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Embrace

Embrace is the Alcohol Concern children, families and domestic abuse project.

Funded by the Big Lottery Fund for three years, Embrace is initially working with nine pilot sites across England to develop a more family-focused approach to their clients and to take account of domestic violence and abuse throughout their work. 

Embrace aims to:

• Train the workforce to understand good practice in these areas of work, and improve their ability to make risk assessments and care plans involving children and families, including those who experience domestic abuse.
• Ensure that services are fully aware of and sensitive to the issues and able to create effective links with other services and organisations to have a multi-agency approach.
• Help in building effective joint working partnerships including information sharing, common assessments and referral pathways.
• Develop resources of policy, procedures and protocols when working with families and alcohol-related domestic violence.

We are not a direct service provider, and we are not aiming to develop new specialist services. Our aim is to encourage and enable alcohol services to 'think family' and 'think safety'. To mainstream and embed children, families and domestic violence/ abuse issues into their everyday practice.

The first part of the project is working with pilot sites across six of the nine English regions. One of these sites works specifically with Black Minority Ethnic and Refugee communities, one works mostly with homeless clients, and one is a peer-led service.

The Embrace team provides training and consultancy to pilot sites and assistance in developing new policies, procedures and protocols, as well as support with building partnerships with other local agencies and with commissioners and other funders.

We also produce regular newsletters, resource supplements, and briefings. In later phases of the three-year project, Embrace offers regional and national training and also produces guidance for commissioners, practitioners and policy makers. The project is being externally evaluated - download our Year 1 and Year 2 evaluation reports.