The Safeguarding and Domestic Abuse Sector Podcast

In this episode, we explore the powerful intersection between Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 and the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel's report, It's Silent: Race, Racism and Safeguarding Children.
Together, these two publications create a direct challenge for everyone involved in safeguarding review work. One sets the expectation. The other exposes the reality.
We unpack what the Panel's thematic review found across more than 50 rapid reviews and LCSPRs, including the persistent "silence" around race and racism in safeguarding analysis and why this matters for learning, accountability and system change.
This conversation explores:
Why recording race and ethnicity is not the same as analysing them
How bias and systemic factors can shape professional decision-making
The risks of "visible equality but invisible analysis"
What anti-racist and anti-discriminatory practice now means under the 2026 guidance
Why systems methodology is essential to meaningful safeguarding analysis
The questions reviewers should now be asking in every review
How reviews can move beyond compliance into genuine learning and change
 
Are you ready to find out more about independent review work?
There is one session that brings all the information you need about becoming an independent reviewer together. It's called The Independent Reviewer Immersion Workshop and you can download it today.
 
About Donna:
 
Donna has 16 years public sector experience, including her last role as Head of Law for a leading metropolitan authority. Now a safeguarding adviser & trainer, Donna is involved in serious case reviews in both children's and adults' safeguarding, domestic homicide and is a SILP Reviewer and Mentor. Donna offers 'SILP School' her university accredited training course, Momentum her space for reviewers & a free online network for leaders in review practice.
 
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donna-ohdedar-review-consulting-ltd/

Join my free Facebook group Blue Light Professionals here
 
Engagement + proportionality + strengths = SILP

This episode explores the key changes in the 2026 update to Working Together to Safeguard Children and what they mean for those carrying out review work. 
From anti-racist practice and adultification bias to new expectations around babies, child sexual abuse assessments, and Rapid Reviews, this guidance marks a significant shift in how safeguarding reviews are expected to generate meaningful learning.
In this week's episode we discuss:
Why anti-discriminatory and anti-racist practice are now explicit expectations within safeguarding reviews
The importance of exploring adultification bias and how inequality shaped a child's experience
New guidance on babies and unborn children following the Death of Victoria Marten national review
What the updated expectations around child sexual abuse assessments mean for practitioners and reviewers
Changes to Rapid Reviews, LCSPR scope, and the growing focus on reviews creating learning that leads to real change
 
 
Are you ready to find out more about independent review work?
There is one session that brings all the information you need about becoming an independent reviewer together. It's called The Independent Reviewer Immersion Workshop and it took place last week. Would you like a copy of the recording? Click here to watch the recording.
 
About Donna:
 
Donna has 16 years public sector experience, including her last role as Head of Law for a leading metropolitan authority. Now a safeguarding adviser & trainer, Donna is involved in serious case reviews in both children's and adults' safeguarding, domestic homicide and is a SILP Reviewer and Mentor. Donna offers 'SILP School' her university accredited training course, Momentum her space for reviewers & a free online network for leaders in review practice.
 
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donna-ohdedar-review-consulting-ltd/

Join my free Facebook group Blue Light Professionals here
 
Engagement + proportionality + strengths = SILP

What are we missing in how we record, recognise, and respond to child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE)? In this episode, we explore key insights from two important pieces of research: the Department for Education (March 2026) report on recording practices and serious incident notifications, and findings from the Child Sexual Exploitation Centre.
Together, they highlight a critical issue: recording is not a neutral process. It actively shapes what becomes visible, what is understood as harm, and ultimately, how systems respond to children's experiences.
In this week's episode we discuss:
How recording practices vary across agencies—and why this matters
Why CSAE often presents through patterns, not clear evidence
The impact of thresholds and uncertainty on professional judgement
How serious incident reporting can create unequal learning and scrutiny
Key questions for reviewers to better centre children's lived experiences
 
Are you ready to find out more about independent review work?
Whether you've been thinking about independent review work for a while or you're only just coming across it, why not join me for a free session that brings all of this together.
The Independent Reviewer Immersion Workshop takes place online on 1st May at 1pm. In just one hour you'll walk away knowing exactly what independent review work involves, whether your skills are transferable, and what the journey from blue light professional to independent reviewer really looks like.
No experience needed. No prior training required. Just bring your curiosity. Save your space here.

