The International Centre: Researching child sexual exploitation, violence and trafficking at the University was tasked by Barnardo’s to evaluate a major project being undertaken by the organisation in April 2013. The evaluation, funded by the Department for Education, began late summer 2013 and concluded in March 2015.

Families and Communities against Sexual Exploitation (FCASE), combines several elements of work in the area of CSE, that have not been previously been brought together, in a structured programme. The programme emphasises the need for work with parents/carers as well as young people in order for the early signs of child sexual exploitation to identified, and for preventative strategies to be put in place.

Dr Kate D’Arcy who led the evaluation for the University said "Evaluation of this pilot is important not only to the development of Barnardo’s work in this area, but also in contributing to the evidence base in the area of child sexual exploitation. There is very little research on the effectiveness of parenting support in the field of CSE."

The University set out to evaluate the three key objectives of the FCASE project. They were:

• Awareness training to 1,800 professionals working with children.
• A six to eight week direct work programme with young people and their parents/carers.
• Support and information to representatives from different communities to develop understanding of CSE through 36 community events.
• The desired outcomes of the FCASE model were:
• Enhancement of parent/carer-child relationships.
• Reduction in family conflict.
• Reduction in the level of risk/harm for some children.
• Children/parents/carers contributing to planning and decisions.
• More adults/children able to identify abusive/exploitative behaviour.

The model was piloted on three sites across 227 cases; and training to raise awareness to members of the multi-agency teams working with children was delivered to a total of 2,353 participants.

The intention is that the learning from the project will be used to help other agencies implement the FCASE model and an online learning resource is to be produced to facilitate the process.

Dr D’Arcy said: "It is the voice from the parents, carers and young people themselves who have truly informed this evaluation.

"FCASE is distinctive because it links direct work with young people and their families, with the training of professionals and awareness raising among different communities.

"I am happy to confirm the findings from the evaluation show that FCASE is a positive model, which legitimises work with parents and families, as a way to combat child sexual exploitation."

Barnardo’s CEO Javed Khan said:

"Recent scandals have uncovered the devastating impact of child sexual exploitation. CSE is particularly pernicious because of its hidden nature – this makes it especially difficult to combat.

"This pilot has shown that by raising awareness of child sexual exploitation among families and communities we can significantly increase the protection of vulnerable children and young people.

"Keeping children safe and preventing abuse before it occurs has to be our overriding priority. Everyone has a role in achieving this and it is vital that families and communities are kept engaged and informed."