Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, John Dwyer, has secured Home Office funding to provide 'Safe & Together' training for 140 social care practitioners and support staff across the county.

The training scheme was launched on September 21st at a conference attended by representatives from all four of Cheshire's local authorities, child social care practitioners and partner agencies, including officers from Cheshire Constabulary.

Safe & Together focuses on developing the understanding of coercive control on children and promotes a 'whole family' approach in addressing domestic abuse.

It is aimed at child social care practitioners, with partner agencies also encouraged to adopt the principles of the model.

Police and Crime Commissioner, John Dwyer, said: "Safe and Together is an internationally recognised training model and I am delighted to have been able to secure the funding from the Home Office to train child social care professionals in Cheshire to become Safe and Together champions.

"The model also enables practitioners to work with not only the victims, but the perpetrator too, to reduce risk and harm to children. Protecting vulnerable and at-risk people is a priority in my Police and Crime Plan, and children along with others experiencing domestic abuse, can be some of the most vulnerable in our society so I am committed to working closely with key partners to continue providing support to those who need it most."

"Domestic abuse has a devastating impact on families, so this training enables Cheshire to come together, ensuring that the support available is not a postcode lottery and allows professionals to go even further in protecting the children of our county."

The three main Safe & Together Principles are:

• Keeping the child safe and together with the non-offending parent
• Partnering with non-offending parent as default position
• Intervening with the perpetrator to reduce risk and harm to the child

There were a number of guest speakers at the conference, sharing their knowledge and experience of the model including the Safe & Together Executive Director, David Mandel who provided an overview of the model and opened up to the audience for a Q&A session.

Chief Superintendent Denise Worth said: "I was delighted to attend the Safe and Together Launch. It is so important for us to work together with our partners so that we can continue to deliver the best service for those affected by domestic abuse across Cheshire.

"The Safe and Together model is a child centred approach that will allow us to further protect children across the county who have been impacted by any form of domestic abuse within their homes.

"It also adopts a whole family approach ensuring that all family members are supported and given the very best opportunity to move forward with their lives including tackling the perpetrators behaviour to reduce risk following incidents of domestic abuse."

Warrington Borough Council's Domestic Abuse Partnership Manager, Jaria Hussain-Lala, said: "The internationally recognised Safe & Together model adopts a whole family response to domestic abuse, which will strengthen the practice among professionals who work with people affected by the issue.

"The model shifts from victim blaming and promotes engaging with the perpetrator to hold them to account for their behaviour, which is crucial to managing and reducing the risk of further harm and abuse."