SAM Risk Set

What is it for?

A SAM Risk Set is the structured analysis of the sexual abuse-related uncertainties that could affect the organization’s ability to achieve a specific SWAN (something we are trying to achieve now).

Each risk set combines:

• A SWAN (representing a current, important organizational objective), and
• The positive and negative uncertainties relating to sexual abuse that could help or hinder that objective.

This structure allows teams to:

• Identify where abuse risk intersects with what matters most
• Anticipate threats (negative uncertainties) and opportunities (positive uncertainties)
• Move from general awareness to specific, actionable design

SAM Risk Sets form the bridge between the organization’s operating model and the risk management system.

🔍 Why SAM Risk Sets Matter

In Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), risk is defined as the effect of uncertainty on objectives. Jigsaw applies this to sexual abuse risk by:

• Treating the SWAN as the objective
• Identifying uncertainties that represent opportunities to improve safeguarding and threats to protection

This encourages organizations to move beyond generic fears (e.g., “abuse could happen”) toward:

• Specific scenarios
• Real vulnerabilities
• Areas of design opportunity

It also positions risk management to support success, not just prevent failure.

Well-managed sexual abuse risk doesn’t just reduce harm — it creates conditions for organizational trust, growth, and mission success. For example:

• An organization that demonstrates serious, transparent, and proactive child safety practices may become more trusted by families, funders, and regulators.
• That trust can increase enrollment, funding, retention, and reputation.
• In this way, strong SAM risk management becomes a strategic enabler — helping the organization grow faster, reach more people, or outperform less trusted peers.

By making these opportunities visible, SAM Risk Sets help organizations treat safeguarding as a source of value, not just a compliance requirement.

What Goes Into a SAM Risk Set?

Each SAM Risk Set includes:

1. The SWAN

• What are we currently aiming to achieve that matters to us?
• Why is this SWAN important?
• What are the components (e.g., people, partners, spaces, activities) we need to make it possible?

2. Positive and Negative Uncertainties

• Opportunities (Positive Uncertainties):
  • How could our approach to safeguarding contribute to achieving our mission?
  • Could strong SAM risk management increase trust, growth, retention, or credibility?
  • Where do we already have underused strengths (culture, leadership, design) that we could amplify?
• Threats (Negative Uncertainties):
  • Where is this SWAN vulnerable to abuse?
  • What patterns or gaps could be exploited?
  • Where have past problems emerged?

3. Supporting Context

• Timeline and steps for relevant MVA group(s)
• Sites and spaces where the SWAN plays out
• Behaviors, supervision, and security features

4. Implications

• What controls may be needed?
• Are existing controls fit-for-purpose?
• What trade-offs need to be managed?
• What systems of accountability and learning can support this SWAN better?

How It’s Used

The immediate value of SAM Risk Sets is that they:

• Crystallize what matters most by linking safeguarding directly to organizational objectives
• Provide a structured way to surface both threats and opportunities
• Anchor the system in strategic fit, the first of Jigsaw’s three criteria

This strategic focus makes SAM Risk Sets valuable in their own right. They show that addressing sexual abuse risk is not an add-on, but a central part of how the organization pursues its mission.

Their value grows even further when combined with the other two criteria:

1. It fits strategically → SAM Risk Sets deliver this
2. It reduces risk → achieved when threats are addressed through effective controls
3. People will use it → achieved when the system is practical, usable, and lived out daily

By starting with SAM Risk Sets, organizations ensure that the safeguarding system is built on the strongest possible foundation: alignment with what matters most.

Strong, Fragile, and Failing Use

SAM Risk Sets helps teams treat sexual abuse risk management as a matter of improving organizational performance, as well as preventing harm, and far more than just compliance. SAM Risk Sets make uncertainty visible, actionable, and connected to what matters most.

SAM Risk Sets WorkShop Script