What is Operation Encompass?
Operation Encompass is a partnership between the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Safeguarding Board Northern Ireland, the Education Authority and schools aimed at supporting children who witness domestic violence or abuse in the home.
How it works
If Police attend a domestic abuse call, and children are present, Operation Encompass allows the officers to pass on relevant information to the safeguarding team at the child’s school before 9am the following morning, so the right support can be put in place. The information shared by Police is treated in strict confidence.
Why has Operation Encompass been introduced in Northern Ireland?
Operation Encompass was initially launched in Plymouth in February 2011 to address a shortcoming in the early sharing of information with schools and proved to very successful in providing appropriate support in a timely manner.
A pilot programme of the scheme was launched in the Downpatrick area of Northern Ireland in September 2021, followed by further rollout phases extending into more schools. A full regional rollout was completed in May 2023, meaning Operation Encompass is now operational across all 1,162 schools in Northern Ireland. This includes schools of all types – Nursery, Primary, Post Primary, Special, EOTAS, Irish Medium and Independent Christian.
Operation Encompass recognises children as unseen victims of domestic abuse. It recognises the impact of the trauma that children experience from seeing, overhearing or coming back into a house where there has been a domestic abuse incident.