Caring for Children & Young People that have been Sexually Abused/Sexualised Behaviours- Advanced (Zoom)

Building knowledge, confidence, and compassion to recognise signs, respond to disclosures, and support recovery.

Child sexual abuse is often underreported, with many children lacking the language or awareness to identify it. As a foster carer or social care professional, you play a vital role as a trusted adult. Your awareness of warning signs and ability to provide calm, trauma-informed care can make all the difference.

This essential training resource equips carers and practitioners with a clear, evidence-based framework to distinguish normal development from concerning behaviours, recognise grooming tactics, navigate complex disclosures, and support children through long-term recovery.

Key Learning Highlights

• Recognise Signs & Neurological Impact: Identify subtle behavioural, emotional, and physical indicators of physical, non-contact, online, and technology-facilitated abuse. Understand how trauma dysregulates the brain’s threat response system (Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn).
• Developmental Baselines & Brook’s Traffic Light Tool: Use age-appropriate benchmarks (ages 0–17) and the Brook Traffic Light Tool to distinguish healthy sexual curiosity (Green) from problematic (Amber) or harmful (Red) behaviours.
• Decode Grooming & Perpetrator Tactics: Understand the 5-stage grooming cycle (Target-Access-Trust-Desensensitise-Abuse), digital grooming/sextortion dynamics, and why 90% of abuse is carried out by people known to the child.
• Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Links: Identify lifestyle and behavioural red flags linking prior abuse to ongoing exploitation, coercion, and grooming networks.
• Disclosure Best Practices: Master exact “first response” language when a child tells or hints at abuse - staying calm, avoiding probing questions, offering reassurance, and maintaining trust without promising absolute confidentiality.
• Harmful Sexual Behaviour (HSB): Navigate the HSB spectrum (Levels 1–4) in children who have experienced trauma, implementing safe household supervision plans that protect all young people in the home.
• Evidence-Grade Recording & Self-Care: Learn verbatim, contemporaneous recording principles for legal/multi-agency standards, alongside practical self-care strategies to prevent vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue.

Why Choose This Course?

Designed specifically for the realities of foster care and frontline social work, this course replaces anxiety and uncertainty with clear, practical protocols. It translates complex clinical concepts into daily caregiving strategies, ensuring that every child in your care is believed, protected, and given the foundation to heal.

Who Should Attend: Foster Carers, Kinship Carers, Residential Care Staff, Supervising Social Workers, and Children’s Social Care Practitioners.