This session is aimed at social workers and early help practitioners who may be responsible for safeguarding and supporting children impacted by domestic abuse. The purpose of the session is to explain some of the options and processes available to survivors of domestic abuse and their children.

Learning about this will allow social workers to advise parents more confidently, especially those who prefer to not have additional support from domestic abuse services. Domestic abuse victims can have various barriers to disclosing abuse and to leaving an abusive relationship; understanding their options can greatly increase their ability to make sustainable changes to their lives and their children’s lives. Knowledge of different options and which service users they may apply to will also enable professionals to create better and more realistic safety and support plans.

This training will cover housing options, civil injunctions, and the criminal justice system.

This session will also provide the knowledge needed to explain the sort of support that domestic abuse (IDVA) services can
provide.

 

This session will provide an overview of housing options available to survivors of abuse and their children. This will include emergency accommodation provided by the local authority, private sector accommodation, refuge accommodation, and options for staying in their own home. We will go through advantages and drawbacks of each option, why some options may not be viable for everyone, and what these processes look like.

The process and eligibility for civil injunctions will also be covered. This will cover a discussion of cases where applying for civil injunctions can actually increase risk for survivors and their children.

The final section of the training will explore the process for making police reports, barriers faced by victims when reporting abuse (and how to mitigate these), and a discussion of some of the most common domestic violence offences.

By the end of the session delegates will be able to:

• Explain to domestic abuse survivors that they have different options available for leaving an abusive situation and for
  staying safe after separation.
• Have a basic understanding of when it will be appropriate for survivors to apply to civil injunctions in the family court.
• Gain a basic understanding of what is needed to apply for a civil injunction in the family court.
• Discuss police reports with victims in a trauma-informed way.

This session is aimed at Social Workers and Early Help practitioners only.

This session is for practitioners working in Kingston & Richmond.