Domestic Abuse Services 2026

This service will deliver a therapeutic trauma informed counselling service to adult victims/survivors of domestic abuse extended across the County to ensure that the needs and vulnerabilities of victims are met. Provision for therapeutic support for vulnerable victims and survivors of domestic abuse is scarce and there can be barriers to accessing this. The Women's Aid Annual Audit 2025 recorded an overall increase in referrals were women experiencing domestic abuse had multiple support needs, including mental health. The 2025 Audit also found that 4.6% of referrals made to a refuge were rejected on the basis that the refuge felt they were unable to meet support needs around mental health. There has also been a noted decline in the number of specialist support workers who can offer support for mental health in both refuge and community-based support services. The Leicestershire Domestic Abuse Needs Assessment 2024 has highlighted the number of victims has increased year on year. Of 45 victims in refuge sampled for the Needs Assessment, in 2018/19, 13 of the total number had mental health issues compared to 18 of the total in 2020/21. Counselling services are crucial as they offer a safe place to explore and work through experiences of abuse. The aim of the Council is to meet the gap in services by offering a confidential therapeutic counselling service to adult victims and survivors of domestic abuse.

This service will deliver a therapeutic trauma informed counselling service to victims/survivors of domestic abuse and also work to extend domestic abuse support across the County to ensure that the needs and vulnerabilities of children and young people are continued to be met. It is estimated that, by the time children start school at least 1 child per class will have experienced domestic abuse. Provision for therapeutic support for vulnerable victims and survivors of domestic abuse is scarce and often difficult to access, yet we know that domestic abuse can impact mental health and lead to mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and eating disorders. The Women's Aid Annual Audit 2025 found that just under a third of refuge services and just under half of community-based services did not offer dedicated support for children and young people. The aim of the Council is to meet the gap in services by offering therapeutic support/counselling to children & young people between the ages of 5 to 18. This support will be delivered by a counsellor to young people who have witnessed or experienced domestic abuse service.

To provide specialist practical help and emotional support to children and families who are experiencing domestic abuse. The service will improve health and wellbeing of children and young people and their families and contribute to keeping them safe. The Council's Children and Family Service supports families experiencing domestic abuse both where there are safeguarding concerns and increasingly at an early intervention level, trying to support families at the earliest opportunity. Over the last 12 months (March 2025 - March 2026), this early intervention offer has reached over 650 families. The service will deliver a County Family Service, to provide a range of interventions to help children and young people through their experience(s) of domestic abuse, including children and young people who have witnessed abuse in their family or have been/ are in abusive relationships of their own. The service will aim to reduce current wating lists and provide support to victims extended across the County to ensure that the needs and vulnerabilities of children and young people are continued to be met. The aim of the Council is to meet the gap in services by offering a family support service to provide practical help and emotional support to children and families experiencing domestic abuse.

With an outreach service victims can access services when and where they need them at reachable moments. The Outreach Service for Leicestershire has previously been delivered under the UAVA Consortium and LWA. The Council would like to procure Outreach support for victims and survivors of domestic abuse by building further capacity within service provisions aiming to promote and improve support options and choices for victims to remain in their homes, and by reducing waiting lists and waiting times for domestic abuse victims and survivors within outreach services. An Outreach Service to enable the Provider to deliver Outreach support and Group Programme delivery to victims of domestic abuse. The service will aim to promote and improve support options and choices for victims to remain in their homes, and by reducing waiting lists and waiting times for domestic abuse victims and survivors within outreach services. The aim of the Council is to meet the gap in services by offering /providing community-based support to adult victims/survivors of domestic abuse in Leicestershire.