Exploring Expertise: Caring for Children who have Experienced Domestic Abuse

THEME

Exposure to domestic abuse can have long-term consequences for children’s health and development. These may not be immediately apparent once children have been removed from an abusive home and are living with alternative carers. The impact of domestic abuse can be missed in assessment and planning, resulting in children not receiving the level of care and support they need.

This Good Practice Guide is the first to focus primarily on supporting children who have witnessed or experienced domestic abuse prior to coming into care. It offers information on how domestic abuse affects children at different ages and stages in their development, the care these children need, and how best to assess, prepare and support them and the families caring for them.

Packed with information, it focuses on several pertinent issues, including:

• What are the legal protections available to the abused parent as well as to children?
• How does domestic abuse impact on parenting?
• What are the effects on children who have experienced or been exposed to domestic abuse?
• How should social workers consider these in their assessments of, and plans for, a child?
• How should children’s contact needs – with family members as well as previous foster carers – be addressed?
• What information and skills do alternative families need to help care for them and promote their welfare?

WATCH THE RECORDING

The session is aimed at social workers, managers, panel members, other professionals and foster and kinship carers, special guardians and adopters.

For social workers, reflection on this session may contribute to your continuing professional development (CPD).

Members can watch recordings of previous Exploring Expertise Webinars here.

PRESENTERS

Professor Hedy Cleaver is an emeritus professor at Royal Holloway College, University of London. Her experience as a social worker and child psychologist informs her research on vulnerable children and families and the impact of professional interventions. The findings from her research have had an identifiable impact on policy in the UK in respect to children and families over the last 30 years. 

Wendy Rose OBE held children’s policy responsibilities at the Department of Health as Assistant Chief Inspector, following social work and senior management experience in the NHS and local authority.  As a Senior Research Fellow at the Open University, she worked on research and development projects.  During this time, she acted as a professional adviser to the Scottish Government on developing its children’s policy, Getting it right for every child.  Latterly, she worked with the Welsh Government on its safeguarding reforms and was an Honorary Research Fellow at Cardiff University.  

This talk will focus on Hedy and Wendy's 2022 publication: Cleaver, H. and Rose W. (2022) Caring for children who have experienced domestic abuse, CoramBAAF.