Specialist Domestic Abuse Family Support Worker
Womens Aid
Birmingham
Birmingham & Solihull Women’s Aid
Specialist Domestic Abuse Family Support Worker
HOURS OF WORK: 37 hours per week (some out of hours work will be expected)
SALARY: £27,344 – £29,439
JOB PURPOSE:
- To deliver tailored, holistic support to women and their children affected by
domestic abuse and living in the community, including practical and emotional
support to increase their safety and meet identified needs.
RESPONSIBLE TO: Specialist Domestic Abuse Family Support Services Manager
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
SUPPORT WORK:
- To work with women to identify their, and their children’s, support needs and incorporate these into support plans
- To assess risk and to safety plan with women, reviewing assessments and risks regularly
- To provide practical support on a range of issues including housing, benefits, legal matters, and emotional support to enable women’s recovery from their experiences of abuse
- To develop and deliver one-to-one support programmes for children to enable them to explore their experiences of abuse and address issues arising from this
- To design and deliver group sessions for children to build confidence and participation within a mutually supportive environment
- To support mothers to enable them to understand and support their children emotionally and practically and to build confidence in their own parenting skills.
- To deliver family support sessions with mothers and children designed to rebuild communication and develop strong parent-child relationships
- To work alongside colleagues at BSWA’s Home Options Hub to provide advice and support to women around housing options and develop individual housing action plans with women, supporting women and children through their resettlement process where relevant
- To facilitate access to BSWA and its services and to refer and signpost into specialist statutory and community services where necessary to help meet needs
- To work within the monitoring and evaluation procedures for the project including encouraging feedback from service users and producing statistical information
DEVELOPMENT:
- To identify and develop support strategies to meet the needs of women and children seeking support
- To keep up to date with current legislative changes for dissemination within staff team, and for use when working with women and children around their rights
- To identify and make links with existing projects and community services and to develop joint services where appropriate
- To keep abreast of issues regarding domestic violence on a national and local level with particular reference to those that may affect the work of the Project
- To participate in multi-agency, work as agreed with your line manager
- To promote awareness of the impact of domestic violence on women and children and BSWA services
ADMINISTRATION:
- To work within BSWA’s administrative and financial systems
- To ensure that adequate records are kept for all service users and relevant monitoring data collected and recorded
- To ensure that Health and Safety records are kept up to date
- To produce monthly reports for your line manager
COMMUNICATION:
- To ensure that all staff team members are aware of any matters that are relevant to the welfare and security of the refuges, staff, volunteers and service users by:
- Maintaining BSWA communication records
- Following safety procedures
- Attending team meetings
- Carrying out risk assessments in conjunction with your line manager
- To attend in-house training
- To attend support and supervision sessions with your line manager
- To develop a professional working relationship with external agencies
- Feedback relevant issues from external meetings/ training to the staff and management teams as appropriate
- To be involved in the Annual Review process
GENERAL:
- To maintain the confidentiality of the women and children using the service and, in all matters, relating to the organisation
- To offer an equal service to all women and children regardless of age, class, culture, language, race, religion and sexual orientation
- To work within BSWA policies and procedures and demonstrate a commitment to the values and ethos of BSWA
- To work within BSWA and local multi-agency child and adult safeguarding procedures
- To work within BSWA’s framework for equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory practice
- To undertake any other duties required by BSWA, which may arise and commensurate with the post
These posts are covered by a Genuine Occupational Requirement (Schedule 9; Equality Act 2010) and women only need apply.
BSWA operates within Safer Recruitment good practice guidelines. Please note all successful candidates will be subject to a Disclosure & Barring Service Check before commencing their employment.
Benefits we offer:
- 31 days annual leave (excluding bank holidays)
- Up to 6% matched pension contribution
- Health Cash Plan scheme available to all employees from day one.
- Free access to Employee Assistance Programme
- Life Assurance scheme while in employment (a lump sum of 4 times salary)
- Cycle to Work scheme
BSWA is a Disability Confident Employer. We want everyone to have equal chance at being considered for our jobs. Should you be unable to submit your application online and would prefer an alternative method, or you are experiencing another barrier to completing your application, please contact our recruitment team at: [email protected].
How to apply
Please apply via the Birmingham & Solihull Women’s Aid website.