The trauma that comes with experiencing Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) can have a long-lasting impact on children and young people’s emotional wellbeing. Research shows providing early emotional support can help reduce this impact.
Safer London’s Emotional Support Service is here for young Londoners and their families, providing support across South East London.
We provide assessment and early emotional trauma responsive support to children and young people and their safe parents and carers. We also support young Londoners where there is a concern about the likelihood or possibility of sexual abuse.
For up to 12 weeks young Londoners and families will receive specialist one-to-one support, with CSA Navigators attending medicals where possible. Safer London attendance at medicals is only available to children and young people living in Southwark and Lambeth.
Making a referral
We welcome referrals from Community Pediatricians, Social Workers or other health care professionals.
When a young Londoner is referred into Safer London, our Front Door team screens and processes each referral. The team then allocates a dedicated Specialist or Expert Caseworker to a young Londoner, taking into consideration each child or young person’s individual circumstances and needs.
Safer London supports children and young people from 0-18 (up to 25 for those with neurodiverse needs/conditions) and their families after a recent disclosure of CSA (the abuse can be historic) and have had a CSA Medical or a CSA Medical has been considered.
Our CSA Navigators can offer support to children, young people and their family in South East London (Bexley, Bromley, Lambeth, Southwark, Greenwich, Lewisham).
When a child discloses CSA, a referral should be made to the MASH team in the borough where the child resides. The allocated social worker may refer them for a CSA Medical at the Haven for Bromley, Bexley and Greenwich and Lewisham, and Community Paediatricians Hub for Southwark and Lambeth. This medical is a holistic assessment of the child’s wellbeing, as well as a physical examination.
As our services are voluntary, we can’t work with a young Londoner without their consent and this must be sought before a referral is made.
Once a referral is received the Front Door team will contact the young Londoner/family member to confirm their consent. Unfortunately, we will have to close the referral if the consent isn’t confirmed.
When working with young Londoners/family members we ask that an agreement to access services declaration is completed. This is so the young Londoner understands the nature of the intervention, and that they are happy to go ahead with the support. The agreement to access services declaration is completed with support of the young Londoner’s’ Caseworker in their first session.
When making a referral it is important you complete each section of the form with as much detailed information as possible. This will allow us to effectively process the referral and get the young Londoner the support they need.
Once you have submitted your referral, we will confirm receipt within 2 day working days. In this we will also include any requests for additional information, this may also include a request for any documents that may be needed to support the referral. Although we do understand sometimes this isn’t possible, we do politely ask you respond to any requests within five working days, as this significantly speeds up the process of allocating a CSA Navigator to the young Londoner/family member.
To make a referral for a young Londoner into the Emotional Support Service please complete the online form.
This online form is only for children and young people needing to access the Emotional Support Service. To make a referral for our other services and support please visit the relevant service page:
- Young Londoners affected by violence and criminal exploitation
- Young Londoners affected by sexual exploitation
- Families affected by violence and exploitation
- County Lines: Rescue & Response
- The Pan London Housing Reciprocal
Please note: our online form is not compatible with Internet Explorer. We recommend using a different browser such as Google Chrome.
If you have any queries please email us at referralandassessmentteam@saferlondon.org.uk
Frequently asked questions
Young Londoners and families will receive specialist one-to-one support with up to eight
sessions over 12 weeks, with CSA Navigators attending medicals* where possible. The CSA Navigators can work with the professional network, including advocating on behalf of the
child or young person during a CSA Medical.*
Working alongside the young Londoners the CSA Navigators help them to identify and access future, longer-term or specialist support if needed.
When a child discloses CSA, a referral should be made to the MASH team in the borough
where the child lives. The allocated social worker may refer them for a CSA Medical at the
Haven for Bromley, Bexley and Greenwich and Lewisham, and Community Paediatricians Hub for Southwark and Lambeth. This medical is a holistic assessment of the child’s wellbeing, as well as a physical examination.
*Safer London attendance at medicals is only available to children and young people living in Southwark and Lambeth.
Make sure you are using Google Chrome, Firefox or Microsoft Edge when accessing the link. Other issues not allowing the form to open could include:
- An unstable internet connection.
- Firewall protection set up by your organisation – in this case please speak to your IT department/provider.
If you are asked for a log in to access the form this is because you either have bookmarked the referral link or copied and pasted the link from your browser window.
Every time you wish to put in a new referral, you must do so by coming back to this page and clicking the link to the online form.
Please check the ‘How to Make a Referral’ section on this page. If you need further assistance in completing the form please email our Front Door team referralandassessmentteam@saferlondon.org.uk at or call them on 0207 021 0301
If your form won’t submit it’s likely that your session has timed out. This can happen:
- due to a loss of internet connection,
- if you have had the form open for four hours and not submitted.
Unfortunately, the form doesn’t save information as you go. You will need to start the application again from the beginning. To do this click this link.
We aim to get back to you within two working days of submitting a referral. If you haven’t heard from us and the timeframe has passed, please email the Front Door team referralandassessmentteam@saferlondon.org.uk.