Is racism impacting our ability to safeguard children?

The report highlights that Black and Mixed Heritage children remain disproportionately represented in safeguarding reviews compared to their numbers in the population. Yet, Asian children appear under-represented, which raises important questions about how safeguarding systems identify and respond to risks across different ethnic groups.

The analysis revealed a persistent and concerning silence in acknowledging race, ethnicity and racism within safeguarding practice and the learning reviews that follow serious incidents. This silence is not harmless – it means that the needs of Black, Asian and Mixed Heritage children are too often invisible. Overlooked both in the immediate response to harm and in the wider system’s efforts to learn and improve.

Race and racism intersect with many factors, including gender, neurodiversity, poverty and class. Yet, safeguarding practice rarely explores these intersections fully. This means professionals sometimes miss critical opportunities to understand the full context of a child’s vulnerabilities and risks posed to them. For example, some reviews noted the ethnicity of children inaccurately or superficially, without delving into whether such oversights influenced decisions or service provision. Crucially, none of the reviews we studied explicitly tackled the impact of interpersonal, institutional or structural racism on how Black, Asian and Mixed Heritage children and their families were supported or protected.

In May 2025, the Panel published a report delivered by Research in Practice, with the University of East Anglia (UEA), and the Vulnerability, Knowledge and Practice Programme (VKPP), to better understand how safeguarding partners deliver Local Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews (LCSPRs). This too highlighted significant gaps in knowledge, skills and confidence of safeguarding practitioners regarding equity, equality, diversity and inclusion (EEDI).

The findings from interviews and fieldwork with practitioners across England showed that whilst there is some promising practice and an openness to further learning about EEDI, there appear to be deeper systemic failings to address inequities and discrimination impacting children and families. The report recommends that local safeguarding partners require support to ensure that EEDI is central to decision-making and considered at every point in the LCSPR process. An output from the project was an EEDI Framework to help encourage people in all parts of the system to reflect on the extent to which they understand and actively promote EEDI in practice and leadership. 

The Panel is calling on safeguarding leaders and practitioners to urgently improve their understanding and response to these issues. This means developing approaches that reflect the realities of children’s lives, acknowledging race and racism alongside other social factors, and ensuring that children’s diverse identities and experiences are heard and understood in practice. It also requires creating safe spaces for professionals to openly discuss and reflect on race and racial bias, supported by clear local policies that address racism both within services and in the wider community.

Ending the silence on race and racism in child safeguarding is essential if we are to protect all children effectively. It is a collective responsibility to challenge existing practices, address bias, and redesign services so that Black, Asian and Mixed Heritage children can be safeguarded with the care and understanding they deserve. Only by acknowledging and addressing these challenges can we ensure that every child, regardless of their race or background, is protected and supported to live a safe and fulfilling life.