Specialist: Responding to young people affected by domestic abuse (YPVA)

Course overview

Our Specialist: Responding to young people affected by domestic abuse (YPVA) course aims to increase your understanding of how domestic abuse differs for young people and how to improve your professional response to make young people safer.

Young people experience the highest rates of domestic abuse of any age group. Our report Safe Young Lives highlighted the fact that the abuse that young people experience may look different to the abuse that adults experience. It also found that existing adult domestic abuse support is not always equipped to meet the needs of young people. It is important that support for young people is delivered in a way that is responsive to their needs and their specific issues are expertly addressed. 

Our specialist training is designed for practitioners who have previously completed a SafeLives foundation course who wish to top up their knowledge by attending a shorter (four day) course in a new field. See more about eligibility below. 

Learn more about our foundation YPVA course

Topics covered in this course include:

• Adolescent brain development
• Civil, criminal and housing options for young people
• Using the young people’s DASH effectively
• Confidentiality and safeguarding
• Youth violence
• Tech abuse
• Psychoeducation around healthy relationships and behaviour modification

The training is supported by relevant specialists from many different fields, including tech abuse, youth violence and CAMHS. This course is aimed at YPVAs, IDVAs, domestic abuse practitioners and service managers who currently carry an active caseload of domestic abuse victims or are about to start doing so; and have completed another SafeLives foundation course to gain the YPVA qualification.

Successful completion of this accredited course and the IDVA foundation course will give you the title of OCN Qualified YPVA. 

The training can also be a great opportunity for non-DA professionals to gain CPD around the risks specifically around young people’s experiences of domestic abuse. SafeLives does how ever recommend you have a strong knowledge of domestic abuse case management.

Please note the course uses the term young people to describe those aged 13 to 20.

Time commitment

YPVA specialist course comprises 4 days online training, delivered in four consecutive days; e-learning modules which must be completed prior to attending each block of training; and the completion of one assessed worksheets that is submitted online. 

You must attend all 4 days. 

The list below provides guidance on recommended study time you should allow: 

• Guided learning (training blocks, pre-course reading and e-learning modules) – 40 hours 
• Worksheets – 15 hours 
• Notional study – 40 hours 
• Total course time requirement – 95 hours 

Eligibility

Our YPVA Specialist course is available to practitioners who meet the following eligibility criteria:

1. Anyone with a current, active caseload supporting domestic abuse victims. This is to ensure that you have a variety of cases for practice reflection as part of your assessment.
2. Has a line manager or equivalent supervisor within an appropriate organisation. They should confirm your application details and support you for the duration of the course and whilst you are completing the worksheets.

To promote diversity and widen our learners’ network, we generally limit the number of successful applicants from the same organisation admitted to one course to two spaces. For professionals who have not completed the IDVA foundation course, they can complete this as CPD. SafeLives highly recommends non-DA professionals have a strong knowledge of domestic abuse case management. Please consider this before you apply to avoid any disappointment.

Price

£845 per learner

Subsidies

We’re pleased to offer a limited number of subsidised spaces for learners wishing to train with us. The reduced fee spaces are allocated by random selection from the pool of successful applicants who qualify. Please ensure that you complete the application as fully as possible as the answers provided on the application will be used to determine eligible learners. 

• Subsidised spaces  £600 - Learners from registered charities with an annual income of less than £1million. 
• Super subsidised spaces  £350 - Learners from registered charities with an annual income of less than £500,000.

Accessibility

We welcome learners of all backgrounds and abilities. We encourage you to share with us any details on accessibility and diversity needs so we can ensure the right support is in place. You can also contact us if you have any queries via [email protected].