Family Safeguarding Domestic Abuse Worker

**The Team**

The Family Safeguarding Adult Team is integrated into Children's Social Care services, providing intervention with parents & carers to actively support change, with the intention to help more children to live safely at home.

Portsmouth City Council Children's Services is committed to promoting a multi - disciplinary, 'whole family' approach to safeguarding and reunification in Portsmouth. We want families to bring up their children to be safe and well, offering support to prevent the need for care, reduce the length of care when it is required, and to always strive for children to return home whenever it is safe and, in the child's best interest to do so.

**The Role**

The post holder will:
Be a Family Safeguarding Domestic Abuse Worker co-located in one of the Family Safeguarding and Support Teams or the Building Your Futures Team. Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team of children’s Social Workers and other adult workers (including Mental Health and Recovery Workers) to safeguard parents/carers and their children.

Be responsible for assessing, planning, and delivering interventions to parents/carers whose children are open to Children's Social Care and have used or experienced unhealthy or abusive behaviours in their relationships. This will include working holistically, responding to a range of adult needs affecting parenting capacity. Be flexible and responsive to deploy specialist domestic abuse behaviour change interventions.

Be responsible for day-to-day service delivery, ensuring that people who experience domestic abuse (including those who use unhealthy/abusive behaviours) are provided with timely assessments and receive appropriate support to meet their needs as part of a multi-disciplinary plan.

Co-create a schedule of working, including providing guidance to other professionals and working within a Team Around the Worker model, incorporating a strengths-based model of positive 'risk management'. Undertake specialist needs and risk assessments. Provide a responsive and effective service to individuals who may be in crisis or in need of safety planning.

Work alongside colleagues and partners within the multi-disciplinary team and external organisations to develop and deliver interventions that aim to support children and young people to remain living at home, or to return home, when safe to do so. This includes contributing to the assessment, analysis and review of the impact of needs and harm for children as well as their parents / carers.

Ensure a consistent and timely response to safeguarding in line with legislation, local and national procedures, maintaining a focus on both child and adult safeguarding.

Deliver interventions using a restorative and strengths-based approach, including using Motivational Interviewing.

**Hybrid working attendance requirements -** This role is office based

Will have/be

Hold an IDVA, or relevant vocational qualification, and / or be experienced in working with domestic abuse and willing to undertake relevant training as necessary and appropriate.

Experience, knowledge and understanding of adults and children's safeguarding procedures. Have the ability to build and maintain empowering strengths-based relationships with adults.

Knowledge and experience of working with diverse communities; be adaptable, flexible, and inclusive to meet a range of parental needs, considering and addressing inequalities and social exclusion. Demonstrate your knowledge and experience working directly with families across the life span, including impact of adult needs on child development. Have a respectful and inclusive approach to families, carers, colleagues, and other professionals.

An up-to-date knowledge of research, relevant legislation, ethical issues, strategic frameworks, and current guidelines regarding the range of presenting needs relevant to domestic abuse. Have a good knowledge of Data Protection, information sharing and an understanding of confidentiality.

**Application process**

You will need to demonstrate that you have the Right to Work in the UK. No post will be offered without it.

**About Portsmouth City Council**

**What we can offer you**:
Portsmouth City Council is a unique organisation, committed to making a difference, and is guided by core values that set who we are as people, what we stand for, and how we act.

Read more about working at Portsmouth City Council and our benefits on our careers portal homepage: Careers Portal - Find jobs with Portsmouth City Council

Portsmouth City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and young people, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

DBS Disclosure at Enhanced level will be required prior to any offer of employment and this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.