The Scottish Government

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Scottish Government's Purpose and the focus of public services is to make Scotland a more successful country, with opportunities for all to flourish through increasing sustainable economic growth. Investing in our people and our communities and laying foundations for the wellbeing and achievement of our children and young people will enable us to deliver on our five Strategic Objectives - to create a wealthier & fairer, smarter, healthier, greener, safer & stronger society.

This is an ambitious agenda and one which is supported by a new relationship between national and local government based on mutual respect and partnership. Foundation for this relationship is commitment, set out by the Concordat between the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities ( COSLA) and Scottish Ministers, to work together towards shared National Outcomes for Scotland's people. There are three National Outcomes that relate specifically to children and young people -

• Our children have the best start in life and are ready to succeed.
• Our young people are successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens.
• We have improved the life chances for children, young people and families at risk.

We want to give all our children opportunities to thrive and ensure that the environment they grow up in, their homes and their communities, and the relationships they form are safe, nurturing and enable them to realise their enormous potential. We recognise that many thousands of children and young people in Scotland are affected by domestic abuse, in their home or in their own young relationships, and as a consequence, face significant obstacles to realising their potential. Improving outcomes for these children and young people, and taking action to prevent and reduce the impact of domestic abuse on future generations is a vital priority if we are to deliver on our National Outcomes and Strategic Objectives.

Our most significant challenge lies in the acknowledgement that some obstacles children face can be exacerbated by the many different, and sometimes conflicting, ways that individuals, agencies and communities work to tackle domestic abuse. We believe that a robust response to children and young people affected by domestic abuse requires a common framework of action, based on partnership and a shared understanding of the needs, views and wishes of children themselves. It also requires a commitment, at a local and national level, to challenge and change the ingrained culture, systems and practices within agencies, as well as the individual attitudes or preconceptions about domestic abuse which can further disadvantage children, young people and families at risk.

The National Domestic Abuse Delivery Plan for Children and Young People¹ signals our intention to drive forward the agenda for change, in the context of the new partnership environment between Government and local government, and improve outcomes for children and young people affected by domestic abuse, their families and communities. The Delivery Plan sets out a common framework based on Getting it right for every child principles and values and the aims of the National Strategy to Address Domestic Abuse in Scotland (2000). The framework recognises Government's definition of domestic abuse as 'gender based abuse', requiring a response that takes into account and addresses the persistent inequalities between men and women in Scotland.

The Delivery Plan sets out thirteen Priorities for Action we will resource and progress with our partners over the next three years, to enable more effective protection, provision, prevention and participation for all children, young people and their families affected, or at risk of being affected, by domestic abuse in Scotland.

Our Priorities for Action include:

PROTECTION

1. Improve the National Health Service ( NHS Scotland) identification of and response to the needs of women and children affected by domestic abuse.

2. Develop a universal, systematic approach to information gathering and decision making that will place children's needs and wishes at the heart of agencies' response to domestic abuse.

3. Develop interventions targeted at perpetrators of domestic abuse which are integrated with appropriate support services for women and children.

4. Further develop specialist approaches to the handling of domestic abuse cases within the criminal justice system.

5. Ensure children and young people affected by domestic abuse do not experience additional physical, emotional or psychological harm as a consequence of contact arrangements (both court and privately arranged) with the abusive parent.

PROVISION

6. Ensure all children and young people affected by domestic abuse have access to specialist services that meet their needs.

7. Develop and pilot a community-based model of groupwork intervention for children and their mothers affected by domestic abuse.

8. Reduce the risk to women and children of becoming homeless as a consequence of domestic abuse and ensure, whenever necessary, they are supported to make the move into safe and suitable accommodation without facing additional emotional, economic or social disadvantages.

9. Ensure a consistent, holistic approach to children and young people affected by domestic abuse through the development of skilled workforces and robust inter-agency working.

PREVENTION THROUGH EDUCATION

10. Improve the way that schools and school staff respond to domestic abuse and to the additional support needs of children and young people affected by domestic abuse.

11. Support individuals, organisations and communities across Scotland to engage in local action aimed at preventing and reducing the harm caused by domestic abuse to children, young people, their families and communities.

12. Ensure the general public understands the impact of domestic abuse on children and young people from the perspective of children and young people, and ensure children and young people themselves know what to do and where to get help if they are affected by domestic abuse.

