Safe & Together Institute
@safeandtogether.bsky.social
Concrete strategies. Meaningful tools. Real change.
The Safe & Together Institute provides domestic abuse–informed training and consulting to improve the safety and well-being of families.
The Safe & Together Institute provides domestic abuse–informed training and consulting to improve the safety and well-being of families.
Child welfare professionals bring skill and judgement to work that matters. Scotland’s Year Three Learning Report shows how shared learning can strengthen practice across a workforce. Explore the findings: shorturl.at/cKJVe
#ChildWelfareWorkforceDevelopmentMonth
#ChildWelfareWorkforceDevelopmentMonth
September 15, 2026 at 7:39 PM
Child welfare professionals bring skill and judgement to work that matters. Scotland’s Year Three Learning Report shows how shared learning can strengthen practice across a workforce. Explore the findings: shorturl.at/cKJVe
#ChildWelfareWorkforceDevelopmentMonth
#ChildWelfareWorkforceDevelopmentMonth
From 6–12 September, we recognise National Child Protection Week in Australia.
Every conversation about child safety matters. So does what happens next.
Safe & Together helps turn conversation into action through practical, domestic violence–informed systems and practice change.
Every conversation about child safety matters. So does what happens next.
Safe & Together helps turn conversation into action through practical, domestic violence–informed systems and practice change.
September 8, 2026 at 7:28 PM
From 6–12 September, we recognise National Child Protection Week in Australia.
Every conversation about child safety matters. So does what happens next.
Safe & Together helps turn conversation into action through practical, domestic violence–informed systems and practice change.
Every conversation about child safety matters. So does what happens next.
Safe & Together helps turn conversation into action through practical, domestic violence–informed systems and practice change.
Domestic abuse–informed practice needs behavioral clarity.
Build practical skills for assessment, documentation & case planning at our Live Remote CORE Training.
📅 Oct. 1, 2, 8 & 9 | 9 AM–4 PM CT
💻 Live online
shorturl.at/3dzvF
#SafeAndTogether
Build practical skills for assessment, documentation & case planning at our Live Remote CORE Training.
📅 Oct. 1, 2, 8 & 9 | 9 AM–4 PM CT
💻 Live online
shorturl.at/3dzvF
#SafeAndTogether
October 2026 Live Remote Core Training – North America — Safe & Together Institute
Safe & Together Model Live Remote Core Training sessions will be delivered fully online through our Virtual Academy via Zoom. Each training is delivered across four days, and attendance at all fou...
shorturl.at
September 6, 2026 at 12:56 AM
Domestic abuse–informed practice needs behavioral clarity.
Build practical skills for assessment, documentation & case planning at our Live Remote CORE Training.
📅 Oct. 1, 2, 8 & 9 | 9 AM–4 PM CT
💻 Live online
shorturl.at/3dzvF
#SafeAndTogether
Build practical skills for assessment, documentation & case planning at our Live Remote CORE Training.
📅 Oct. 1, 2, 8 & 9 | 9 AM–4 PM CT
💻 Live online
shorturl.at/3dzvF
#SafeAndTogether
Supporting child welfare professionals means building systems that support them in the work. Skilled supervision can strengthen consistent practice, guide complex decisions, and support worker safety.
Explore our Supervisor Training: shorturl.at/Ixvr9
Explore our Supervisor Training: shorturl.at/Ixvr9
Supervisor Training — Safe & Together Institute
Domestic abuse is one of the most challenging case issues facing child welfare and other family service agencies. Supervising workers in a domestic abuse–related practice is one way to make sure empl...
shorturl.at
September 2, 2026 at 1:35 AM
Supporting child welfare professionals means building systems that support them in the work. Skilled supervision can strengthen consistent practice, guide complex decisions, and support worker safety.
