Bracknell Forest Council: Evaluation of the Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Service (DAPS) Liz Phillips Researcher, NFER Fiona Walker Head of Centre for Evaluation and Consultancy, NFER Nick Young Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Service, Bracknell Forest Council

reason core values Building capacity for individuals and organisations to evaluate what they do Sharing knowledge across the sector to demonstrate value and learn from what works well Resources Online resources Online examples Discussion forum News updates Regular webinars Bespoke Support Support to conduct research and evaluations that is designed and tailored to an organisation’s needs Tailored learning events Who we are Research, Evaluation and Analysis Support Network

What can reason help you to do? Demonstrate Impact & Value Keep up-to-date with what others are doing to evaluate Understand how evaluations work Find out from others ‘what works?’ Use evaluation effectively Develop skills in evaluation & analysis Answer these questions about impact: What are we doing? How much are we doing? How well are we doing? What difference are we making?

Today’s webinar will: be interactive! outline the DAPS programme: aims, objectives, delivery model outline the evaluation’s methodology, key findings and recommendations outline the next steps for the DAPS programme provide opportunities to share your opinions and experiences.

Let’s start with some polls….

Bracknell Forest Council’s Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Service (DAPS) Background Aims and objectives Referral process Delivery Outcomes

27 CPP at referral - 21 removed - 1 transferred - 5 LAC 18 CIN at referral - 15 not escalated to CP - 1 CIN discontinued -2 changed to CP 1 Other - Stayed LAC Outcomes ‘46 completers’ CP CIN Other

Service availability Wide? Meeting demand? Demand outweighing availability? Service quality Excellent? Good? Fair or variable? Low? What factors influence service effectiveness? Individual-level? Service/programme-level? Both? Other?

Aims of the evaluation Challenges Stops Prevents Accountability Responsibility Understanding Attitudes Beliefs Behaviour Support Referrals Engagement CP Plans Police records

develop and refine the key research questionscreate topic guides for perpetrators, current/ex-partners and staffset up telephone interviewsconduct telephone interviews analyse interview data, produce emerging findings report and provide transcripts return to data, conduct deeper analysis, and produce fuller evaluation report Working together to:

Key findings Perpetrator engagement Impact: perpetrators, families and staff Other support services for perpetrators and families The programme: what works? The future: making improvements

Conclusions DAPS is meeting its aims Encouraging evidence for effectiveness and impact But – wider evidence base and evidence of ‘hard’ outcomes needed

Recommendations DAPS programme should continue and be extended Full impact evaluation Social workers help to promote engagement; promoting engagement needs further attention Keep: one-to-one delivery; ‘anytime’ contact; male deliverer; phone/text appointment system; ‘positive thinking’ elements; regular/ongoing progress reviews Dedicated delivery accommodation

Recommendations Existing male social workers trained to support delivery Strengthen links with partner agencies Targeted support for female perpetrators? Earlier referral – before ‘crisis’ point

Using the research in practice Consider the recommendations in the report within the context of the resources available Present the findings to the Senior Managers and Partnership Boards within the Council Work with Partners to address the need to extend access to the DAPS programme to provide earlier intervention Work with the Bracknell Forest Domestic Abuse forum to train more professionals to engage more men with the DAPs programme

Bracknell Forest Council’s Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Service (DAPS) ‘We felt that Reason delivered all elements of the delivery contract in a helpful, efficient and cooperative manner. In other words they did what they said they would do. We feel that they persisted in their efforts to communicate with a hard to engage target group even when this was difficult due to an avoidance or lack of cooperation from the people we identified to be interviewed’. ‘We wouldn’t have been able to carry out this evaluation ourselves due to lack of capacity so them conducting this on our behalf was helpful’ ‘The evaluation will help us to make a more robust argument for resources to expand the project’s capacity and add value and an evidence base to our own experience of the project’s effectiveness’. Karen Roberts and Nick Young.

What are the main barriers to developing and implementing effective domestic abuse perpetrator programmes?

Relevant resources Doing research and evaluations: Planning Guides & Tools, e.g. –Defining your Aims –Practicalities –Ethical Considerations Data Collection & Analysis, e.g. –Interviews Guides & Tools –Survey Guides & Tools –Focus Groups Guides & Tools Reporting Guides & Tools Using your Findings Guides & Tools