Page 43 - Getting it Right for Vulnerable Children and Young People in North Ayrshire

The team includes Police personnel, Social Workers, a Housing Officer and an administrator. In constructing this core team as a central conduit for partner agencies to come together, this has in essence removed the walls that separated services, and rebuilt them to house a coalition of skills and networks allowing agencies to function as one. This innovative approach to shared services, in addressing one of the most pervasive and damaging issues in North Ayrshire, is the ethos of the MADART. Responding to Domestic Abuse When any worker identifies domestic abuse they may ask themselves a number of questions:- What’s my role?’, ‘What am I supposed to do? ‘or ‘Should I tell a woman whose partner has hit her to leave?’ etc. Your role in responding to domestic abuse should be limited to: • focusing on the their safety and that of their children; • giving them information and informing relevant agencies; • making it easy for them to talk about their experiences; • supporting and reassuring them; and • being non-judgemental. You should never assume that someone else will take care of domestic abuse issues – you may be the woman’s first and only contact. It is not your role to encourage her to leave her partner, or to take any other particular course of action. This could lead to problems, 20 including increased danger for her and her children. As workers we can be in a position to help a woman protect herself from escalating domestic abuse, even if she is not ready to leave her abusive partner. Developing a safety plan with a woman can help her in several ways: • Help the woman and her children to escape the abuser when she feels ready • Help the woman and her children to safely visit organisations for advice and support • Empower the woman with the knowledge that she is taking back control of her 21 life. Documenting of disclosures and/or injuries should always be carried out. Every time the police are called to a family home in response to a domestic incident, a report is completed, detailing the circumstances, family composition, whether charges/arrests were made, children present, if alcohol is a factor and so on. These reports (where children are involved) were previously sent automatically to Scottish Children’s Reporters Authority (SCRA) and Social Services for information/assessment/further action as appropriate. Due to the establishment of the MADART this no longer applies. 20 Responding to domestic abuse: a handbook for health professionals, DOH 2005 21 Good Practice Guidelines – for workers who are supporting women who are living with abusive partners, Greater Glasgow Training Consortium Getting It Right For Vulnerable Children and Young People in North Ayrshire Live V1.2 April 2014 Page No:43