Community Safety Infrastructure
Key Focus: Community-based prevention, creating safe spaces, local strategy, and multi-agency coordination.
Key Responsibilities: They engage in early identification and assessment, safeguarding, and disruption of exploitation by working closely with HSCT staff, PSNI, and other agencies.
Roles and responsibilities:
- Develop local strategies to prevent and address CCE
- Coordinate multi-agency responses to CCE in the community
- Conduct community safety audits to identify CCE hotspots
- Implement situational crime prevention measures to reduce CCE opportunities
- Engage with local communities to raise awareness of CCE
- Support neighbourhood watch schemes and community guardianship programs
- Coordinate with local businesses to address CCE risks (e.g., in hotels, taxi services)
- Manage CCTV and other surveillance systems to deter CCE activities
- Liaise with PSNI on community intelligence related to CCE
- Develop and implement local action plans to tackle CCE
Lead or primary role
Early Preventative Work
Community Safety Wardens provide a visible presence in hotspot areas, help deter criminal activity, and act as a point of contact for reporting concerns. Other activities (midnight soccer schools to divert from anti- social behaviour/sport activities) facilitated by the Councils engage children and young people in early preventative work, creating safe spaces and also helps raise awareness about CCE. They engage parent/carers in support sessions and youth forums to promote safeguarding messages. Support is offered to children or young person to prevent issues from escalating and staff have clear pathways for making referrals and delivering appropriate interventions to reduce risk.
Early Identification and Assessment
Detached youth workers engage directly with children and young people in their own environments e.g., streets, parks, and community spaces, rather than formal settings, creating opportunities to identify early signs of grooming or exploitation and offer support and diversionary activities. They assess the needs of these children and young people and provide appropriate support.
Disruption of Exploitation
Community safety initiatives play a role in disrupting
exploitation by identifying and supporting children and young people at risk and by addressing issues and environments within communities that can lead to exploitation. They work closely with social workers and the police to identify risks and needs.
Significant input or role
Safeguarding Structures and Thresholds
Community safety initiatives works within safeguarding structures to address CCE. They follow clear guidelines, policies, and procedures to report concerns, deliver interventions and ensure that their efforts are aligned with statutory services. Councils can strengthen safety by investing in trauma informed youth spaces, supporting multi-agency partnerships, and ensuring community settings where young people feel safe, heard, and protected from exploitation.
Supporting role
Multi-Agency Collaboration
Community safety initiatives collaborate with statutory services and other organisations to provide support, ensuring that interventions are timely and culturally appropriate. They share information appropriately about emerging risks and use the correct escalation routes. They work with other agencies to ensure that the needs of the child and young person and their family are addressed.
Coordination of Information and Response
Community safety initiatives should collect and share information related to CCE with other agencies. They ensure that they coordinate with other agencies and that the needs of the child and young person are addressed.