Come live if you can. There will be a replay if you can't.
 
About Donna:
 
Donna has 16 years public sector experience, including her last role as Head of Law for a leading metropolitan authority. Now a safeguarding adviser & trainer, Donna is involved in serious case reviews in both children's and adults' safeguarding, domestic homicide and is a SILP Reviewer and Mentor. Donna offers 'SILP School' her university accredited training course, Momentum her space for reviewers & a free online network for leaders in review practice.
 
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donna-ohdedar-review-consulting-ltd/

Join my free Facebook group Blue Light Professionals here
 
Engagement + proportionality + strengths = SILP

Alcohol use in older adults is often described as a hidden issue not because it's uncommon, but because it is frequently overlooked, misunderstood, and under-responded to. In this episode, we explore a recurring theme emerging from safeguarding reviews: when alcohol-related harm presents in later life, it is often masked by other factors, misinterpreted, or not explored with sufficient curiosity.


This isn't simply about access to services. It's about how systems see (or fail to see) risk, need, and vulnerability in older adults.
In this week's episode we discuss:
Why alcohol use in older adults is often hidden in plain sight

The complex interplay between alcohol use, physical health, and social factors such as bereavement, isolation, and loss of identity

How service design can unintentionally exclude older adults (age thresholds, "one size fits all" approaches, cultural mismatch)

The role of unintentional ageism in shaping professional responses

Why recognition is one of the biggest challenges—and how symptoms are often misattributed to ageing, dementia, or frailty

 
Are you ready to find out more about independent review work?
Whether you've been thinking about independent review work for a while or you're only just coming across it, why not join me for a free session that brings all of this together.
The Independent Reviewer Immersion Workshop takes place online on 1st May at 1pm. In just one hour you'll walk away knowing exactly what independent review work involves, whether your skills are transferable, and what the journey from blue light professional to independent reviewer really looks like.
No experience needed. No prior training required. Just bring your curiosity. Save your space here.

Come live if you can. There will be a replay if you can't.
 
About Donna:
 
Donna has 16 years public sector experience, including her last role as Head of Law for a leading metropolitan authority. Now a safeguarding adviser & trainer, Donna is involved in serious case reviews in both children's and adults' safeguarding, domestic homicide and is a SILP Reviewer and Mentor. Donna offers 'SILP School' her university accredited training course, Momentum her space for reviewers & a free online network for leaders in review practice.
 
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donna-ohdedar-review-consulting-ltd/

Join my free Facebook group Blue Light Professionals here
 
Engagement + proportionality + strengths = SILP

Do older adults experience the criminal justice system differently? Research and reviews suggest the answer is yes — and the reasons are rarely visible on the surface. Policy, guidance, and legislation all point toward equality, protection, and access to justice. But practice tells a more complex story.
In this week's episode we discuss:
Why criminal prosecutions involving older victims remain comparatively low, and what that tells us about how the system responds.

How abuse in later life is frequently reframed as a safeguarding issue rather than recognised as a crime.

The tendency to view older people primarily as vulnerable and how this quietly shapes decision-making in ways that are rarely explicit.

The critical questions that reviews must ask to ensure age does not become a silent barrier to justice.

 
Are you fired up to generate implementable learning in reviews which could potentially improve the lives of vulnerable people? SILP School begins this week. For an assessment of your eligibility click here.
 
About Donna:
 
Donna has 16 years public sector experience, including her last role as Head of Law for a leading metropolitan authority. Now a safeguarding adviser & trainer, Donna is involved in serious case reviews in both children's and adults' safeguarding, domestic homicide and is a SILP Reviewer and Mentor. Donna offers 'SILP School' her university accredited training course, Momentum her space for reviewers & a free online network for leaders in review practice.
 
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donna-ohdedar-review-consulting-ltd/

Join my free Facebook group Blue Light Professionals here
 
Engagement + proportionality + strengths = SILP