UCLH Lighthouse highlighted as best practice in the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts

The Lighthouse, England’s first Child House for children who have experienced sexual abuse, has been included in Sir Brian Leveson’s Independent Review of the Criminal Courts Part II as a model of best practice.

The review sets out a series of recommendations focusing on improving efficiency across the criminal justice system, and delivering swifter and fairer justice for victims. Sir Brian Leveson visited the Lighthouse as part of the review to see how we are supporting child victims' health and therapeutic needs, as well as helping them to access criminal justice.

Child Houses, also known by the Scandinavian word ‘Barnahus’, are places where professionals from physical and mental health, advocacy and criminal justice come together under one roof in a child-friendly environment to provide a holistic service for children who have experienced sexual abuse. The Lighthouse, which is led by UCLH working with the Met Police, courts and judiciary, and the NSPCC, supports around 500 children a year from north central London.

The Government recently announced that the Child House model will be expanded to all NHS regions, supported by a £50 million investment. Welcoming the roll-out of Child Houses across England, Sir Brian praised the work of the Lighthouse in Camden, stating,

“This type of collaborative approach exemplifies the principle of a problem-solving culture of collaboration…The expansion of this model across England and Wales would provide better support for child victims and their families through a traumatic process.”

Sir Brian’s Review highlights the benefits of providing more services like the Lighthouse to provide better and faster justice for child victims, in a child-friendly and trauma-informed way. This includes offering all children the option of video-recorded interviews (VRIs) under the Achieving Best Evidence (ABE) protocol - one of the key services that the Lighthouse provides.

Sir Brian thanked the Lighthouse team for inviting him to visit the Lighthouse and their role in in his Review,

“Thank you for inviting me to visit The Lighthouse. This visit provided a clear and valuable understanding of its multi-agency work in supporting children and young people who have experienced sexual abuse - insights that are reflected in the Review. I would also like to thank you for your engagement in Part II of the Review. Your insights were valuable in helping inform my recommendations and I am grateful for your contributions.”

Effi Stergiopoulou, strategic lead at the Lighthouse, said,

“The Independent Review’s praise for the Lighthouse and the Child House model and endorsement of the Government’s commitment to a national rollout reflects what many of us working locally experience in our day-to-day work - children do better when services are coordinated around them, are timely, trauma-informed, and focused on both recovery and justice.”

Dr Laura Smith, clinical lead at the Lighthouse, added,

“We are incredibly proud of the Lighthouse team, our partners for the commitment, professionalism and collaboration they show every day. Their work demonstrates what is possible when systems align around the child.”

Read the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts Part II, volume 2 here. The Lighthouse features from page 553.