Domestic Abuse Support Worker

Domestic Abuse Support Worker

£22,669 - £23,428 per annum

South Derbyshire

Hours: 37

This post is exempt under Sch 9 Pt 1 of the Equality Act 2010 and is only open to female applicants.

Do you want to make a difference to the lives of vulnerable people and their families?

Have you got experience of working with individuals and families who have experienced Domestic Abuse?

Who are Derbyshire WISH?

Derbyshire WISH provides refuge and community based (outreach) support to adults and children who are experiencing domestic abuse. We’re part of the wider NCHA family and we offer our services to both women and men (dispersed only) with or without children who are fleeing domestic abuse and need a safe place to stay, and to those out in the community who are living with the impact of domestic abuse.

The Roles

We have multiple roles across WISH, each varying in responsibility. Please read through the descriptions and when asked on the application page specify which role you are interested in.

Support Worker’s

As a Support Worker, you’ll play a pivotal role in providing practical and emotional support to women and men who are experiencing or have experienced domestic abuse (both in the refuge and throughout the local community). You’ll work with clients to assess needs and risks and plan a package of support and risk management individual to them.

Some of the other duties involve:

• Assessing referrals for both community and refuge based services
• Supporting the delivery of group work both in refuge and local community
• Travelling throughout service delivery area to deliver support and attendance at multi-agency meetings and work in partnership with other agencies where required to advocate for our clients and ensure risk is managed and support needs are met (e.g.: social care; police; CAB; housing departments; Job Centre and Benefits agencies)
• Ensuring records (computer based case management system) are kept up to date and accurate

Move On Support Worker’s

As a domestic abuse move on worker you’ll support individuals and families within our safe accommodation to transition into settled accommodation. You’ll provide a tailored, person-centred support package to help customers achieve their goals and live a life free from abuse.

Some other duties include:

• Prepare customers to move on from safe accommodation services and deliver support, both in groups and one-to-one, to enable them to manage their own tenancy.
• Support customers to set up their own home, assisting them to set up utility accounts and other household obligations.
• Provide emotional support and reassurance to survivors and their families around their move from safe refuge.
• Working with survivors on the transition from refuge to their own property safely, engaging in robust safety planning and risk assessing and identification.
• Provide housing management and welfare benefit support and guidance, as well as signposting and making referrals to appropriate agencies.
• Identifying and keeping an up-to-date register of local and national grants available to survivors in furnishing/ moving to their new home Establish and maintain quality working relationships to enable multi-agency support.
• Engage actively with safeguarding initiatives and Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) frameworks, referring clients, attending meetings, and following up on agreed actions.
• Foster positive partnerships within the multi-agency arena, working collaboratively across operational areas and the local community to raise awareness of domestic abuse issues and available support options.
• Working in a client-centred way to identify appropriate local and community groups that can support/ assist the survivor to integrate into their new community safely.
• Liaise with, signpost or refer to relevant statutory and voluntary agencies, advocating for the best possible support for each survivor.

Peripatetic Support Worker

• Provide comprehensive cover for accommodation and community-based services, offering practical and emotional support to survivors of domestic abuse and various forms of violence and abuse. Some other duties include:
• Managing a diverse caseload, responding effectively to escalating and changing risk, while maintaining up-to-date casework records.
• Facilitating tailored, high-quality case management, including the development of individual safety plans.
• Engaging actively with safeguarding initiatives and Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) frameworks, referring clients, attending meetings, and following up on agreed actions.
• Foster positive partnerships within the multi-agency arena, working collaboratively across operational areas and the local community to raise awareness of domestic abuse issues and available support options.
• Liaise with, signpost, or refer to relevant statutory and voluntary agencies, advocating for the best possible support for each survivor.

About You

We’re looking for someone who has the values, knowledge and skills of working within a support role supporting clients who have experienced domestic abuse and can demonstrate how they use their skills and common sense to support vulnerable individuals and families. It is desirable if you have had experience of working within a Domestic Abuse Service.

Previous experience in a similar role is desirable, but we welcome candidates with relevant experience from other sectors or transferrable skills.

You will work 37 hours a week, Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm. There may be expectation to work some evenings up to 8pm and occasional weekends and bank holidays.

You will be required to have flexibility to travel across Derbyshire therefore driving licence and access to a car (with business insurance) is essential

All successful candidates will be required to take a basic numeracy and literacy exercise prior to the interview.

Interviews are being arranged on an ongoing basis