Association of Child Protection Professionals

Association of Child Protection Professionals The Association of Child Protection Professionals (previously known as BASPCAN) is a registered charity and membership association.

If you have any concerns regarding a child please call the NSPCC Help Line on 0808 800 5000.

TOMORROW: What does it take for a child to disclose physical abuse by someone who is supposed to care for them? And what...
10/06/2026

TOMORROW: What does it take for a child to disclose physical abuse by someone who is supposed to care for them? And what happens when a frontline safeguarding professional decides to pursue that question through research?

On Wednesday 11th June 2026, 9.30–11.00am, AOCPP's Care Experienced People Special Interest Group welcomes Kate Dawson, Safeguarding Lead at Redcar & Cleveland Council, to share the work behind her NIHR Pre-Doctoral Fellowship exploring child disclosures of caregiver-perpetrated physical abuse.

Kate brings something that research doesn't always have: years of frontline child protection experience. In this session, she reflects on what it means to move from practice into research, and what that journey revealed about the questions safeguarding work leaves unanswered.

The session will explore:

- How, when and under what conditions children disclose physical abuse within caregiving relationships
- The experience of undertaking an NIHR Pre-Doctoral Fellowship as a practitioner
- Early-stage research development, including literature synthesis and stakeholder engagement
- The foundations laid for progression to doctoral study
- Implications for child protection professionals and multi-agency practice

Co-chaired by Dr Claire Brown and Emma Clothier.
Members: Free | Standard: £15
📅 Thursday 11th June 2026 | 9.30–11.00am | Online
🔗 Book your place: https://www.childprotectionprofessionals.org.uk/events/special-interest-group-care-experienced-people-from-practice-to-research-nihr-fellowship-exploring-child-disclosures-of-caregiver-perpetrated-physical-abuse-kate-dawson/

Relevant for social workers, safeguarding leads, researchers and anyone working with children who may be experiencing abuse within the home.

TOMORROW: Illness fabrication in dependent children, once known as Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, remains one of the most...
09/06/2026

TOMORROW: Illness fabrication in dependent children, once known as Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, remains one of the most complex and contested areas of child protection practice. But how did our understanding of it develop, and what can its history tell us about how we work today?

On Wednesday 10th June 2026, 12.00–1.30pm, AOCPP's History & Practice Special Interest Group welcomes Dr Chris Millard (University of Sheffield), whose recently published open-access book charts the history of illness fabrication and the induction of illness in dependent children.

Dr Millard brings something distinctive to this work: his own mother exhibited illness-fabricating behaviour throughout his childhood, and the book engages directly with what it means to carry that lived experience into academic research. It raises questions that reach well beyond history into professional practice of all kinds.

This session will explore:

- The history and development of our understanding of illness fabrication
- What 'lived experience' really means across research, academia and professional practice
- How practitioners hold and reflect on their own histories in their work

The session includes presentation, discussion and Q&A, and is co-chaired by Dr Ruth Beecher (Birkbeck University) and Dr Claudia Soares (Newcastle University).

Free for all to attend, including non-members.

📅 Wednesday 10th June 2026 | 12.00–1.30pm | Online
🔗 Book your place: https://www.childprotectionprofessionals.org.uk/events/special-interest-group-history-practice-writing-the-history-of-illness-fabrication-lived-experience-and-what-it-means-for-professional-practice-of-all-kinds-dr-chris-millard/

Relevant for practitioners, researchers and academics working across safeguarding, health, social work and the helping professions.

TOMORROW - How do we hold both maternal autonomy and child safety when there is no healthcare presence at birth?On Tuesd...
08/06/2026

TOMORROW - How do we hold both maternal autonomy and child safety when there is no healthcare presence at birth?

On Tuesday 9th June 2026, 12.00–2.00pm, AOCPP hosts a timely and important conversation on freebirth and its impact on the child, led by Dr Joanne Nicholl (Designated Doctor Safeguarding Children, NHS Somerset and Chair of the SGC subcommittee of the NNDHP).

Freebirths, those that take place intentionally without medical presence, can be a positive experience for women, particularly those with a history of obstetric trauma. But they also present real safeguarding challenges: children can become hidden from services, miss neonatal screening, and in some cases come to serious harm.

Drawing on the recently published NNDHP position statement on freebirth, this session will explore how professionals can navigate the tension between respecting maternal choice and ensuring the welfare of the child, in line with the Children Act 1989.

