Risk Assessors Page

Risk Assessors

This list of people who carry out risk assessments is not exhaustive, nor does it represent individuals or organisations that we would recommend. Rather, it provides a starting point for people working within the Church’s safeguarding structures in Dioceses and Religious Orders to make contact and explore the possibility of employing these services for individual risk assessments.

Commissioning of these or other risk assessors should be done following guidance within the Catholic Church's policy on independent risk assessments. The policy specifies criteria to be met by independent risk assessors and can be accessed on the CSAS website; the essential requirements are summarised below.

The Catholic Church in England and Wales has national policies and procedures governing how the Church should prevent abuse and respond to allegations and concerns that are made against people in a Church setting. In many cases where allegations are made, although statutory investigation may not lead to a finding of guilt in Court, concerns about continuing risks of abuse frequently remain and must be addressed if the Church is to protect vulnerable people of all ages. The Church believes that assessments of risk should be reasonable, professional and proportionate and the Church is committed to accessing high quality assessments to assist it in its valuable safeguarding work. The Church needs, therefore, to appoint people who are appropriately qualified, trained and experienced in assessment of child sex offenders in particular.

All organisations or individuals commissioned to undertake risk assessment of sex offenders must meet the following criteria:

Employ professional staff who are trained in and experienced in the assessment and treatment of sex offenders
Have clear arrangements for professional supervision of staff in place
Be able to demonstrate effective links to statutory safeguarding systems
Have experience in working co-operatively with statutory safeguarding agencies in England & Wales
Demonstrate commitment to continuous professional development & appropriate professional networks, for example by Membership of NOTA (the National Organisation for the Treatment of Abusers)
Able to identify and address potential conflicts of interest.
Demonstrate victim awareness
Have adequate professional indemnity insurance
Have experience in the presentation of evidence to Courts
Have provided such services to more than one service user
References available

Name/Organisation	Address	Focus/Specialisation
Charles Zeitlin Consultant Clinical Psychologist	Department of Clinical Psychology, Princess Royal Hospital, Lewes Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 4EX Tel: 01444 441881 Email: charles.zeitlin@sussexpartnership.nhs.uk	Chartered Clinical Psychologist. Specialises in adult mental health. Since 1988 involved with adults where child abuse has occurred

Childsafe Associates	2nd floor 145-157 St. John St. London EC1V 4PY Tel: 0845 056 5443 Email: info@childsafeassociates.com	Run by Professor David Middleton Consultancy, training and research for public services in sex offender risk assessment and risk management Contracted to the Independent Safeguarding Authority to provide reports for the DCSF. Experience of presenting evidence to courts.

Dave Tregaskis	The Granary, School Lane, Shuttington, Tamworth, B79 0DX Tel: 07811 495725 Email: dave@tregaskisd.freeserve.co.uk	Founder member of West Midlands Sex Offender Unit. Has worked with the Police in the area of public protection Assessments typically involve three or four sessions with the subject of the assessment. Average cost of an assessment is £1600 at a rate of £65 per hour He has worked with men in the main but will work with women with a female colleague Has conducted in excess of thirty risk assessments for the Catholic Church

David Heron Associates	PO BOX 91, Newton Abbott, Devon, TQ12 5ZE Tel: Not given Email: Not given	Works independently, providing consultancy, assessment and treatment services to agencies concerned with child and public protection.

Lucy Faithfull Foundation	The Lucy Faithfull Foundation, Bordesley Hall The Holloway Alvechurch Birmingham B48 7QA Tel: 01527 591 922 Email: bordesley@lucyfaithfull.org	Assist with: Employer’s decision making regarding employees against whom allegations of a sexual nature have been made Assessment and treatment of perpetrators to manage and reduce risk and identify and meet treatment needs Management of male and female offenders in prison or under community supervision.

