Housing Provision for Vulnerable Children

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:14 pm on 6 November 2018.

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Photo of Leanne Wood Leanne Wood Plaid Cymru 2:14, 6 November 2018

Reduced funding for Welsh Women's Aid has impacted upon their ability to provide dedicated support for children accommodated in refuges, and this is no surprise. Across Wales, services have seen a 14 per cent reduction in funding from local authority children's services and the Families First grant programmes. Some specialist providers do not receive any funding specifically for support for children, which means that children affected by domestic abuse face a postcode lottery. From my previous employment with Women's Aid, I know that some of these children have witnessed unimaginable horror and can have been subjected to some real trauma and they need support. With this in mind, when are you going to deliver on a model for specialist violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence support, as promised in your national strategy published two years ago? If you were serious about tackling adverse childhood experiences, and if you're serious about creating a safe country for women, this is a serious oversight that needs addressing swiftly.