Links is Devon\u2019s new targeted Level 3 specialist service which will work to increase safety and reduce risk and harm to children, young people, and some young adults outside of the home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Links brings together the expertise of staff within the Youth Intervention Team (crime prevention) and the REACH team (missing children and exploitation) to form an offer of intervention and support to children and young people who:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Links can work with children and young people from the age of 10, and young adults 18-25 who are care<\/a> experienced. Links can work alongside lead professionals where there is already a plan of support in place, and can sometimes take the role of lead professional where the primary concerns are risk and harm outside the home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Referrals to Links are made via the request for support<\/a> to the ‘Front Door’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Internal referrals for children or young people or young adults already open to a social worker or PA \u2013 agreement from team manager to request Links support, and then a discussion with a Links team manager to confirm referral meets Links criteria and type of support. A Safer Me assessment must also be completed or updated prior to requesting Links support.<\/p>\n\n\n Child sexual exploitation (CSE) is an illegal activity by people who have power or influence over young people. It is a form of sexual abuse in which a young person is manipulated into taking part in sexual acts. It can happen face-to-face, as well as online or over a mobile phone.<\/p>\n The young person may not recognise what is happening because the abuser makes them think they are in a relationship and are special. CSE\u00a0can also happen as a result of violence, threats or intimidation. Therefore it is important that professionals don\u2019t rely on the young person disclosing their abuse in order to identify that CSE is taking place.<\/p>\n CSE can happen to anyone, regardless of their gender, age, ethnicity or background,<\/p>\n CSE is not always easy to spot as the warning signs can often be confused with other difficulties the young person is experiencing. These are some of the main indicators of CSE (although it is not an exhaustive list):<\/p>\n If you are worried about a child or young person, the first thing you should do is speak to someone at the MASH (Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub) on 0345 155 1071<\/a> or email mashsecure@devon.gcsx.gov.uk<\/a> and give as much information as you can. If you have immediate concerns about a young person, please call the police on 999<\/a>.<\/p>\n A key step in protecting young people from CSE is to raise awareness amongst young people, parents\/carers and professionals. Below are links to key online information and leaflets\u00a0about\u00a0CSE. Please distribute this information\u00a0within your agency and consider handing out\u00a0leaflets\u00a0to young people or parents\/carers that you are working with.<\/p>\n REACH (Reducing Exploitation and Absence from Care or Home)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":567,"parent":426,"menu_order":9,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-125","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-02 17:31:44","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/125\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/426"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/children-families-education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How to access<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What is CSE?<\/h3>\n
Warning signs<\/h3>\n
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Who can I speak to?<\/h3>\n
Support the campaign<\/h3>\n
Important information<\/h3>\n
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