Letting the Future In (LTFI) is designed to help children and young people who have experienced sexual abuse rebuild their lives.
We support children and young people aged between 4 and 17 so they can recover from the impact abuse has had on their lives. Referrals can also be made for children or young people with learning disabilities up to the age of 19.
The programme begins with three or four weekly sessions for practitioners to assess the child’s needs and select appropriate therapeutic interventions.
Children and young people are invited into safe therapeutic spaces where they can meet with a trained practitioner and engage in activities like messy play, writing, storytelling and art. This aims to help them express feelings that they can’t put into words. Some children and young people may be able to talk about the impact of abuse and work with the practitioner to resolve any ongoing issues.
Our work is child-centred and children and young people are given the time and space to help them recover from the impact of abuse and strengthen supportive relationships with their siblings and carers.
Parents and carers are critical to the child or young person’s recovery, so we work with them to help them support their child throughout the therapeutic process. Siblings who require support may also be provided with a service.
Practitioners delivering LTFI have access to an online resource hub, which contains a comprehensive set of materials based on what is known or believed to help children who have been sexually abused. It is used by practitioners to select appropriate interventions for the child and to ensure they are following a consistent approach.
This service is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) (NICE, 2017) and was showcased as an example of commissioning practice in the Home Office’s commissioning framework for support services for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse in England (Home Office, 2019).
Experiencing sexual abuse can have a long-lasting negative impact on a child’s wellbeing that can reach into adulthood.
> Find out more about the impact of child sexual abuse
NSPCC research found that there was a lack of therapeutic services for children who had been sexually abused (Allnock et al, 2009; Bunting el al, 2010). The services that were identified tended to be generic mental-health services, as opposed to specialist post-sexual abuse services (Allnock et al, 2009).
A review of the literature found that abuse-specific interventions showed greater improvements than more general approaches and highlighted the need for further research into the impact of specialist interventions (Allnock et al, 2012).
In collaboration with the Universities of Bristol and Durham, we evaluated Letting the Future In (LTFI) to see if a psychodynamic, attachment-based therapeutic approach helped sexually abused children and young people.
The evaluation included qualitative case studies and the largest multi-site randomised controlled trial (RCT) for a sexual-abuse intervention in the world.
Findings from the evaluation include:
> Find out more about our evaluation of Letting the Future In
There were three components to the evaluation of Letting the Future In.
We carried out a randomised controlled trial (RCT) including 242 cases – the largest ever RCT of a sexual-abuse therapy anywhere in the world.
Cases were allocated straight into LTFI or onto a waiting list for six months. Data were collected:
The data were collected by practitioners delivering the therapy, though the second data collection was collected by a different therapist to avoid any bias in the data.
We carried out interviews with practitioners delivering LTFI to find out their experiences of implementing the programme. We analysed case studies of children and young people who received the intervention and carried out a special study looking at the relationship between young people and their therapist.
We compared the cost and impact of LTFI with the cost and impact of any help children and young people had while they were waiting for the intervention, which could be from doctors, social workers or other services.
The evaluation used the following tools:
We asked the University of Bristol to carry out a formative evaluation of Letting the Future In for children with learning disabilities (LTFI-LD). They found that practitioners who already had experience of delivering LTFI were able to deliver LTFI-LD with appropriate training and support.
> Read about our evaluation of Letting the Future In for children with learning disabilities
The service is for children and young people who have experienced sexual abuse, are happy to be referred to the programme and are aged from 4 to 17 years, or up to 19 for children and young people with mild or moderate learning disabilities. The service helps children and young people recover from all types of sexual abuse including abuse that happened online.
We usually accept referrals for work with children and young people after an investigation into the allegations of sexual abuse has occurred. Sometimes we work with children and young people where an investigation hasn’t been completed, for example when:
The child or young person should also be:
If they are living with another child or young person who has abused them, then a robust safety plan must be in place. This should include the views of the child who has been sexually abused.
To see if LTFI is delivered by the NSPCC in your area see our list of regional and national hubs on the NSPCC website. If you want to discuss the possibility of making a referral please contact your nearest hub. You can also contact help@nspcc.org.uk.
We are training and supporting organisations to adopt, implement and deliver the LTFI programme in their local area.
Our training and implementation support package includes:
> Find out more about the implementation support we offer
Email lettingthefuturein@nspcc.org.uk for more information about delivering this service.
> Watch the animation in Welsh
Download and share leaflets to learn more about the Letting the Future In service.
> Guide for professionals (PDF)
> Welsh/English bilingual guide for professionals (PDF)
> Guide for children and young people (PDF)
> Welsh/English bilingual guide for children and young people (PDF)
> Guide for other children and young people in the family (PDF)
> Welsh/English bilingual guide for other children and young people in the family (PDF)
> Guide for parents and carers receiving support (PDF)
> Welsh/English bilingual guide for parents and carers receiving support (PDF)
> What to expect for your child (PDF)
> Welsh/English bilingual guide: what to expect for your child (PDF)
Feel confident in understanding, recognising, responding to and preventing child sexual abuse in the family environment.
> Take our elearning course on intrafamilial child sexual abuse
Carpenter, J. et al (2016) Letting the Future In: a therapeutic intervention for children affected by sexual abuse and their carers: an evaluation of impact and implementation. London: NSPCC.
Jessiman, T. and Carpenter, J. (2018) Therapeutic intervention for children with learning disabilities affected by sexual abuse: formative evaluation of a developing service. London: NSPCC.
Allnock, D. et al (2009) Sexual abuse and therapeutic services for children and young people: the gap between provision and need: full report. London: NSPCC.
Bunting, L., Anderson, P. and Allnock, D. (2010) Sexual abuse and therapeutic services for children and young people in Northern Ireland: the gap between provision and need: executive summary. London: NSPCC.
Curtis, L. (2012) Unit costs of health and social care 2012. Canterbury: Personal Social Services Research Unit, University of Kent.
Home Office (2019) Commissioning framework for child sexual abuse support (PDF). London: Home Office.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) (2017) Child abuse and neglect: NICE guidance (PDF). London: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).