Unpaid Carers and Domestic Abuse Project
On this page
- Lead organisation
Cambridgeshire County Council
- Project contact
Amanda Warburton
Amanda.Warburton@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
Laura Green
The Unpaid Carers and Domestic Abuse Project is a multi-agency project to improve support for carers in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough who experience domestic abuse. The project has been informed by research and findings from a range of sources and information from local carer support organisations.
The project remit covers all unpaid carers, including young carers, and all forms of domestic abuse including child to parent abuse.
The overall aim of the project is to improve identification of carers who are experiencing domestic abuse and `encourage them to come forward for support, as well as ensuring that the support they draw on is personalised and balances keeping them safe with their other needs and aspirations.
- Partners
Peterborough City Council, Healthwatch Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Foundation Trust, Caring Together, Making Space, Hourglass, Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Integrated Care System
- Project duration
April 2023 – March 2026
- Key beneficiaries
All carers
Unpaid Carers and Domestic Abuse Project
Why we started this initiative
Local Domestic Homicide Reviews involving caring relationships, combined with concerns shared by local carer support organisations, highlighted a potential gap in identifying carers subjected to domestic abuse and a lack of professional understanding of the complexities of domestic abuse in a caring relationship.
Partner organisations often made Adult Safeguarding referrals for carers who they felt were at risk but many carers don’t meet the specific technical threshold for this route to be the most appropriate. We realised partner organisations needed help to understand and pursue different routes in these situations.
Our Goals
- Include carers experiencing domestic abuse within the revised countywide All-Age Carers Strategy.
- Explore how carer support organisations can better support carers subjected to domestic abuse from the person they are caring for.
- Help professionals to recognise the signs of abuse and understand the complexities of domestic abuse within a caring relationship.
- Develop a discretionary safeguarding enquiry process for carers who are identified as being at high risk of harm from domestic abuse.
- Ensure that young carers, particularly those in the 18-25 age group, are able to access support around domestic abuse.
- Develop resources to support carers experiencing domestic abuse.
How we’re implementing it
Carers experiencing domestic abuse is a lead priority workstream in the countywide All Age Carers Strategy. As part of the workstream, multi-agency action plans have been established to ensure carers are identified, the complexities of domestic abuse in caring relationships is recognised by professionals, and that support and resources are available to carers at any point in their journey and from any agency that they are involved with.
Unpaid Carers subjected to domestic abuse from the person they are caring for is a complex issue. Everyone’s experience is different: the abuse could be historical within that relationship/family, it could be a recent development, or it could be as a result of illness or medication side effects.
Carers who are in this situation often tell us that they want to continue in their caring role, they just want the abuse to stop. Carers told us they felt guilt and shame about seeking support and worried about what would happen to the person they are caring for if they spoke out. Overall, carers told us that they wanted reassurance that, if they told someone about the abuse, that person would be understanding and would accept their feelings, fears and worries as genuine.
In addition, carers said they wanted to be able to draw on support from any professional they are working with, with clear pathways to specialist support, so they don’t have to keep repeating their story.