Issue - meetings

The Lead Commissioner Community Safeguarding (LCCS) presented her report to the Board.

Prior to October 2019, there was no systemic approach to dealing with domestic violence abuse tailored to the borough. In 2020, the Health and Wellbeing Board received two updates on how a systemic approach to domestic abuse was being constructed. Refuge, a charity, was commissioned to deliver targeted services within tier 3 and tier 4 support and children’s current support. Additionally, the aim was to ensure that accountability was moved from the victim, and why they did not leave the abuser, to the abuser and why they did not stop.

The pilot would involve working with Cranstoun, a charity that provides assistance on domestic abuse. The pilot would consist of the following elements:

·  Assessment: Referral would come from professionals and self-referrals.

·  Intervention: The intervention would be based on 1:1 case management and will be delivered by a team of three case managers, service manager and a partner support service.

·  Partner Support Service: Cranstoun would provide an attached support offer to partners/ex-partners of all perpetrators engaged.

·  Accommodation: Housing that is either in the Council’s ownership or to which the Council had nomination rights would be used to house perpetrators. The accommodation would be offered as a short-term lease.

·  Aftercare: The LCCS was aware that to create change both the perpetrator and the survivor, as well as any children would need access to ongoing support. It was noted that since the pilot is time limited to one year this created challenges, however Cranstoun would refer users onward to support agencies.

·  Evaluation: There was limited evidence in terms of independent evaluation that focused on impact rather than engagement of perpetrator responses across the country. A quote had been received for an independent evaluation and, at the time of the meeting, was being considered. 

Covid-19 presented a challenge. Domestic Violence protection orders when issued by the police, meantg victims could not return to their home for 28 days. However, the victim often had nowhere to go. Accommodation would be offered, however it was often far away from the area and the lack of local support networks negatively affected victims and any children they had. The LCCS elaborated on this by discussing a case study highlighting the problems with this approach whereby a victim expressed a preference for staying in the family home with the abuser fearing being moved would adversely affect her mental health and that of her son.

The LCCS disclosed that perpetrators of domestic violence were spoken to and noted that:

·  Many indicated that they wanted to change their behaviour which was unexpected.

·  The Respect helpline, which takes calls from abusers saw a higher number of calls than those that dealt with victims.

These factors would be integrated into the model, and as a result, a focus would be placed on intervention and assessment. The LCCS went through the possible outcomes highlighting that the victim and the abuser:

·  may resolve their issues and reunite.

·  may agree to split/divorce on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 93