PARTICIPATION

13. Ensure the ongoing participation of children and young people affected by domestic abuse in developing policy and practice to address domestic abuse.

Further information on the Priority Areas for Action and on how these will be delivered can be found in the main body of this document.

Each Priority Area has been identified and developed by the National Domestic Abuse Delivery Group for Children and Young People²( NDADG) in consultation with children and young people affected by domestic abuse. We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone involved in the NDADG, especially the children and young people whose tremendous expertise, insight and enthusiasm has been, and will continue to be, the driving force behind our work. Their views and experiences, as well as the views of the broader NDADG membership, are reflected throughout the body of this document.

The development phase of the National Domestic Abuse Delivery Plan for Children and Young People is complete with the publication of this document. It will now enter a three-year implementation and review phase (2008-11). We recognise that much of the work we have committed to take forward under the thirteen Priority Areas is 'unchartered territory' and will require people to maintain a broad outlook and a willingness to test new approaches. There will undoubtedly be challenges, but there will also be many exciting opportunities to learn how we can do things better. We see value, therefore, in a step approach to implementing the Delivery Plan, with inbuilt mechanisms to review progress at every step. To support this approach, we have put in place structures that will enable the NDADG to map out the direction and pace of change based on emerging evidence and in line with progressive capacity building of services and agencies across Scotland.

A key structure for the Delivery Plan implementation and review process is the Getting it right Domestic Abuse Pathfinder. Pathfinding activity centers around developing a Getting it right response for all children, focusing initially on children affected by domestic abuse, by testing new joined-up approaches, including common risk assessment and information sharing across agencies, to improve early identification of domestic abuse and early interventions for children, young people and their families. It is particularly looking at -

• ensuring children get the help they need when they need it,
• an appropriate, timely response in place of automatic referral to the Children's Reporter,
• placing a child's needs, interests and views at the centre of agencies' response, and
• embedding action to support the non-abusing parent and to tackle the perpetrator into a child's plan.

Learning from the Pathfinder will feed into and help shape the direction of a number of the Delivery Plan Priority Areas.

We are in a good place to begin the implementation phase. Like the Domestic Abuse Pathfinder, the Delivery Plan builds on a wealth of successful local developments that have previously been undertaken across Scotland to improve the lives of children affected by domestic abuse, and many more which are still ongoing. At policy level, it interacts with and complements a number of farsighted agendas including the Early Years Strategy and Violence Against Women Strategic Framework (both forthcoming), the Curriculum for Excellence, Additional Support for Learning Act, Getting it right for every child, " It's everyone's job to make sure I'm alright" and Action on Violence in Scotland.

We recognise, however, that we have a long way to go to improve the life chances of all our children and young people who are affected by domestic abuse. The National Domestic Abuse Delivery Plan for Children and Young People is by no means our final response to this issue. Instead, it provides the foundation for real, sustainable change in the way that all of us, as individuals, agencies, communities, local and national government, take collective responsibility for ensuring our children and young people grow up in safe, nurturing homes and experience healthy relationships, based on respect and mutuality.

At the conclusion of this first Delivery Plan (2008-11), we want to have a robust understanding of the needs, views and wishes of all children and young people affected by domestic abuse, including those from particular groups such as very young children, disabled children, black and minority ethnic children and those living in rural areas. We want to have evidence of the effectiveness of a broad range of delivery approaches at local level, which focus provision on the needs of children and adult victims of domestic abuse, and hold perpetrators to account, and we want agencies and communities across the whole of Scotland to have the skills and resources to implement these approaches. At a national level, we want to have evidence of the synergy, in real terms, between emerging policy agendas and improving outcomes for children and young people affected by domestic abuse. Finally, we want to have a clear strategy for the future that builds on our Framework and the progress achieved throughout the Delivery Plan's implementation and review phase.

As individual members of a child's community, as policy makers and practitioners in statutory, voluntary and private agencies providing services for children and their families, we look to you to help us progress our work and secure better outcomes for children and young people affected by domestic abuse in Scotland. We are confident that together we can make this journey possible.

Ultimately, though, we will continue to look to children and young people affected by domestic abuse to tell us what difference we have made in their lives and to help us make the changes that are still needed.

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