but as a movement for change. 162 00:07:16.845 --> 00:07:18.325 I found that really, really useful. 163 00:07:19.405 --> 00:07:21.605 I also tend to think of transitional safeguarding 164 00:07:21.605 --> 00:07:22.925 as the connective tissue 165 00:07:23.075 --> 00:07:25.165 between a whole host of other imperatives. 166 00:07:25.785 --> 00:07:28.605 So, as you think about the support you might need, ask 167 00:07:28.985 --> 00:07:30.725 who else is doing work in this space? 168 00:07:31.505 --> 00:07:32.685 You will have some colleagues 169 00:07:32.705 --> 00:07:34.565 who are focused on the experiences 170 00:07:34.565 --> 00:07:36.725 of young people leaving care, others 171 00:07:36.785 --> 00:07:38.965 who are really focused on improving mental health support. 172 00:07:39.595 --> 00:07:42.245 Some who are focused on the current children's social care 173 00:07:42.275 --> 00:07:45.205 reforms, others who are focused on their Care Quality Commission (CQC) assurance. 174 00:07:45.905 --> 00:07:48.645 You may have colleagues who are particularly talented at 175 00:07:49.045 --> 00:07:50.165 participatory work with young people 176 00:07:50.705 --> 00:07:52.925 and others who are much more skilled at thinking about 177 00:07:52.925 --> 00:07:54.885 governance and strategic partnerships. 178 00:07:56.285 --> 00:07:57.365 Whatever your day job is, 179 00:07:57.365 --> 00:07:59.685 transitional safeguarding is like a lens 180 00:07:59.745 --> 00:08:02.685 or a filter that can be applied to think about that work. 181 00:08:05.835 --> 00:08:08.255 And lastly, something we always reinforce 182 00:08:08.255 --> 00:08:09.895 with the local areas we are supporting. 183 00:08:10.505 --> 00:08:12.295 Innovation is not linear. 184 00:08:13.525 --> 00:08:14.705 Our colleague Michelle Lefevre at 185 00:08:14.705 --> 00:08:15.865 Sussex 186 00:08:15.965 --> 00:08:18.625 did a really lovely review looking at innovation 187 00:08:18.835 --> 00:08:21.385 frameworks, and they described this sort 188 00:08:21.385 --> 00:08:24.505 of falsely reassuring linear perspective, 189 00:08:25.045 --> 00:08:27.785 as if change happens in a step-by-step process. 190 00:08:28.725 --> 00:08:30.745 It doesn't, of course, especially not this kind 191 00:08:30.745 --> 00:08:33.665 of complex system change. When we're working 192 00:08:33.665 --> 00:08:37.225 with local areas, we emphasise repeatedly, you're not 193 00:08:37.385 --> 00:08:38.625 building a flat pack shed. 194 00:08:38.645 --> 00:08:41.065 You can't simply follow someone else's instructions 195 00:08:41.325 --> 00:08:42.425 and build something. 196 00:08:42.765 --> 00:08:45.385 You are growing a garden. It's messy. 197 00:08:46.345 --> 00:08:48.445 You're gonna have to break a sweat sometimes 198 00:08:48.465 --> 00:08:49.605 and get your hands dirty. 199 00:08:50.155 --> 00:08:52.365 Some things will thrive beyond your wildest dreams. 200 00:08:52.785 --> 00:08:54.885 Others simply will not be able to cope 201 00:08:54.885 --> 00:08:57.045 with the soil conditions as they are now. 202 00:08:58.225 --> 00:09:01.485 So, part of our work in longer term reflective development 203 00:09:01.485 --> 00:09:05.205 programmes is often to help people hold the uncertainty, 204 00:09:05.745 --> 00:09:08.485 the organic nature of this kind of innovation. 205 00:09:09.135 --> 00:09:11.805 Don't be disheartened by delays or detours, 206 00:09:11.805 --> 00:09:13.605 or experimentation, or even failure. 207 00:09:14.185 --> 00:09:15.725 That's all part of the process. 208 00:09:16.865 --> 00:09:18.165 So, wherever you are on your journey 209 00:09:18.225 --> 00:09:20.685 and whatever kind of support you need, know 210 00:09:20.685 --> 00:09:23.965 that you can come to us. Whether it's qualitative research, 211 00:09:23.965 --> 00:09:26.085 undertaking focus groups with your partners, 212 00:09:26.265 --> 00:09:28.525 or exploring with young people what they would need 213 00:09:28.525 --> 00:09:31.525 to be different. Undertaking CPD, 214 00:09:31.585 --> 00:09:34.085 and training opportunities at multiple levels of the system. 215 00:09:34.355 --> 00:09:37.685 Working with your senior board members, or chairs, 216 00:09:37.745 --> 00:09:40.965 or independent scrutineers to help them reshape the system. 217 00:09:41.305 --> 00:09:43.365 Or acting as a critical friend on your 218 00:09:43.365 --> 00:09:44.685 strategies as you develop them. 219 00:09:44.985 --> 00:09:47.205 We look forward to learning alongside you.