This feels like something I’ve been banging on about since forever! Suggesting that individuals and organisations link up with each other to share knowledge and build capacity, to encourage each other and find strength in collaboration. Some organisations have a ready-made network through the particular programme they offer, for instance Who’s in Charge? or RYPP; some have built links across disciplines within their authority, such as the networking events run by Capa; others have contacted colleagues in the neighbouring boroughs or from friendships built at conferences. We saw the benefits at first hand during lockdown, when a number of events were held on line to keep people enthused and inspired. This seems particularly valuable, working in a field which remains poorly understood in some areas, and indeed, where reflective – and effective – supervision may be difficult to access.
In this spirit, I invite you to read the following letter, from Lou Mason, founder of the Sunflower Network and the Sunflower Hub. Lou and I spoke a while back after we were introduced, and I offered her this space to talk about the work she does and the opportunities offered by her organisation.
We would like to hear from people with a lived experience of child to parent violence and abuse to inform a resource tool that can be used by professionals supporting families experiencing #CPVA.
Capa First Response is a remote resource for families, offering a 1-2-1 service tailored to each family’s situation. They offer support and advice, for both the adults and the children, with the focus on putting in place strategies to reduce harmful, explosive and controlling impulses, often referred to as abusive and violent behaviour in the home.
Founded by Jane Griffiths in 2019 with an aim of providing support options for families who struggle to find help in their local area, Capa First Response has expanded over time to work not just with families in need, but also to train professionals working with families in order to allow more people access to help in this vital area. Jane has over 30 years of experience working with families, and for the past 11 years she has worked specifically with families where a child uses harmful behaviours towards a parent or caregiver.
The Home Office launched a set of 7 over arching principles and practice guidelines yesterday, January 9th, to support the commissioning and delivery of services in domestic abuse perpetrator work. The Standards centre the enhanced safety and freedom of all victim-survivors, including children, and are based on evidence of what has been shown to be important and effective through an evaluation of the available literature and consultation with stakeholders. The report was written by Professor Nicole Westmarland and Professor Liz Kelly. I was privileged to be part of the supporting group.
But what does this have to do with child and adolescent to parent abuse you might ask.
It’s been fantastic to see so much attention given to organisations supporting families living with child to parent violence of late. PEGS have featured in a number of awards in the last weeks, and yesterday this one in Canada caught my attention.
Congratulations to Maude Champagne for winning the Mitacs Award for Outstanding Innovation!
Judith Smith, who recently published the book Difficult, Mothering Challenging Adult Children Through Conflict and Change, is running a series of webinars for parents specifically, starting November 10th. The details are all on this message from her. Please note that the webinars are at 7.30 pm Eastern Standard Time. See further down for details of Support Groups starting February 2023.
I am absolutely delighted to finally launch a series of Briefing Papers on the topic of child and adolescent to parent violence and abuse (CAPVA), which I have had in mind to create for over 5 years, and which Vicky Baker has now most wonderfully helped to bring to realisation over the last few months!
Briefing Papers 1, 2 and 3 (front pages only)
The idea grew from an increasing number of calls to discuss a range of particular angles on child and adolescent to parent violence and abuse, but which inevitably began with a half hour spent explaining what we were talking about before getting down to the meat of the conversation. It was clear that there was a space for a succinct overview of the main issues to do with CAPVA in a way that could be digested in a short space of time, and that would be equally helpful for anyone coming to this issue fresh – whether as a practitioner, a commissioner, a journalist, or indeed as a politician.
Working together with the benefit of having recently completed the rapid literature review for the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, with a wealth of knowledge from Vicky’s PhD studies, and with the background of many years listening to people about their experience and work, we have written 3 separate papers, each with three pages, explaining in turn what we mean by the term child and adolescent to parent violence and abuse, why it happens, and what can be done to support families
The finished 3 papers are free* to download, and we hope that you will feel able to share them widely with colleagues and even to use them in your own work as the need arises.
Inevitably, with a topic about which we continue to learn on a daily basis, they will need updating as ideas evolve and understanding develops, and so you are encouraged to offer comments and feedback. Let us know if they have been useful, how they were used, what else would have been good – bearing in mind that if they get much larger they will cease to be briefing sheets and will be a book instead!
A massive thank you to Vicky for all the work she put in to these. They honestly would never have happened without her.
Download Briefing Paper 1: What’s the Problem?here
Download Briefing Paper 2: Why does CAPVA happen? here
Download Briefing Paper 3: So what can we do? here
* Some people have suggested we should be charging for these. We have decided to keep them entirely free to download and we hope many people will do so. However, if you would prefer to make a monetary contribution, then please feel free to donate to a local charity supporting families suffering any type of abuse.
Almost every month – and week even – there seems to be a focus on raising awareness by a particular interest group, whether to do with health, families, disability or a hundred other things. A brilliant opportunity to shine the spotlight on an issue, bringing it to the front of people’s minds, campaigning for better understanding whether in the public eye, the media or government, and of course increasing support for those affected. It could certainly be argued that those working in the field of child to parent violence and abuse have been slow out of the blocks here, but it’s great to see that PEGS have taken this on board this year, with a planned CPA Awareness Day on October 14th.
This autumn will mark the very first Child to Parent Abuse Awareness Day. On Friday 14th October, we’d love you to join us in a nationwide push to raise awareness of CPA and to campaign for more support for the families this issue impacts.
While many people work valiantly all year to raise awareness of this issue, focusing attention over one day can amplify the volume and lead to more people sitting up and listening, so take a look at the suggestions over on the PEGS website for things you can do on that day. It’s not an exhaustive list, so any contributions will be welcome, and your own ideas might inspire others to follow suit.
Thanks to Michelle and all the team at PEGS for running with this!
If this is an issue that is of interest to you, or which affects you personally, please do take a moment to look at this current research project, coordinated by AVA. AVA are seeking to recruit up to 5 women with personal experience of abuse from adult children, in order to increase understanding and awareness and to inform the future development of services in this neglected area of policy and practice.
Full details are available here. The deadline is Friday 21st October.
This Special Issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) aims to gather systematic research on CPV, performed from different levels of analysis. Papers combining high academic standards and implications for intervention and assessment are welcome. A special call is made for longitudinal studies, given their relevance in the research of causal relations between risk/protective factors and CPV.
Full details of submission requirements can be found here.
HOLES IN THE WALL 