The Pilot Evaluation Report, authored by Dr Jessica Ozan, Sandor Gellen, Prof Chris Fox, Prof Stephen Morris and Rebecca Cargill, has now been published on the What Works for Children’s Social Care (WWCSC) website.

This report is an evaluation of the We Can Talk About Domestic Abuse (WCTADA) programme.

WCTADA is a pilot that aims to improve the experience of social care processes for those parents and children affected by domestic abuse so that they feel believed, supported and empowered, while being appropriately safeguarded. It seeks to improve safeguarding and child protection processes for the benefit of all involved.

The project established a small team of eight subject-matter experts who can provide challenge and support to social workers in their daily practice (i.e. 1 Manager, 3 Domestic Abuse Practice Professionals (DAPPs), 3 Domestic Abuse Family Advocates (DAFAs) and 1 Project Officer). Three streams of work were developed focusing on:

1. Whole family approach and active participation
2. Reflective practice among professional(s) supporting them
3. System change

The evaluation identifies a number of key challenges facing programme implementation:

• The length of time taken to set up the programme, which was longer than intended
• Staff turnover, the need to upskill project staff, particularly DAFAs who generally didn’t have
  previous relevant professional training
• Adjusting to the pandemic
• Engaging social workers
• Managing the potential tension between a child and a family focus