Community Groups Project
Community Groups Celebration Event
'It makes my heart less heavy'
On March 21st 2012 we held an event to
celebrate the achievements of the last three years of the community
groups programme and to share the evaluation findings.
You can find
the slides from the event here:
The AVA Community Groups Project involves establishing Community
Group Programmes in London and across
the UK.
The programmes are for children,
young people and their mothers who have experienced domestic
violence and provides a community based setting for them to share
and talk about their experiences. It is originally a Canadian model
and has been piloted and successfully evaluated in the London
Borough of Sutton.
Historically, recognition of the
needs of children living with domestic violence in the UK has been
largely confined to refuge services. Research in the UK suggests
that the majority of children who have lived with domestic violence
would prefer to talk to other children with similar experiences.
For most children outside of the refuge system this is sadly not an
option due to the severe lack of community-based programmes for
children who have witnessed domestic violence.
Each programme runs over a
twelve-week period for children aged 4 - 21 (children are divided
into age-specific groups).
Core issues addressed
are:
- validation of the children's experiences;
- understanding abuse;
- reducing self blame;
- safety planning;
- managing appropriate and inappropriate expressions of
emotion.
The programme offers a concurrent
component for mothers to also attend a group. Mothers are supported
to understand how the violence has impacted on the child and how
best to help them through the healing process.
Collaboration and commitment across
partner agencies has been the absolute key to success in operating
and sustaining the community group programme. The benefits of such
a multi agency approach are huge, as not only do staff increase
their knowledge and skills in this area of work, so too do they
make it transferable to other work settings. In addition,
staff taking part from specific agencies, bring the expertise from
their primary work environment and utilise that in group to assist
children who are encountering difficulties in other aspects of
their lives.
We know from Victoria Climbe, Baby
P and other child protection cases the dangers of failure to work
together in practice and this is particularly true in relation to
children living with domestic violence. Providing a coordinated
community programme reliant upon multi agency collaboration has the
potential to improve services to children and women experiencing
domestic violence and to maximise their continual safety and
well-being.
What are the benefits of an inter-agency
collaborative model?
- Increased awareness across agencies of impact and key
issues
- Increased individual expertise
- Transferable skills
- Enhances gendered approach
- Cost effective
- Shared responsibility for domestic violence across
agencies
Possible partner agencies include;
- Health visiting
- School nursing
- Social services
- Camhs
- Voluntary sector
- Education
- Probation service
How you can be
involved in London
AVA has been funded by Comic Relief to roll out a community
groups programmes (cgp) across London.
Group Facilitators
As of Sept 2011, we have currently
trained facilitators in approximately two thirds of London
boroughs.Groups are running or about to start in 17 boroughs!
We will be running future
facilitator training and dates will be posted on this page.
TRAINING DATES
The last training round was in January 2012. We will be
announcing new dates shortly.
Training is free but you must attend all 3 dates.
Group Co-ordinators
We are also training co-ordinators
for each borough. Co-ordinators are responsible for promoting the
model locally and act as a single point of access for referrals.
They must also arrange the location for the groups, link
facilitators to specific groups and liaise closely with
facilitators to ensure families are suitably assessed .
A more detailed 'job' description
for this role can be found here:
Networking Events
AVA will also be running free
regular networking days on relevant themes (such as risk
assessment, group work skills and engaging mothers). Details will
be posted on this page.
Evaluation
We are evaluating the roll out of
the groups across London. AVA recently appointed a team from
Middlesex University to undertake this evaluation.
If you have already attended
training, please access the members site to download the materials,
questionnaires and spereadsheets that you will need to undertake
your evaluation.
How
you can be involved if you are outside of London
If you are based outside of London
you can commission AVA to provide training, materials and support
to your agency (and your partner agencies) to equip you to deliver
The Community Group Programme.
Click here for
more information.
Member's Area
If you have attended training
already, you will have been told that there is a members section on
this site where you can find:
- All training presentations
- All AVA manuals
- Lists of resources
- Lists of areas outside of London running groups
- Evaluation data and resources
- Sample forms and guidance
- Details of other group coordinators and facilitators
- Event and training information
To login to the member's site, please use the link in the left
hand menu bar.