Explore our Supervisor Training: shorturl.at/Ixvr9
Explore our Supervisor Training: shorturl.at/Ixvr9
Some kids can't just tell you what happened. Too young, too scared, or coached to stay quiet. David Mandel's paper looks at what it actually takes to hear kids and center their best interests in domestic abuse cases.
tinyurl.com/bddcfzkz
#YouthVoices #SafeAndTogether
tinyurl.com/bddcfzkz
#YouthVoices #SafeAndTogether
Ensuring the Voice of the Child Is Heard and the Child’s Best Interests Are Considered in Domestic Abuse Cases — Safe & Together Institute
Authored by David Mandel , CEO and Founder of the Safe & Together Institute, this paper focuses on ensuring children's voices are heard in domestic abuse cases and how the Safe & Together Model aligns with Articles 3 and 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Key point
tinyurl.com
August 27, 2026 at 7:17 PM
Some kids can't just tell you what happened. Too young, too scared, or coached to stay quiet. David Mandel's paper looks at what it actually takes to hear kids and center their best interests in domestic abuse cases.
tinyurl.com/bddcfzkz
#YouthVoices #SafeAndTogether
tinyurl.com/bddcfzkz
#YouthVoices #SafeAndTogether
A teen acting tough and a toddler losing skills they'd already learned can be the same abuse showing up two totally different ways.
Core Training helps practitioners read the signs at every age and stage.
safeandtogetherinstitute.com/core-training
#YouthVoices #SafeAndTogether #CoreTraining
Core Training helps practitioners read the signs at every age and stage.
safeandtogetherinstitute.com/core-training
#YouthVoices #SafeAndTogether #CoreTraining
August 15, 2026 at 12:17 AM
A teen acting tough and a toddler losing skills they'd already learned can be the same abuse showing up two totally different ways.
Core Training helps practitioners read the signs at every age and stage.
safeandtogetherinstitute.com/core-training
#YouthVoices #SafeAndTogether #CoreTraining
Core Training helps practitioners read the signs at every age and stage.
safeandtogetherinstitute.com/core-training
#YouthVoices #SafeAndTogether #CoreTraining
Today is International Youth Day. This year's theme: Different Contexts, Common Aspirations. Different circumstances, same hopes: to be heard, safe, and given a real shot at their future. For young people who've faced domestic abuse, we see your strength.
#InternationalYouthDay #SafeAndTogether
#InternationalYouthDay #SafeAndTogether
August 12, 2026 at 11:33 PM
Today is International Youth Day. This year's theme: Different Contexts, Common Aspirations. Different circumstances, same hopes: to be heard, safe, and given a real shot at their future. For young people who've faced domestic abuse, we see your strength.
#InternationalYouthDay #SafeAndTogether
#InternationalYouthDay #SafeAndTogether
Children and young people affected by fathers who choose violence have voices that deserve to be heard. In this episode, David and Ruth are joined by Professor Cathy Humphreys and Dr. Katie Lamb to explore why listening to those voices matters.
safeandtogetherinstitute.com/podcast/epis...
safeandtogetherinstitute.com/podcast/epis...
Season 1 Episode 21: Listening to the Voices of Children and Young People Harmed by Fathers Who Choose Violence: An Interview with Professor Cathy Humphreys and Dr. Katie Lamb — Safe & Together Instit...
About This Episode For too long we have not listened to children and young people’s experience of their father’s violence. To fill this gap, Professor Cathy Humphreys and Dr. Katie Lamb interviewed ...
safeandtogetherinstitute.com
August 9, 2026 at 12:42 AM
Children and young people affected by fathers who choose violence have voices that deserve to be heard. In this episode, David and Ruth are joined by Professor Cathy Humphreys and Dr. Katie Lamb to explore why listening to those voices matters.
safeandtogetherinstitute.com/podcast/epis...
safeandtogetherinstitute.com/podcast/epis...
Two kids, same house, same abuse, two different experiences of harm. Age, disability, personality, it all matters. Our Multiple Pathways to Harm course helps practitioners see the child in front of them, not just a category.
academy.safeandtogetherinstitute.com/course/pathw...
#YouthVoices
academy.safeandtogetherinstitute.com/course/pathw...
#YouthVoices
August 3, 2026 at 7:34 PM
Two kids, same house, same abuse, two different experiences of harm. Age, disability, personality, it all matters. Our Multiple Pathways to Harm course helps practitioners see the child in front of them, not just a category.
academy.safeandtogetherinstitute.com/course/pathw...
#YouthVoices
academy.safeandtogetherinstitute.com/course/pathw...
#YouthVoices
Healing from family violence in First Nations communities cannot be separated from healing from colonisation.
