When an election is called, civil servants are subject to strict rules about what they can and can’t do. The work of government is in effect paused until the new administration takes office. This means that from 24th May it has not been possible to learn any more about the Home Office Consultation on terminology and the definition of child to parent abuse; and more importantly that it is not clear what will happen after the election on July 4th. Having been banging on about this for at least the last ten years, and having just this week announced my retirement, I am struggling not to take this personally!
Continue readingTag Archives: Respect
Creating a National Picture of Understanding of CAPVA
I am very excited to bring to your attention the landmark CAPVA (child and adolescent to parent violence and abuse) survey being launched by Respect! Despite increasing attention to this issue – and media coverage – it seems that awareness of prevalence and the impact on families by people in the wider community in the UK remains poor. Hopefully this survey will give a clearer picture of what is known and experienced, and how responses can be made more effective.
The survey is open until August 29th, but don’t leave it till the last minute!
Respect launches landmark CAPVA survey
Domestic abuse charity Respect has launched a survey, aiming to create a national picture of the public’s understanding and experiences of child/ adolescent to parent violence and abuse, known as CAPVA.
Continue readingFiled under Announcements
“You’re not alone”, a new animation from Respect Young People’s Programme
Amongst the many posts on CPA Awareness Day 2023, it was fantastic to see the new animation launched by Respect, created in partnership with their Durham delivery partners. Respect were celebrating the success of the Respect Young People’s Programme, their intervention for families experiencing child or adolescent to parent violence and abuse (known as CAPVA). This included publishing impressive new evaluation figures, provided by their Cambridge delivery partners, alongside the animation – raising awareness of the issue of CAPVA, and the support available to families.
The animation was created in partnership with Durham PCC, Durham Council and Investing in Children, and attracted much attention on the day, and it was particularly encouraging to see it covered in the Police Oracle. ‘PCC Darryl Preston, who funds the programme, says it’s an “excellent example” of how effective early intervention can be.’
Continue readingFiled under Announcements, projects, Research
Introducing a new CPVA Directory!
I started posting news about the project I was working on, with others, to map provision for families experiencing child to parent violence and abuse (CPVA) in 2014, with regular updates before finally launching the page on my website in October 2015. At that time we knew of maybe 30 specialist services dotted around the country, some already well established, and others already a little precarious in their funding stream. Since that time there has been an exciting slow but steady growth in provision as different agencies have got on board, speeding up most recently through the support of the Domestic Abuse Commissioner‘s work in raising the profile of CPVA.
Keeping the Directory up to date and relevant has been a mammoth task, and one which is now beyond my capabilities with the growth in services, and so I have been working with Respect for the last year to see how it might migrate onto a new platform. Respect have a long history of work with young people using violence and abuse in the home, and importantly they also already have a large database of services within the domestic abuse arena, and so I knew that this was an area of work that they had both the experience and capacity to maintain for the future. Over the last months, all members of the old directory were contacted and gave permission to move across and the new Directory was finally launched last week!
Continue readingFiled under Announcements
CAPVA: Making services more effective for all.
A post from Respect caught my eye at the end of last week, and in the run up to World Autism Awareness Day.
The Respect Young People’s team, who developed the Respect Young People’s Programme (RYPP), one of the first programmes for families experiencing child//adolescent to parent violence and abuse (CAPVA) in the UK, became aware of the high number of referrals from families where there was an additional diagnosis of autism, and worked with a research team and families to make adaptations that would make the programme more autism-aware, more accessible, more effective.
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Innovation, Collaboration and Good Practice in work with CAPVA
I arrived home late last night from the 1st Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s Festival of Practice, exhausted but buzzing!
The Festival brought together those working in statutory agencies at the frontline or in decision-making or commissioning capacities in relation to domestic abuse, those working in the domestic abuse specialist sector, and very importantly, survivors of abuse who have such an important role to play in developing responses in this field. There was consideration of progress since the Domestic Abuse Act came into law, and the launch of the DAC Strategic Plan.
Continue readingFiled under conference report
Statutory Guidance to the Domestic Abuse Act published
At the start of the month, the Government published the Statutory Guidance to the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, taking into account the results of the consultation process which took place in the latter part of last year. The guidance document is intended to “to increase awareness and inform the response to domestic abuse. It also conveys standards and promotes best practice.” The various chapters consider an understanding of domestic abuse, recognising domestic abuse, the impact on those involved, the different needs and circumstances of individuals affected, and agency responses – whether individually or as part of multi-agency groupings. While the vast majority of the document deals with abuse perpetrated by adults, it is important that there is also included the issue of young people’s harmful behaviour, whether towards their peers, or towards their parents / carers.
Continue readingHow can I be sure? Developing a standard for work with families experiencing child to parent violence and abuse
- How do I choose between different training and trainers?
- Can I be sure this service will really help my family?
- What would make me choose to commission one programme rather than another?
All questions I have been asked over the years – some more recently than others – and all very valid!
How do you decide between different providers, now that the number of agencies offering training and provision around child to parent violence and abuse is growing at pace, and with so many programmes being designed from scratch? With so much offered online now, there is no longer the easy decision about travel time, though budget-size might still feature as a legitimate concern. And there remains limited research citing clear evidence of the long term effectiveness of different approaches.
Continue readingFiled under Discussion
Understanding CAPVA: a rapid literature review
Last week saw the launch of a report commissioned by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s Office and produced by Respect, Understanding CAPVA – a rapid literature review of child and adolescent to parent violence and abuse (CAPVA). I was privileged to co-author the report with Dr Vicky Baker, who recently completed her PhD at UCLan, exploring young people’s accounts of using violence and abuse towards parents.
Filed under Announcements, publications
Taking #CPV services online, Part 3
Welcome to 2021 as we in Britain face the prospect this week of further restrictions, even as the COVID vaccine becomes available! This time last year many of us would have been very sceptical about delivering services online, or even working from home, yet here we are – struggling with some aspects admittedly, but wondering whether some things work better in fact, and vowing to keep them on in future; and so I bring you the third part in a series looking at issues around taking services for families experiencing CPVA online. The last few months have seen the publication of numerous reports into life and service effectiveness under the pandemic, and I am particularly conscious of recent research highlighting the problem of parent participation in work with children’s services around child protection. While different circumstances pertain to work with families experiencing violence from their own children, this has also highlighted issues of power in the relationship with those who use our services, which we do well to remember and attend to in all our plans and delivery.
Back in July and August I spoke with a team delivering the Who’s in Charge? Programme online, and with a parent, and remained keen to examine the impact of the changes for those working directly with young people causing harm in the home. This was reinforced for me by the recent HMIP report, highlighting the need for changes in the delivery of support to families experiencing child and adolescent to parent violence, so it was good to be able to speak to a practitioner using the Respect Young People’s Programme (RYPP) for IDAS in Yorkshire. Continue reading
Filed under Discussion, projects
HOLES IN THE WALL 