Teen Advocate Service:

The CAT team also supports teenagers 13-17 who are experiencing domestic abuse themselves; often in their own intimate relationships, but also within more complex scenarios such as sibling and parental abuse,

Our teen advocate service includes the following:

• A personalised package of practical advocacy and emotional support to female/male teenagers aged 13-17 years experiencing abuse in their intimate relationships.
• Safety planning – to address the specific risks to teenagers including, but not limited to, Sexual Exploitation, Honour Based Violence, Forced Marriage and online abuse.

In most cases 16 and 17-year-olds will be referred to the Multi-Agency Referral Assessment Conference (MARAC) to further the support given between specialised agencies. The advocacy service will work flexibly with teenagers in order to obtain their engagement and be aware of the high level of normalisation of domestic violence and abuse in teenage relationships.

The Teen Advocate role supports young survivors with housing, criminal and civil court matters, sexual health, mental health, drug and alcohol issues and education. It is a specialised service that supports Male and Female survivors.