A NEW scheme has launched to support children in Worcestershire who have experienced domestic abuse.

Operation Encompass will involve West Mercia Police working closely with schools and the county council to ensure the welfare of children, and was officially launched on Friday (December 14).

The initiative sees the police and council informing a specially-trained member of staff, usually the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), at the school if it has been made aware such incidents have occurred.

Detective Sergeant Liz Warner said each morning a police team will check all domestic crimes reported the previous night and send a list to the council of any involving children.

The DSL will then be informed before 9am so that they can provide emotional and practical support while the child is at school.

Domestic abuse can broadly be defined as any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour; violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who have been intimate partners or family members.

This can include, but is not limited to, the following types of abuse – psychological, physical, sexual, financial and emotional.

DS Warner said: “We want to offer the best support possible to children in Worcestershire and this will be beneficial in helping us and other agencies work together to achieve that goal.

“This scheme has proved to be a success in forces across the country, and here all schools in the county are involved.”

She said since the scheme began on November 19, over 260 related incidents have been submitted in the county, estimating after one year it could be thousands.

“Teachers being made aware of the situation means that they are prepared before that child comes to school in the morning and can support them appropriately,” she said.

The detective sergeant went on to say an example could be a child is woken up in the night by his parents arguing before the police are called.

As well as responding to the incident, officers will take the child’s name and find out where they go to school, adding it to the list of referrals.

“Domestic abuse can be an embarrassing issue for a child – the word ‘domestic’ infers something private – but it’s not,” she said.

“Statistics show that one in five children will experience some form of domestic abuse.

“Encompass is about breaking that silence and emphasising that it’s not okay to experience it but is okay to talk about it.

“We want to tackle it and breakdown that stigma.”

With the Christmas break approaching, DS Warner said many children lose that “safe place” that school represents where they can get away from problems at home.

“For two weeks they won’t have that,” she said. “Christmas does see a spike in domestic abuse. It’s something we’re very aware of.”

For more on the scheme, see: westmercia.police.uk/domesticabuse.