Culture, ethnicity and identity when providing support, help and protection
On 2nd July 2024 30 professionals joined in discussions to explore the culture, ethnicity and Identity when providing support, help and protection of our children and young people in Sunderland.
In 2023 the Joint Targeted Area Inspection (JTAI) written that found ‘consideration and analysis of children’s ethnic identity, cultural heritage and diverse needs in referrals, assessments, and plans’ was not consistently evident.
Working Together 2023 states that:
Effective partnership working with parents and carers happens when practitioners build strong, positive, trusting, and co-operative relationships by:
Ensuring they best understand the families’ background, ethnicity, religion, financial situation, ability, education, sex, ages and sexual orientation, and potential barriers these create in seeking and accessing help and support. Page 15
In response to both, our practitioners reflected on their working practices in this area. The discussions were honest, open and recognised the positive work that is already underway to strengthen partnerships with community groups through discussing case study examples, exploring existing projects and ways of working, along with an analysis of available data.