Vicki Mulligan

Funny how it wasn't a crisis for all the decades it was the other way round.

The Family Drug and Alcohol Court: time to take the brakes off?

www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/child-protec...

A very distressing C4 report tonight on pregnant women prisoners being handcuffed during childbirth, despite it being against MoJ policy. Those policies aren’t worth the paper they’re written on — the only way to keep pregnant women safe is to stop sending them to prison.

Liverpool to introduce new support service for families in recovery from addiction The Family Drug and Alcohol Court, which will officially begin in April, aims to help parents address the root causes of substance misuse.

We're very excited that Liverpool will be joining the FDAC family. Their new service will officially open in April and we can't wait for families in the area to be able to benefit from the FDAC model.

theguideliverpool.com/liverpool-to...

Supporting pre-birth work Join us for an upcoming webinar launching a new Change Project to support pre-birth work.

How can we support change and development in policies and practices to improve pre-birth services and achieve better outcomes for infants and their parents?

Join us for an upcoming webinar on 20 January launching new Pre-birth Change Project resources. ow.ly/j3uG50UB3vy

New Mach shop showcases the creativity of survivors of domestic abuse A new shop is giving survivors of domestic abuse the opportunity to sell their art.

Incredible project here: A new shop is giving survivors of domestic abuse the opportunity to sell their art.

The Machynlleth enterprise is the brainchild of artist and domestic abuse survivor Nikki Pinto. www.cambrian-news.co.uk/news/new-sho...

“You, boy, is big Tesco open on Boxing Day?”

New job alert 🚨

Director of Policy, Advocacy & Influencing

Please take a look &/or share this rare opportunity to join @childrenssociety.bsky.social on our mission to improve children’s wellbeing. It’s all about creating big change & making impact!

careers.childrenssociety.org.uk/recruitment/...

No woman should ever be sent to prison for enduring domestic abuse Lucy Russell, of Women in Prison, shares the reality of working on the frontline with domestic abuse survivors who have been imprisoned.

"Imagine being punished for the abuse you've endured."

Women in Prison's open letter in @bigissue.com - signed by 100+ organisations and experts, we demand the end to unfair criminalisation of domestic abuse survivors.

Survivors deserve support, not punishment.

www.bigissue.com/opinion/dome...

Our programme of evidence-informed resources shares the latest research and information.

Explore the most popular Research in Practice campaigns of 2024. ow.ly/4FU050Uu011

Photo from the first official APPG meeting on 29th October 2024. Photo includes: Lord Simon Russell of Liverpool, Tamora Langley Head of Policy and Communications, Parent-Infant Foundation, Leigh Ingham MP, Kirith Entwistle MP, Elsie Blundell MP, Maya Ellis MP, Freddie van Mierlo MP, Dr Kieran Mullan MP and Keith Reed Chief Executive, Parent-Infant Foundation.

📢New All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Babies launched!👶The new Group's purpose is to champion the needs of vulnerable babies & will be led by the elected officers @mayaellismp.bsky.social @elsieblundellmp.bsky.social Patrick Spencer MP & Freddie van Mierlo MP. More details 👉bit.ly/4f8Ved6

"Peter Jackson LJ called for an expansion of FDAC – noting that the service offers “the best way of achieving real culture change”"

@localgovlawyer.bsky.social reports on this year's Family Drug & Alcohol Court Annual Conference: ow.ly/rM8Y50UnEPN

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A woman sits on a sofa with her knees up to her chest and her arms wrapped around herself. She's alone in a living room with children's toys strewn on the floor. Text reads: Breaking the silence. New Study to Focus on Deaf Survivors of Domestic Abuse For the first time, researchers will examine the impact of domestic abuse on families when children of deaf mothers are relied upon to interpret, highlighting the trauma these children may endure as co-victims. The University of Edinburgh’s Dr Claire Houghton is part of a new project to shed light on the challenges faced by deaf women in reporting or seeking help for domestic abuse. Deaf women are up to three times more likely to experience domestic abuse than hearing women.

