Page 19 - SafeLinkEvaluation

The case below illustrates how the LD ISVA supported clients when intermediary appointments were delayed.
Case example: support when intermediary appointment is delayed
This client, ‘Maria’, had physical disabilities and a learning disability including a diagnosis of autism. Maria lived in supported accommodation and the perpetrator lived in the adjacent property.
She was struggling with living near the perpetrator and felt isolated. She had to wait a number of months before completing her ‘achieving best evidence’ (ABE) interview due to the wait for an intermediary.
The LD ISVA said that she would meet Maria every week during the first three months of support while waiting for an ABE. The delay had a huge impact on Maria’s mental health so they discussed coping strategies for her to deal with anger, feeling low, and self-harm.
The LD ISVA also introduced coping strategies to help with nightmares and sleep problems. She then liaised with partnership agencies to put further emotional support in place.
ii) Police/CJS challenge 2: Clients sometimes had had communication and cognitive tendencies that made the police’s standard interviewing techniques inappropriate.
These tendencies include wishing to please people in authority; suspicion or aggression; acquiescence; compliance; suggestibility; confusion; and impaired reasoning. Clients might also have limited vocabulary with which to express themselves; might not understand certain words; and will not always say, nor ask for clarification, when they have not understood
(Beckene et al., 2017; Ministry of Justice, 2011;). These tendencies can lead people to inaccurately answer questions, particularly leading questions, which police interviews and cross-examination
in court often use (Beckene et al. 2017; Green, 2001;).
By adapting interview techniques, as the LD ISVA recommended, police can support people with LD to act as accurate and reliable witnesses.
As the below case illustrates, interviews in this style can take much longer than those for the general population.
Case example: arranging multiple ABEs
One client, ‘Tina’, processes information slowly and needs time between ABEs.
The LD ISVA arranged six ABEs over a year. She worked to arrange everything at a time that suited Tina, and to ensure she felt at the centre of the process, with the power to make decisions.
The LD ISVA acted as the point of contact between the OIC, intermediary, and Tina. These professionals were happy to take things at Tina’s pace.
The LD ISVA also met with Tina between ABEs for discussions around how talking about abuse was affecting her, and to ensure she was making disclosures in a safe way, only when ready. In a few instances, an interview was booked, but the week before, something happened in Tina’s family life
that affected her mental health. The LD ISVA rearranged interviews in these cases, in partnership with the client.
Alongside this, the LD ISVA supported Tina
to access a formal diagnosis of her condition, as it was felt that a diagnosis would enable access to further specialist support.
17 | Safe Link