Violence against Women & Girls –Children & Young People’s Network, Community Works

Autumn Conference

Michelle Pooley,

Community Engagement Co-ordinator & Healthwatch

Commissioner

Tuesday 16th September 2014

VAWG – session aims

• Outline VAWG strategy

• Reflect on lessons learnt from domestic homicide

reviews

– Including implications for services

• Early Help and MASH

– Reflections on key issues

• Update on commissions

– Provision for children and young people

– Future provision of specialist provision for victim/survivors of Domestic Violence & Abuse and Rape, Sexual Violence & Abuse Service and their children

VAWG – local strategy

• The city has a strategy for ‘Preventing Violence against

Women and Girls’ (VAWG) 2013-17

• VAWG included for the first time as a priority area in the

‘Community Safety & Crime Reduction Strategy 2014 – 17’

• It sits alongside associated areas of (child and adult sexual)

exploitation and modern slavery

• Activity built around key themes:

– Prevention, Provision, Protection, Partnership.

VAWG ‘crime types’

VAWG crime types are predominantly, but not exclusively,

experienced by women and girls and include:

• Domestic violence and abuse

• Stalking

• Rape and sexual violence

• Trafficking, sexual exploitation, including commercially

through prostitution and the sex industry

• Sexual harassment in the workplace and public sphere

• Harmful traditional practices i.e. female genital mutilation

(FGM); forced marriage (FM); crimes committed in the name

of ‘honour’ (HBV).

What does VAWG mean for men?

• A ‘gendered approach’ sets the context in which to consider how best provide help and support

• Offers opportunity to identify actions that are applicable from within a broader strategy

• Also provides focus for identifying additional specific actions, proportionate to need, to work with:– Men who use violence and abuse– Men who experience violence and abuse– Boys who witness or experience violence or abuse – Men as allies.

Scale of the problem - B&H

• In 2013-14

– 3,824 DVA incidents and crimes (increase from 3401 in previous year)

– 385 SV incidents and crimes (increase from 374 in the previous year)

• Assumed to be underreported

– Estimated that there were nearly 6,000 women aged 16-59 experienced

DVA last year, with almost 3,000 experiencing SV

• Total cost per annum is £143 million per annum

• Physical and mental health costs of £7.4 million per annum

• Relatively little local data relating to other VAWG crime types.

Some key policy drivers

• National: Home Office

– Call to end violence against women and girls

• Regional: Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner – Police &

Crime Plan

– Focus on helping victims of crime to ‘cope and recover’)

• Local: VAWG Programme Board priorities in this year:

– Early help for children and young people

– Increased awareness among residents

– Consistent care pathways

• Local: Learning from Domestic Homicide and Near Miss

Reviews.

Domestic Homicide Reviews

• Local areas required to review deaths due to, or suspected to have been caused by, DVA

• The review should identify the lessons that can be learned about the professional & organisational working

• Aiming to:– Identify what is expected to change as a result, and timescales

– Apply these lessons to policies and procedures

– Prevent domestic violence homicides and improve service responses for all domestic violence victims and their children through improved intra and inter-agency working

• Reports must be published (available locally at http://www.safeinthecity.info/domestic-homicide-reviews).

Reviews in 2012 - 2014Mrs A

Female

70-74

White

Married, Heterosexual

Retired

Mrs B

Female

20-24

White

Married, Heterosexual

Employed

Mr C

Male

60-64

White

Co-habiting, Gay

Not in employment

Ms D

Female

40-44

White

Co-habiting, Heterosexual

Not in employment

Reviews

Key learning from local reviews

• Awareness raising and communication

• Skilled workforce

• Consistent care pathways

• Risk Assessment

• Information sharing

• Coordinated community response

Key learning from other reviews

• Themes drawn from reviews in Bedford Borough, Rochdale and Sheffield (2011), and Guilford (2013)

• Issues identified included:– Timely risk assessment, including training & confidence in use of

risk tools

– Effective recording as a tool for communicating effectively

– Making the connection

– Timely information sharing

– Acting on concerns and coordinating responses

– Working with family (not loosing focus on children, working with disguised compliance’)

– Understanding range of factors in victim decisions & life.

A reminder about risk factors in DVA

• Female

• Aged 16–24 (women) or 16–19 (men)

• Has a long-term illness or disability – this almost doubles the

risk

• Mental health problem

• Woman who is separated – there is an elevated risk of abuse

around the time of separation

• Pregnant (although can offer protection).

