Kent review

Front line officers or staff who, as part of their job description, visit premises or interact with members of the public, have the opportunity to identify potential victims of ‘Mate Crime’ or Domestic Abuse. Officers and staff should be encouraged to exercise ‘professional curiosity’ and follow up on indications of an abusive relationship or safeguarding issues that relate to a person who may not be the primary focus of their work.

Where there are complaints of Anti-Social Behaviour, it is important to establish who is the victim, who is the perpetrator and whether they are vulnerable and in need of assessment.

The concept of ‘Mate Crime’ or the harming of vulnerable persons in abusive relationships by offenders who set out or take the opportunity to abuse a victim, should be incorporated into agencies policies and working practice, and staff should be trained accordingly. This type of offending should be treated in a similar way to Domestic Abuse e.g. structured risk assessment, information sharing protocols, victim safeguarding plans etc.

Housing providers should undertake a risk assessment when they are aware that someone has moved into a property with a potentially vulnerable tenant.

To facilitate information exchange, East Kent Housing to attend formal and minuted Tasking and Coordinating Meetings held by the Thanet Community Safety Unit.

To provide each GP practice with an up to date adult safeguarding policy that reflects national and local guidance and best practice to guide and support staff in responding to victim and perpetrators of domestic abuse and self-neglect.

In exercising their responsibility in assisting young adults leaving care, Social Services should endeavour to ensure such individuals are registered with a GP, (none of the perpetrators were registered with a GP at the time they attacked the victim).

Agencies should recognise that an individual’s safety and wellbeing may be, in whole or in part, compromised by self-neglect rather than abuse inflicted by a third person. Agencies should ensure that published guidance on self-neglect is both delivered in training and conformed to as outlined in the Kent and Medway Adult Safeguarding Board Policy.

Social Services have a responsibility to assist young adults leaving care, which will include helping them find suitable accommodation in which to live. In addition to establishing the accommodation is suitable for the care leaver, a risk assessment should also take place intended to identify safeguarding issues in relation to the existing occupants.

In considering the appropriateness of accommodation for persons leaving prison or detention centres, agencies involved should use their own risk assessment processes to determine the suitability of the premises in respect of the vulnerability of existing occupants. Information from risk assessments should be shared with other agencies.

When adult offenders have been previously subject to youth offending supervision, liaison must take place with the previous allocated YOT worker/s in order to gather information to inform risk assessment and risk management.

When offenders subject to statutory supervision are related, professionals with offender management responsibility must work collaboratively in order to build a holistic view of the family to inform the assessment and management of risk.

This review and its recommendations should be brought to the attention of the Kent and Medway Adult Safeguarding Board. In so doing the Board and its member organisations may be able to provide guidance and a degree of consistency to those charged with implementing recommendations particularly relating to the use of professional curiosity, mate crime and self neglect.