Safe Newcastle Domestic Violence Strategy - Newcastle City Council

More documents

Recommendations

Info

6. Current Activity Newcastle is currently under performing in some of the key service provision areas which relate to domestic violence. Historically, services in Newcastle have developed without a strategic framework or commissioning process leading to responses that are in some cases of high quality but in most cases patchy and inconsistent. A recent audit commissioned by the Newcastle Domestic Violence Forum and published by the Community Safety Research Unit of Northumbria University (July, 2005) highlighted notable gaps in service provision which need to be urgently addressed. The recommendations identified that: i. A strategic partnership approach was essential to the delivery of improved responses in relation to domestic violence. ii. The Newcastle Domestic Violence and Abuse Partnership needs to establish a consistent approach to supporting victims, raise awareness of services and create a climate of non tolerance of domestic violence across Newcastle. iii. The partnership needs to address the following key challenges: – Appropriate support for victims, including those within the BME communities – Appropriate support for children who witness domestic violence and preventative work in schools and youth groups – Measures that challenge perpetrators of domestic violence, including the development of non-court mandated group work programmes – Suitable safe secure accommodation for victims, primarily women and their children In recognition of the need to improve responses to domestic violence, the Local Authority has demonstrated significant commitment to transforming the delivery of services and responses to those at risk due to domestic violence by taking a lead role in coordinating multiagency partnership and increasing the resources available. It is envisaged therefore that during the lifespan of this strategy Newcastle will dramatically improve both its responses to, and its services for, all those at risk due to domestic violence. 6.1 The Full Circle Project (renamed Domestic Violence Protection Project) – partnership in service provision. The Full Circle Project is a multi-service 1 domestic violence advocacy and support project funded by the Neighborhood Renewal Fund (NRF). It has been in existence since April 2005 and is a collaboration between Victim Support, Northumbria Police, Womens Aid, Panah (BME Refuge) and Safe Newcastle. Workers from Victim Support are co-located with Domestic Violence Liaison Officers (DVLO’s) within the Public Protection Unit (PPU), Etal Lane. The project has a coherent strategy and policy steer, provided by a steering group. Aims and Objectives Aims The project aims to increase support to victims/ survivors of domestic violence by proactively supporting them at the earliest opportunity. Newcastle Domestic Violence And Abuse Strategy
Number Objectives – To provide a victim’s needs led support and advocacy service – To reduce the time spent on support activities by Domestic Violence Liaison Officers (DVLOs) and free up their time to concentrate on policing duties, including intelligence gathering and monitoring high risk victims – To increase the referrals made by frontline officers (via the 11 point plan, Appendix 2) and thereby increase referrals to the project – To reduce repeat victimisation – To increase the safety of victims – To improve positive criminal justice outcomes pursued by victims supported by the project – To improve confidence in the police, amongst agencies and victims in order to increase reporting of domestic violence. Impact of the Project Since the start of the project, there have been a total of 4366 incidents of domestic violence reported to the Police in Newcastle. Of these 4366 incidents, a total of 634 referrals have been made to the Full Circle Project. The following graph illustrates the significant increase in the number of referrals made by Northumbria Police to Victim Support since the inception of the project. Figure 1.1 50 2005 45 2004 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 A M J J A S O N D Month The number of referrals increases significantly from July 05 onwards. This corresponds to the training of front line Police Officers by Victim Support. Figure 1.2 Nature of Support 20% 4% 14% Housing 17% 2% 25% Solicitors 14% 4% Alarms Photographic evidence Courts process Court information Conpensation claims Unrecorded Conclusions Undoubtedly the Full Circle Project has had a significant impact in improving support to victims of domestic violence. Significantly 82% of victims supported by the project through the Criminal Justice System did not make retractions – The attrition rate of 18% is significantly lower than the figure of 44% as stated in “A joint inspection of the Investigation of Crime Involving Domestic Violence”. (2003, CPSI, HMIC). An interim independent review of the project revealed that the Full Circle adds value to the Police Domestic Violence Unit (DVU) and has increased community confidence in the Police. The Full Circle Project is an example of best practice as it is based upon national evidence about “What works” (Hester and Westmorland N. 2005). Currently the project is implementing an improvement plan, the primary aim of which is to ensure a more robust approach is taken to collecting data. 1 As Defined by Hester, and Westmorland, N, 2005 in their review of Domestic Violence Intervention projects. These projects have the aims of increasing initial domestic violence reporting, reduce repeat victimization, increase prosecutions, increase victims self-esteem, collect comprehensive data, develop multi-agency working and increase victim safety through the development of screening tools, outreach, crisis intervention, alarms, legal and court support & awareness raising. Newcastle Domestic Violence And Abuse Strategy
Page 1 and 2: Better Lives, Stronger Communities.
Page 3 and 4: Foreword Who experiences domestic a
Page 5 and 6: Victims Voices Peter, Father of thr
Page 7 and 8: “From first meeting to present da
Page 9 and 10: 1 British Crime Survey: England and
Page 11 and 12: 4) ensure that victims of domestic
Page 13 and 14: 1 Incidents are recorded at the fir
Page 15: Newcastle Domestic Violence And Abu
Page 19 and 20: The main themes covered by the staf
Page 21 and 22: 6.5 Areas requiring further develop
Page 23 and 24: Emerging Work with Perpetrators The
Page 25 and 26: “Thank you for helping me at such
Page 27 and 28: 9. Performance Management and imple
Page 29 and 30: L Local Area Agreement (LAA) A gove
Page 31 and 32: 5. The forum should have a mix of s
Page 33 and 34: Newcastle Domestic Violence And Abu
Page 35 and 36: Understanding Domestic Violence And

Safe Newcastle Domestic Violence Strategy - Newcastle City Council

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?