Becky Carrington has been appointed Domestic Abuse Lead Practitioner covering both Forward Leeds and the Humankind DIP/IOM service in Leeds.
This new role provides a city-wide coordinated delivery of support and management of risk to identified domestic violence perpetrators and their families.
The role will bring drug, alcohol, criminal justice and domestic abuse services together, so that they can work more effectively in partnership.
Becky said: “My role is really about joined up working. It aims to give a way of working more effectively together to help those who have come into contact with statutory services through domestic related incidents and have treatment needs. That means not just Forward Leeds and DIP/IOM, but working collaboratively with a number of other services as well”
Becky continued: “It’s all about reducing risk and increasing resources. By supporting males to make better choices in their relationships and changes to their behaviour we are ultimately protecting their partners and families”.
A great deal of Becky’s role is to help strengthen the interventions that key workers in Forward Leeds and DIP/IOM deliver to those with a history of perpetrating domestic abuse. That means working alongside and training key workers on best practice as well as helping them to hone their skills in dealing with these issues. There will be a toolkit of resources available for key workers to support them in developing their skills even further in this area
Lee Wilson Director of Forward Leeds and DIP/IOM said: “Becky’s role across the services we offer in Leeds is key to ensuring a city wide coordinated approach to the risks associated with domestic violence perpetrators and their families. By having Becky in this role we are reinforcing an already robust system and making sure we work with people as effectively as possible to minimise those risks.”
Becky is also facilitating a new Forward Leeds and DIP/IOM group work programme for males who recognise that they are abusive towards partners and motivated to change their behaviour called “Relationships and Recovery”. This programme will be run with Forward Leeds Group Worker Matt Whitton and has been developed by a team of staff from Forward Leeds and DIP/IOM. The programme content has been created by Forward Leeds Group Workers based on extensive research.