‘Who’s in Charge’ Child to Parent Violence Programme – Suffolk Youth Justice Service
Summary:
An overview of the ‘Who’s In Charge’ Child to Parent Violence and Abuse programme.
Description:
Who- in charge is a Child/Adolescent to Parent Violence and Abuse (C/PVA) programme delivered to the parents/carers of children and young people aged 8-18 who exhibit aggressive or abusive behaviour within the family home. The programme is two and a half hours long each week for 9 weeks.
The programme is delivered and run by specifically trained staff and can be adapted to a multi-agency approach including Schools, Youth Justice Services (YJS), Domestic Abuse agencies, Health Teams, Children- Services and charities such as National Society for the Prevention of Child Cruelty (NSPCC). It recognises the risks to the safety and well-being of young people, their parents and their families, when aggressive/abusive behaviour is exhibited. To this end, it seeks to reduce the abusive behaviour of young people and help to re-build family relationships. Our work has been recognised with a can parent national quality mark by Parenting UK, part of Family Lives.
Aims:
- Support parents of children and young people aged 8-18, some of whom are in the Youth Justice System, who are being violent and abusive towards parents and carers.
- Reduce the level of violence and abuse by young people against their parents/carers
- Reducing parental stress and anxiety, guilt and shame
- Rebuilding family relationships – both parent to child and child to siblings
- Improving family functionality by helping to build responsibility in children and parents
What makes it work:
- Partnership working through a multi-agency approach
- Works with a wide range of young people in the Youth Justice System including those with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities such as Autism and Asperger-
- Pre and post evaluation for each programme to enable effective lessons learned approach
- Programme uses a family based therapeutic approach
Implementing the practice:
- Suffolk Youth Justice Service run Who’s in Charge with other partners as agreed by senior managers
- Staff are identified via Personal Development Records and trained as facilitators for Who’s in Charge
- Staff are provided advice and guidance around referral criteria by Who’s in Charge
- Following the completion of the programme all parents are contacted by a Who’s in Charge facilitator
Contacts:
| Organisation: | Ipswich Borough Council/Suffolk Youth Justice Service |
| Name: | Carole Williams/Louise Thomas |
| Telephone: | 01473 433 438/01473 260 110 |
| Email: |