Have you ever been frustrated by sticking plaster responses to society’s intractable problems? I share the feeling. It drove our charity, The Stefanou Foundation, to create For Baby’s Sake, an innovative programme to protect vulnerable babies born into families where there is domestic abuse between their parents or carers.
Abusive behaviour between the adults in a family includes emotional abuse and violence. It affects one in five children in the UK and is quoted in 75 per cent of child protection plans. Children exposed to domestic abuse are more likely to under-achieve at school, take up substance misuse and commit crimes. They will be at higher risk of unemployment and chronic illnesses. They are more likely to be abusive or experience domestic abuse as adults, creating an inter-generational cycle of trauma and risks to life chances.
The period from conception to the age of two is called the 1001 critical days because of how babies’ brains develop at that time. Exposure to domestic abuse over this time creates risks to babies’ emotional development. On average, by age eight, the IQ of children exposed to domestic abuse between conception and age two will be 7.25 points lower than the IQ of children who were not exposed.
This data refers to probabilities, not inevitabilities. Babies who overcome the impact of domestic abuse typically have people early in their lives with whom they form secure relationships, helping them to build resilience. The earlier people seek help the better, but it is not easy to disclose domestic abuse, so support should be available for people at any stage.
Our Foundation chose to create the earliest intervention – starting while babies are in the womb. For Baby’s Sake offers free, intensive support for expectant parents where their relationship is abusive. Both mother and father join the programme during pregnancy and may be supported until their baby reaches age two.
Feedback from parents is that they quickly become confident that For Baby’s Sake will not judge them but will enable them to take responsibility for themselves and their family. The programme works with parents’ motivations to change, especially their desire to be a good parent. It helps them to face up to past behaviours and experiences, including traumatic experiences from their childhood and recent domestic abuse. It empowers them with skills to reduce stress, maintain healthy relationships and nurture their baby’s emotional development.
Far from providing a sticking plaster, the intensive, holistic support within For Baby’s Sake, helping all family members to address the causes and the impact of domestic abuse and trauma in their lives, is more likely to succeed in breaking the cycle once and for all.
The Stefanou Foundation has made a multi-million pound investment and worked with expert clinicians and multi-agency partners for over five years to develop For Baby’s Sake and start delivering it as two prototype projects in Hertfordshire and London. It is the first of its kind in the UK and is attracting international attention. The Foundation plans to expand it and already one other county council has started working with us to launch a third site.
In June 2017, Kings College London, who are independently evaluating the programme, stated in their Interim Second Year Evaluation Report that For Baby’s Sake “seeks to address the limitations of existing interventions by developing a whole-family approach that addresses the cycles of domestic violence and abuse (including the impact of parents’ own childhood experiences of abuse) and seeks to improve mental health and parent-child attachment outcomes.”
For Baby’s Sake helps to prevent significant costs to society. Just one example is the £52,676 average cost each year when a child is taken into care, followed by further potential savings through improved life chances in adulthood (avoiding interventions by police, courts, prison, health service, mental health). Preventing an arrest, subsequent court proceedings and a prison sentence could add up to a saving of £50,162 in the first year alone, while supporting a mother or father to return to work could save up to £25,111 a year in benefits.
Yet constraints on public finances and on government capacity for taking risks mean that For Baby’s Sake would never have been created without philanthropic funding and leadership, working in partnership with the public sector. The same will be true for the roll-out of the programme.
To take forward For Baby’s Sake, the Foundation is exploring innovative funding options that combine different funding sources, including matched government and philanthropic investment. The Foundation is seeking external funders, supporters and advocates, with whom to form mutually rewarding partnerships. We would be delighted meet anyone interested in exploring any kind of involvement.
The public and voluntary sector together with philanthropy can empower families to overcome domestic abuse and give babies the best start in life. All working together, we can break the cycle.
