I SAY NO

Investing in Early Identification, Education & Prevention

I SAY NO is an early intervention trauma-informed, neuro diverse sensitive programme designed to empower primary school children who are at risk of, or have experienced extra familial harm. Extra-familial harm negatively impacts family life, children’s quality of life and their life chances, and these are compounded by poverty, trauma, neuro-diversity, and the other social determinants that shape and affect outcomes for children, and exposes them to risk and harm.

Target organisations are schools, faith groups, youth clubs, and other venues where children gather.

I SAY NO addresses harm outside the family environment, and was developed to respond earlier to the high levels of serious youth violence that has gripped our communities, and continues to place vulnerable children and their families at significant risk of harm. It aims to help participants recognise harmful situations, build resilience, and make safe, positive decisions. It addresses child criminal exploitation (CCE), child sexual exploitation (CSE), missing episodes, county lines, drug trafficking, involvement in gangs, contact with the criminal justice system and other harmful activities.

The programme will be delivered by skilled social care practitioners specialising in child protection and safeguarding. Practitioners have extensive experience of strategic management, working with and commissioning services for vulnerable young people and their families affected by exploitation, grooming and violence.

I SAY NO offers a safe space for children to explore experiences, understand their rights and develop strategies to protect themselves from risky situations and harm. The programme acknowledges the emotional and psychological impact of trauma, focusing on building trust, safety and empowerment. It provides practical knowledge on identifying the early signs of grooming, understanding manipulation tactics, and resisting unsafe approaches.

I SAY NO is an innovative early identification, early help programme that acknowledges the cultural shift required to provide an earlier response to education, information sharing and risk management. I SAY NO is a programme that will focus on the duality of risk by exposing the harm of exposure to grooming and exploitation to illuminate and give confidence for the possibility of/and opportunity for change.

A key component of the programme is the poignant account of a parent who will be sharing his personal, harrowing experience of exploitation, serious youth violence, contact with the criminal justice system, and his view re: aspects of parenting that underpinned the breakdown of family security.

I SAY NO key ambitions

  1. Provide children from an earlier age, and in a timelier way, key information to increase awareness of extra-familial harm.
  2. Arm participants with information to identify risky and harmful approaches, with strategies to safely respond, and provision of alternative pathways to disengage from dangerous environments and situations
  3. Help children develop the emotional strength to healthily manage stress, trauma, and challenging situations, through self-regulation techniques and positive coping strategies.
  4. Support with identification of safe locations in the community or home where children can go if they feel threatened, coerced, pressured or at risk.
  5. Illuminate commonly used language and developing terminology adopted by exploiters that primary school aged children may not have been exposed to.
  6. Share the account of a parent to highlight the reality of exploiters reach and impact to support earlier, and safer everyday decision making and choices.
  7. Support schools and primary school aged pupils development of a strong self-preserving risk culture that serves to minimise harm and keep children safe
  8. Increase learning to raise awareness and support schools and other organisations to identify early shifts in children’s presentation that could evidence likelihood of risk and harm
  9. Support schools and other organisations to utilise information to develop a whole system strategy that continuously focuses on risk mitigation and management
  10. To use the programme as a framework for access to S.T.E.P.S, a parental programme focusing on early identification, understanding and mitigating early, risky behaviours, and bridge the disconnect between children’s knowledge and experiences, and parental access to key information to aid safety planning.

Rationale for This Programme

  1. Government focus on serious youth violence
  2. Rise in referrals of younger children to social care agencies
  3. Increasing numbers of younger children coming into contact with the criminal justice system for offences deemed extra familial harm related.
  4. Escalation of serious youth violence, and exploiters abuse of younger children that exposes them to harmful behaviours negatively impacting their life chances

Methodology

  1. Facilitator Lead Learning & Presentations
  2. Children Led Round Table Discussions
  3. Children Thinking Aloud via Paired Small Group Work
  4. Structured Individual Learning
  5. Large Group Problem Solving
  6. External Presentation – ‘My Story Re-Told’

Get In Touch

For more information or any questions about I SAY NO, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. We endeavour to respond within two working days.