ADVA PARTNERSHIP MEETING MINUTES
Monday 14th January 2008
The Ockment Centre, Okehampton
Present: Roy Tomlinson (Chair) (adva); Susannah Hunter (adva); Mary Mitchell (Probation); Michael Beechener (DCC); Peter Dale (South Devon & Dartmoor CDRP); Alison Allen (Devon PCT & NDHCT); Rachel Martin (adva); Rose Neave (SEEDS); Marion Braund (PPSA); Andy Stapley (PPSA); Gemma Newbery (CYPS Psychology Service); Lisa Jennings (Devon Strategic Housing Group); Paula Wilson (SDWA); Anne-Marie Parkin (NDWA); Ruth Saltmarsh (St Petroc’s, Exeter); DS Bob Brown (Police); Ann Burgoyne (Exeter Women’s Aid); David Taylor (Police); John Vellacott (Police); Maureen Reed (Judiciary); Kristina Edwards (Exeter Women’s Aid); Collette Winters (Exeter Women’s Aid); Vicky Smith (Exeter Women’s Aid); Michael Miller (Exeter City Council); R Brown (LSCB); Beverley Dubash (CYPS); Sally Kingdon (Police); Lesley Valentine (Police); Sallie Horner (Exeter Family Intervention Project); Alice Woods (Exeter Women’s Aid); Paul Grimsey (Adult and Community Services, DCC); Jo Morrish (adva trainer); Kath Jones (North Devon Women’s Aid); Briany Williamson (NDWA); Helen Hyland (Devon PCT); Jane Gilchrist (Devon LMC); Heather Welch (Victim Support); Kathryn Alsop (HMP Exeter); Nikki Phillips (Early Years & Childcare, DCC); Emma Charnley (Exeter Women’s Aid); Sally Bullingham-Taylor (Torbay Safer Communities); Christian Gape (Southernhay Chambers); Deborah Booth (CYPS); Jennie Goodwin (SEEDS); Karen Furey (SEEDS); Becky Carmichael (PCT DV lead).
Apologies Received: Cllr Jill Owen (Chair); Christine McKenna (SD Women’s Aid); Julia Ryder (Mid Devon DV Forum); Bill Pascoe (Police); Iain Mellis (Devon DAAT); Chris Pearson (Exeter Women’s Aid); Jo Tennant (BCU Commander, Police); Avril Mewes (Exeter University); Angie Mudge (CYPS); Jan Chapman (YOT); Lyn Davis (CYPS); Liz Rafferty (CYPS – Parenting); Cathy Kingham (ND WA); Janice Healey (adva); Claire Heaver (adva); Christine Fritsch (adva); Zoe Joslin (Central Devon Magistrates Court); Sue McGrath (YOT).
Item No / Item for discussion & action points / Action to be completed by who? / Deadline for action to be completed / Who needs to be told? / Action completed?1 / Roy welcomed everyone to the meeting and noted the following:
Funding: Devon County Council has recently agreed to commit ‘permanent’ money to the adva budget from 2008: this is very positive news and the start of sustainable commitment from statutory agencies which adva would like to see replicated by the police and pct. There remains an uncertainty about other agency funding contributions for 2008 in part due to deliberations over the Local Area Agreement pooled resources.
Targets: From April 2008 there will a raised focus on domestic violence, prompted by a shift in central government from targeting volume crime to serious crime. These will be backed by the Police new performance management APACS targets which include 6 specifically on domestic violence:
· % dv offences leading to arrest
· % reduction in repeat victims via MARACs
· proportion of DV offences based on ‘honour’
· proportion of repeat dv-related offences on probation perpetrator programme
· proportion offences brought to justice convicted as a result of arrest
· incidents of dv per 1000 population.
For details of these targets: http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/performance-and-measurement/assess-policing-community-safety/apacs-vision-and-aims?version=1
The achievement of current Public Service Agreement (2005-2008) targets by April 2008 (increasing reporting & increasing brought to justice outcomes) looks positive. If successfully achieved it is hoped that adva will receive reward money.
Devon’s DVA services: In 2007-8 there has been an expansion to the services with the addition of: new SDVC Idva for North Devon; new SDVC idva for South Devon; new housing idva (hosted by NDWA) to identify increased housing options for victims/survivors. North Devon/Torridge and South Devon/Torbay are applying for Specialist Domestic Violence Court status (17.1.08) and if successful will secure 3 year idva post part-funding from central government.
eConsultation: the Home Affairs Committee is asking survivors of domestic violence to participate in this national eConsutation between 21 Jan and 29 Feb: http://forums.parliament.uk/dvec
Children and Young People Plan consultation: If you would like to contribute to this please do by 31.1.08: http://www.devon.gov.uk/cypplan2008-draft.pdf
Vulnerable Adults workshop: If you would like to attend this event, looking at referral pathways for vulnerable adults on 7.2.08, please contact
Two further workshops by Alan Jenkins, from Adelaide, Australia (author of ‘Invitations to Responsibility’ are on offer in London or Manchester: ‘Restorative Practice After Domestic Abuse: ethics, justice, and accountability’ and ‘Making it fair: respectful intervention with disadvantaged young people who have enacted violence and abuse’. For details: www.narrativepractice.com
Directory of Services in Devon: This is imminently available.