Early Help and MASH

• From 1 September 2014

– Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)

– Early Help Hub (EHH)

– Threshold document

– Replacing the Family CAF with an Early Help Family Assessment Form

• Offers opportunities to improve organisation and

coordination of help to children and families, as well as

data collection

• This includes response to DVA and other VAWG crime

types like CSE and FGM.

Links to Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH)

• MASH will be the ‘front door’ for social care services

• Co-located team inc. children’s services, health and police

• Key issues include:

– Sharing information as part of ‘MASH information sharing process’:

good practice to get consent but requests for initial information are not

dependent on this

– What information can the VCS provide to ensure a good assessment:

includes information about risk to the child, but also information about

risk to the non abusive adult and from the abusive adult

– Can this be done within the RAG timescales (red = 4 hours, amber = 24

hours, green = 72 hours)

– How to receive updates on the outcomes.

Links to Early Help Hub (EHH)

• EHH incorporates existing Family Common Assessment

Framework (CAF) arrangements

• This new service will provide early assessments and

interventions reducing the need for intensive and specialist

services

• Key issues include role of VCS organisations in providing

‘early help’

– Participation in EHH weekly allocation meetings

– What interventions are available

– How to receive updates on the outcomes.

Defining commissioning

Need

Commissioning is the activity of

�understanding capabilities, �assessing needs, �resources and current services

to make the best use of available resources and identify the most effective, equitable and sustainable route to meet local strategic outcomes.

Resources available:Finance, Workforce, Service providers, Community, Assets, etc…

Outcomes

Best service deliver model in terms of quality and price.

VAWG Strategy Commissioning

VAWG crime types predominately

experienced by women and girls

Addresses work with men

All agencies

Long-term direction

Key priorities

Partnership commitment to change

Purchasers

Changes in service configuration

Where resources will be targeted

How services will be secured

Explicit links to contracts, Service Level

Agreements (SLAs), service plans

VAWG Strategy vs Commissioning

Role of commissioners: CYP example

• Responding to gaps in service provision

• Evidence indicates that children and young people

experience violence & abuse in their own relationships

• Local authority, with funding from Police and Crime

Commissioner, looking to develop Sexual and Domestic

Violence Advisors for children and young people

• ‘CIDVA’:– Support to young people (13 +), including undertaking a risk

assessment and developing a support plan

– Referral into local therapeutic services for young people

– Links to local safeguarding arrangements, including MASH/EHH

• CISVA – Support to young people (13 +), including undertaking a risk

assessment and developing a support plan

– Referral into local therapeutic services for young people

– Links to local safeguarding arrangements, including MASH/EHH

– Bespoke support for the family of affected children (4-18)

– Joint working with Paediatricians, and contribution to development of

the Paediatric SARAC

• As part of development of these roles, need to identify

sustainability and how they fit in with other interventions

provided locally to prevent and recover from VAWG crime

types

Role of commissioners: future provision

• Develop models for delivery that best meet client need,

in context of changes to public funding which mean we

must all find new ways to sustain services

• Developing a service specification for Domestic Violence

& Abuse and Rape, Sexual Violence & Abuse Service

from October 2015

– Accessible, ‘service user centred’ and recovery orientated

– A single point of access

• Pre Tender event on 1st October: – Test the market, outline the proposed approach

– Opportunity to ask questions & provide feedback

Local specialist services

Domestic violence & abuse

• RISE – specialist domestic abuse service including helpline,

IDVA service (high risk) and prevention & recovery service

• Domestic Abuse Surgery (Wednesday 9am-12noon, HTH)

• Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC)

Rape & sexual violence

• Survivors’ Network

• Saturn Centre (Sexual Assault Referral Centre)

Sexual Exploitation

• WiSE

• http://www.safeinthecity.info/getting-help

(help and advice)

• http://www.safeinthecity.info/about-us

(resources for professionals)

• http://www.safeinthecity.info/marac

(guidance on the MARAC)

Contact details

• James Rowlands

• Violence against Women and Girls Strategy Manager &

Commissioner

• Partnership Community Safety Team

• Email: James.Rowlands@brighton-hove.gcsx.gov.uk

• Tel: 01273 291032

• Mobile: 07557 744 660