We’re delighted to share that LimeCulture has secured funding to redevelop the Safety and Support (SaS) Assessment – the national Risk and Needs Assessment and Planning Tool for Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVAs).
Originally developed by LimeCulture in 2017 with Home Office funding, the SaS Assessment was the first structured assessment tool designed to help ISVAs consistently identify, monitor and manage the risks and needs of victims/survivors of sexual violence.
Since its introduction, the Safety and Support Assessment has helped to:
- Standardise practice across ISVA services
- Improve consistency in risk assessment and support planning
- Enhance victim/survivor safety and evidence-based recording
- Support decision-making through improved data and accountability
After eight years of national use, LimeCulture will be redeveloping the Safety and Support Assessment to ensure it remains fit for purpose, trauma-informed, and inclusive for all victims/survivors, including children and young people.
Our aim is to ensure the redeveloped Safety and Support Assessment:
- Reflects current best practice, including child-centred approaches
- Supports caseload and workload management for ISVA services
- Enables data-driven service improvement initiatives
- Introduces mechanisms to track unmet needs and inform commissioning decisions
Crucially, this funding will ensure LimeCulture can continue to provide the Safety and Support Assessment tool free of charge and keep it accessible to all ISVA services.
Over the coming months, we will be working closely with ISVAs, managers, commissioners, and organisations to co-create the new Safety and Support Assessment and ensure it continues to strengthen safety, consistency, and accountability across the sector.
Kerrie Best, Director at LimeCulture, said:
“The Safety and Support Assessment was transformative in the way that ISVA services put in place support for victims and survivors. It is used by the vast majority of ISVA services, and by others working to support victims and survivors of sexual violence, and has already done so much to move services forward.
It’s fantastic that we are now able to carry out the work to make sure the Safety and Support Assessment is as good as it can be to support ISVAs and ChISVAs to put the right support in place for victims and survivors. We’re also really excited to develop the SaS Assessment so that it can support the capacity building of ISVA services nationally.”
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