How Professionals Can Support and Work Alongside Parents of Exploited and Missing Children

When a child is being exploited or goes missing, the harm does not stop outside the home. Parents, carers, and wider family members often experience significant trauma, fear, threat, and ongoing risk as they try to protect their child in circumstances largely beyond their control. This webinar focuses on helping professionals better understand the lived experience of parents during these critical and highly stressful periods.

The session will explore how harm occurring outside the home can deeply impact family life, relationships, and wellbeing, and how the whole family may experience trauma when a child is exploited or repeatedly goes missing. It will also examine how professional responses including language, decision-making, and systems can either support families or unintentionally add to their distress during times of crisis.

Using a relational safeguarding approach, the webinar will encourage professionals to reflect on how they work alongside parents as partners in safeguarding. Attendees will consider how recognising parental trauma, building trust, and responding with empathy can improve engagement, strengthen protective capacity, and ultimately increase the safety of the child.

The webinar will also share practical steps professionals can take to improve their responses when working with parents of exploited and missing children, with a focus on communication, collaboration, and reducing harm caused by systems and processes.

 

Learning objectives

By the end of this webinar you will have:

Increased understanding of how child exploitation and missing episodes cause harm outside the home and the impact this has within the family.

Improved awareness of the trauma, threat, and risk experienced by parents, carers, and families when a child is exploited or goes missing.

Reflected on how service responses and professional practice can support families or unintentionally add to harm during traumatic periods.

Explored how a relational safeguarding approach can strengthen partnership working with parents and improve safeguarding outcomes.

Identified practical steps professionals can take to work more effectively alongside parents and carers to increase the safety and wellbeing of the child and family

Who is the course for?

This session is suitable for professionals working with children, young people, and families who want to strengthen their practice and develop more trauma-informed, relationship-based approaches to safeguarding.  

Course delivery

A webinar deliverd by Ivison Trust.

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