The rise in violence between youth dating partners is alarming. According to Canadian police reports, dating violence is most common among individuals aged 15-24, making up 43% of all dating violence incidents. Research has signalled that youth susceptible to violence tend to inflict harm upon others in adult life, a worrying sign for our next generation.
Radius Child and Youth Services provides therapeutic and counselling support to youth who have chosen to use violence in a relationship through the Youth Dating Violence (YDV) Intensive Intervention Program. In 2019, the YDV program received $1.6 million in funding from Public Safety Canada, which will be used to offer free, ongoing individual assessment and counselling to youth aged 12-21 affected by this crisis.
About Radius Child and Youth Services
Radius Child and Youth Services have been providing help to children, youth, and families for almost 40 years. The organization is a widely recognized leader of specialized mental health services for families affected by interpersonal abuse, neglect and violence. Radius provides comprehensive clinical assessments, counselling, and services that help children and youth heal from the trauma of abuse. In addition, they focus on intervention and treatment that supports abuse prevention. By combining their clinical expertise with newly evolving research on YDV, they are committed to providing the highest quality of interventions to this under-serviced population.
It is recognized by Radius that family violence, isolation, and financial hardship are intensifying as people stay at home and social distance. The demand for Radius’ services has increased and they are meeting that need through remote services. By offering online counselling and treatment, free of charge, Radius aims to expand their services across the province, so that a wide range of clients can be serviced remotely.
The Need for Youth Dating Violence Prevention
According to Bente Skau, Director of Clinical Services at Radius, the YDV program will be the first comprehensive treatment program in Canada for young people who engage in dating violence. “When we saw that there were no services available for this population, we knew something had to be done,” said Skau in an interview with Oakville News. “The youth who engage in this violent behaviour now often end up continuing these violent practices in their adult relationships, which is something we are trying to prevent through YDV.”
The Person is Not the Problem
While the cause of dating violence can be easily attributed to the inflictor of harm, Radius strongly believes that the young people they work with are not “the problem”.
“A lot of young people that inflict violence upon their partner suffer from past trauma themselves, which we want to address in the YDV program,” says Skau. “We also assess where the young person is living – are they living in a place where violence is normalized? Have they witnessed intimate partner violence in their own family? By answering questions like these, we can identify what sources of trauma need to be resolved.”
Skau believes that the term “youth dating violence” encompasses a broad range of actions that cumulatively signify unhealthy relationships between youth. “Factors such as control, harassment, and stalking, are part of the youth dating violence definition,” says Skau. It is imperative that youth are aware of what constitutes dating violence so that they can seek out the appropriate counsel to mitigate future harm.
How the YDV Intensive Intervention Program Works
Radius will provide youth referred to the program with a comprehensive assessment, which is estimated to take around 6-10 clinical interview hours. This assessment also involves a battery of psychometrist administered questionnaires, which then provides Radius with a holistic understanding of the young person’s development, current mental health status and risks related to violence. Their family dynamics will be understood in greater detail by interviewing caregivers and parents, and their developmental history will be analyzed.
Ultimately, Radius wishes to use its data and analytics on a national scale, to prevent future violence from happening. “Our strategy for the YDV program is long-term” says Skau. “We want to keep track of clients in our program and see whether they engage in violent acts with a partner in adult life.” Radius hopes that the data paints a clear picture of the YDV program’s success. Through assessing the viability of the program, Radius will provide training to organizations across Canada on how to successfully intervene and prevent youth dating violence.