Child and Adolescent to Parent Aggression and/or Harm (CPA/CAPVA) has become increasingly recognised in recent years. Greater media coverage, research and public discussion have helped raise awareness of this hidden form of family abuse, but for many parents and carers, recognition alone has never been enough. Families still ask the same question:
“Where can we go for help?”
My name is Jane Griffiths, Founder and CEO of Capa First Response. For more than 37 years I have worked alongside children, young people and families, including over 20 years specialising in family violence and almost two decades dedicated to supporting families experiencing child-to-parent aggression and harm.
During those years I travelled across the UK delivering training to professionals, meeting families and listening to their experiences. Although professionals valued the training, parents consistently asked two simple but powerful questions:
“It’s great that professionals are receiving training, but what happens next?”
“How do I get support when there is nothing available where I live?”
Those conversations became the foundation of Capa First Response.
Four Simple Principles In 2019, while facing redundancy, I was asked a question during an interview that changed everything:
“If you had the opportunity to design the service families really needed, what would it look like?”
The answer came quickly. It would be a service that would:
- Support families regardless of where they lived.
- Support the whole family, not just one individual.
- Equip professionals with the skills and confidence to respond effectively.
- Raise awareness so no family felt alone or ashamed of their experience.
Using my redundancy payment, I began building that vision from the spare bedroom of my home. I offered my first Advice and Support sessions to families, delivered specialist training to professionals and secured Capa’s first £500 grant through the Sussex Police Gardening Fund. Around the same time, I began working in partnership with The Rita Project to raise awareness of child-to-parent abuse across Sussex.
A Service Families Could Reach
When the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, many families found themselves isolated, with services closed and support becoming even harder to access. On 7 May 2020, Capa First Response was officially registered.
Shortly after our website launched, I received an email from a parent in rural Derbyshire at 3 o’clock in the morning. Following a frightening incident in which their son had damaged property, they had locked themselves in their bedroom because they were afraid of what might happen next. They had searched Google in desperation, hoping someone, somewhere, would understand.
That email confirmed everything I had believed. Because our support was available online, location no longer mattered. We were able to respond immediately, helping that parent feel safer, less isolated and more confident about the next steps. It was exactly the kind of support I had hoped Capa would provide.
Where We Are Today
Since those first sessions, Capa First Response has grown into a national specialist organisation supporting families and professionals across the UK.
Today we continue to focus on the same four principles that inspired our creation:
- Providing specialist support, regardless of location.
- Supporting parents and carers to strengthen family relationships.
- Delivering specialist training and consultation that strengthens professional practice.
- Raising awareness through collaboration, research, education and public engagement.
Our team has grown from one person to a skilled group of specialist practitioners, united by a shared commitment to ensuring no family faces child-to-parent abuse alone.
Our Vision
Our vision is simple:
A future where no child or adolescent uses harmful or aggressive behaviour towards a parent or caregiver, and where every family has access to compassionate, specialist support that helps them build safer relationships and more hopeful futures.
Whether you are a parent, carer or professional, we are here to help. Explore our website to find the support that’s right for you.
