Building relationships

One of the most common sets of service responses identified through the evidence review were those that made use of, or sought to build, relationships between young people affected by extra-familial risks and harms, and the protective adults around them. In this chapter, we discuss these types of responses and the conditions in which they appear most effective. In particular, we explore the routes that services took to build trust and collaboration between young people and the professionals charged with keeping them safe. Examples from the literature reviewed are used to demonstrate various approaches to relationship building. Looking beyond relationships between young people and professionals, this chapter also explores the evidence base for approaches seeking to build relationships within young people’s own social and community contexts, as well as those aiming to strengthen the protective capacity of the relationships that young people have with parents and other carers.