4 February 2025

To mark Children’s Mental Health Week 2025, we are pleased share details of a new programme which enhances the mental health support we can provide for children and young people living in Hestia’s domestic abuse refuges.

Back in 2015, the Government acknowledged the need to increase access to evidence-based mental health provision for children and young people (Future in Mind, Department of Health, 2015). The report highlighted evidence that less than 35% of children with a diagnosable mental health condition accessed support.

In response, NHS England made plans to increase the workforce and set a target to offer evidence-based mental health support to an additional 70,000 more children and young people annually by 2020 (Implementing the Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, NHS England, 2016).

A totally new professional group was created and trained – Child Wellbeing Practitioners (CWP) – and in the years since, they have successfully supported children and young people with mild/moderate mental health difficulties across schools, specialist and community CAMHS, in the voluntary sector, Local Authority and NHS organisations.

Children in domestic abuse refuges

Hestia’s Journey to Refuge report (2021) highlighted the huge impact that domestic abuse has on children. Three-quarters of children had heard or witnessed the domestic abuse that their mother experienced, and over half also experiencing abuse themselves. In the same year, children of victims of domestic abuse were officially recognised as victims in their own right by the Domestic Abuse Act.

The move into a refuge brings relief and safety for families, but it also comes with its own challenges for children and young people. The report found that on average, families stay in Hestia’s refuges for five and a half months, with about 15 weeks spent actively searching for appropriate move-on accommodation. Seven in ten (71%) of the children surveyed told us they missed their friends and family, nearly two-thirds (63%) missed their old nursery or school and nearly half (48%) missed their old toys after arriving at a refuge.

Through our dedicated Children and Family Workers, practical and emotional support, and programme of activities, we strive to create a space where these children can begin to heal from their trauma. However, for some, more specialist support may be required to help them start their journey towards recovery.

Placing Child Wellbeing Practitioners in refuge

Building on the success of the Child Wellbeing Practitioners model in other settings and working closely with our existing Children and Family Workers, Hestia is pleased to be the first organisation placing these experts within domestic abuse refuges.

The Child Wellbeing Practitioners work across all Hestia’s refuges, providing a mix of face-to-face and remote support and delivering up to eight CBT-based sessions for each young person. They also offer a parent-led intervention for younger children and can work with the wider family or school where appropriate, creating pathways to external services such as youth groups, Mental Health Support Teams and CAMHS. ​

One seven-year-old boy* living in one of Hestia’s refuges was struggling to regulate his angry outbursts and mum felt she lacked confidence to know how best to support him. After receiving support from our Child Wellbeing Practitioner, mum said she felt like a “completely different woman” and was hugely grateful for the confidence and knowledge she had gained during the sessions. His anger improved, and she felt she had more strategies to cope in future.

Another ten-year-old girl* was referred to the Child Wellbeing Practitioner when Hestia colleagues noticed she had become increasingly anxious and withdrawn. Sessions with the Child Wellbeing Practitioner were tailored to use tools to support open, safe discussions about fears and worries. The child’s levels of anxiety reduced, and pathways to express feelings were established between mother and daughter.

Throughout Children’s Mental Health Week, our Child Wellbeing Practitioners are working with our Children and Family Workers to offer a programme of activities themed around early intervention and prevention of mental health challenges that children and young people in our services might face.

By embedding these professionals within refuges, we hope to ensure that children and young people can access appropriate support at an earlier stage, therefore improving their mental health and giving them the tools to continue their recovery beyond the refuge. We will be well placed to ensure that families, schools and other professionals can work together to support the child most effectively.

*Some identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of the families we support.

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