Strengthening knowledge and awareness in family services of domestic abuse (SKAFADA)

Characteristics of Early Help/Family Support staff and their work:

• Survey respondents had high levels of experience in work with children and families, the majority had worked on cases involving domestic abuse in the last six months, and almost 40% reported personal experience of domestic abuse

What are the skills and knowledge of domestic abuse in the Early Help/Family Support workforces?

• Practitioners’ confidence levels in working with domestic abuse reflected the training they had received.
• Majority of respondents were confident in their knowledge of the impact of domestic abuse on children and young people, however there was a substantial minority (32%) who felt they were insufficiently trained
• Most practitioners were confident and knowledgeable about making referrals if necessary

What training/CPD on domestic abuse is currently provided to these workforces?

• Most practitioners responding to the survey (85%) and interviewed in the case study sites reported having received training on domestic abuse.
• LAs were using both internal and external sources of expertise.
• Case study local authorities were providing support which included reflective supervision, debriefing, group sessions, access to counselling and clinical supervision.

How is the current identification/ referral/ knowledge/ skills/ and understanding of domestic abuse assessed?

• There is no one form of skills assessment for this workforce in relation to domestic abuse, and LAs did not ask for relevant skills or experience when recruiting to these posts.
• Identification of training needs for this workforce is aided by specialist domestic abuse practitioners or coordinators. Additionally, training needs are identified through regular case reviews and discussions with staff.

How do specialist domestic abuse staff interact with the Early Help/Family Support workforces?

• LAs were supporting staff to work in this area by offering access to specialist knowledge and advice in a range of ways, however there were indications emerging from the survey that these specialists sometimes assumed all responsibility for liaison and referrals with external domestic abuse service providers.

What multi-agency practice models are currently used in Early Help/Family Support domestic abuse work?

• All the case study sites were using a practice model: two were using the Family Safeguarding approach and three had adopted Signs of Safety.

What are the gaps in the knowledge/skills/understanding of domestic abuse?

• Survey responses highlighted some potential knowledge/skills gaps in working with children. This included readiness to enquire about domestic abuse, seeking the views of the child, advising them of their options, continuing to check in on them, and referring to specialist services.
• These were gaps in relation to working with perpetrators of domestic abuse, people from the LGBTQ+ community, families where there were children with disabilities and people from different cultural backgrounds.

What specific domestic abuse topics/skills need to be included in training/development?

• Training that strengthens the skills and confidence of those working with perpetrators of domestic abuse, people from the LGBTQ+ community, families where there were children with disabilities and people from different cultural backgrounds is vital.
• The survey found a need for greater awareness of local specialist domestic abuse services, attitudes towards the causes of and misconceptions in understanding domestic abuse.
• Following the online training developed for this study, participants showed significantly improved levels of knowledge of domestic abuse on a number of measures and some significant improvement in attitudes, notably in respect of acknowledging survivors’ capacity to make appropriate choices.