On the fifth anniversary of the Royal Commission into Family Violence, a new intervention with men who use violence and misuse alcohol and other drugs will be piloted and evaluated, filling a critical gap within the family services sector.
Family violence services and drug and alcohol services have traditionally been siloed; an inappropriate division given that these problems are commonly co-occurring.
Led by Kids First and in partnership with Odyssey House Victoria, the University of Melbourne and the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, the ‘KODY Project: Developing an all-of-family intervention at the intersections of DFV and AOD’ is the recipient of an ARC Linkage Grant.
‘KODY’ will adapt Kids First’s existing Caring Dads program, integrating it with Odyssey House Victoria’s targeted alcohol and other drugs intervention, to deliver a program aimed at fathers, while recognising the needs of children, and the safety and wellbeing of women.
Children’s experiences will be crucial to the project, with an aim to develop knowledge about effective and feasible strategies for their inclusion in healing and recovery programs.
Caring Dads is an evidence-backed, 17-week intervention program for men who have used violence or are at risk of doing so. The program helps fathers understand the impact of their behaviour by harnessing their motivation to be good dads.
A three-year evaluation conducted by the University of Melbourne and released in 2020 clearly showed that program participants were better able to manage aggressive behaviours and that the program led to positive changes in the father’s parenting as well as an overall reduction in violence.
Kids First CEO, Ms Aileen Ashford, is hopeful of similarly positive changes being achieved through KODY.
“Changing the behaviour of men who use violence is a significant and enduring social challenge,” said Ms Aileen Ashford, Kids First CEO.
“We know through our vast experience in working with men who use violence that very often they are misusing alcohol and other drugs, yet these problems have been treated through separate interventions. By piloting a joined up, ‘one team’ approach with Odyssey House Victoria we expect to develop an evidence base for effective, integrated services.”
In addition to the $370k ARC Linkage Grant, the project has also received the backing of the OPEN Learning System Grants, funded by the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing and managed by the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare. Joining Kids First and Odyssey House as industry partners are Family Safety Victoria, No to Violence and Turning Point.
ENDS
Contact
Clare Lombardi, Marketing & Communications, Kids First
0427 181 778
clombardi@kidsfirstaustralia.org.au
About Kids First
Kids First is a proudly independent child and family services provider and early education specialist. We are leading change for children in Australia with evidence-informed programs that respond to community needs and strengthen families so that children can thrive. For 125 years we have been at the heart of community care in Victoria.
About Caring Dads
Caring Dads is a 17-week family violence group-work intervention program for fathers who have neglected their children or exposed their children to family violence. It is Australia’s first evidence-based behaviour change program helping fathers who have used violence to improve their relationship with their children and is helping bridge a gap within a system that offers limited assistance to fathers.
In 2017 Kids First received funding from Gandel Philanthropy and the Department of Health and Human Services Victoria to conduct a three-year research trial of the Caring Dads program in Victoria. The trial ran in two metropolitan Melbourne sites – North East Melbourne (a partnership
between Kids First and Uniting), Western Melbourne (a partnership between Anglicare Victoria) and one rural site, Inner Gippsland (Anglicare Victoria). Sites were selected based on the prevalence of family violence within these regions, with Kids First providing clinical oversight and support.
The program works at the crossroads between men’s use of violence in the family and their desire to see their child develop into a healthy, happy adult. It aims to increase the safety and wellbeing of children and mothers by helping fathers to understand the impact of their behaviour and tapping into their motivation to be good dads.