Dr Nicholl will be joined by Clare Capito, NHS England, and Wendy Thorogood, Independent Nurse Consultant, with the session chaired by Dr Sam Warner.

Practical safeguarding guidance will also be shared.
This event is free for all to attend.

📅 Tuesday 9th June 2026 | 12.00–2.00pm | Online
🔗 Book your place: https://www.childprotectionprofessionals.org.uk/events/freebirth-and-its-impact-on-the-child-join-the-conversation-with-dr-joanne-nicholl-2/
Relevant for practitioners working across health, social care, safeguarding and family services.

4.6

AOCPP is expanding its training offer, and we are looking for experienced members to help shape it.We are in the process...
07/06/2026

AOCPP is expanding its training offer, and we are looking for experienced members to help shape it.

We are in the process of launching a new training programme, delivering child protection modules to organisations across the sector. To support this, we are inviting AOCPP members with relevant expertise to apply to become approved AOCPP trainers.

Trainers will deliver sessions as AOCPP representatives, using professionally developed materials, and will be paid as AOCPP suppliers.

We are looking for members who can demonstrate:
- Practice experience in child protection or safeguarding
- Strong subject knowledge
- Relevant qualifications
- Experience of, or qualifications in, delivering training

To express your interest, please send a CV, two professional references, and at least one piece of evidence of your expertise (such as a written presentation, paper or published article) to [email protected].

This is a meaningful opportunity to contribute to the sector's professional development offer while representing an organisation you are already part of. We hope to hear from many of you.

In recent months, concerns about the safety of children who undergo non-therapeutic male circumcision have been raised i...
06/06/2026

In recent months, concerns about the safety of children who undergo non-therapeutic male circumcision have been raised independently by two judges, a coroner and the CPS. This is a conversation the safeguarding sector can no longer set aside.

On Wednesday 24th June, 12:00–1:30pm, our Lunch & Learn session brings together two specialists with considerable expertise in this area: Dr Antony Lempert, GP, medical ethicist and lead medical adviser to the National Secular Society, and Alejandro Sanchez, human rights lead at the National Secular Society, whose work on this issue has featured in the BMJ, Community Care and beyond.

Building on the November seminar, this session moves the conversation forward. Having established the safeguarding concerns, speakers will now begin to address a more specific and pressing question: how do we ensure that children whose parents wish for them to be circumcised without medical necessity are appropriately safeguarded from harm?

This is a legally complex, ethically sensitive and practically significant area of practice. Whether you work in health, social care, education or the legal sector, this session offers the kind of careful, evidence-informed discussion that practitioners need to navigate it with confidence.

Members: free | Standard: £15
Book your place: https://www.childprotectionprofessionals.org.uk/events/lunch-learn-non-therapeutic-male-circumcision-in-the-spotlight-how-do-we-ensure-that-children-are-properly-safeguarded-from-harm-dr-antony-lempert-alejandro-sanchez/

What does it take for a child to disclose physical abuse by someone who is supposed to care for them? And what happens w...
04/06/2026

What does it take for a child to disclose physical abuse by someone who is supposed to care for them? And what happens when a frontline safeguarding professional decides to pursue that question through research?

On Wednesday 11th June 2026, 9.30–11.00am, AOCPP's Care Experienced People Special Interest Group welcomes Kate Dawson, Safeguarding Lead at Redcar & Cleveland Council, to share the work behind her NIHR Pre-Doctoral Fellowship exploring child disclosures of caregiver-perpetrated physical abuse.

Kate brings something that research doesn't always have: years of frontline child protection experience. In this session, she reflects on what it means to move from practice into research, and what that journey revealed about the questions safeguarding work leaves unanswered.

The session will explore:

- How, when and under what conditions children disclose physical abuse within caregiving relationships
- The experience of undertaking an NIHR Pre-Doctoral Fellowship as a practitioner
- Early-stage research development, including literature synthesis and stakeholder engagement
- The foundations laid for progression to doctoral study
- Implications for child protection professionals and multi-agency practice

Co-chaired by Dr Claire Brown and Emma Clothier.
Members: Free | Standard: £15
📅 Thursday 11th June 2026 | 9.30–11.00am | Online
🔗 Book your place: https://www.childprotectionprofessionals.org.uk/events/special-interest-group-care-experienced-people-from-practice-to-research-nihr-fellowship-exploring-child-disclosures-of-caregiver-perpetrated-physical-abuse-kate-dawson/

Relevant for social workers, safeguarding leads, researchers and anyone working with children who may be experiencing abuse within the home.

