A Future Without Child Abuse and Domestic Violence

The vision of the Child Abuse Prevention Service (CAPS) is that every child is safe, supported and loved. The organisation delivers longstanding and well received programs which prevent child abuse and domestic violence, and recently celebrated 50 years working in the Sydney region. 

“Communities all across the state of NSW benefit greatly from the work that you do,” said Summer Hill MP Jo Haylen in the opening address at CAPS’ 50-year anniversary event.

In an unprecedented initiative, CAPS is to extend the reach of these programs to benefit local communities across NSW. 

Assisted by ClubGRANTS, CAPS will build local community capability and networks to deliver prevention programs in a supported and future sustainable way. 

At the same time, CAPS will conduct a study into the delivery and efficacy of these programs in partnership with Macquarie University’s Australian Institute of Health Information. 

Clubs across NSW are joining this initiative to build community capability and resilience against domestic violence and child abuse. ClubGRANTS will enable participating communities through:

• Investment back into the local community to upskill and mobilise a local workforce to deliver CAPS programs that will be supported by: 
  • Building of a domestic violence prevention network for a strong local community response 
  • Community participation in CAPS’ programs as they are continually enriched by research findings 
  • Moving forward, evidence-based findings showing effectiveness of these prevention and early intervention programs and continual and centralised support by CAPS 
• Women, families and children participating in these programs are empowered to make safe choices and equipped with knowledge and awareness to prevent maltreatment. 

The benefits of this initiative are scalable. Through further funding there is opportunity for LGAs and clubs to increase the impact in terms of the numbers of local workers employed, the intervention for vulnerable groups, number of programs that are run in each local LGA and the number of individuals reached with these vital community programs. 

Due to the level of interest in this project, CAPS is hosting information sessions for LGAs and clubs wishing to participate. 

Representatives from CAPS and the university will share the objectives for each program and step through the research framework. Those wishing to attend (in person or online) should email CAPS at [email protected].