Practice Development Days for Respect Accredited members resume!

This month we relaunched the Practice Development Days for Respect Accredited members. This learning and development event gives Practitioners the opportunity to discuss shared practice challenges, learn from each other, and network.

PDD is a benefit of membership for Respect accredited member services. To make it easier for as many practitioners as possible to attend, especially thinking about sessional staff who are not available daytimes, we facilitated the event during a morning and a second time in the early evening – both times via videoconference.

The theme for this month’s PDD was:
‘Survivor-focused practice in DAPP service delivery: How do you centre survivors in Domestic Abuse Prevention Programmes?’. Part 1. Integrated Support Services in the context of a Remote Delivery Model.

The practitioners who attended were Integrated Support Service Workers and Managers, and Domestic Abuse Prevention Programme Facilitators and Managers. Respect’s Accreditation Manager, Alistair Sherlock, facilitated the two events and we are very pleased with the evaluation feedback we’re receiving!

Most participants felt that the objectives of the event were fully met. One participant said:

We talked a lot about how we could safely contact a survivor whilst they are living with the perpetrator. We talked in groups about the impact of COVID-19 on safety. We discussed the difficulties not only for the survivor to have support in a safe space, but for perpetrators who are or were attending groups and now receiving calls at home (and dangers/risks attached to this). We also explored the recording of key information and how we can raise concerns with anyone accessing our database records.

Participants’ feedback about the value of the event for their day-to-day role was also very positive.

There were a few things we can look at adapting in our practice which I gained from being in the breakout group and the main sessions.

We are planning 3 more Practice Development Days until the end of March 2022. We want to hear from members about the specific themes of their practice that they would like to learn and explore more about.

Email: [email protected] with ideas so the benefits of attending Practice Development Days can be truly maximised.