Wiltshire charity agrees domestic abuse screening tool needs improving
Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips has said the DASH tool "doesn't work"
Wiltshire's domestic charity says it agrees with the Safeguarding Minister that tools identifying the risk of harm need to be improved.
It follows comments from Jess Phillips MP earlier this week saying the current tool "doesn't work".
The tool the Labour MP was referring to is called Dash (Domestic, Abuse, Stalking, Harassment and Honour-Based Violence) and is a questionnaire formed of 27 questions answered by survivors of abuse.
It helps support organisations, like FearFree, assess the amount of help a person may need, informing experts which people are in the high-risk category.
FearFree CEO Debbie Beadle said its not a tool that can be used as a single checklist and must work alongside other tools to help people.
It requires professionals to use their expertise to "read between the lines" of what someone is saying.
She told Greatest Hits Radio that the tool is beneficial, saying it help show organisations, including police, how serious the issue is in certain cases.
But Debbie said that it doesn't provide a final answer, with risk open to change, meaning it can also be used as a reassessment tool.
She did raise concerns with its effectiveness for people where English isn't their first language, with the framing and wording of some the questions potentially "complicated" for people who haven't grown up in the UK.
"They may not completely understand the framing of the questions or the words that are used because there may be cultural differences that's nuanced," Debbie said.
Debbie said statements from Ministers suggesting tools used to keep people safe aren't effective can cause concern.
But she moved to reassure us that it's just part of how charity's like FearFree work to support survivors, saying it one of a range of tools allowing experts to identify the risk of an individual.
"If you don't score high on the DASH, it doesn't mean that you're not going to get support," she said. "It means that there may be another route you go through or there may be more time and more questions or support put in for your individual needs.
"So we use this initially and then alongside that, there's other risk assessments and other personal support plans and personal safety plans that go alongside somebody as we're supporting them."
Refining the current tool better than starting over
The charity deals with up to 10,000 referrals every year, and DASH can help find those at highest risk quickly, which Debbie says is a benefit.
But it can miss people out, meaning they could be harmed.
Debbie insists forward steps must continue: "We have to keep learning. We have to keep developing and making sure that we are really understanding the nature of abuse and stalking and sexual violence because you know, it's changing all the time and individual circumstances also change."
She says the DASH tool can be boosted by appreciating more of the nuances around abuse, such as within family abuse and male victims, but Debbie warned against throwing it away and starting from scratch.
"It can be used across different agencies," she said, highlighting the importance of communication between organisations in ensuring people don't slip through the net.
"It's dangerous just to throw things out. If agencies would say that we're not going to use this anymore, I don't think that is the way forward. I think let's improve. Let's learn. But let's not just throw things out that we've been using because actually it is saving lives," she said.