Objectives
- To develop and exchange best practice in establishing specialised services to enable women and children to recover and reduce the need for removal of children
- To empower women victims of domestic violence (DV) in steering and delivering the project to ensure services are responsive to their needs
- To develop the ‘invest to save’ business case for establishing specialised services and develop recommendations for establishing provision at local, regional and national level across partner countries
- To improve awareness and understanding of the needs of target beneficiaries and encourage and assist member states to develop service options that address gaps in provision
Activities
- Steering Committee in the UK, in Romania and in Italy, with the involvement of women survivors of domestic violence, organised in the Shadow Women’s Board
- Organisation of 4 Round Tables on the topics of birth mothers and families and implementing adequate support services to prevent the placement of children from women living in violent environment – stakeholders, academics, researchers, policy makers, practitioners and the women’s shadow boards will be directly engaged
- Desk-based and qualitative research (interviews with women survivors and practitioners) to map the existing services and report on the best practices in delivering support to the target group
- Design and implementation of new services delivered as pilot projects for women at risk of losing a child to care as a result of domestic violence
- Development of a Best Practice Toolkit for practitioners, based on the findings of the research, the Transnational Workshops, the Round Tables, the women’s shadow board, and pilot project evaluations
Results
- Women’s Resources and Women’s Shadow Board
- 4 Pilot Projects in UK, Romania, Hungary and Italy
- 4 Transnational Workshops and 4 Round Tables on the topics of birth mothers and families
- Desk-top Literature and Best Practice Review
- Pilot Project Evaluation Report
- Best Practice Tool
- Final Dissemination Conference in the UK
Partners
- Coordinator: RBKC – Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (United Kingdom)
- Advance (United Kingdom)
- Inclusion (United Kingdom)
- CFCECAS – Center for Lifelong Learning and Evaluation of Skills in Social Work (Romania)
- G-Led (Hungary)
- Borgorete (Italy)
Associated Partners
- Westminster City Council (United Kingdom)
- London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (United Kingdom)
