Training to be a safeguarding consultant - crazy?

[airportfloor]

I have a salaried job 3 days a week and a freelance job on the side.

I am interested in training as a safeguarding consultant.

in my current civil service role I must know and operate within legislation, operate under stressful conditions, advise senior stakeholders etc.

although I have no experience in child protection / safeguarding. The most I can attest to is I read serious case reviews in my spare time.

does anyone work in the sector who can give me advice? Think it’s a good idea? Is there work for it? What level of qualifications is required?

any and all info really helpful!

Are there many jobs out there?

What sort of thing would you consult on?

most child protection stuff is social workers who have their own qualifications. Outside of that it’s mostly safeguarding officer/lead within schools/organisations that work with children eg scouts and guides and similar.

I haven’t heard of such a role. I am interested to know more. I work in health and we have named nurses for safeguarding who advise and support colleagues and undertake other responsibilities depending on the field. They are very experienced. I think it’s a role where this is essential.

I work in the sector but I consult in HR. I often carry out investigations relating to safeguarding. Sometimes the LA safeguarding team will step in. I’ve never heard of a safeguarding consultant but that’s not to say they don’t exist. What problem are you trying to solve? Start there.

I think people might want to know why you would like to retrain as a safeguarding officer?
as PP said you will need lots of experience, serious case teviews are not enough. Clinical or pastoral experience is essential. There are many situations that are not black or white, there is an infinity of nuances and only experience can give you the clout necessary to do a good job.
saying that, it is not impossible but you would first need to work as a teacher/pastoral lead or as a social worker/mental health worker.

If you have not had any safeguarding training at all then a basic course would be somewhere to start. I am qualified in two professions which involve high risk safeguarding and I think you're being a little naive....what do you actually think a safeguarding 'consultant' would do? Especially one without core professional training?

Oh sorry I should have made clear - I would train and get the necessary qualifications. I don’t know anyone in the sector so was interested in general advice. I think from this post and other research that it’s less likely a freelance opportunity and more a full time role.

At councils there are independent review officers who review safeguarding cases, but they are usually former social workers. They and LADOs usually carry out safeguarding training for DSLs at schools and governors. I guess it depends who you would be consulting.

The safeguarding /child protection jobs I am aware of have their own professions, so safeguarding in education, child protection in health, public protection in the police, various SW backgrounds. I know most about health, and they are usually nurses with years of experience, often qualified nurses then experienced in health visiting / looked after children nursing who then do a post graduate certificate in Child Protection before working in a safeguarding role.

Mmmm. I've delivered sessions within wider safeguarding training from a referral into SS perspective. Honestly, what helped all the people was me being able to explain what made a good referral or not.
Having sat through hours and hours of safeguarding training from where I've changed jobs etc there's nothing worse than so called ''consultants " who evidently don't have a clue as to how processes actually work.

What specialist area of 'Safeguarding' would you be consulting on? Who are you anticipating would be your clients?

You really need professional experience alongside qualifications to be a safeguarding ‘consultant’. While Im not sure exactly what you mean, i imagine it’s organisations paying you to advise on policy/implementation/systems alongside training. It’s highly skilled work. To be a leader in this field you need a professional degree eg social work and significant post qualifying experience. Otherwise you could be quite dangerous.

I wouldn’t use any safeguarding consultant who didn’t have extensive field experience - it’s not the kind of work academic qualifications alone can equip you for. There’s literally nothing worse that someone who’s done some studying telling you what to do when they’ve never done it themselves and don’t understand the nuance, complexity and competing priorities involved in safeguarding. It’s dangerous to advise or consult from theory base alone.

Realistically you need years of experience working in safeguarding before becoming a safeguarding trainer. I'm not sure what a safeguarding consultant is - I worked in child protection until fairly recently, and all safeguarding training was delivered by experienced professionals who still worked in the field, eg senior prac SWs, nurse practitioners. It's not usually someone's full time job because legislation and practice change all the time and your knowledge needs to be up to date for that as well as knowing local procedures etc. Could you volunteer in a role where you could get experience working in safeguarding? I worked in youth justice and we always needed volunteers there, even a couple of hours a month is really appreciated. Maybe look into volunteering as an Appropriate Adult - you'd help out when teens get arrested and their parent/s can't come to the police station. Also used when vulnerable adults are in police custody and have nobody to support them. More common than you might expect, you'd get experience (after training) in safeguarding and provide support for people in need.

What organisations would you approach for experience in youth justice? Sorry to derail!

In England it's usually a department of the county council: the Youth Justice team or service. It's similar to the probation service but works with ages 10 - 18. General youth youth justice workers (usually social workers or probation work with kids to address the factors involved in their offending, and often there are specialist workers for issues like substance misuse, although that varies between areas. We also used to offer a prevention service, working with younger siblings of kids who'd already come through the system, or kids who had a parent in prison, but sadly that all got axed with funding cuts.

@Handeyethingyowl you can google “youth club” and your local area and have a look on their website, they usually are looking for volunteers. Also check websites that list volunteering opportunities- google is your friend. Once you have a foot in, talking to people will help you plan your next step. Also doing a course alongside some volunteering might be helpful. Something around social work/family/systemic therapy would enhanced your experience
i would recommend having some therapy for yourself as you will be confronted with very difficult situations and it is always helpful to be aware of our own internal world. But i am likely to be biased 😅

Thank you both, that is really useful information. Noted about personal therapy, I suspect I could do with this anyway!

Just saw that today and thought of you:
Safeguarding Training: Free Courses in England, funded by the Government
Funded by the Government, you can find a broad range of courses on Free Courses in England including Level 2, Understanding Safeguarding and Prevent. This level 2, free online course will give you a greater awareness of safeguarding and the Prevent duty, the responsibilities and procedures involved, and how to raise concerns effectively.
To be eligible for Free Courses in England, the requirements are:

• Aged 19 or over as of 31/8/2025
• Living in England
• Settled status in the UK (not on a student or temporary visa)
• Not currently enrolled on any other government funded course or started an application for one