DVA Worker

Location: Newport - Isle of Wight

Part Time, Permanent Contract (30 hours per week) 

Salary: £19,733.25pa (£26,311 FTE)

PURPOSE

PARAGON Domestic Abuse Workers are part of a team providing practical and emotional support to individuals and families experiencing domestic abuse.  Domestic Abuse Workers work with individuals, parents and others to develop and deliver a range of effective interventions and with partners to ensure a whole family approach, where indicated.  This may be via proactive in-reach support to people living in refuge and outreach, move on and resettlement support, providing a flexible, trauma informed, client centred risk led service.  Workers lead on assessments, facilitate drop ins, develop a range of parenting support interventions, lead on and arrange campaigns and awareness raising events and design, develop and facilitate group work in accommodation and community settings.

VALUES

• I will be trustworthy in all that I do, acting with integrity and treating people with dignity and respect

• I will pursue excellence in my work

• I will be person centred ensuring the service is designed around what matters to clients and that people are in the centre of the support they receive.

• I will be can-do in my approach asking how I can achieve things rather than whether can

• I will be innovative in my approach and embrace new ways of working to ensure the service is always at the forefront of practice

CLIENT WISHES

• A person who is able to offer emotional support and someone to talk to

• I would like someone who is willing to listen to me and spend time talking to me

• I would like someone who can give me information and advice, can do the job properly and know what they are talking about

• I would like someone who is supportive of my decisions

• I would like someone who is warm, friendly, approachable and fun but will always be good at their job and help me

WHAT I WILL DO WITH OTHERS

• I will co-produce full risk assessments with the client and ensure their needs and circumstances are reflected within all safety and support plans, carrying out property surveys and safety planning where identified

• I hold a case load of clients and manage my diary ensuring I meet the needs of clients as individuals

• I advocate on behalf of clients in a professional and respectful manner, encouraging and enabling clients to have their own voice and develop self-resilience

• I will be innovative in my practice and ensure I offer a safe service for those engaged with the project

• I will provide 1:1 support to enable the client to understand the impact of DVA

• I will work with parents to improve their parenting capacity, increase health and wellbeing, develop strengths, confidence and abilities of all family members to support living their life in a positive and safe way

• I will work closely with other professionals and local community groups and be the named contact for the family

• I will support families to develop partnerships with others to promote children’s learning and development

• I will work with others to carry out assessments with parents and with input from partners and colleagues we will co-produce individual and family support plans

• When agreed with my manager I will increase access to community social activity for all families

• Where appropriate I will support families to visits and appointments

• I will monitor, review and reassess safety plans and support plans ensuring interventions are appropriate for level of risk and share this information with colleagues

• I work in partnership with colleagues and clients to help plan and deliver support

• I work flexibly with colleagues to manage the service capacity and support an agreed and variable number of clients through 1:1s, group work, drop ins and on the phone

• I work together with clients to complete DASH RIC and refer to MARAC completing requests for information in a timely and efficient manner

• I work together with clients and colleagues to design, develop and deliver group work

• I produce confidential case studies to evidence and share the impact of my work

• I am part of a team committed to ensure all Health and Safety requirements are met

• I am responsible for following safeguarding procedures, telling my manager immediately about safety concerns relating to children or adults within the service

• I support fundraising, campaigns and community awareness raising initiatives

• I attend and actively participate in team meetings, supervision, reflective working practice, training and development to improve and consolidate my practice

• I am part of team that provides an out of hours on call service

• I maintain valuing, accurate and timely records of my work and update the database as required to ensure contractual compliance

• I share appropriate information and ensure safety and service continuity for clients

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential evidence required against which short listing will take place and to be tested at assessment centre and interview.

• Health & Social Care qualification or equivalent to NVQ level 3 or equivalent work level experience

• Experience supporting women, men and children who have been subject to domestic violence and abuse on 1;1 or group work basis

• Experience and knowledge of safeguarding adults and children

• Experience of completing and building on strengths, needs and risk assessments

• Experience of supporting, reviewing and enabling positive client outcomes

• Experience/Knowledge of developing and running activity sessions with children

• Experience of responding calmly and effectively to people in crisis or emergency

• Understanding of domestic violence and abuse issues affecting families

• Understand the impact of domestic violence and abuse on parenting and children

• Knowledge of resources available in the community to increase health and wellbeing for children and families such as mental health services, substance misuse etc

• Knowledge of Honour Based Violence, Forced Marriage and Female Genital Mutilation

• Knowledge of criminal and civil proceedings relating to Domestic Abuse

• Knowledge of housing and welfare benefits including no recourse to public funds

• Knowledge of diversity and inclusion

• Knowledge of local resources and agencies which benefit clients and their children

• Skilled at putting others at ease and being approachable

• Skilled at IT including excel and word, writing case studies, emails and reports

• Ability to be person centred, trustworthy, flexible and solution focused

• Ability to manage own workload and client caseload demonstrating excellent prioritisation and organisational skills

• Ability to maintain safe working practices and understand impact of self on others

• Ability to work client focused flexible hours, including evenings, nights as required and weekends and form part of an on call rota which may require night time call out.

• Car driver with willingness to work across the county and to travel beyond occasionally for meetings and training

Our Benefits

• If you choose to begin a career with our organisation, you are guaranteed:

• Competitive rates of pay and paid travel time, including a higher mileage rate for car sharing.

• Enhanced annual leave entitlements, with the opportunity to buy and sell holiday.

• Matched pension scheme contributions, plus Death in Service Benefit and salary sacrifice options.

• Enhanced sick pay allowances and paid compassionate and emergency dependent leave.

• Excellent and professionally certified training, as well as access to fully-funded apprenticeship programmes.

• Real opportunities to develop in your profession.

• Free health and wellbeing advice via a 24/7, confidential Employee Assistance Programme.

• Everything you need to carry out your role free of charge, which may include a mobile phone, safety equipment and other necessary technology, a uniform where applicable, and of course a nice cup of tea or coffee throughout your day!

• Access to discounts across lots of your favourite stores and online shopping sites, as well as discounted bus travel on the First bus network.

The You Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our clients. Applicants must be willing to undergo appropriate Adult and Child protection screening, including employment references and DBS check.

Where a role involves engaging in regulated activity relevant to adults and/or children it is an offence to apply for the role if you have been barred from engaging in such regulated activity.

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