ABSTRACT
The changes made to direct work with children, families, and contexts have been supported by an ever-changing local policy context. This chapter shares what has been learnt about the demands that Contextual Safeguarding places on local policy frameworks and meeting structures – demands that go beyond the integration of issue-based procedures or teams. The author argues that Contextual Safeguarding systems require the wider services in which they operate to: work with young people’s growing desire for autonomy during adolescence; respond rapidly to the frequently changing nature of local harm; engage with young people’s peer relationships; mitigate the risks that come with debt bondage, violence, and coercion; and combat parental isolation by bolstering community ties. Contextual Safeguarding contributes to, but does not resolve, all of these requirements. More work is required to explore the levers that most consistently achieve this level of change in any local area.
