Services
We think good services for children begin and end with listening to children
Our Contribution
Support young people to be ‘resilient’ and communities to ‘keep their children safe’.
Inspire agencies to ‘go the extra mile’ – by representing to them the impact of the quality and scope of their activities on individual children, families and communities.
Assist agencies to improve the quality of their services – through advocacy and service and systems consultancy.
Take the frontline message to central government about the challenges of safeguarding children in this economic and social climate.
Community Education Services
Empowering communities to safeguard their children – work with community groups and their service users to identify needs and tailor workshops to address these, including assisting communities to develop their members’ motivation and confidence to engage with statutory child protection services.
Active Listening Programme
Promoting young people’s life-chances – an advocacy service for teenagers struggling with the impact of past or current abuse and neglect; and provision of regular work placements for young people.
Victim Support Services
Advocating for families involved in court proceedings or who have lost a child through neglect or abuse, legal casework for children/families and facilitation of family engagement in serious case and domestic homicide reviews.
Practice Consultancy
Challenging and supporting child protection services to improve their service delivery – expert case work or review assessments, analysis and interventions, a community engagement strategy, tailored training for professionals, regular social work practice placements.
Campaigning
Campaigning at a national level for improvements in child protection policy and practice, hosting a national conference every five years taking stock of improvements in UK child protection.
Protecting Children across Culture and Faith
- – Harmful practices linked to faith or belief; witchcraft and spirit possession, FGM, radicalism.
- – Trafficked children.
- – Child Sexual Abuse.
VCF is the leading organisation addressing child abuse linked to faith or belief across all ethnicities.
Testimonials
A Father helped by VCF
“It’s been a great support from VCF, they are elite and hopefully remain operating, my children were harmed by the mother, things went wrong and i had to go to court. [VCF] supported and attended 2 trial hearings and i feel blessed that [a team member] was there at the hearing. I was given good advice and help from all the staff.”
A Mother helped by VCF
“Up until the point of contacting VCF I had been passed from pillar to post with regards to trying to protect my daughter. It has become the norm for my daughter to return from contact covered in bruises and on one occasion I had to call the police to her fathers house following a very distressed phone call from my daughter which ended in a piercing scream and the phone being cut dead, the father refused to answer the phone after this. It makes me furious seeing the NSPCC adverts about every child matters, what about my child I ask myself. I have been to Family court 6 times over the last 3 years, one time being for a committal hearing as I stopped contact as I feared so much for my daughters safety. I have asked for support from Cafcass, Social Services, Doctors, Health visitors, NSPCC, Parentline to name but a few, it turns out no one actually gives a dam about my beautiful little girl, apart from me of course and my family and friends, then I spoke with VCF and told them my story and it was from this first phone call, they cared too.
A Mother & Grandmother helped by VCF
“Just a small note to say big things in total gratitude for your words, assistance and strength during the time you spent with my daughter, in her unending quest to protect her daughter (my grand-daughter). We were sent to you at a time that i can now look back at and honestly say that had i not been guided to your offices at the precise time that I was, I am not sure what the outcome would have been today. It is said in my culture that ‘nothing happens before its time’ and ‘God never sends us more than we can handle’. What I didn’t realise in all of these teachings is that on the way there we all need helping hands to deal with our trials. In real terms this may not have been an issue for some, but in our family terms, and for me especially, your support and a place to bring my daughter to during episodes where my words were never going t be enough; to have the blessed [team member] turn up to social services offices and give quiet comfort to us both and to have [another team member’s] shiny smile and sharp brain everywhere when needed and the comforting stern words from [another team member] when totally necessary, meant more to me as a support system than i can possible write within the confines of this A4 paper.”
Centre for Social Work Research
“Their work aims to go beyond the ‘presenting problem’ to understand the underlying issues and context… In individual cases, the aim is to identify the contexts that are impacting on the family, and this looks for common sense rather than reactive solutions.”
