Professionals who work with children are being trained on a new system to help them better identify and deal with harmful sexual behaviours.

It is hoped it will reduce the number of people being referred to the Children and Families Hub who don't need to be.

Natalie Spooner, Programme Manager of the Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation strategy, explains how it works.

"The Brook Traffic Light Tool is an internationally recognised tool and is used in parts of the UK.It seeks to develop a common language for practitioners. 

The area of harmful sexual behaviour is such a complicated one that we really need to help our staff.

It uses a red, amber and green rating and will help practitioners using different scenarios around thinking about the children's needs, rather than the risks about their behaviour."

Harmful sexual behaviour is classed as sexual behaviour by under 18s that is 'developmentally inappropriate, may be harmful towards self or others and/or be abusive towards another child, young person or adult'. 

Natalie says that the Safeguarding Partnership Board's new tool will also help prevent the criminalisation of children.

"You'll hear some professionals say 'the child is a perpetrator' because the child has harmed another child. 

That shouldn't be in our vocabulary, in my view, because any child that harms another child is a child in need, and what we would be seeing by the behaviour is that there is an unmet need within that child."

The tool was developed in Queensland, Australia in 2012 and has since been used around the world.

The SPB says it offers guidance for age-appropriate behaviour and defines behaviours using the traffic light colours. 

'All green, amber and red behaviours require some form of attention and response. It is the level of intervention that will vary.'

We asked Natalie why Jersey has only just decided to begin using it.

"It is not that people haven't had knowledge and expertise.  It's about now being consistent in that and bringing our practitioners together.  So when they are referring to the Children and Families Hub, they have checked out the traffic light tool, can refer to that, and can explain why they're still concerned and feel that child needs support."