Children not always recognised as domestic abuse victims in their own right, inspectorates warn

Children who are affected by domestic abuse are not being consistently recognised as victims despite this being set out in law, according to a new joint report by Ofsted, the CQC, HMICFRS, and HMIP.

The 4 inspectorates jointly carried out inspections across 6 local authority areas to look at the response to children who are at risk from, or are victims of, domestic abuse. Inspectors considered support provided across local partnerships and services, including children’s social care, health services, police, youth justice services and schools.

Today’s report follows on from a joint targeted area inspection (JTAI) carried out in 2017 on the multi-agency response to children living with domestic abuse. The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 recognises children as victims of domestic abuse if they have seen, heard or experienced the effect of the abuse. But today’s report finds that practice across police, health and social care services in some local areas remains focused on adults’ needs and risks, and is insufficiently focused on the needs and risks of children.