Keeping schools informed over violent incidents at home

• Partnership working with schools to deliver early help offer
• Government-funded programmes support children and families affected by the issue

ACTION

A domestic abuse reporting scheme sees schools in Stockport informed by the police of any incident involving a young person before the start of the next day.

Operation Encompass enables the school's safeguarding lead to then make provision for possible difficulties experienced by pupils, or their families, affected by a domestic abuse incident.

Nuala O'Rourke, head of service at Stockport Council's safeguarding unit, says the Greater Manchester Police-led scheme involves a "very early email" to schools to share information about incidents.

Twelve schools are participating in the scheme with the expectation that all Stockport schools will be on board by the end of 2019.

The scheme is being supported by Stockport Family, an integrated service for children, young people and families which brings together social workers with other professionals such as health visitors, school nurses and midwives.

"We roll out a programme of support for the designated safeguarding lead in the school which encourages silent support.

"So if a child is in late or they don't seem right, no extra pressure is put on them because the school knows they are living in difficult circumstances," explains O'Rourke.

She says initiatives like this are part of a "co-ordinated community response model for domestic abuse" that has been developed in Stockport since 2016.

"It involves ensuring all agencies with a specialist approach to domestic abuse as well as those that have domestic abuse as a feature in their work, are fully informed about what's available.

"We commission the Positive Relationships model for early help support and the domestic violence advocates service for complex support.

"We hold daily meetings in our multi-agency safeguarding hub (Mash) that address any incidents where we feel there is a need for a team around the family approach.

"That would involve the team around the school where it was felt appropriate," says O'Rourke.

She explains the team around the school (TAS) is an example of partnership working between Stockport Family and other non-integrated services such as education.

"Schools are often best placed to understand children's needs and particularly if there are early signs of difficulties identifying them," says Maura Appleby, principal lead integrated services (health) for Stockport Family.

The TAS comprises a linked social worker, school nurse and a "school-age plus" worker responsible for coordinating a regular meeting held at school.

She says the TAS aims to improve co-ordination of support for struggling families and to manage concerns locally thereby reducing referrals into the Mash.

Further support for schools is already under way after Stockport received a £565,000 grant from the Home Office's children affected by domestic abuse fund.

The funding has seen two independent domestic violence advocates (Idva) appointed to work in schools and in hospital maternity and paediatric wards.

O'Rourke says the young person's Idva project, called Safe Choices, will casehold as well as deliver education in schools. She says it is hoped both Idva posts will eventually be funded by the NHS and schools themselves after the initial period of funding has ended.

A second programme of work will provide therapeutic activities, including counselling sessions, for children who have experienced living in a domestic abuse household.

Currently being piloted at one school in Stockport, the scheme will be rolled out to more schools from September.

Other schemes being funded by the grant include expanding Stockport Family's complex safeguarding team by appointing two new practitioners as well as recruiting a new multi-agency training officer for a year-long contract.

IMPACT

With many of the Home Office-funded programmes launching around the start of the new financial year, evidence of their impact is unlikely to be available before 2020.

Appleby says an evaluation of the TAS indicated a reduction in the number of contacts to the Mash from schools from 2,889 in 2016/17 to 2,556 in 2017/18.

She says referrals from the top five referring schools dropped from 28 per cent of all referrals in 2015/16 to 22 per cent in 2017/18.