TLC Kidz

Leanne Hayes / Valerie Gleeson
TLC Kidz Project Co-Ordinator for Limerick and Clare.

Agency’s role and service provision

The TLC programme is for children and mothers who have experienced domestic abuse.
The Programme delivers the TLC Kidz group work programmes concurrently for children and their mothers. The group work programmes are delivered by professionals working in a number of different agencies and different disciplines across the Limerick and Clare areas and span over 12 weeks.

The purpose of the programme is to:

• Provide children with the opportunity to process and understand the violence and abuse they have experienced
• To give children who have been exposed to domestic abuse a voice, and to validate children’s experiences
• To provide mothers with the skills to respond to and support their child to express their feelings in a healthy way
• To provide mothers with an opportunity to explore how their children may have been impacted by the domestic abuse.

Objectives

• To raise awareness of domestic abuse and its impact on children
• To increase capacity of organisations and service providers to identify and respond to domestic abuse and its impact on children
• To link children with an appropriate response to their needs with regard to their exposure to domestic abuse.

Referral criteria

• The programme is open to children between the ages of 6-16 (in appropiate groups) depending on availability
• Open to children from Clare
• Separation has occurred and the perpetrator no longer resides at the family home.