Season 2 Episode 3: “Cultural Tsunami”: How the Safe & Together Institute Seeks to Transform Systems
About This Episode
In a recent article, Tracey De Simone and Susan Heward-Belle describe the “cultural tsunami” triggered by the Safe & Together Model in Queensland, Australia. In response, Ruth interviews David about the theory of change behind the Safe & Together Model and how Safe & Together Institute is attempting to remake the practice of systems.
David outlines four goals that drive the work:
Strengthening the safety and well-being of children and families
Ending mother-blaming in domestic violence cases
Transforming how systems consider fatherhood
Making statutory child welfare a driver of broader social and system change
Ruth guides the conversation to how all this produces better outcomes for adult and child survivors. David tells practitioners to remember that they are not the arbiters of their own success—adult and child survivors are the arbiters of their success.
Additional Resources
Safe & Together Institute’s domestic abuse–informed trainings
Safe & Together Institute’s upcoming events
David Mandel’s book Stop Blaming Mothers and Ignoring Fathers: How to Transform the Way We Keep Children Safe from Domestic Violence