Adva newsletter: This will be emailed out within the week.
November 2008 conference: adva is in the process of analysing the evaluation forms but anecdotally this event was successful in its aim of influencing strategic change in practices relating to children and young people. Some feedback is in the adva newsletter.
Sexual Violence Conference: on 1st February, Eden Project, Cornwall. For details email / n/a
Awareness Week 2007: The consensus was that this year (fourth) received the best publicity with two TV slots and 17 newspaper articles and daily radio advertising and interviews across Devon. There were 3 silent/noisy marches (Exeter, Barnstaple, Okehampton); a MADA music event; lottery, bingo, football photoshoot, supermarket publicity etc. Thank you to those dedicated DV Forum individuals who annually work so hard to achieve increased awareness.
Awareness Week 2008: This will be 24-28 November 2008 but activities will continue throughout the year. (see Andy Stapley if interested in joining the Planning Group). Many thanks to Andy Stapley and the SEEDS Group for their work on Music Against Domestic Abuse.
Women’s Aid work in Devon: Ann-Marie Parkin has been an innovative, proactive and dedicated manager of North Devon Women’s Aid for 10 years. She gave an insightful and moving presentation on the scale and scope of the adva-funded work undertaken by Devon’s three Women’s Aid organisations:
· Outreach (8 fte workers, one per district)
· Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (4 fte supporting MARACs and 3 fte supprting SDVCs)
· Women’s Support Workers (3 fte supporting REPAIR)
· Children and Young People Workers (3 fte)
· Refuges (supporting children – supporting 225 children a year)
· Pattern Changing programmes (15 courses a year, 14 week programme for 12 women per programme). For further details of these services please access their websites: http://www.exeterwomensaid.org.uk/ ; http://www.sdwa.org.uk/ ;
Chief Crown Prosecutor Tracy Easton: Adva was delighted to welcome the recently appointed to D&C Chief Crown Prosecutor who gave a lively and fascinating presentation on her role as leader of the Crown Prosecution Service. D&C has 60 prosecutors dealing with 39,000 cases a year on a budget of £5.5 million. Tracy believes that the majority of these cases are linked to domestic violence, affecting children, parents, partners, elder abuse. Her key focus was on ‘mainstreaming’ the issue of dva and cited 3 methods to introduce this:
· Video links with pre-recorded evidence so the victim only has to tell the story once
· Piloting ‘pre-meets’ with the victims with clear boundaries in place
· Victimless prosecutions, with caution as magistrates find it hard to convict without the victim present.
Tracy would welcome an improvement in rape/domestic violence cases being prosecuted as every day a rape case is reported at every police station in D&C and yet by the end of that day only 3 in total will not withdraw. Domestic Violence cases are the biggest cause for retractions or ‘failed’ cases in D&C which reinforces the need for specialist idva intervention to stay close with the victim/survivor.
Task Groups: The Partnership divided into four Task Groups: Training & Awareness; Survivors; Children and Young people and Perpetrators from 12.00 – 1.00 pm. For copies of the minutes of these Task Group meetings please contact www.adva.org.uk
Adva timelines: There was laid out on the floor 3 20’ sheets of paper; the first, created in 2005-6 by the adva Executive Group, showed all that had happened since the creation of adva; the second, created by the adva team Dec 2007, reflected the adva work in 2007; the third was for today’s partnership to write down any work they would like to see in 2008 onwards. Below are the summarised views of the partnership:
· More support for children and young people (mentioned a lot)
· Working with children from early years to build awareness
· More funding for direct work with children and women
· Ongoing support for CYPS staff to continue supporting children in refuge and outreach
· CYP Outreach post focussed on running courses
· Mum and child family therapy / facilitated family meetings (run concurrently)
· Support for schools
o Promotion of named person responsible for dv in schools
o Training for children
o For staff as possible victims and perpetrators]
· Schools awareness worker promoting safe relationships
· Course for children with abusive behaviour – e.g. Changing Places programme
· Play and art therapy for under 5’s (sessional worker?)
· Therapeutic support services
· How is all the work being fed/taken on board into the AXS pathway work?
· Parenting support for families who have experienced dv
· More feedback to DCC Chief Exec on the work of adva
· CDRP statutory partners should have dv policies for employees
· Develop the adva/cyps group
· Monitor and report the completion rate of senior managers on DCC training to DCC Corporate Management Board
· Look again at DCC policy to build into ‘Managing Absence’ policy
· Take up Tracy Easton’s offer ….we need to be creative on this (?)
· Better liaison between DVOs and CPS
· Sexual violence idva/isva
· More outreach staff / hours
· More training / training for everyone (who come into contact with people!)
· DV awareness as part of the Devon Youth Service structured programme
· SDVC in North Devon
· Adva to respond to the CYP Plan consultation by 31.1.08 – important to be logged as a respondent
· More pattern-changing so we don’t have to have 14 women in a group
· Pattern changing for young people – boys and girls (13-15): should be compulsory/national curriculum
· Health Business Plan
Date of Next Meeting: 15th May 2008, morning : Ockment Centre, Okehampton: There will be a presentation from Sophie Otter (National Offender Managers) and Peter Mitchell (CAFCASS).
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