West Mercia Women’s Aid
Justice Service

DRIVE is a high-risk perpetrator programme delivered by CRANSTOUN in Herefordshire, Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Worcestershire. It aims to reduce the number of child and adult victims of domestic abuse by tackling the root cause (perpetrator behaviour).

DRIVE is a whole system approach which uses an intensive individual case management intervention alongside a multi-agency response, to both challenge and support perpetrators to change their behaviour and works with partner agencies (like the police and social services) to disrupt abuse.

West Mercia Women’s Aid IDVAs provide ongoing support to the victim/survivors whose perpetrators are engaged with the DRIVE programme. The purpose of their involvement is to ensure that the victim/survivor remains safe and has access to support from a specialist domestic abuse victim service. That support is available throughout the period for which the DRIVE intervention is in place, which can be up to 12 months.

All referrals to the WMWA IDVA Team come directly from CRANSTOUN.

The Men & Masculinities programme is also delivered by CRANSTOUN and provides a safe space for people who have engaged in abusive, harmful and damaging behaviour within their relationships. The programme explores what it means to display appropriate behaviour within relationships and highlights how conflict, aggression and anger can deeply impact the lives of others. It takes self-referrals as well as referrals from other agencies, and focusses on those perpetrators whose abuse is not considered to be likely to cause immediate serious or significant harm.

The 24-week programme focuses on behaviour, how we act, how this reinforces how we think and feel, and most importantly, how to act differently and make changes to our behaviour and the environments we create. It is also designed to support any other treatment that participants may be involved with.

West Mercia Women’s Aid IDVAs provide ongoing support to the victim/survivors whose perpetrators are engaged with the Men and Masculinities programme. The purpose of their involvement to ensure that the victim/survivor remains safe and has access to support from a specialist domestic abuse victim service. That support is available throughout the period for which the Men and Masculinities intervention is in place.

All referrals to the WMWA IDVA Team come directly from CRANSTOUN.

In 2020, the government published the “Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children Cases” report—known more widely as The Harm Panel Report. It laid bare the systemic failings in how the Family Courts handle domestic abuse. In response, a small number of ‘Pathfinder’ programmes were set up across the UK to pilot better ways of supporting victims and informing judges.

These Pathfinder pilots were game-changers. By embedding domestic abuse specialists in the court process and producing informed reports for judges, they created a more trauma-informed, victim-aware environment. And now, the success of these trials has paved the way for more Pathfinder areas to be launched—including ours.

Worcestershire and Herefordshire Family Court were chosen as one of the Pathfinder areas, with the programme launching in November 2025 and running through to March 2029.

West Mercia Women’s Aid was selected as the domestic abuse support agency for this initiative – not just for our local area, but also for Shropshire and Telford, as the Wolverhampton and Telford Family Court also joined the programme.

The Pathfinder program has been renamed ‘Child-focussed Courts Program’ which best describes their priority – making sure that justice works for children. West Mercia Women’s Aid IDVAs contribute to this process by providing summary reports for the Court where allegations have been made of domestic abuse within the relationship. IDVAs will advocate for the abused party and clearly specify any special court measures that they may have requested. This  include staggered arrival times, screens and separate waiting rooms. Courts granting these measures will make the experience less daunting for the victim and this protects them from experiencing further abuse from the perpetrator whilst attending court hearings. IDVAs demonstrate active listening skills with all clients and work at a pace with which the victim is comfortable. Experiences of abuse are carefully explored with the victim and if a topic is re-traumatising then the IDVA will not press the matter.

WMWA’s reports are required to focus on how the children are being impacted by abuse within the family.  IDVAs pay close attention to the wellbeing of the child and will articulate any wishes the child has around the contact that has been requested by the parent. We look at contact schedules and highlight any likely or actual disruptions to the children’s routine. We also highlight any behavioural changes that have been disclosed since contact arrangements have changed. Our reports clearly identify for the Court all historical, current and possible future risks to the children from the presence of domestic abuse in the relationship.

All IDVA reports must be requested directly from WMWA by CAFCASS or by Children’s Social Care.

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