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CARDIFF WOMEN’S AIDCYMORTH I FERCHED CAERDYDD Working to end violence against women and children |
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Children & young peoples services
Children & young
peoples services
Our 24 hour service provision includes our children’s services and in particular the work we carry out with children at risk as identified by CWA and Children’s Services. These services are delivered by specialist children’s development workers.
The domestic violence crisis intervention workers are able to refer directly to our children’s team and if we have engaged with a family overnight they can arrange for early appointments and assessments with one of the children’s services team.
We meet families at the worse and most dangerous points in their lives and at that critical time our children’s team are available to support and advocate for the children within those families, they are seen in their own right and with their own rights.
CWA takes a rights based approach to children’s advocacy as set out in the UN convention on the rights of the child. See our factsheets and publications page
Risk assessment and support planning….
Right from our first engagement with the child or young person we begin risk assessments that are specific for that child. Although their mother (parent) will be risk assessed its important that children are seen as individuals and their experience, and therefore their needs, around support and advocacy are evaluated and designed with them in mind.
It may be that others within their family are more robust and resilient and are coping better or recovering more quickly from their experiences, as such a risk assessment and individual support evaluation can identify the most at risk of ongoing harm (either from an external source or from their own ongoing negative emotional or behavioural states).
A support plan with goals, identified in partnership with the child, are put in place in the same way that we do for women using the service. And these are reviewed on a regular basis. Although we may not always get the chance to work through the support plan due to family’s moving on or ending their support package, we can still achieve much and not least validate their experience.
Our commitment to supporting children demands that we do all we can to ensure a reduction in their risk and an increase in the security through the provision of an holistic service with children and young people at its heart.
Group work brings another layer of support that can often suit children who find it difficult to work on a 1:1 basis. It has the added value of being fun, and offers an opportunity to meet with peers who share the same experiences, thus lessening feelings of isolation.
We use a broad range of activities that are age and developmentally appropriate, with sensitivity around issues of culture, faith/religion or sexuality.
We have an after school and Saturday club and a group especially for older children and young people. Positive male role models are an important element of our work with children and young people and we recruit and train male volunteers to work with us as part of our team.
Particularly for children in refuge group trips our (especially during the summer holidays) can be problematic and so we organise a programme of regular trips (with a special programme for the summer) that families from refuge joined by our outreach families can enjoy. And it’s a great opportunity for us to work with families and individual children on issues of social interaction and group dynamics…. or to put it another way to enjoy positive and healthy relationships with family members and friends.
We also run groups with specific themes to help children identify and give voice to their experience. There is another layer of experience where substance misuse or mental health issues are present alongside the violent relationship. It helps to explore the issues with other children or young people who are having the same experience and using a variety of methods which need to be age appropriate and accessible to children and young people.
For fuller details about MARAC please see the specific page on the site.
We are working in partnership with Children’s Services (Social Services) to bring children and young people in their own right (as well as a member of their family) to MARAC’s in order that their safety is addressed directly
The damaging effects of domestic violence and abuse for children is now well documented and for some children that damage needs much more specialist and intense work.
We strongly believe that counselling and other therapies ought to be available to all children who have experienced domestic violence and abuse and welcome the development of counselling services in schools. We also know that it is beneficial to be able to access specialist counselling for the deep, underpinning issues like family/relationship violence on top of general counselling.
Our service is currently only a pilot and we are seeking resources to be able t develop and deliver to all the children who are assessed as needing counselling and also to expand the range of interventions that we can offer.
We are seeking to include an educational psychologist, therapists who can use a range of integrative therapies and explore the use of hypnotherapy.
Please see our specific page on preventative working.
We strongly believe that the interventions we make with children when they access our service, however briefly, stand as the first foundation on which they can build a future where they can enjoy healthy relationships rather than repeating the cycle of unhealthy relationships that have served as their example.
We have dedicated children’s development and support workers attached to our refuge provision and we work with children and young people both within the refuge environment (using the playrooms or activities in the garden or kitchen) and through trips out for various activities.
The refuge staff are also trained to work with children and parenting issues; they work in partnership with the children’s team to ensure holistic services are provided and that all service users (women and children) receive a service tailored to meet their individual needs as far as possible.
For families who have left refuge or who have remained living in their own homes we also offer specialist support for children at home and through our organised activities and trips.
Again this service is delivered as an integral part of our overall service delivery including our tenant support and resettlement work.
