Name: Brook's Sexual Behaviours Traffic Light Tool
Provider: Cornwall Council
Cornwall Council has become the first local authority in the country to fully adopt a new resource that analyses the sexual behaviours of children and young people, distinguishing between those that are healthy and those considered to be harmful.
Based on a model developed by Family Planning Queensland, Australia, Brook's Sexual Behaviours Traffic Light Tool is designed to help any professional - from social worker to teacher, youth worker to GP - working with children and young people to identify, assess and respond to sexual behaviours in an effective and appropriate manner.
"We had seen the positive impact that the Traffic Light Toolkit developed in Queensland had in terms of giving young people a knowledge base and a uniform approach for all professionals," explains Georgia Johnston, business development officer for child sexual exploitation and child sexual violence at Brook.
"We were finding that a lot of professionals were contacting Brook with concerns about young people. This ranged from things that were part of healthy, natural development to things that were real alarm bells and we realised that people really don't know what they are seeing and they haven't got this basic understanding."
The resource categorises sexual behaviours for children and young people into three colour-coded groups: green, amber or red. It does this for children across four age groups - up to five years old, five to nine, nine to 13, and 13 to 17.
Behaviours identified as green are considered to be part of a healthy sexual development, while those identified as red reflect harmful and unsafe behaviours that require immediate action from professionals.
"We needed to have something that really got to the point and the crux of the issue that people could use straight away," says Johnston.
"It's also incredibly important that we focus on the 'green' aspects of the toolkit and that people recognise that young people actually do have a right to a healthy, happy sexual development and that we shouldn't always overreact because most young people are in fact happy and healthy.
"It reduces these frustrations that young people tell us they have but it also enables professionals to better understand."
While many professionals, including those who work with the police, foster carers and youth services, have adopted elements of the toolkit since it was launched in October 2012, Cornwall Council is the first local authority in the country to fully implement all aspects.
The local authority formally launched the tool in March in an attempt to promote positive sexual development among the county's children and young people.
"Positive sexual development is integral to all children and young people's development of a positive and secure identity, self-worth and self-esteem," says Alexa Gainsbury, Cornwall's teenage pregnancy and sexual health co-ordinator.
"By using this tool to identify and address unhealthy behaviour at an early age, professionals working with children and young people in Cornwall can prevent subsequent sexually harmful behaviours from developing."
Brook is yet to carry out any research on the impact of the resource but feedback from those using it has been largely positive.
"The feedback that we are getting is that people are pleased that, in an area people traditionally found really difficult, they are seeing this incredibly simple format that gives them an opportunity to talk about any issues that come up in a way that makes sense and is manageable for everyone," explains Johnston.
The free resource is available at www.brook.org.uk
