Calendar of events and trainings

This interactive online training focuses on how to adapt Barnahus environments and processes so that children with different disabilities can participate safely and meaningfully.

The session takes a practical, case-based approach. Participants will work through the child’s journey in Barnahus (arrival, waiting, interview, medical examination, transitions) and identify concrete adjustments that improve accessibility, communication, and safeguarding.

The training uses a structured framework (SPACED) to guide this work, covering:

• the physical environment and sensory conditions
• how professionals interact with the child
• how processes are sequenced and paced
• how communication is adapted (including non-verbal and supported communication)
• what tools or supports may be needed
• how information is documented and followed up

The training is delivered in collaboration Inside EU, which supports public and private bodies to design to implement inclusive practices.

Learning objectives

By the end of the session, participants should be better able to:

• recognise how different disabilities (including intellectual, communication, sensory and physical) affect participation 
• distinguish between behaviour, distress, and communication
• adapt communication to the child’s needs, including use of alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) where relevant
• allow for processing time, predictability, and reduced cognitive load
• identify practical environmental and procedural adjustments that reduce stress and improve reliability of the child’s account
• ensure that adaptations support both accessibility and evidential quality

Who should participate

This training is relevant for any professionals working in or with Barnahus, who work directly with children who may have communication differences, developmental disabilities, or sensory sensitivities.

Date and time: 3 June 2026, 8 hours

Cost: Free for Network Members and Associate Members

Registration: Network members and associate members have received an email registration details.

Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

REGISTRATIONS ARE CLOSED

Caregivers play a crucial role in a child’s healing journey — their emotional stability, understanding of trauma, and engagement in the process can significantly influence the outcomes for the child. This training meets several key Barnahus needs:

• Addresses the growing demand for holistic support in Barnahus services, especially as more cases involve technology-facilitated sexual abuse .
• Provides a replicable, structured model for caregiver support that complements the Barnahus approach to recovery.
• Enables professionals to extend the scope of their psychosocial work in a sustainable and evidence-based way.
• Enhances child participation and wellbeing indirectly by building resilience and capacity in parents, as demonstrated in pilot outcomes from Finland and Ireland (2024).

About the training

You Are Enough™ is a trauma-informed, evidence-based peer support group model designed to equip professionals to facilitate support groups for parents and caregivers of children who have experienced sexual violence — including online and technology-facilitated abuse. 

Learning outcomes 

Delivered through a two-day online training and ongoing supervision, this training prepares professionals to:

• Lead psychoeducational and peer-support groups using a manualised CBT-informed approach.
• Support caregivers in processing trauma, building resilience, and strengthening their capacity to support their children’s recovery.
• Create safe, confidential spaces where parents and caregivers can explore their experiences, emotions, and needs.
• Integrate this model into existing Barnahus recovery services and referral systems.

Participants also gain access to an international learning community, supervision from Protect Children specialists, and the latest insights into evolving threats (e.g. CSAM, online grooming) based on Protect Children’s partnerships with global law enforcement.

This trauma‑informed programme supports parents and caregivers whose children have been subjected to sexual violence.  

What is included: 

• 2-days online training
• The You Are Enough™ model manual
• 1-yearlicense to run groups, which includes ongoing supervision from Protect Children

Training provided by Protect Children Finland

The training is developed and delivered by Protect Children, a leading Finnish child protection organisation with deep expertise in online sexual abuse prevention, trauma-informed care, and caregiver support. Protect Children brings years of clinical, legal, and policy experience into a format that is accessible, rigorous, and adaptable across European Barnahus settings.

Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

The Barnahus Network is partnering with Spring Impact to explore how to support you, our members, to effectively scale Barnahus.

This three-part masterclass series focuses on themes and challenges that members have consistently raised –  from clarifying what scaling means, to understanding how to do it in practice, to navigating the wider system.

The aim of the series is to support members who are working to expand, strengthen, or institutionalise Barnahus in their countries. You can find the overview of the masterclass topics and agenda below.

Cost: Free for Network Members and Associate Members

Registration: Network members and associate members have received an email registration details.

Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

The Barnahus Network and The European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, affiliated with the United Nations (HEUNI), in collaboration with the Implemendez project, hosted webinar workshop to review a draft guidance for investigative interviews with child suspects.

Child suspects occupy a uniquely vulnerable and legally sensitive position. They are simultaneously:

• Holders of strong fair trial rights, including the right to silence and protection against self-incrimination,
• Developmentally vulnerable individuals at heightened risk of coercion, misunderstanding, and false confession and with developing decision-making capacities,
• Potentially in need of protection, welfare intervention, or therapeutic support, including possibly being coerced into committing the crime they are suspected of,
• Required to take part in a criminal justice process which often mostly follow adult-oriented procedures.

This webinar will examined best-practice interviewing in the context of child suspects. The fundament for developing recommendations in this context is based on the Mendez principles and recommendations of best practice for interviewing child victims and witnesses. However, applying these requires careful consideration of the particular vulnerabilities of the group in questions, for instance:

• Tensions between rapport-building and social support vs preventing coercion,
• How to reconcile “accuracy” ground rules with the right not to self-incriminate,
• National practices,
• To what extent guidance for child suspects should differ structurally from victim protocols.

Agenda

A rights-based perspective
Presenting the unique position of child suspects in investigative interviews.
Olivia Lind Haldorsson – Barnahus Network

A practitioner’s perspective 
Presenting current practice in Finland, and also what knowledge and guidance that investigative interviewers currently are lacking.
Saara Asmundela, Finnish Police Board

A draft guidance for interviews with child suspects 
Presenting a draft protocol for interviewing child suspects, along with introducing existing guidance and research. 
Julia Korkman, Heuni and Åbo Akademi University, with commentary from ass. professor Miet Vanderhallen, University of Maastricht and Antwerp University.

Results from the survey on this topic 
Shawnna von Blixen-Finecke, Barnahus Network

Discussion. Additional feedback if not covered during the meeting is welcome via email. 

Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.