Seeking solutions
Seeking solutions is for children and young people aged 7–18 years.
Seeking Solutions offers
• 1 or 2 assessment sessions with child/young person and parent/carer.
• 6-8 individual sessions for children using a solution focused approach to achieve identified goals
• An additional 2 sessions can be offered to provide joint work with the parent or carer
• It offers children and young people help and support to deal with problems that are affecting their life, happiness or wellbeing.
• The service is led by the young person, working alongside their support network, where possible, to improve their confidence, skills and strengths, so they are better prepared to cope with any future problems.

Key principles will be that it is child/young person led and they will be offered help in finding solutions to problems affecting their safety and wellbeing, through exploring positive experiences in the child or young person’s lives.

The service will aim to offer a brief intervention so that problems do not escalate and further harm to their emotional and mental health is prevented. Where necessary children may be supported to access more specialist or longer term help.

In Ctrl
In Ctrl is a new remote service being offered by Gillingham NSPCC, for children and young people aged 9-13 years focusing on preventing sexual abuse online. During the COVID 19 lock-down and with children and young people spending more time unsupervised online there has been an increase in concern from parents and carers and requests for support and advice about keeping children and young people safe online.

The programme structure includes:
Assessment and safety planning
Module 1- healthy and unhealthy relationships and cyber bullying.
Module 2- How we act online, social media, pressures and expectations.
Module 3- when something feels uncomfortable and seeking support
Ending the work and looking to the future.


LTFI
Letting the Future In (LTFI) is for children aged 4 to 17 who have been sexually abused and:
• are able to communicate without an intermediary, are happy to be referred
The child should also be:
• living with a carer who has been identified as safe, or not living with the alleged adult perpetrator, or in a foster home with no planned moves.

If they’re living with a brother or sister who has abused them, then a safety plan must be in place. This should include the views of the child who’s been sexually abused.

There must be an investigation into the allegations of sexual abuse, unless:
• the child is of sufficient age and understanding to withhold a formal statement to the police
• children’s social care are aware of the allegation and it’s believed
• protective action has been taken (such as the alleged abuser agreeing to leave the home or an agreement to move the child to a safer place).

The work starts with an assessment of therapeutic need which consists of 2 – 4 sessions with the child or young person and 1 – 2 sessions with the safe carer. Following this, if appropriate, the therapeutic intervention commences. This consists of up to 20-24 sessions with the child or young person, 6 -8 sessions with the safe carer, and up to 3 joint sessions with the child and safe carer together.


Life Story Work
The service can last up to seven months (around 16 one to one sessions), however the pace, progress and timing of this work must always be child-led. Looked after children aged 10 to 17, not currently in an adoption plan, can be referred for Life Story Work.
We accept cases where the child:
• has a limited understanding of their personal history because of multiple care arrangements
• has a lack of trust towards adults
• has poor peer relations
• has taken responsibility for life events out of their control
• is struggling to settle within their foster placements
• is having difficulty expressing their emotions and needs
• is assessed as vulnerable and having poor levels of resilience.
Cases must be known to local children's services, and social workers must obtain informed consent from the child before a referral is made. There are four phases to the intervention which are: introduction, assessment, intervention and closure.

For every child assigned to the programme, careful consideration will be given to how and when these historic records are revealed to the child, to mitigate any likely distress.

By the end of the programme, the child or young person will be given a Life Story book to take away with them, as a visual reminder of the significant events and relationships in their life to date.