Lisa and Jack Bulman of Mibbinbah Spirit Healing on what that actually looks like and what professionals working alongside First Nations families need to understand.
tinyurl.com/43e494bz
Lisa and Jack Bulman of Mibbinbah Spirit Healing on what that actually looks like and what professionals working alongside First Nations families need to understand.
tinyurl.com/43e494bz
Season 4 Episode 8: “Heart Healing”: An Interview with Mibbinbah’s Lisa and Jack Bulman — Safe & Together Institute
About This Episode In this episode, Ruth and David speak with Lisa and Jack Bulman of Mibbinbah Spirit Healing about their work in the community to facilitate healing from intergenerational trauma,...
tinyurl.com
July 31, 2026 at 12:34 AM
Healing from family violence in First Nations communities cannot be separated from healing from colonisation.
Lisa and Jack Bulman of Mibbinbah Spirit Healing on what that actually looks like and what professionals working alongside First Nations families need to understand.
tinyurl.com/43e494bz
Lisa and Jack Bulman of Mibbinbah Spirit Healing on what that actually looks like and what professionals working alongside First Nations families need to understand.
tinyurl.com/43e494bz
Next week: our European Regional Manager Nic Douglas is hosting a live Ask the Expert webinar on the Safe & Together Model.
Have you registered yet?
📅 13 July, 10 a.m. BST
🔗 safeandtogetherinstitute.com/events/ask-t...
Have you registered yet?
📅 13 July, 10 a.m. BST
🔗 safeandtogetherinstitute.com/events/ask-t...
Ask the Expert: An Introduction to Safe & Together with Nic Douglas — Safe & Together Institute
Our European Regional Manager Nic Douglas will give you a brief introduction into all things Safe & Together. You will have an opportunity to ask any burning questions related to the Safe & T...
safeandtogetherinstitute.com
July 9, 2026 at 11:08 PM
Next week: our European Regional Manager Nic Douglas is hosting a live Ask the Expert webinar on the Safe & Together Model.
Have you registered yet?
📅 13 July, 10 a.m. BST
🔗 safeandtogetherinstitute.com/events/ask-t...
Have you registered yet?
📅 13 July, 10 a.m. BST
🔗 safeandtogetherinstitute.com/events/ask-t...
Most child protection professionals didn't enter this field to scrutinise mothers. But too many systems ask them to. That gap between values and practice isn't a personal failing. It's a design flaw.
#ChildProtection #CoerciveControl
#ChildProtection #CoerciveControl
July 7, 2026 at 11:37 PM
Most child protection professionals didn't enter this field to scrutinise mothers. But too many systems ask them to. That gap between values and practice isn't a personal failing. It's a design flaw.
#ChildProtection #CoerciveControl
#ChildProtection #CoerciveControl
Fifty years of NAIDOC. Fifty years of culture protected, language kept alive, and community leading the way.
This week we honour that. 🖤💛❤️ #NAIDOC2026 #FiftyYearsDeadly
This week we honour that. 🖤💛❤️ #NAIDOC2026 #FiftyYearsDeadly
July 6, 2026 at 1:03 AM
Fifty years of NAIDOC. Fifty years of culture protected, language kept alive, and community leading the way.
This week we honour that. 🖤💛❤️ #NAIDOC2026 #FiftyYearsDeadly
This week we honour that. 🖤💛❤️ #NAIDOC2026 #FiftyYearsDeadly
For Aboriginal families, genuine safety means healing, not just punishment. Connection, not just separation. The Safe & Together Model was built around exactly that kind of thinking.
🔗 safeandtogetherinstitute.com/blog/breakin...
🔗 safeandtogetherinstitute.com/blog/breakin...
Breaking the Ladder: How Safe & Together Aligns with the Aboriginal Worldview — Safe & Together Institute
By Jackie Wruck, Asia Pacific Regional Manager, Safe & Together Institute Traditional family violence responses often operate like a ladder—hierarchical, punitive, focused on separation t...
safeandtogetherinstitute.com
July 3, 2026 at 1:33 AM
For Aboriginal families, genuine safety means healing, not just punishment. Connection, not just separation. The Safe & Together Model was built around exactly that kind of thinking.
🔗 safeandtogetherinstitute.com/blog/breakin...
🔗 safeandtogetherinstitute.com/blog/breakin...
This Father’s Day, we celebrate fathers and father figures who show up with care, responsibility, and love. Children do better when fathers are engaged, supported, and held to equal parenting standards. Fathers are not optional in child and family work—they matter.
