Safeguarding Level 3 Training - 21st November 2026

The ACP is pleased to introduce a refreshed Safeguarding Level 3 training programme for 2026, developed with a new trainer and updated content to reflect current legislation, guidance and emerging safeguarding risks.

As a condition of ACP membership, members are required to complete Safeguarding Level 3 training every three years. This advanced course is designed specifically for Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists and others working therapeutically with children, young people and families. This interactive and practical learning also includes a Safeguarding workbook, containing course exercises, statutory references, record-keeping templates and practical resources to support safeguarding practice long after the training day.

Course highlights

The programme will help delegates to:

• Understand current safeguarding legislation and guidance, including the Children Acts, Working Together to Safeguard Children, the Domestic Abuse Act and the Prevent Duty.
• Recognise and respond to safeguarding concerns, including neglect, abuse, exploitation, harmful sexual behaviours and contextual safeguarding risks.
• Address emerging online harms, such as grooming, sextortion, AI-generated abuse material and deepfakes.
• Respond confidently to disclosures and understand information-sharing and referral processes.
• Strengthen multi-agency working with social care, education, health and other safeguarding partners.
• Develop professional curiosity, reflective practice and resilience when managing complex safeguarding situations.
• Meet Level 3 safeguarding competencies in line with current intercollegiate guidance.

About the Trainer - Penny Earney

Over the last 40 years, Penny has experience of working with adults, families and vulnerable children, both clinically and strategically within public health, building a wealth of expertise, competencies, knowledge and skills.

Penny’s experience of working as a NHS Designated Nurse, through Safeguarding Partnerships, Commissioning and Corporate Parenting Boards, has developed a passion and focus to be able to scrutinise quality assurance, within the constant challenging and changing landscape of complex vulnerability for adults, children and families.

She has worked within a wide crossover of specialities and disciplines from early years as a health visitor in public health through to children in care and safeguarding, within the NHS, social care, education and the wider voluntary and private sector. Penny’s previous experience including working with children with SEND and SLCN’s in understanding the need for robust processes to access support through the correct service at the right time.

Penny has worked in the field of care experience children and adolescent both as a specialist CiC practitioner and designate. This has involved working with therapeutic services jointly to ensure the child’s previous trauma is fully understood, so that the right practitioner at the right time could deliver impactful trauma informed therapy, with the child or young person. This also included working with parents/kindship arrangements and foster carers and adoption placements. Penny has also been actively involved in providing independent safeguarding supervision for CAMHS and supporting reviews for serious case reviews where therapeutic services have been involved in child’s journey. In addition, Penny has been involved with young people requiring transition from community therapeutic service to specialist tier 4 mental health provision, and then in the step-down process to ensure smooth transition back into ongoing community therapeutic services, often being into adult community services.

Following retirement from her substantive NHS role, Penny is now working as an independent specialist health practitioner, continuing her passion for improving and sustaining effective service delivery, by supporting NHS managers and practitioners working with vulnerable adults, children and families.