Certificate in Understanding Child Criminal and Sexual Exploitation

About Course

Duration: 90 mins (approx)

All staff should consider whether children are at risk of abuse or exploitation in situations outside of their families. They should be aware that safeguarding incidents and/or behaviours can be associated with factors outside of the school or college, including criminal exploitation and sexual exploitation.

Our Essential CPD course in child criminal and sexual exploitation provides you and your staff with the core content you need to ensure you are complying with your legal responsibilities in relation to protecting children from CCE and CSE activity. Delivered in high-quality video CPD format that has been skilfully organised for busy workloads and is accessible on any device, anytime, anywhere, our training has been designed to provide maximum learning potential in the leanest, most cost effective and most time-efficient manner.

Delivered by international safeguarding expert, Robin Watts, this course has been divided into 13 easy-to-digest modules and contains links to further learning, resources, and case studies, with an assessment at the end to help you evidence your compliance.

This course has been designed in line with the following policies:

• Keeping Children Safe in Education 2020
• Sexual Offences Act 2003
• Child Abduction Act 1984
• Children Act 1989

Learning outcomes:

• Understanding how to identify children vulnerable to being exploited or recruited into gangs and recognising the indicators that they are already a victim.
• Understanding the definition of child criminal exploitation and the various ways in which children can be exploited/groomed for gangs.
• Debunking the myths that shroud CCE and CSE and learning how to avoid preconceptions about gang culture and its victims.
• Recognising the dangers of CCE and CSE and the importance of your role in providing help and support to young people.
• Building basic interview skills to enable conversations with children about child protection issues and in order to raise any concerns.

Course modules:

Module 1 – What is child criminal exploitation (CCE) and child sexual exploitation (CSE)?

Module 1 will present you with the definition of child criminal exploitation and the legal definition of child sexual exploitation, including how they can take place.

Module 2 – Understanding county lines

Module 2 will describe what county lines are and breakdown the definition of a ‘gang’, including what the minimum characteristic features are that typically tend to make up gang culture.

Module 3 – Risk indicators and grooming models

Module 3 will identify the grooming techniques criminals use to lure children and young people into criminal activity. You will also learn what risk indicators to be vigilant for.

Module 4 – What are the warning signs?

Module 4 will list the warning signs of child criminal and sexual exploitation and reveal how you can recognise them. It will also explore the term ‘cuckooing’.

Module 5 – Vulnerabilities and opportunities

Module 5 will discuss the vulnerabilities of child criminal and sexual exploitation, what the risks are and debunk some of the common myths that surround them.

Module 6 – How can children identify risks?

In module 6 you will explore what push and pull factors are associated with CSE and review Haringey’s Youth Justice Service’s analysis of 20 prolific young offenders.

Module 7 – Helping children understand their environments

Module 7 will cover how to help children and young people become more aware of their environments and identify risks, including early intervention techniques and increasing awareness.

Module 8 – Contextual safeguarding and risk assessments

Module 8 will define contextual safeguarding the context of child criminal and sexual exploitation as well as demonstrate what to consider during risk assessments.

Module 9 – Legislation and reporting

Module 9 will explore best reporting policies as well as explain the legislation that binds you to safeguard your students.

Module 10 – Talking to potential victims and reporting

Module 10 will provide you with best practice techniques when talking to potential victims, including how to ask the right questions and how to respond to a disclosure. You will also learn how best to report child criminal and sexual exploitation.

Module 11 – What support is available for victims?

Module 11 will cover the support available for victims and their families. It will describe why families may need support and for which particular aspects, such as emotional support, accessing external agencies, and support for ongoing trauma.

Module 12 – Case study

Module 12 will present a case study of a victim and their family that have been affected by child criminal and sexual exploitation to demonstrate the impacts it has.

Module 13 – Resources and further reading

Module 13 will offer you some useful external resources to provide further reading and guidance on the subject.