June 21, 2026 at 1:46 PM
This Father’s Day, we celebrate fathers and father figures who show up with care, responsibility, and love. Children do better when fathers are engaged, supported, and held to equal parenting standards. Fathers are not optional in child and family work—they matter.
When systems cannot meaningfully engage men as parents, perpetrators too easily become invisible in family work. Our Working with Men as Parents course helps practitioners build confidence engaging fathers with accountability, child focus, and a domestic abuse–informed lens. tinyurl.com/2fr6e3yf
Working with Men as Parents: Fathers' Parenting Choices Matter
If we want to work with families, we cannot just work with women and children. We need to be able to work with men from all types of families, especially poor and historically oppressed communities. W...
academy.safeandtogetherinstitute.com
June 16, 2026 at 1:03 AM
When systems cannot meaningfully engage men as parents, perpetrators too easily become invisible in family work. Our Working with Men as Parents course helps practitioners build confidence engaging fathers with accountability, child focus, and a domestic abuse–informed lens. tinyurl.com/2fr6e3yf
Domestic abuse cases often fragment across systems because each agency sees only part of the pattern. Safe & Together Core Training helps professionals build a shared lens on coercive control, survivor strengths, and child impact. Learn more: safeandtogetherinstitute.com/core-training
Core Training — Safe & Together Institute
Safe & Together’s four-day Core Training is designed to give practitioners a skills-oriented foundation for domestic abuse–informed practice. This training provides key skills and learnings for partic...
safeandtogetherinstitute.com
June 13, 2026 at 2:14 AM
Domestic abuse cases often fragment across systems because each agency sees only part of the pattern. Safe & Together Core Training helps professionals build a shared lens on coercive control, survivor strengths, and child impact. Learn more: safeandtogetherinstitute.com/core-training
The University of Melbourne’s Multi-Agency Triage Project showed what changes when agencies use a shared framework, not parallel systems. Using shared risk assessment + the Safe & Together Model, ~90% of child-related cases were diverted from child protection intervention.
tinyurl.com/mvertmvw
tinyurl.com/mvertmvw
Multi-Agency Triage Project: Implementing Stage 3 of the Multi-Agency Triage Model — Safe & Together Institute
This final report details a collaborative project aimed at improving responses to family violence incidents reported to police, with special focus on creating better outcomes for children affected by ...
tinyurl.com
June 11, 2026 at 12:04 AM
The University of Melbourne’s Multi-Agency Triage Project showed what changes when agencies use a shared framework, not parallel systems. Using shared risk assessment + the Safe & Together Model, ~90% of child-related cases were diverted from child protection intervention.
tinyurl.com/mvertmvw
tinyurl.com/mvertmvw
Practitioners often meet men after harm has escalated. Communities usually see the warning signs much earlier. Friends, family, coworkers and coaches can help reinforce accountability, challenge harmful behaviour and support safer choices before crisis point. tinyurl.com/mr2sf3nm
Choose to Change Toolkit — Safe & Together Institute
The Choose to Change Toolkit describes a four-step process to assist men in developing strong, safe support networks to help them interrupt their violence and increase safety for other family members....
safeandtogetherinstitute.com
June 4, 2026 at 12:21 AM
Practitioners often meet men after harm has escalated. Communities usually see the warning signs much earlier. Friends, family, coworkers and coaches can help reinforce accountability, challenge harmful behaviour and support safer choices before crisis point. tinyurl.com/mr2sf3nm
Supporting LGBTQ+ families means recognising domestic abuse without relying on stereotypes about gender, victims, or perpetrators. Domestic abuse–informed practice starts with listening carefully, identifying coercive control patterns, and understanding the full context of family life.
June 2, 2026 at 12:22 AM
Supporting LGBTQ+ families means recognising domestic abuse without relying on stereotypes about gender, victims, or perpetrators. Domestic abuse–informed practice starts with listening carefully, identifying coercive control patterns, and understanding the full context of family life.
“There are two worldviews: one says you arrive here wanting. The other says you arrive here wanted.”
A powerful conversation with Red River Métis systems thinker Trisha McOrmond on colonisation, belonging, systems, and child safety.
🎧 tinyurl.com/4a8fcabw
A powerful conversation with Red River Métis systems thinker Trisha McOrmond on colonisation, belonging, systems, and child safety.
