Domestic Abuse Worker

Job Title: Domestic Abuse Practitioner
Starting Salary: £34,434 progressing to £37,280 per annum
Hours: 37 per week
Location: Hemel Hempstead with travel countywide
Contract Type: Permanent
Directorate: Childrens Services

About the team

If you are passionate about working with children, young people and their families, working as a team to make a real difference, we would love to hear from you!

Family is at the heart of our work in Hertfordshire and that includes supporting our children and young people in our care to reunite with their families, where this would be safe, secure and in their best interests.

We are recruiting for a Domestic Abuse Practitioner to work within our Family Safeguarding for Children in Care team (FSCIC) which extends our successful Family Safeguarding model into our Safeguarding Service.

The Family Safeguarding model centres around a multi-disciplinary team who are highly trained in Motivational Interviewing, a counselling approach that creates confidence in parents to change their behaviours that cause harm to their children.

This extension of the Family Safeguarding model to children in care and at the edge of care, empowers families, and their extended networks to help children achieve the best outcomes by having a multi-disciplinary team of mental health, substance misuse, domestic abuse, neurodiverse, trauma informed specialists all working in one team, alongside children’s social workers, adolescent practitioners and life coaches.

For more information on Hertfordshire’s Family Safeguarding model visit www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/familysafeguarding

About the role

This is an exciting opportunity to work collaboratively within a multi-disciplinary team, strengthening partnerships and making a positive impact for children and families.

As a Domestic Abuse Practitioner, you will provide direct support to victims and survivors of domestic abuse (as defined by the Domestic Abuse Act), including those affected by violence against women and girls, regardless of risk level. You will work with families whose children are looked after or at the edge of care, delivering high-quality interventions to help them live safely and free from abuse.

Your role will focus on supporting those in crisis, building resilience, and promoting safety within the family unit as part of Hertfordshire’s innovative Family Safeguarding model.

Key Responsibilities:

• Deliver a programme to support to victims and survivors to learn about domestic abuse and violence against women and girls, including how this impacts adults, children, young people and the parenting of children.
• Support victims and survivors to think about how they can be safe in relationships.
• Work alongside multi-disciplinary colleagues to provide a holistic plan for support.

Maintain accurate case records and actively participate in family-related meetings, providing expert guidance and consultation to colleagues on domestic abuse and healthy relationship practices.

About you

We’re looking for someone compassionate, resilient, and committed to making a difference.

Essential:

• Knowledge and relevant experience of having worked with victims of domestic abuse in a previous or current role.
• Build positive and respectful working relationships with a range of stakeholders and service users.
• Have undertaken good quality and appropriate risk assessments of victims of domestic abuse which responded to their specific needs and protect them and their families from harm.
• Up to date knowledge of housing, criminal, civil and welfare rights legislation relating to domestic abuse.
• Ability to remain calm under pressure whilst discharging your duties.
• To be non-judgemental, non-directive and maintain confidentiality of victims/survivors of domestic abuse.
• Excellent communication skills including active listening skills and empathy.
• Demonstrate good report writing, timeliness and resilience, professional curiosity, being creative as you carry out your duties.
• A commitment to HCC's defined values and behaviours framework.
• Full driving licence and regular access to a car.

Due to the sensitive nature of the work and the needs of the service users, this role is restricted to female applicants only, as permitted under Schedule 9, Part 1 of the Equality Act 2010.

To hear more about this opportunity please contact Katie Watson katie.watson@hertfordshire.gov.uk for an informal discussion about the role.

Interview Date: 23rd June

This job role is within the Health and Social Care level 9 job profile. Please locate this via:

Job profiles - Health and social care

Benefits of working for us

How to apply

As part of your application, please upload your most recent CV. Ensure your CV is up to date with your employment history (including any employment gaps), and including any training/qualifications. We encourage you to include examples of where you have demonstrated the requirements/criteria in the advert / job profile to allow the panel to fully recognise your skills and abilities. You will have the opportunity to include a short covering paragraph within your application to give us a little more information about your skills, knowledge, and experiences.

Additional information

Disability Confident
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

Safeguarding
This role has been identified as requiring a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check.

Driving required
You’ll need to have the ability to drive and/or travel around Hertfordshire, either using your own mode of transport or a company car to travel to other locations.

English Fluency
The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required). Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.