Lyndon Herring, Independent Consultant, LH Assessments.	LH Assessments PO Box 6957 Ashbourne Derbyshire DE6 9AD Tel: 07760 112985 Website: www.lhassessments.com	Independent expert providing risk assessments in cases involving sexual abuse and domestic violence. Has 30 years experience of assessing and treating sexual and violent offenders within the criminal justice system. Has experience of appearing in the criminal and family courts as an expert witness, and is a member of the UK Register of Expert Witnesses. Qualified to risk assess convicted or alleged sexual offenders - be they male, female, adult or adolescent. Has experience of providing services to faith groups. Provides consultancy re risk management/child and public protection issues, and referrals accepted from anywhere within the UK.

NSPCC: National Clinical Assessment And Treatment Service (NCATS)	Further information available through Fresh Start Tel: 0207 742 81500	Assessment, treatment and consultation service for children and young people up to age 21 who have been victims or perpetrators of sexually harmful behaviour. Multi disciplinary team. The project is managed by the NSPCC and Islington Primary Care Trust.

NSPCC: Several projects around the country provide independent assessments. As a central point of contact for enquiries, contact Steve Landy	Steve Landy Children’s Services Manager NSPCC South London Safer Communities Project Tel: 020 8256 5940 Email: SLANDY@nspcc.ORG.UK	Risk assessments on adults who have, or are alleged to have, sexually harmed children. Consultation on offender management and child safeguarding. Has provided risk assessments for faith organisations. Staff are from probation, social services and non-statutory agencies.

Parsons Dowd Psychological Ltd	Address: Not given Website: www.parsonsdowd.co.uk Tel: 0191 286 2831 Email: office@parsonsdowd.co.uk	Risk assessment by psychologists of sex offenders in criminal/civil cases. It is worth discussion to see what they can do outside this particular remit.

Paul Clark Independent Social Worker	Independent Assessment & Consultancy PO Box 128 Carnforth LA5 5AG Tel: 07549 046 121 Email: mail.iac@tiscali.co.uk	Risk assessments on adults who have, or are alleged to have, sexually harmed children and young people. Consultation to agencies on safeguarding and risk management. Experience of safeguarding and undertaking risk assessments within faith settings. Experience as past member of Diocesan Safeguarding Commission. Based in North West. Referrals accepted nationally.

PDMH Consultancy	PDMH Consultancy Suite 132 57 Great George Street Leeds LS1 3AJ Telephone Number:+44 (0) 777-173-2104 Helpline: Not Given Email: admin@pdmh-consultancy.com Website: www.pdmh-consultancy.com	Mental Health Consultancy offering number of systemic services including: developing assessment and treatment services for victims of abuse; developing assessment and treatment services for perpetrators of abuse; improving staff selection; changing organisational cultures to enhance transparency; teaching and training; improving management practices; improving supervision practices; developing support groups for non-abusive men and women religious; improving the media portrayal of the RC Church in relation to management of abuse crisis.

Phoenix Forensic Consultants Steve Lowe,Director	PO Box 722 Godalming Surrey GU7 9BS Tel: 01483 527857 or 07809 719210 Email: steve@phoenixforensicconsultants.co.uk	Risk assessment reports and devise short term treatment interventions for adult and adolescent males. Specialise in reports on individuals with an emphasis on people of faith. Have provided risk assessment reports to the Catholic Church and other religious organisations. Approach consists of Initial reading and preparation time; telephone and written liaison with referrer and any other agreed parties. Client interviews are normally up to 8 hours Review of interview material i.e. audio/video tapes and preparation for report Reading and or researching of other relevant material Provision of report

Psychology Associates Sam Baeza & Philip Dodgson	5 The Drive Hove East Sussex BN3 3JD Tel: 01273 778123 Email: admin@psychology-associates.com	Sam Baeza has completed several risk assessments on Catholic priests and clergy of other denominations. He works mainly in the south coastal area up to London region. Costs are £130 per hour and include reading of background papers, interviews and report.

St Luke's Centre	St Luke's Centre Danesfield Road Manchester M16 8BT Tel: 0161 226 4563 Email: info@stlukescentre.org.uk	Professional risk assessment Case management consultation Treatment planning Focus on priests and men and women Religious.