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Planning for Safety: Risk Outside of the Home (ROTH) National Support Programme

ROTH National Support Programme 

When young people are at risk of significant harm in peer, school or community contexts, and that harm isn’t attributable to their parent or caregiver, how should social workers coordinate plans that keep them safe?

 Since 2019 the Contextual Safeguarding team has worked with children’s social care departments to design, test, and document the development of ‘Risk Outside of the Home’ (ROTH) child protection pathways. ROTH Pathways are intended to offer a structure, and through their implementation contribute to a culture, in which it is possible to offer child protection responses when young people are at risk of significant extra-familial harm.

The Contextual Safeguarding team has tracked the development of Risk Outside of the Home (ROTH) Child Protection pathways since 2019. Phase 1 focused on three options for alternative pathways, of which ROTH, developed in one site, showed most promise. Phase 2 scaled ROTH pathways into an additional three sites and focused on identifying shared features, opportunities, and challenges. Phase 3 maintained piloting across all four sites, with a specific focus on the content of plans and their impact on contexts, as well as the ability of traditional CP pathways and broader elements of children’s services provision to adopt ROTH principles. This phase of the work evidenced key features of effective implementation, and surfaced policy challenges that require strategic attention. Over this period of time national interest in ROTH pathways has grown, and there is now significant demand for support amongst areas beyond the four pilot sites. In response in 2025 launched a National Support Programme.

What does the Planning for Safety National Support Programme involve?

Phase 4 of Planning for Safety will deliver a National Support Programme to develop and embed ROTH pathways. The National Support Programme will:

  • Address key operational and strategic challenges faced by pilot sites to sustain and improve achievements to date
  • Extend support beyond pilot sites to ensure all areas who wish to establish a ROTH pathway do so based on the latest available evidence
  • Track demand for ROTH pathways, and national implications of said demand, particularly in respect of statutory guidance and wider policy levers

It will achieve this by:

  • Developing a range of practice resource packages to meet practice and policy needs identified in the three pilot phases
  • Establishing a peer-support and learning network for ROTH chairs
  • Supporting two learning groups for strategic leads responsible for ROTH pathways – one for areas with a pathway established and one for areas who are in early stages of development
  • Undertaking new data collection activities with members of the two learning groups, to fill knowledge gaps that remain after three pilot phases
  • Running a series of online learning events and in-person regional events

Members of the Contextual Safeguarding Local Area Interest Network can participate in all elements of the programme. Any area will be able to access events (with priority bookings for network members) and practice resource packages.

The Principal Investigator for the National Support Programme is Carlene Firmin. All members of the Contextual Safeguarding research team are contributing to resources, research activities and events.

The Planning for Safety National Support Programme is funded by the Youth Endowment Fund and Maria Marina Foundation.
 
Support Programme Events and Activities

ROTH resources