Launching Partner Abuse Interventions
- Claire Verney
- Sep 17
- 6 min read
DVACT-PAI launch a new wraparound assessment and treatment service enabling parents to demonstrate that they can make positive changes to behaviours of concern more quickly alongside an expert assessment
DVACT-PAI have been developing bespoke interventions for families affected by domestic abuse for many years and has a suite of treatment programmes which can be offered to families involved with children’s services. We are now offering a wraparound service, Partner Abuse Interventions (PAI), which ties together expert assessment based on empirically derived indicators and targeted treatment aimed at achieving genuine progress for parents in protecting their children.
Why offer a wraparound service?
The traditional route whereby a generic intervention is sourced in the early stages of local authority involvement is often unsuitable for the complex needs of parents within child protection measures, resulting in a lack of progress which moves the case into care proceedings. Assessments completed within care proceedings that indicate that parents are able to make the necessary changes when offered a tailored intervention often leads to a delay in proceedings while parents complete the work or parents are not given the opportunity to attend an intervention due to restrictions in the court timetable.
DVACT-PAI have responded to meet this gap in provision by offering a wraparound Family Safety Assessment and treatment programme. This provides an opportunity for parents to receive an intervention more quickly and to demonstrate that they can make positive changes to behaviours of concern.
Completing a targeted treatment intervention at an early stage that aims to achieve genuine progress for parents in protecting their children, shortens timescales, provides evidence as to the parents ability to safeguard the child and avoid further proceedings. The accompanying assessment report will push the case forward providing an expert opinion on the risk posed to the child, and fills a gap in evidence as to whether parents are able to safeguard their child.
Clinical Manager, Tracey Boylan, with over 30 years’ experience in forensic responses to domestic abuse said:
The inspiration behind the development of this intervention has been the persistent delays in childcare proceedings resulting from a failure to source appropriate interventions at an earliest stage. The process whereby expert assessments make recommendations for further work at final hearings contains a built-in delay because treatment options which would enhance the safety of the children and potentially increase the capacity of carers to protect them are considered within the tightest possible timescales. Further adjournments can often occur while work is sourced, takes place and is assessed for effectiveness. Even then it is often the case that an intervention is too generic or insufficiently robust to offer a realistic prospect of change and the children have waited longer for permanence and stability”.
How does it work?
This intervention involves the parent attending an initial 2 hour assessment interview with an expert risk assessor who will advise on the right route for the parent. An initial suitability assessment report will be provided within 2 weeks of this, including positive and negative indicators for treatment and a bespoke treatment plan. This will be followed by a 12-week intervention and a final interview to complete the full risk and vulnerability assessment report, including the progress made within the intervention.
What types of interventions are available?
Needs PAI - A Needs PAI includes a Family Safety risk, vulnerability or joint assessment alongside a 12 session programme that meets the immediate child protection concerns around safety and increasing accountability. Victim work will concentrate on domestic abuse education, safety planning and recognising risk. A perpetrator intervention will involve motivational work to increase levels of acceptance with the aim of moving them to a position where they will be suitable for a full behavioural change programme.
The Needs Intervention path is suitable for:
Victims who remain in a relationship with the abuser
Where there is limited acceptance of the risk concerns by the parent
Where mental health and substance misuse difficulties are likely to hinder the parents ability to engage on an intensive programme of behavioural change
High levels of trauma
Perpetrators whose level of denial, minimisation and blame mean they are unsuitable for a full behaviour change programme.
Where high levels of trauma mean that a focused trauma intervention is required, TraumaSense can be delivered. TraumaSense is a professionally designed, trauma-informed, psychoeducational programme developed to support adult survivors of domestic abuse who are struggling with the long-term emotional, psychological, and somatic impacts of trauma. The programme is rooted in the latest evidence-based research and trauma theory providing a unique and empowering pathway to post-traumatic growth.
Behaviour Change PAI - This intervention includes a risk or vulnerability assessment alongside a full intensive behaviour change programme. The 12 session victims programme will focus on the attachment to the abusive partner, with reflective work on how the attachment was formed and how the mothers vulnerability to further abuse can be reduced. The full 24 session Domestic Abuse Prevention Programme (DAPP) will be delivered to the offending parent with twice weekly sessions.
The Behaviour Change Intervention path is suitable for:
Victims no longer living with the abusive partner who are willing to reflect on their previous relationship
Perpetrators that make some admissions of their abusive behaviour
There are no mental health or substance misuse issues that would reduce the effectiveness of an intervention.
All sessions and assessment interviews take place using video calling on a one-to-one basis with a trained, experienced facilitator. Assessment reports are completed by expert domestic abuse risk assessors who meet the necessary standards to provide child focused Expert Domestic Abuse Risk Assessments.
What are the timescales and costs?
Programmes can are delivered weekly over 12 weeks or twice weekly over 6 weeks (please note that the full DAPP is only available twice weekly over 12 weeks) with the full final family safety assessment report filed 4 weeks after programme completion.
A comparison of timescales and costs for consecutive assessment and intervention and Partner Abuse Interventions are set out in the table below:
*Completed consecutively refers to cases where there is a full family safety assessment, followed by attendance on the relevant programme and a final report provided 4 weeks following completion.
For both options, timescales commence once we receive all necessary documents, contact details, funding confirmation, and the referral form or Letter of Instruction (LOI). In some cases, it may be possible to deliver the 12-week programs with twice-weekly sessions instead of once a week, which would reduce the overall timeframe for both options. However, the assessor would need to determine if this accelerated schedule is suitable for the mother.
How do I make a referral?
PAI's are only available to parents who are within child protection measures or care proceedings and are referred by a children's social worker. To start we require a completed referral form, documents related to the case (full court bundle or social work documents) and confirmation of funding.
To make a referral or for further information you can contact us at programmes@dvact.org
For more information on Family Safety Assessments you can visit our Assessments page and for details of our bespoke please Programmes visit our new dedicated website at dvactprogrammes.org.
About us
DV-ACT are a team of domestic abuse experts, available throughout the UK, who provide assessments, programmes, consultancy and training to local authorities and the family courts. Our experts have decades of experience working directly with domestic abuse perpetrators and victims, as specialist assessors and as expert witnesses in the family courts.
DV-ACT was formed with the aim of using our expertise to help safeguard children from abuse, this is at the heart of everything that we do. To read more about us please visit our post - Who are DV-ACT?
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