Resource type: Report
The Protecting Young Black Lives, Celebrating Black Professionals report is the culmination of two years of work, in partnership with Power the Fight and the Contextual Safeguarding Research Programme at Durham University. It focuses on two key matters: issues that currently compromise the safety of young Black people, and the contributions made by Black professionals who are committed to keeping them safe.
The report follows a conference of the same name that took place in October 2023. The event brought together 50 Black professionals from a range of sectors and disciplines; the first time Cumberland Lodge had hosted an event for Black professionals and the first time many participants had been in a Black majority work environment.
The insights are listed briefly below, and are expanded on in full in the report. The report is available to read on screen and download below.
Insights
The insights from Protecting Young Black Lives, Celebrating Black Professionals are:
Insight 1:
It is critical to name racism as a safeguarding issue, and classify its impact on the welfare of Black young people and the Black professionals who support them.
Insight 2:
It is critical to vale (and work to nurture) the specific contribution that Black professionals make in safeguarding Black young people.
Insight 3:
It is essential that we create safe and inclusive services, both for Black young people to access, and for Black professionals to work within.
Insight 4:
Trauma-informed principles must provide the foundation for service and system design/delivery.
Insight 5:
Services to meet the needs of Black young people are under-resourced.
Insight 6:
A need for collective action.