This Child Sexual Abuse Special Interest Group session will explore how the Child House model improves outcomes for children and families affected by child sexual abuse (CSA). Bringing together safeguarding, criminal justice, healthcare and therapeutic services under one roof, the model supports a coordinated, child-centred approach that combines robust safeguarding with victim-focused justice and recovery pathways, building professional confidence in recognising and responding to CSA and exploitation
Drawing on the Lighthouse experience, we will discuss how early intervention, multidisciplinary working and holistic integrated care can strengthen the experience and outcomes for children. Attendees will gain practical insights into the Child House model, key lessons learned from the Lighthouse, and opportunities to enhance safeguarding, justice and health responses through earlier intervention and stronger cross-sector collaboration.
This session is aimed at all professionals responding to and working with children and carers who have been affected by CSA.
| Ticket Type | Price | Cart |
|---|---|---|
| CSA SIG - Improving the safeguarding, justice and health response - standard | £15.00 | |
| CSA SIG: Improving the safeguarding, justice and health response - member | £0.00 |
Laura is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist with a special interest in recovery and justice following child sexual abuse. At the Lighthouse, she is responsible for leading England's first Child House, a Barnahus model service. Laura is an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, and hold additional professional leadership roles at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust; as Trust Lead for Psychological Therapies and as Children and Young People's Head of Psychological
Dr Peter Yates is a Lecturer in Social Work at Glasgow Caledonian University. He is a qualified social worker with particular experience of working within a specialist service supporting children and young people who have displayed harmful sexual behaviour. His PhD research focused on social worker decision making in cases involving sibling sexual abuse, and his research and writing since then have focused on this subject. He has co-authored practice guidance on sibling sexual behaviour and abuse published by the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse (Yates and Allardyce 2021, 2023), and is co-author of Allardyce, S. and Yates, P. (2018) Working with children and young people who have displayed harmful sexual behaviour, Dunedin Academic Press.
Eimear Timmons is a qualified social worker with over 30 years of experience in child protection and children’s services. She is safeguarding lead and Practice Development Manager at The UCLH Lighthouse, the UK’s first Barnahus (Child House) for children and young people impacted by sexual abuse. In this role, Eimear has been responsible for integrating safeguarding principles and multidisciplinary collaboration within the service to deliver holistic medical, therapeutic, and criminal justice support that promotes children’s recovery. She is also actively engaged in training and international knowledge exchange, supporting other regions in developing child-friendly, coordinated responses to child abuse.
It has improved my knowledge and understanding about the range of harms caused to children and their impact as I have been able to network with a wide range of experts from the UK and beyond. There is no other multidisciplinary association for child protection professionals focused on learning to support and improve practice and policy
