Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen has addressed multi-agency partners at a conference highlighting the innovative work underway to tackle violence from young people towards their parents or caregivers.
The County Durham and Darlington PCC was invited to open the Durham Child to Parent Abuse Conference where she provided an overview of the journey to provide enhanced support for families impacted by child to parent abuse.
Child and Adolescent to Parent Violence and Abuse (known as CAPVA) is a pattern of harmful behaviour that children and adolescents use against their parents or caregivers to hurt, punish, communicate distress or control their environment.
These behaviours can include physical violence, emotional, economic or sexual abuse, and/or coercive control. It may also include damage to property and abuse towards other family members such as siblings.
In 2021 and 2022, Durham was awarded government funding to deliver behaviour change and support programmes for families where children or young people aged between eight to 18 are abusive or violent towards the people closest to them, particularly parents and caregivers.
Importantly, the interventions sought to provide help and support that the families deserved without labelling or criminalising children and young people as perpetrators.
In the first year, training was delivered to 230 professionals while 800 relevant professionals were engaged in awareness raising sessions.
Additionally, a victim safety worker supported 11 families.
In the second year, the support worker supported 48 families.
Funding was also invested in further training for team leaders and the incorporation of the Respect Young People Program into the school curriculum.
The conference heard from domestic abuse specialists and academic experts involved in the delivery of the projects about the impact the support has had on reducing risk and improving safety.
Delegates also heard from families themselves who had been supported through the programmes and how these experiences were helping to shape future services and provision to address CAPVA.
Commissioner Allen said: “Child to parent abuse is a complex issue and although it falls within the scope of domestic abuse, we have worked very hard locally to take a holistic approach to address the needs of a family.
“There is much to celebrate in progress we have made so far.
“As Commissioner, I have spoken to many parents and caregivers impacted by child to parent abuse and the contributing factors that drive this behaviour.
“It was invaluable to learn from the experts working with these families to understand the risk factors and how we can prevent further cases in the future.
“I am grateful to the parents and caregivers who shared their experiences during the day.
“Our approach in Durham is clearly making a difference to these families and we are all determined to do more.
“We understand that for parents to report their experiences, they need to be confident that the help they need will be available to them and it is by listening and inviting the victim’s voice that we will continue to improve.”