Stronger Families will extend its Caring Dads program to 3 new sites in Perth, Cannington and Bunbury, backed by a $1.6 million commitment from the Australian Government.
About the program
Caring Dads works with fathers who have used violence, including intimidation and coercive control, to help them understand the effect of their behaviour and take accountability for it.
The program runs weekly over 17 weeks.
Alongside the group work, it includes systematic outreach to mothers to ensure their safety and freedom from coercion, and collaborative case management with the other services involved with a family.
The expansion will also reportedly extend the program to teenage and young fathers who are using violence, including young men who have been in and out of home care.
Stronger Families says it’s critical to reach this group earlier as it “creates an opportunity to intervene before harmful behaviours become entrenched”.
Part of a broader $31.7 million investment
The funding sits within a $31.7 million investment in WA’s family, domestic and sexual violence response, with the remaining $30.1 million reportedly supporting 50 full time frontline workers through to 2030 under the 500 Workers Initiative.
Both commitments fall under the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032.
Co-Founder and CEO Geoff Hart-Davies says the program’s track record in Perth and the Peel region has made the case for its expansion.
“We have been delivering Caring Dads in the Peel region and across the Perth metropolitan area, and we have seen what happens when a father is given the room to understand the effect of his behaviour and the expectation that he will take responsibility for it,” he says.
“This funding lets us take that work to three more communities.
“The part I want people to notice is the focus on young fathers. Reaching a man in his early twenties, before patterns harden, is the difference between managing harm and preventing it. That is where the long-term value of this investment sits.
“Our thanks to the Australian Government and to the WA Government for backing work that takes years to show its results.”
Caring Dads recognises that children are victim-survivors of violence in their own right.
Stronger Families says this principle sets the program apart from more general behaviour change work.
“The child’s safety and wellbeing sit at the centre of the intervention, alongside mothers’ safety,” says the organisation.
