Operation Encompass helping to safeguard children affected by domestic abuse

Nottinghamshire Police is supporting thousands of children who are victims of domestic abuse every year through a scheme known as Operation Encompass.

In the year to December last year, just over 3,000 schools in Nottinghamshire were notified that a child attending that school had recently been involved in domestic abuse.

There was just under 2,000 encompass notifications about children through police referrals to schools in the city.

Nearly 11,500 notifications have been given to schools in the county covering children of school age since the project was first adopted by Nottinghamshire Police in May 2015.  A total of more than 8,500 children have been referred through the scheme in the city since 2017.

This includes primary and secondary schools, colleges as well as alternative provision settings.

Last year saw the highest number of children supported through Operation Encompass since the scheme began in Nottinghamshire.

Nottinghamshire Police are utilising the scheme to help safeguard children by notifying Children’s Social Care and Education after they have been called to an incident of domestic abuse where there are children linked to either of the adult parties involved.

The programme, endorsed by Ofsted and the Home Office, operates in all police forces nationally and is available to every school in every police force.

The local authorities will then notify the safeguarding lead at the child’s school at the start of the next school day via email. This means that the school can better understand the root cause of a child’s behaviour and the child can be provided with the support they need.

All schools in the city and county are currently signed up to the initiative and it also incorporates children who are home schooled.

Last month, an amendment to the Victims and Prisoners Bill was made which once enacted will make it a legal requirement for all forces in the country to participate.

The charity was founded by Elisabeth Carney-Haworth OBE, a headteacher and David Carney-Haworth, a police officer, who both noticed that there was no formal process in place to let schools know when a child has recently witnessed domestic abuse.

It’s hoped that the initiative will help reduce the long-term impacts of domestic abuse on children through providing them with early intervention and will enable teachers to gain a better understanding of the impact of domestic abuse on young people.

It also helps partner agencies to direct resources where they are most needed, reducing risk to children and families.

Detective Inspector Abi Goucher, Nottinghamshire Police’s safeguarding lead said:

“Operation Encompass is a vital mechanism to help us safeguard the families of victims of domestic abuse and make sure that they are fully supported by their school immediately after police attend a domestic abuse incident.

“We know that without this early intervention, children can be impacted emotionally, psychologically as well as physically and that behavioural outcomes can have a negative effect on a child’s academic success.

“Tackling domestic abuse and supporting victims is an absolute priority for us as a force and this scheme ensures that children are safeguarded in the best way from the longer-term consequences that being a victim of this crime brings.”