Perpetrator Issues
DRIVE Webchat for Professionals working with domestic abuse perpetrators
The DRIVE Project has teamed up with the Respect Phoneline to offer support and guidance to professionals on working with high-harm, high-risk and complex-needs perpetrators of domestic abuse. .A Drive Expert Advisor is available to offer free support and guidance via webchat every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday between the hours of 10am-12pm and 2-4pm for 6 months, starting on Thursday 28 May. This service is available to all professionals – Social Workers, Probation Officers, Mental Health and Health Care professionals, Domestic Violence Advisors, Police Officers etc at the following link
https://respectphoneline.org.uk/frontline-workers/
DRIVE want to promote safe working and ensuring all voices are captured within the professionals work. The work isn’t effective unless it’s done in a multi-agency way. Services need to be speaking to each other to share information and insight around the victim, perpetrator and any children.. Ideally there will be a worker identified for the victim and one for the perpetrator but this may not be possible in all circumstances (ie Children’s Social Care). Trust within the working relationship is important so this lends itself to that but transparency about the process is also important too.
The DRIVE Advisor will go through a checklist with the professional asking questions such as has it been DASH’d? Has it gone to MARAC? What’s is your relationship like with the family and how often are you in contact with the perpetrator?
Where local perpetrator interventions exist, the DRIVE Advisor will signpost to these. However, there are currently no perpetrator interventions in Cambridgeshire or Peterborough other than those run by Probation services.
The service can be a useful action to consider for MARAC chairs. If it is felt that not enough work is happening with the perpetrator then an action could be tasked for the lead worker to contact DRIVE Webchat to help them shape the work.
With very complex cases, the DRIVE Advisor can arrange a case discussion over the telephone which is then followed up with a transcript emailed to the worker.
If the DRIVE Webchat service is used the worker must share this with other agencies involved with the perpetrator and victim including MARAC and IDVA Service.