The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) has published a report on the link between possessing indecent images and committing other sexual offences against children, and the way this risk is managed by the police service and others involved in child protection and the criminal justice process. Findings include: dual offenders are more likely to have access to children and there is a link between those who possess child abuse images and those who go on to abuse a child; online offenders are less likely to be ostracised after committing an offence; and the quantity and level of images held are not reliable indicators of risk.
The Home Office has published information leaflets on changes to disclosure and barring which will come into force in September 2012. Leaflets are available for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Cafcass received 1,727 new care applications between April 2012 and May 2012, 14.1% higher than the same period last financial year. There were 972 care applications in England in May 2012, the highest ever recorded for a single month.
The BBC report on a pilot scheme aimed at protecting vulnerable teenagers who have been sexually exploited by placing them with specially trained foster carers.
The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre report that more than 76 suspected child sex offenders have been arrested as a result of a nation wide police operation. 80 children are reported to have been safeguarded as a result.
The Department for Education are consulting on proposed legislation on shared parenting following family separation. The proposals aim to ensure that parents who are able and willing to play a positive role in their child’s care should have the opportunity to do so. The consultation closes on 5 September 2012.
Poverty has two-fold impact on children’s ability, says study
Seven-year-olds who have lived in poverty since infancy perform substantially worse in a range of ability tests than those who have never been poor, even when family circumstances and parenting skills are taken into account, researchers have found.
On a scale from zero to 100, a child who has been in persistent poverty will rank 10 points below an otherwise similar child who has no early experience of poverty, according to researchers. The research,published by the Institute of Education, looked at vocabulary, reading, picture recognition and pattern construction.
Poverty has a direct effect on children’s abilities, as well as an indirect effect, because it hampers their parents’ ability to help them. The direct effect is because of a “sheer lack of resources”, researchers say. Better-off parents are able to provide more stimulating environment for their children.
Andy Dickerson, one of the authors of the research, said: “My children play on a tablet [computer], that’s a pure income effect, nothing to do with me as a parent
Access to online porn ‘twisting children’s view of sexual norms’
Deputy children’s commissioner says social networking, mobiles and hardcore porn contributing to child sexual exploitation
Children are having the threshold of what is normal sexual behaviour twisted by free access to hardcore pornography on their mobile phones, the deputy children’s commissioner says.
Sue Berelowitz told the home affairs select committee that social networking sites and the use of pornography was one of the key areas she was examining in an investigation of group and gang child sexual exploitation. Her inquiry had already revealed that such exploitation was taking place across the country in urban, rural and metropolitan areas. “It is violent, it is sadistic, it is very, very ugly,” she told MPs on Tuesday.
She said the issue of how social networking, BBM messaging and pornography was being used as part of the exploitation of children and young people
The European Child Safety Alliance (ECSA) will publish report cards on child safety measures for more than 30 European countries. The report cards will assess safety measures relating to children and young people by examining policies addressing accidental injury.
The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) has launched a website aimed at children in care. It offers information and practical tips on a range of issues including independent living, staying in touch with family, keeping healthy, bullying support and coping mechanisms.
