Comprehensive Needs Assessment of Child/Adolescent to Parent Violence and Abuse in London: Final Report – London Violence Reduction Unit (March 2022)

Published:

Summary

The London Violence Reduction Unit have published a report that explores the scale and nature of child/adolescent to parent violence and abuse in London.

Description

The Comprehensive Needs Assessment of Child/Adolescent to Parent Violence and Abuse in London (2022) report was commissioned by the London Violence Reduction Unit.

The report- aim was to improve understanding of the prevalence and nature of children and young people’s use of violence and abuse towards parents/carers in London. The report further aims to support implementing a coherent strategy and policy response to partnership work.

The study adopted a mixed-methods approach including a series of interviews with young people and parents/carers.

The study found that there is no single driver of child/adolescent to parent violence and abuse There are multiple complex, and intersecting, common pathways which increase the vulnerability of both parents/carers and children/young people to violence and abuse. These include (but are not limited to) adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and trauma, structural factors that impact parental capacity, exploitation and extra-familial harm, exposure to domestic abuse, unmet emotional and psychological needs and unidentified special educational and disability (SEND) needs.

The report summarises 10 recommendations to inform good practice:

  1. Establish the variation in terminology and definitions of child/adolescent to parent violence and abuse used by different statutory services and voluntary and community sector organisations to inform the development of statutory guidance.
  2. Promote an understanding of child/adolescent to parent violence and abuse both as a form of domestic abuse, as well as potentially symptomatic of other child protection/safeguarding issues such as extra-familial harm as well as exposure to abuse and violence in the family home.
  3. Statutory guidance to support the development of a longitudinal dataset on the incidence of child/adolescent to parent violence and abuse.
  4. Support all services to identify and develop more specialist expertise in understanding the dynamics of child/adolescent to parent violence and abuse.
  5. Encourage tailored responses to child/adolescent to parent violence and abuse.
  6. Raise and embed awareness and understanding of child/adolescent to parent violence and abuse as a form of domestic abuse distinct from intimate-partner violence.
  7. Facilitate greater multi-agency collaboration on child/adolescent to parent violence and abuse cases and consider the development of a multi-agency information sharing forum for professionals to discuss high-risk cases.
  8. Train and develop child/adolescent to parent violence and abuse champions in each London borough- children- social care / safeguarding team.
  9. Ensure pan-London coverage of child/adolescent to parent violence and abuse specific services.
  10. Commission independent evaluation which examines the existing intervention models used to respond to child/adolescent to parent violence and abuse across London.