‘Pathways to Change’: Our new name for our community-based interventions

Starting this month, our community-based interventions for people using harmful behaviours in their personal relationships will be known by a new name – Pathways to Change: Navigating towards healthy relationships.

Under this new overarching identity, individual interventions (such as Caring Dads) will continue to operate, but they will now function as pathways within the programme rather than standalone services. We have chosen this new name to make it easier for clients and professionals to engage with our service, and the integrated approach allows us to choose the most appropriate intervention for a client based on a thorough assessment of risk and need.

Why have we taken this step?

Since its inception in 1996, Hampton Trust has been at the forefront of designing and delivering rehabilitative interventions for people who use harmful behaviours in their intimate relationships. Initially focused on offenders within the criminal justice system, we provided behaviour change programmes to individuals mandated to attend following court proceedings. Over the past two decades, however, we have significantly expanded our services to include community-based interventions. Following the introduction of the Home Office National Perpetrator Fund five years ago, and with the support from the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, we piloted the Caring Dads programme in Basingstoke and Southampton.

During recent years, we have seen a consistent year-on-year increase in referrals to Caring Dads. In the past 12 months alone, referrals have surged by over 400%, potentially surpassing those to our accredited perpetrator programme ADAPT. This significant growth prompted us to review our referral pathways into domestic abuse services, with a focus on understanding why Caring Dads was receiving more referrals than ADAPT.

One contributing factor is the sector-wide shift toward trauma-informed principles and language. There has been a conscious move away from the term perpetrator in favour of more inclusive language, such as individuals using harmful behaviours. This change reflects a broader cultural shift in how services engage with those causing harm, aiming to reduce stigma and increase accessibility.

Through discussions and consultation with social care and key referring agencies, we found that professionals are often reluctant to engage in direct conversations with individuals who use harmful behaviours in their intimate relationships, especially when it comes to suggesting a referral to a domestic abuse behaviour change intervention. This hesitancy can lead to missed opportunities for early intervention and support, ultimately impacting the effectiveness of referral pathways and service engagement.

By moving to a model using an accessible, overarching umbrella term, we aim to support referring agencies, particularly within social care, by easing the pressure of determining the most appropriate service at the point of referral. Instead, our team of highly qualified practitioners will conduct comprehensive risk and needs assessments to ensure individuals are matched with the right intervention based on their specific circumstances. We also hope that the umbrella term will make it easier for professionals to have conversations with their clients and encourage a referral into our service.

In addition to engaging professionals, we consulted with both victims and survivors through our integrated domestic abuse support service. We also sought insights from individuals using harmful behaviours who were participating in our programmes. The aim was to co-create an inclusive and accessible name for our overarching service, one that removes barriers at every entry point.

Crucially, we are committed to ensuring that this inclusive approach does not diminish or invalidate the experiences of those with lived experience of domestic abuse. Striking this balance is essential to building trust, encouraging engagement, and fostering a service that is both trauma-informed and survivor-centred.