Enhancing Abuse Recovery Services for Young People: Research Insights & Recommendations

1. shapingthefuture

2. ‘People Say It’s Good to Talk…’

3. A Report on Young People’s Experiences of attending a CHILDREN 1ST Abuse Recovery Service.

4. Workshop Aims Share my experience of undertaking practitioner research. Consider ethical issues around conducting research with children & young people. Overview & Key Recommendations from Research Findings.

5. Process of Research Time Scale: 1 year from first meeting in 2005 Study Aim: Provide a reflective space for young people to share their experiences of attending an abuse recovery service. Objectives: Evaluate current service provision Inform future practice Inform future service developments

6. Process of Research Study Design: Original study focused solely on young people who had attended a group. Due to very small numbers, sample expanded to include young people who had not attended a group work program and parents. Sample Size: Final sample was four young people and four parents. Methodology: Semi –Structured Interviews, Body Map (Young People) Questionnaires (Parents)

7. Ethical Considerations Code of Ethics: Respect human rights of participants. Be Open & Honest Ensure that all participants are informed and willing. Consent: Ensuring Informed Consent Importance of Gatekeepers Opt-In Approach Confidentiality: Young People Informed of limits of Confidentiality

8. Research Findings – Before Abuse Recovery At the point of referral, all of the young people expressed levels of uncertainty about what the service could offer them. 1* However, all of the parents were clear on their expectations of what the service could offer their child. Anxieties about attending such a project were high for young people at the initial point of referral. This indicates the importance of young people being supported at this time, enabling them to make an informed decision. 2* It was evident that young people need a consistent and stable environment to support them through the abuse recovery process.

9. Research Findings – During Abuse Recovery Young People felt that individual sessions were the most helpful element of attending an abuse recovery service. 3 * Although young people expressed concern about taking part in group sessions, they did recognise that at the correct time, and with appropriate support this could be a positive addition to their experience of abuse recovery. 5& 6* Continuity during their time at the service, through having one key worker, a regular session time and a consistent approach enabled young people to feel valued and respected. 4*

10. Research Findings - After Abuse Recovery All of the young people and their parents cited positive changes in their lives following their time at the abuse recovery service. 7 & 8 * Recognition was given to how difficult this process can be for young people and their families and how at times this can impact negatively on young people’s experience of themselves and abuse recovery.

11. Key Recommendations It is important that information is readily available in clear and simple terms to aid parents and young people to make informed choices about attending abuse recovery services. Greater clarity may be required for young people and their families to gain a clearer idea about what the service may offer prior to referral. It is important that emphasis be placed on the continued development of settled, stable and supportive environments for young people to draw upon while undertaking this work. This could be done through open and honest communication with families from project staff and also through support offered by a wider professional network throughout the abuse recovery process. Emphasis needs to be placed upon providing children with a consistent approach in the use of space and time as young people recognised this as an important part of their experience, enabling them to build a sense of reliability from the service.

12. Key Recommendations It is particularly important that continued emphasis be placed on individual work, as the core of the service provided to young people, as this is the aspect that young people appear to find of greatest help. Group work should be offered as part of a wider package of support and not as sole service. It is recommended that group work be offered as a means to allow young people to meet with other young people who have had similar experiences, to reduce their feelings of isolation, and to offer the opportunity to work on developing positive life skills with other young people. Interactions between worker and young people are critically important and attention should be paid to the gender of worker and young person and young people’s preferences when allocating workers and when staffing projects.

13. Summary - what have we thought about today. Process of Research Ethical Considerations Research Findings

14. Thanks for attending and enjoy the rest of your day.