This protocol summarises plans for a feasibility study of the Restart programme, a multi-agency, whole family approach which aims to improve responses to domestic abuse in low-to-medium risk families supported by children’s social care (CSC).
The Restart programme is delivered by the Drive Partnership, which brings together CSC, housing, and domestic abuse sector services to identify, change, and disrupt patterns of harmful behaviour at an early stage. The programme takes a multi-agency, whole family approach to hold perpetrators accountable for change, in order to prevent escalation of risk and ensure that (ex-) partner and child victim-survivors can remain safe and together at home.
The programme can be broken down into the following four components:
The Safe & Together model: a system-level approach aimed at improving the response to domestic abuse by enhancing the awareness and understanding of CSC, Early Help, and housing workforces. The implementation focuses on holding the perpetrator accountable while ensuring the safety of the (ex-) partner and child(ren) victim-survivors, keeping them together at home where possible.
A one-to-one domestic abuse perpetrator intervention: lasting four to eight weeks, designed to improve motivation and readiness for behaviour change. The goal is to facilitate the perpetrator’s onward referral to a longer-term behaviour change program.
A support pathway for (ex-) partner victim-survivors, which involves parallel support and risk monitoring, identifying their needs while the perpetrator engages in the intervention.
An optional housing pathway for service users. This pathway facilitates access to temporary, diversionary accommodation for the service user, guided by the wishes of the victim-survivor.
We have commissioned Cordis Bright to conduct a feasibility study of the Restart programme (‘Restart’). The feasibility study is adopting an exploratory “test and learn” approach, focusing on building capacity for future impact evaluation of the programme.
The primary objectives of the feasibility study are:
The research questions guiding the study are detailed in the protocol and summarised below:
This rating is based on information that programme providers have supplied about the components and requirements of their programme. Based on this information, EIF rates programmes on a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 indicates the least resource-intensive programmes and 5 the most resource-intensive.
1: A rating of 1 indicates that a programmes has a low cost to set up and deliver, compared with other interventions reviewed by EIF. This is equivalent to an estimated unit cost of less than £100.
2: A rating of 2 indicates that a programme has a medium-low cost to set up and deliver, compared with other interventions reviewed by EIF. This is equivalent to an estimated unit cost of £100–£499.
3: A rating of 3 indicates that a programme has a medium cost to set up and deliver, compared with other interventions reviewed by EIF. This is equivalent to an estimated unit cost of £500–£999.
4: A rating of 4 indicates that a programme has a medium-high cost to set up and deliver, compared with other interventions reviewed by EIF. This is equivalent to an estimated unit cost of £1,000–£2,000.
5: A rating of 5 indicates that a programme has a high cost to set up and deliver, compared with other interventions reviewed by EIF. This is equivalent to an estimated unit cost of more than £2,000.
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Supporting children’s mental health and wellbeing: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient.
Preventing child maltreatment: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient.
Enhancing school achievement & employment: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient.
Preventing crime, violence and antisocial behaviour: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient.
Preventing substance abuse: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient.
Preventing risky sexual behaviour & teen pregnancy: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient.
Preventing obesity and promoting healthy physical development: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient.
The evidence ratings distinguish five levels of strength of evidence. This is not a rating of the scale of impact but of the degree to which a programme has been shown to have a positive, causal impact on specific child outcomes.
Level 2: Recognises programmes with preliminary evidence of improving a child outcome, but where an assumption of causal impact cannot be drawn.
Level 2+: The programme will have observed a significant positive child outcome in an evaluation meeting all of the criteria for a level 2 evaluation, but also involving a treatment and comparison group. There is baseline equivalence between the treatment and comparison‐group participants on key demographic variables of interest to the study and baseline measures of outcomes (when feasible).
Level 3: Recognises programmes with evidence of a short-term positive impact from at least one rigorous evaluation – that is, where a judgment about causality can be made.
Level 3+: The programme will have obtained evidence of a significant positive child outcome through an efficacy study, but may also have additional consistent positive evidence from other evaluations (occurring under ideal circumstances or real world settings) that do not meet this criteria, thus keeping it from receiving an assessment of 4 or higher.
Level 4: Recognises programmes with evidence of a long-term positive impact through multiple rigorous evaluations. At least one of these studies must have evidence of improving a child outcome lasting a year or longer.