Development of a Study to Collect Views on Service Delivery from Children & Young People Affected by Child Sexual Abuse: Management of Ethical Issues Esther Coren & Jemeela Hutchfield Canterbury Christ Church University

Acknowledgements The research is funded and supported by Action for Children and would not be possible without the active support and participation of project staff and managers

Broader evaluation aims To evaluate the work of eight Action for Children projects around England and Wales that form part of a child sexual abuse network (‘Safe and Secure’) Supporting service development Supporting funding applications/tenders Identifying and demonstrating good practice

Elements of the evaluation The evaluation comprises four elements: Systematic meta-review General evaluation Child-outcomes focused evaluation Children’s perspectives element

Qualitative element Aim to incorporate children and young peoples’ views in the evaluation Qualitative activity book including closed and open-ended responses in a child friendly format

Ethical issues introduction Many standard ethical issues are complicated by the vulnerable and traumatised nature of the population as well as their age Ethical approval/support sought from all local authorities concerned as well as research governance groups and the Association of Directors of Children’s Services A variety of ethical and safeguarding issues have been addressed

Therapeutic relationship Essential to the treatment process and therefore important to protect/preserve Child/young person’s activity book will not be seen by therapist Therapists given specific guidance on how to explain activity book Participation will have no effect on right/access to therapy or relationship with therapist

Anonymity Each child/young person is given a unique participant number eg IPS001 University research team will not be able to identify each participant Only non-identifying demographic information will be collected eg age, gender, ethnicity, etc Participants specifically instructed not to write any names in activity book Consent forms with participants’ names will be retained at projects. Project managers will sign to confirm consent given.

Confidentiality Each project will have a laminated sample activity book for the purpose of introducing and explaining the research and answering any queries Children/ young people will be encouraged to keep their activity book private in order that they can be open and honest Children/ young people will be provided with an envelope in which to seal their activity book for return

Location for completion: privacy & confidentiality Ideally the activity book will be completed at home i.e. away from the project Facilities available at each project in situations where this proves difficult Activity book will not be completed in therapeutic session time Participants instructed not to complete activity book anywhere else eg on bus

Safeguarding Any concerns regarding the safeguarding of children/young people will be reported immediately to the appropriate project manager In the unlikely case of negative reaction provoked by the activity book, this will be reported in the same way Safeguarding issues will then be dealt with according to Action for Children guidelines Activity books will only be shown to therapists/project managers where this is deemed absolutely necessary in the interests of the child

Sensitivity of issue Written instructions explain that the purpose is to hear child/ young person’s view about experience of projects and how this has/ has not helped them Therapists will verbally reinforce these instructions particularly that child/ young person is not being asked to discuss details of abuse or trauma

Vulnerable/Traumatised Population To be assessed as appropriate to receive therapy from Action for Children projects, all children/young people must be ‘safe from harm’ and have support available outside the therapy e.g. Parent/carer All participants will have been receiving therapy for at least 6 months Only children/young people whose therapy is ongoing will be invited to participate to ensure that they can be appropriately supported

Consent Informed consent (child friendly form) obtained from all children and young people prior to participation Informed consent obtained from all parents/carers of children/young people aged <16 years and those identified as having a learning difficulty Guidance sought from therapists about each individual’s capacity to give informed consent Signed informed consent retained at project to protect anonymity but project manager will sign to confirm consent received

Right to withdraw Children/young people informed of the right to withdraw at any time without consequence Written information reinforced verbally by therapists on more than one occasion Therapeutic staff will also be made aware that if a child/young person raises any worries after their activity book has been returned it can be removed from data analysis

Storage of data For the duration of data analysis and report writing, completed activity books will be stored in a locked filing cabinet at CCCU Consent forms will be stored confidentially at Action for Children projects Once the final report is written, activity books will be destroyed or returned to child/young person where this has been requested Consent forms will also be destroyed once final report is complete

Dissemination In wider academic dissemination projects will not be identified Direct quotes from children/ young people will not be used Data will be analysed and disseminated in an aggregated form

Discussion points Balancing priorities: child’s needs/ academic rigour/organisational stakeholder priorities Appropriate tools for different age groups within limited resources Research Governance Framework very adult focussed Balancing bias (eg Therapist input with child’s needs)