Halton Domestic
Abuse Support
Services
October 2014
Jacki Murphy,
Women’s Services Manager,
Merseyside
Who We Are
Changing Lives is a national, registered charity
which provides specialist support for thousands of
vulnerable people and their families, every month.
Through our pioneering and innovative work we
help people to make positive, lasting changes in
their lives.
Our aim is to
support people to
change their lives
together
What We Do
We deliver services in 7 key areas:
Direct access services from larger
hostels through to smaller supported
accommodation
A range of services which reach out
and support people out in the
community
A variety of centres which provide
support at every stage of the
recovery journey
Our team dedicated to jobs and preemployment training
Specialist services across the UK
dedicated to women and girls
Activities supporting parents and
children to manage family change
better
Supporting our charitable work; TCUK
Property Services, FareShare North East
& York, and retail
Halton Domestic
Abuse Service
Halton Borough Council
commissions provision for men and
women fleeing or living with
Domestic Abuse, to support
survivors to stay safe and move on
positively from abusive situations.
From July 1st 2014, this service has
been provided by Changing Lives.
Domestic Abuse is a pattern of
abusive behaviours used by one
individual to exert power and
control in the context of an intimate
or family relationship.
Domestic Abuse: The Effects
• Health & Wellbeing of victims adversely affected
• Close association with child abuse & neglect
• Impacts social issues, eg homelessness and
substance misuse
• Cost to tax payer is an estimated £3.9 bn, with
high risk domestic abuse representing £2.4bn of
this **
• **Source: CAADA (2010)’ Saving lives, saving money: MARACs and high risk domestic abuse’
National Policy
Recent legislative and policy developments have moved
domestic abuse up the public agenda:
•
Updated definition of Domestic Abuse (2013).
•
Health and Social Care Act establishes local Health and Wellbeing Boards
(2012).
•
Stalking Offence (2012).
•
DVPN’s And DVPO’s
•
Clare’s Law
•
Domestic abuse made a strategic priority by Royal College of General
Practitioners.
•
Mandatory Domestic Violence Homicide Reviews (2011).
•
Dept of Health guidelines for commissioners of health services on violence
against women (2011).
Service Provision
There are 2 elements to the Halton
service:
Refuge Provision
The refuge will be accessible to
victims of domestics abuse and
their children who are at severe risk
of harm, and for whom remaining in
their current home is not an option.
The service will be accessible 24
hours a day, and will be able to
accommodate both male and
female victims.
Refuge provision
The refuge will be staffed from 8am
to 10pm on weekdays, and from
8am to 8pm at weekends. Outside
these hours, an on call service is in
operation.
When there are no staff on the
premises emergency contact will
always be available to clients
through the on call telephone
system. The on call emergency
contact number 07812 665118 is
displayed on the back of each
client’s entrance door, in the
resident’s handbook, and adjacent
to the payphone. This number can
be accessed through a free On Call
Reverse number, 0800 738 3773. If
clients contact the free number,
they will be asked to key in the
number they are trying to contact at
no cost to themselves.
Refuge contd
In the unlikely event that a client
cannot reach the staff member on
call on this number, they can
contact the Service manager on
07908 226496.
In an emergency, clients are
encouraged to call 999 from the
payphone.
Community Based
service
The Community based service is
delivered by Independent Domestic
Violence Advocates, working with
both male and female victims of
domestic abuse.
IDVAs provide specialist emotional
and practical support for adult
victims at the point of crisis. They
engage with and mobilise local
agency resources to keep victims
and their children safe.
They prioritise the needs of high
risk victims, providing safety
planning and support, as well as
advocacy to enable survivors of
domestic abuse to use civil and
criminal orders to maintain their
own safety and prosecute
perpetrators. They also provide
wrap around support to ensure
wider needs of survivors are met.
IDVA Services
All staff are trained to CAADA
standard to deliver specialist support.
The IDVAs work in partnership with
other agencies to ensure maximum
service delivery to the victim/survivor
with the aim of increasing the safety of
the individual co-ordinating a multi
agency approach including:
• Risk Assessment
• Safety Planning
• Crisis Intervention
• Applications for target hardening
• Practical and emotional support
• Court support
• Multi agency Risk Assessment
Conference (MARAC)
representation
• DVPN & DVPO support
Multi-Agency Risk Assessment
Conferences (MARACs)
• Safeguard highest risk cases through
co-ordinated information sharing and
safety planning by statutory and
voluntary sector partners.
• The higher and more co-ordinated
the number of interventions, the
better the service user outcomes.
• Recognised for achieving significant
improvements in abuse cessation,
risk reduction etc.
Sanctuary Scheme
Halton Domestic Abuse Service
manages the Sanctuary Scheme.
Sanctuary measures are
adaptations which can be made to
an individual’s home to improve
their safety in the community
against perpetrators of abuse.
Measures can include reinforced
doors and windows, lock changes
and the fitting of tamper proof letter
boxes.
Contacts
Jacki Murphy
Merseyside Women’s Services
Manager
Jacki.murphy@changinglives.org.uk
Mobile: 07908 226496
Halton Domestic Abuse Service
Office: 0300 11 11 247
On Call: 07812 665118