Steps to Safety programme
Episode 21, Nov 25, 2019, 09:24 AM
Steps to Safety was an early-intervention programme that we piloted between February 2017 and June 2018. It was designed to help families and couples living with domestic abuse where violence is situational and noncritical to individuals involved. The service encouraged changes in parents’ behaviours to create a safer and stable future for children under 5-years-old.
The pilot phase has since come to an end and we have conducted a feasibility study to inform the design of our future services for families with young children.
Listen to this week’s episode to learn about:
- the Steps to Safety programme, including the research behind the service and its development process
- what the outcomes were from the feasibility study and what we learnt from the service
- how practitioners assessed parents, delivered sessions and modules and used Video Interaction Guidance (VIG)
- the challenges practitioners encountered whilst implementing the pilot programme
- how children’s voices were considered at each stage to ensure the service was delivered safely.
Read the podcast transcript on the NSPCC Learning website.
💬 About the speakers
Nicola McConnell is a Senior Evaluation Officer within the NSPCC’s Evidence Team who has over 20 years of experience in evaluating health and social care services for children and families, including training and supporting others to undertake this work. She has researched and published a range of evaluation reports across different topic areas such as child protection, domestic abuse and preventing child abuse.
Roberta Neill is a qualified social worker and Children’s Services Practitioner working at the NSPCC’s Belfast Service Centre. During her time at NSPCC she has delivered domestic abuse services including DART and Steps to Safety as well as a number of different sexual abuse services. She has also been delivering a Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) service since 2011 across Northern Ireland.
Paula Telford is a qualified social worker with over 40 years’ experience in both delivering services and managing teams. She has largely worked in child protection, especially sexual abuse and in mental health. She is currently a Development and Impact Manager at NSPCC and led on the Steps to Safety Service among others. Paula is working with a team of colleagues to take forward the learning from Steps to Safety into other services.
📚 Related resources
> Discover how to recognise, respond and prevent domestic abuse happening to a child
> Learn more about what early intervention services are and the benefits of early help
Intro/outro music is Lights by Sappheiros
💬 About the speakers
Nicola McConnell is a Senior Evaluation Officer within the NSPCC’s Evidence Team who has over 20 years of experience in evaluating health and social care services for children and families, including training and supporting others to undertake this work. She has researched and published a range of evaluation reports across different topic areas such as child protection, domestic abuse and preventing child abuse.
Roberta Neill is a qualified social worker and Children’s Services Practitioner working at the NSPCC’s Belfast Service Centre. During her time at NSPCC she has delivered domestic abuse services including DART and Steps to Safety as well as a number of different sexual abuse services. She has also been delivering a Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) service since 2011 across Northern Ireland.
Paula Telford is a qualified social worker with over 40 years’ experience in both delivering services and managing teams. She has largely worked in child protection, especially sexual abuse and in mental health. She is currently a Development and Impact Manager at NSPCC and led on the Steps to Safety Service among others. Paula is working with a team of colleagues to take forward the learning from Steps to Safety into other services.
📚 Related resources
> Discover how to recognise, respond and prevent domestic abuse happening to a child
> Learn more about what early intervention services are and the benefits of early help
Intro/outro music is Lights by Sappheiros