Child to Parent Abuse (CPA) Awareness Day falls on 14th October. At Respect, we use the term child and adolescent to parent violence and abuse (CAPVA) to describe the dynamic where a young person engages in repeated harmful and abusive behaviours towards a parent or carer.  

CAPVA is a devastating and often hidden harm. Many parents feel shame and are scared to reach out for support, for fear their child will be criminalised or taken away. The Respect Young People’s Service supports professionals to respond effectively to young people’s use of harm and abuse within the family.

For CPA Awareness Day this year, we want to take a moment to reflect and celebrate the Merseyside CAPVA project. In August 2024, the Respect Young People’s Service (RYPS) received funding for a three-year Merseyside Regional Lead awarded by The Peter and Dorothy Robinson Charitable Trust. The aim of the project is to coordinate and strengthen the response to child to parent abuse across all five boroughs in Merseyside: Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral. 

Over the last two years the project has:  

  • Set up a Child to Parent Abuse Steering Group with 25 representatives across a range of services  
  • Established a task and finish group in Sefton to develop a coordinated CAPVA referral pathway 
  • Consulted and informed on the development of the Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner’s Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy  
  • Trained 285 people through the Recognise and Respond to CAPVA (Ask and Act) sessions - 99% of attendees said they felt they had a better understanding of CAPVA after attending the session 
  • Trained 12 practitioners to deliver the Respect Young People’s Programme (RYPP).

''This training was helpful in understanding how some signs that you would not think about may in fact be signs and indicators of CAPVA and how to approach that whilst being mindful of family dynamics and other concerns.'' 

''Really interesting training, very informative and really highlights CAPVA, which isn't talked about enough or investigated by professionals, I feel all professionals should attend this training.''  

For CPA Awareness Day we had the pleasure of speaking to Rebecca Bates, Public Health Researcher at Liverpool John Moore's University, Amanda Flanagan, Merseyside CAPVA Regional Lead at Respect and Jane Scott, CoPVA Children and Young Peoples Team Leader, at Safety, Wellbeing and Challenging Abuse (SWACA). They told us about the project, research and practice and what some of the highlights have been over the last two years.  

Over the next year colleagues hope to...

  • Publish more information and findings on CAPVA  
  • Engage in research opportunities on CAPVA  
  • Develop more networking opportunities to share best practice in Merseyside  
  • Gather learning from the Sefton Task and Finish Pilot to implement in other boroughs  
  • Continue to raise awareness of CAPVA for parents and families and across services  
  • See even more frontline practitioners take up training and develop confidence in supporting young people and families experiencing CAPVA.  

Learn more about the Respect Young People’s Service and their CAPVA work

The Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership - CAPVA research study, 2023