Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership

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Discuss a Harm Outside the Home (HOTH) concern or make a referral

If you notice any signs that a child/young person is at risk of, or being exploited, or the child/young person/their parent/carer tells you something that makes you worry about child exploitation, the first step is to establish the level of risk to the child.

This means considering the situation or behaviour you are worried about, how often it is happening, how serious the worries are and the impact on the child/young person. This will help to get the right support in place for the child/young person, at the right time.

Durham has developed a  Child Exploitation Matrix.pdf (CE Matrix) to help practitioners better identify risks around HOTH.

The CE Matrix is a tool for all practitioners working with children and families to help them determine if a child or young person is at risk of exploitation, or if they are being exploited. It can be used by universal services such as schools, health, housing and sports clubs, to more targeted and specialist services like Children’s Social Care and ERASE. The tool is designed to be completed with the child/young person, their family and other practitioners who know the child well.

If the child/young person is known to services, liaise with the existing services and decide together who is the best person to lead on completing the CE Matrix. If the child/young person is not known to services, then you should take the lead on completing the CE Matrix.

The CE Matrix should be used to inform any other assessment and plan for the child/young person, such as an Early Help Assessment or Plan, a Child Protection Report or Plan or a Care Plan if the child/young person is a child in our care.

Once you have completed the CE Matrix, you should make an initial judgment about the level of risk of exploitation for the child/young person based on the information gathered:

Level of risk

Risk level Evidence of risk Next steps
No risk
  • The child/young person may have some additional needs that require support.
  • There is no evidence that the child is at risk of exploitation over and above normal behaviour.
  • Continue to support the child/young person and their family where possible.
  • If you are feeling stuck, advice is available from Early Help Triage on 03000 267 979.
Low risk
  • Indicators (warning signs) raise some concerns that the child/young person could be targeted and groomed.
  • The warning signs lead to a suspicion that the child/young person could be exploited but there are strengths (protective factors) that help to reduce the worries.
  • Continue to support the child/young person and their family where possible.
  • Make a referral for Early Help, by completing an Early Help Assessment via the Children’s Services Portal
  • If the family does not agree to any support offered and you are feeling stuck, advice is available from Early Help Triage on 03000 267 979.
Moderate risk
  • There is evidence or suspicion that the child/young person is at risk of exploitation.
  • There are concerns they are being groomed or targeted by one or more abusers, who could be adults or other children/young people.
  • The exploitation could be happening online or in person.
  • More work is needed to understand the risk involved however there are no immediate concerns for the child/young person’s safety.
  • Continue to provide support to the child/young person and their family where possible.
  • If the child is not already open to Children’s Social Care, make a referral. A Safeguarding Referral Form.docx (Tri-x document) must be completed and emailed to firstcontact@durham.gov.uk. Include a copy of the CE Matrix to support your referral.
  • Email a copy of the CE Matrix to cevt@durham.police.uk. This will be reviewed in the multi-agency Child Exploitation Vulnerability Triage (CEVT) meeting, chaired by police. CEVT will consider whether a specialist Child Exploitation (CE) worker from the ERASE team is needed. CEVT will also decide whether additional oversight of the child/young person’s plan is needed through the multi-agency Operational Child Exploitation Group (CEG).
Significant risk
  • There are clear signs or information that suggest the child/young person is either already being exploited or is at serious risk.
  • This could include sexual or criminal exploitation, such as being used to move drugs, being forced into sexual activity, made to commit crimes or being controlled by others – either online, in person, by adults or other children/young people.
  • The situation suggests someone may be manipulating or pressuring the child/young person, even if it’s not obvious.
  • Based on what’s known, the child/young person is either already a victim or in danger of becoming one.
  • Significant risk must not be held at Early Help level.
  • If the child is not already open to Children’s Social Care, make a referral. A Safeguarding Referral Form.docx (Tri-x document) must be completed and emailed to firstcontact@durham.gov.uk. Include a copy of the CE Matrix to support your referral.
  • Email a copy of the CE Matrix to cevt@durham.police.uk. This will be reviewed in the multi-agency Child Exploitation Vulnerability Triage meeting, chaired by police.
  • CEVT will allocate a specialist Child Exploitation (CE) worker from the ERASE team to support the child/young person.
  • Additional oversight of the child/young person’s plan will be provided by the multi-agency Operational CEG.