Letting the Future In (LTFI) is designed to help children and young people who have experienced sexual abuse rebuild their lives, and a key service which the Board actively supports and raises vital funds for.
The NSPCC supports children and young people aged between 4-to 17-years-old so that they can recover from the impact abuse has had on their lives. Referrals can also be made for children or young people with learning disabilities up until the age of 19. One-to-one support or joint sessions with the child may be offered to some parents and carers and siblings where it is safe and appropriate to do so.
This service is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) (NICE, 2017) and was showcased as an example of commissioning practice in the Home Office’s commissioning framework for support services for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse in England (Home Office, 2019).
The programme begins with three or four weekly sessions for practitioners to assess the child’s needs and select appropriate therapeutic interventions. Children and young people aged 4 to 17 are invited into safe therapeutic spaces to do things like messy play, writing, storytelling and art to help express feelings that they can’t put into words.
Practitioners delivering LTFI have access to an online resource hub, which contains a comprehensive set of materials based on what is known or believed to help children who have been sexually abused. It is used by practitioners to select appropriate interventions for the child and to ensure they are following a consistent approach. Our work is child-centred, and our timescales reflect this. We will work with children and young people for as long as needed, to help them recover from the impact of abuse, and strengthen supportive relationships with their siblings and carers. Where it is safe and appropriate to do so, parents, carers and siblings may be offered some individual support and joint sessions with the child or young person.
The Lighthouse
The Lighthouse brings together physical and emotional health, therapeutic and criminal justice services under one roof, to help children and young people recover and rebuild their lives. Having helped launch The Lighthouse – the first multidisciplinary service of its kind in the UK – in October 2018, the NSPCC now supports children at The Lighthouse through our Letting the Future In (LTFI) service. The Rebuilding Childhoods Board are the sole NSPCC funders for this life-changing service.
Why do we need The Lighthouse?
Getting the right support, at the right time, when a child has suffered sexual abuse is so important. But families often struggle to navigate complex health and social care services and the criminal justice system – and to access the therapeutic interventions children need to recover. Often, children and young people are made to tell their stories again and again, to multiple agencies, often in places that aren’t designed with children in mind. That’s why we’re proud to have helped launch The Lighthouse, London’s first multidisciplinary sexual abuse recovery service based on the international Child House model.
What happens at The Lighthouse?
Children who are referred to our LTFI service from The Lighthouse, who may be siblings as well as the child who has experienced abuse, are supported by our practitioners to process what’s happened to them and their families, express their feelings, and recover from trauma. In the same building, which has been designed with children in mind, they can also access physical and mental health services and criminal justice support.
The Child House partnership
The Lighthouse is the UK’s first Child House. In 2015 NHS England (London) commissioned the “Review of the pathway following Children’s Sexual Abuse in London”. The CSA Review recommended the development of improved forensic services for children and young people at The Havens (London’s sexual assault referral centres), a pilot of the Child House model (international best practice) and, as a first step, the establishment of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) hubs in London. The Child House model was further recommended in 2015 by the Children’s Commissioner for England and is supported by the Home Secretary and Mayor of London. The Home Office has funded a national proof of concept of the Child House in London based on the international ‘Barnahus’ model. The North Central London Child House was been funded by the Home Office, NHS England, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) and the Department for Education. NHS England commissioned the health and well-being services provided by University College London Hospitals (UCLH) and The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trusts, and the NSPCC.
For further information please visit the NSPCC website.