Breaking the silence
New Study to Focus on Deaf Survivors of Domestic Abuse

Researchers will examine the impact of domestic abuse on families when children of deaf mothers are relied upon to interpret, highlighting the trauma these children may endure as co-victims. https://bit.ly/SPS-News-SocPol

In her appearance before the Justice Select Committee last week, the Lady Chief Justice spoke on the transformational power of Family Drug & Alcohol Courts.

She highlighted the strong evidence showing the model works, saves the taxpayer money & is also effective in addressing domestic abuse.

SafeLives 16 Days Post with text that reads "funding is not reflective of demand. There is too much reliance nationally on the goodwill of the sector to 'make it work'. This has an impact on both client and worker safety (practitioner response)".

💰 #DomesticAbuse funding continues to decline sharply whilst cases continue to rise.

📢 Longer-term funding would provide stability, positively impacting frontline staff and survivors on their journey to safety and recovery.

#16Days #NoExcuse #VAWG #InvestInIdvas #Idva #Idaa

Deaths from conditions wholly attributable to alcohol have increased by 4.6% from 2022 to 2023 in England, reaching the highest number for the fourth year in a row.

DHSC’s Alcohol Profile shows that 8,274 people died from alcohol-specific causes in...

fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/loca...

I will update with any additional cyber security advice but a note of caution around having links to events publicly available in advance

The events have had to be abandoned with attendees already exposed to these videos.

Colleagues hosting online webinars / seminars. There have been a number of recent events (for eg on racial disproportionality or domestic abuse) that have been hacked and extreme and offensive videos shown. The hackers aren't attendees so can't be removed.

Image of a report with a navy front cover and the words 'Race at the Bar: Three years on'. Text in pink banners across the image read 'New report. Race at the Bar: it's time to double down on race equality work'. The Bar Council logo is in the top right of the image.

Our new report on race at the Bar presents a mixed picture: there has been some progress on access, retention, progression and culture, the overall diversity of the Bar is improving, but there is much more work to do. Read more: www.barcouncil.org.uk/resource/rac...

We also don't recognise domestic abuse perpetrators in the law until aged 16. Obviously prosecution is only one part of how we may respond to DA, but when the law doesn't provide that option for those causing harm aged 15 when it's clear that it's occuring then that's a problem.

🚨 The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal that 2.3 million adults in England and Wales experienced #DomesticAbuse in the year ending March 2024.

Read our full response.

safelives.org.uk/news-views/r...

📉To this end, we want to see a national domestic abuse data dashboard which draws together qualitative and quantitative data from survivors, frontline domestic abuse services, Maracs and local authorities.

Read our full response.

safelives.org.uk/news-views/r...

Reflections on family law and more … Cheers! Make mine a double... As we head into the festive season, Oliver Conway mulls why family law clients are held to higher standards than their lawyers when it comes to alcohol.

When I wrote this article for Legal Action Magazine, I was half way through my 100 days without booze.

Having made it to day 100, I think I may stay sober until the Family Drug and Alcohol Court is available in every family court in the country. 🥂

www.lag.org.uk/article/2162...

The inverse care law: people who need the most care are least likely to receive it. Julian Tudor Hart... (1971) 😩

Really interesting presentation from Jill Caldwell, CEO of the Endeavour Project, a specialist pet fostering service for those experiencing domestic abuse

Earlier, Rachel Caldcleugh from @nspcc.bsky.social presented on the impact of domestic abuse and animal abuse on children

And now, Paula Boyden from @dogstrust.bsky.social talks about recognising abuse and identifying non accidental injury in animals

I'm at the Links Group conference today hearing from a range of multi agency professionals about the links between the abuse of animals and the abuse of people.

Today our Deputy Director @vickicji.bsky.social is at the Links Group conference on recognising & acting on non-accidental injury & domestic & child abuse.

The veterinary-led conference is a chance for multi-agency practitioners to explore the link between the abuse of animals & the abuse of people