TOMORROW - How we share information in child protection is changing.On Thursday 4 June, 12.00–1.00pm, AOCPP members are ...
03/06/2026

TOMORROW - How we share information in child protection is changing.

On Thursday 4 June, 12.00–1.00pm, AOCPP members are invited to a Lunch & Learn briefing directly from the multi-agency Information Sharing team at the Department for Education.

The new statutory guidance on multi-agency information sharing, developed in alignment with Working Together 2026, represents a significant shift in how practitioners are expected to approach information sharing in practice. This session will explore the move from consent-based models to a proactive, duty-led approach, what precision information sharing means in practice, and how the new framework aims to bridge long-standing multi-agency gaps.

Co-chaired by Dr Sarah Steele, AoCPP Trustee and Policy Lead, and Steve Myers, AoCPP Vice Chair, this briefing will also offer members a genuine opportunity to ask questions, share experiences, and engage with the upcoming DfE consultation.
If you work across children's social care, safeguarding partnerships, health, education or any discipline where information sharing decisions shape practice, this is a timely and important session to attend.

This event is free for AOCPP members.

Book your place: https://www.childprotectionprofessionals.org.uk/events/aocpp-members-event-lunch-and-learn-on-the-new-statutory-information-sharing-duty-a-contemporaneous-briefing-directly-from-the-multi-agency-information-sharing-team-at-dfe/

Please register no later than 24 hours before the session.

June is a busy month for AOCPP, with a full programme of webinars and Special Interest Groups exploring some of the most...
02/06/2026

June is a busy month for AOCPP, with a full programme of webinars and Special Interest Groups exploring some of the most pressing and complex issues in safeguarding and child protection practice.

This month's events include:

- Freebirth and its impact on the child
- Writing the history of illness fabrication, lived experience and professional practice
- Child disclosures of caregiver-perpetrated physical abuse
- Psychoanalytic perspectives on gender distress and identity
… and many more

Across the month, sessions draw on frontline practice, academic research and clinical expertise, with space for discussion, reflection and Q&A throughout.

All events are online. Members attend free. A small number of sessions are also free for non-members.
Take a look at the full June line-up and book your place.

https://www.childprotectionprofessionals.org.uk/events/

The May/June 2026 edition of Child Abuse Review is now available.Volume 35, Issue 3 includes research and commentary spa...
01/06/2026

The May/June 2026 edition of Child Abuse Review is now available.

Volume 35, Issue 3 includes research and commentary spanning placement practice, practitioner wellbeing and therapeutic approaches to childhood sexual abuse.

This issue features:
Reimagining Child Placement — an open access article drawing on the experiences of First Nations and Inuit foster parents in Québec, offering important insights into culturally grounded approaches to child placement practice.
'Crossing the Line' — an open access study exploring child protection and welfare social workers' and managers' experiences of online, social media and digital abuse and harassment in Ireland, a timely and sobering piece for anyone working in or leading child protection services.

The issue also includes a book review of Play Therapy and Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Clinical Guide to Practice by Sueann Kenney-Noziska.

AOCPP members have access to Child Abuse Review as part of their membership. Read the latest issue here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/10990852/2026/35/3

The perspectives of practitioners who have worked with survivors of child sexual abuse are rarely recorded. The Recovery...
30/05/2026

The perspectives of practitioners who have worked with survivors of child sexual abuse are rarely recorded. The Recovery Histories project wants to change that.

Led by Dr Ruth Beecher and Katie Elliott at Birkbeck University, the project is collecting oral histories from practitioners who have worked with children or adult survivors of any form of child sexual abuse. The aim is to build a history that goes beyond policy frameworks and legislation to capture the knowledge, emotions and experience of the people doing the work on the ground.

This is a cause AOCPP's History & Practice SIG is proud to share. Dr Ruth Beecher, who leads the project, is also co-chair of our History & Practice Special Interest Group.

The project welcomes practitioners from a wide range of backgrounds, including social workers, health professionals, educators, therapists, youth workers, voluntary sector practitioners and more.

You may be newly qualified or retired. If you have worked in any capacity with children or adult survivors in England, Scotland, Wales or Ireland, you are invited to take part.

Oral history is a powerful form of professional knowledge. If you have a story to tell, this is an opportunity to have it heard and recorded.

Read more here: https://shra.bbk.ac.uk/blog/recovery-histories-call-out-to-practitioners/

Or get in touch: [email protected]

Address

17 Priory Street
York
YO16ET

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+44 (0) 1904 613605

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