Project Helping Children Impacted by Domestic Abuse Supports Over 1,000 Families

Cornwall Project Offers Lifeline to Families Affected by Domestic Abuse

A Cornwall-wide project aimed at supporting children and families impacted by domestic abuse has reached a major milestone, providing assistance to more than 1,000 families in just two-and-a-half years.

Since its launch in March 2022, Family Domestic Abuse Support Advisors (Family DASAs) have worked alongside Cornwall Council’s Family Assessment Teams (FAST) in nine locations: Launceston, Liskeard, Bodmin, St Austell, Newquay, Truro, Camborne, Redruth, and Penzance. By embedding domestic abuse experts directly into social work teams, the project ensures families get the help they need as quickly as possible.

Face-to-Face Support Making a Difference

Family DASAs, employed by the domestic abuse charity First Light, provide face-to-face guidance to families, offering support at home and through drop-in sessions at Cornwall’s Family Hubs. Working closely with children’s social workers, the DASAs are able to address the unique needs of children impacted by domestic abuse, helping them recover and remain safely within their families.

Rebecca Sargent, head of service and project lead at Cornwall Council, highlighted the importance of the programme:
“Domestic abuse can have a far-reaching impact on the lives of children and their families. It can impact on a child’s health, education and social needs and there may be other issues such as housing and financial difficulties that children and families experience as a result of domestic abuse.
“The Family DASAs are able to work together with social workers and other social care staff to enable children and their families to access support which means they quickly get the right help they need.”

Comprehensive Support for Families

The project focuses on improving outcomes for children by addressing their perspectives and empowering families to create safer environments. Key aspects include:

• Building relationships with families to support meaningful change.
• Working closely with children’s social care staff to ensure children’s voices are heard.
• Conducting risk assessments and connecting families to integrated services.
• Providing advocacy for individuals of all genders impacted by domestic abuse.
• Developing tailored safety plans in collaboration with other organisations.

Ann Toms, domestic abuse manager at First Light, praised the project’s impact:
“The Family DASA project has really gone from strength to strength and now plays a vital and integral role in child safeguarding.
“Our advisors are experts in domestic abuse and perfectly placed to provide help and guidance to both the social work teams and the families and children who have been impacted.”

Family DASA (Domestic Abuse Support Advisor) case study – Sarah

Sarah (not her real name) is a mother-of-three and is expecting her fourth child. She has been working with Cornwall Council’s social care team on and off since 2019.  

Sarah has been in several abusive relationships and her children have witnessed a lot of abuse. One of her ex-partners would even call her children down to watch her being abused and degraded.  

Sarah started a new relationship with a man called Daniel and very quickly became pregnant. Daniel soon revealed himself to be extremely controlling and abusive. Last year he kicked and strangled Sarah and she had a miscarriage.   

Sarah had disclosed to her social worker the abuse she has suffered and made a police statement, following which Daniel was arrested and placed on police bail. It was at this point Sarah was referred to First Light but was not ready to take up this offer of support.  

Sarah did engage with the criminal justice system and was putting things in place to safeguard her children. She had also ended the relationship.  

The police involvement concluded and no further action was taken due to Sarah withdrawing from the legal process. She slowly started to let Daniel back into her life and became pregnant again. She then quickly recognised that Daniel’s behaviour had not changed.   

Daniel assaulted Sarah again and she asked him to leave the family home out of concern for her and her children’s safety. She disclosed to her social worker that she was afraid of Daniel explaining that he had come back into their lives and she was now fearful about what he would do next.  

The social worker introduced Sarah to a Family DASA from First Light and they quickly built a trusting relationship. At the time of the referral, Sarah’s risk level had increased due to the recent separation and working closely with the social worker they were able to put in a robust safety plan which extended to other family members.   

Sarah was given support through the criminal justice system where her long-term safety was prioritised. The Family DASA was able to provide domestic abuse awareness and other referral pathways were made within the integrated service to support Sarah and her children.  

This case demonstrates effective collaborative working between First Light and social work teams. Working closely, addressing risk and being able to access resources has enabled Sarah and her family to remain in their property. They are no longer living in fear and are now on their way to recovery. 

Accessing Support in Cornwall

Support is available for anyone impacted by domestic abuse through Safer Futures at 0300 777 4 777.
If you are concerned about the safety of a child in Cornwall, contact the Multi-Agency Referral Unit (MARU) via email at multiagencyreferralunit@cornwall.gov.uk or call 0300 123 1116. More information can be found on the Cornwall Council website.