🎧 tinyurl.com/4a8fcabw
Season 7 Episode 9: When Systems Fracture Identity: A Métis Perspective on Belonging and Accountability — Safe & Together Institute
When systems fracture identity, who is held accountable—and who is blamed? In this episode of Partnered with a Survivor , David Mandel, Ruth Reymundo Mandel, and Métis leader Trisha McOrmond unpack c...
tinyurl.com
May 22, 2026 at 3:52 PM
“There are two worldviews: one says you arrive here wanting. The other says you arrive here wanted.”
A powerful conversation with Red River Métis systems thinker Trisha McOrmond on colonisation, belonging, systems, and child safety.
🎧 tinyurl.com/4a8fcabw
A powerful conversation with Red River Métis systems thinker Trisha McOrmond on colonisation, belonging, systems, and child safety.
🎧 tinyurl.com/4a8fcabw
On Mother's Day, worth remembering: In many DV cases, mothers are already doing the work of keeping kids safe. Watching for mood changes. Keeping things predictable.
That work doesn't always show up as "good parenting" on paper, especially when his behaviour isn't clearly described.
That work doesn't always show up as "good parenting" on paper, especially when his behaviour isn't clearly described.
May 10, 2026 at 2:58 AM
On Mother's Day, worth remembering: In many DV cases, mothers are already doing the work of keeping kids safe. Watching for mood changes. Keeping things predictable.
That work doesn't always show up as "good parenting" on paper, especially when his behaviour isn't clearly described.
That work doesn't always show up as "good parenting" on paper, especially when his behaviour isn't clearly described.
Worker safety in domestic abuse cases doesn’t get talked about enough, but it shapes practice every day. When fear goes unspoken, it can drive decisions. Naming it, supporting it, and building skills matters for workers and families. Worth a read: tinyurl.com/3329yuaz
Worker Safety and Domestic Violence in Child Welfare Systems — Safe & Together Institute
Addressing workers’ emotional and physical safety concerns must be at the forefront of efforts for child welfare agencies that want to become domestic abuse–informed. From the inception of the Safe &a...
tinyurl.com
May 8, 2026 at 8:56 AM
Worker safety in domestic abuse cases doesn’t get talked about enough, but it shapes practice every day. When fear goes unspoken, it can drive decisions. Naming it, supporting it, and building skills matters for workers and families. Worth a read: tinyurl.com/3329yuaz
Calling a survivor's decisions "trauma bonding" shifts the frame onto her psychology and lets his behaviour recede.
That framing doesn't just affect survivors. It adds interpretive load for every worker who inherits the case note.
Read the full blog post here: tinyurl.com/437vf6sp
That framing doesn't just affect survivors. It adds interpretive load for every worker who inherits the case note.
Read the full blog post here: tinyurl.com/437vf6sp
May 6, 2026 at 5:21 AM
Calling a survivor's decisions "trauma bonding" shifts the frame onto her psychology and lets his behaviour recede.
That framing doesn't just affect survivors. It adds interpretive load for every worker who inherits the case note.
Read the full blog post here: tinyurl.com/437vf6sp
That framing doesn't just affect survivors. It adds interpretive load for every worker who inherits the case note.
Read the full blog post here: tinyurl.com/437vf6sp
Kinship care is often seen as the best option—but in domestic abuse cases, are we asking the right question?
Can children stay safely with the protective parent if we center the perpetrator’s behaviour and provide real support?
Let’s shift the focus.
🔗 safeandtogetherinstitute.com/blog/kinship...
Can children stay safely with the protective parent if we center the perpetrator’s behaviour and provide real support?
Let’s shift the focus.
🔗 safeandtogetherinstitute.com/blog/kinship...
Kinship Care Should Not Become Another Avenue for Blaming Survivors — Safe & Together Institute
By David Mandel , CE O and Founde r, Safe & Together Institute Let me be direct: I have a problem with kinship care in cases where one of the main reasons for removal i...
safeandtogetherinstitute.com
April 29, 2026 at 3:52 PM
Kinship care is often seen as the best option—but in domestic abuse cases, are we asking the right question?
Can children stay safely with the protective parent if we center the perpetrator’s behaviour and provide real support?
Let’s shift the focus.
🔗 safeandtogetherinstitute.com/blog/kinship...
Can children stay safely with the protective parent if we center the perpetrator’s behaviour and provide real support?
Let’s shift the focus.
🔗 safeandtogetherinstitute.com/blog/kinship...