Health and Social Care IDVA

Are you looking for a dynamic and rewarding role working for an organisation with the feminist agenda at the core of its ethos? Then Advance Charity could be the career choice for you!

We are looking for a Health and Social Care IDVA

Salary: £26,000 - £32,000

Location: Across Westminster Social Care and Hammersmith Head Office

Contract: Fixed Term Contract until 31 March 2026

Hours p/w: 35 hours per week (some working from home up to 2 days)

This post is open to female applicants only as being female is deemed to be a genuine occupational requirement under Schedule 9, Paragraph 1 of the Equality Act 2010.

Please note: Any offer of employment will be made subject to references, confirmation of the right to work in the UK, and satisfactory enhanced DBS check. This role is also subject to Police Vetting.

About us:

Advance is an award-winning and innovative women-only organisation, established in 1998, providing emotional and practical support to women and girls survivors of domestic abuse and supporting women with short-term sentences to reduce offending. We believe in empowering women and girls to lead safe, non-violent, equal lives so that they can flourish and contribute to the community.

We are a community-based organisation who lead in best practice approaches to supporting women in their local community. We achieve this by being available to meet and support women in local settings and at our women’s centres, and by working in close partnership with other agencies.

Our values are to listen and support, to empower and respect, collaboration, innovation, and accountability.

About the role:

The Social Care IDVA will work within a dynamic, fast paced, crisis intervention, advocacy, and support service to ensure the voice of survivors informs every stage of the process, specialising in working with women whose families are involved with Family Children Services and risk to children is a factor. You will work to make proactive contact and provide high quality advocacy and support based upon a client led needs and risk assessment to women, focusing on working with those aged 18 and over who access the domestic abuse service. This role is part advocacy, part training/education and project work to improve response to victim/survivors experiencing domestic abuse. You will be embedded in the local authority Family Children Services team, working with Social Care professionals to ensure they adopt a trauma informed approach, can recognise the dynamics of domestic abuse and are providing more holistic support. You will be the domestic abuse subject matter expert on site, upskilling fellow professionals and acting as a point of contact for any clients experiencing domestic abuse and support requirements from Family Children Services.

The Social Care project was established in 2021 and has been working in partnership with Hammersmith and Fulham Family Children Services, so the IDVAs will inherit strong working relationships and a commitment from all parties to offering more trauma-informed services. The borough has a focus on prioritising and developing good DA work in social care and this is an opportunity to be a major player in institutional change, ensuring that women accessing Family Children services for their children have an improved experience and that the local authorities are leading the way for all survivors engaging with their services.

Advance delivers nationally accredited, quality marked services in Hammersmith & Fulham, Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, Brent, Ealing, and across parts of East London. We work within a coordinated partnership response to domestic violence to provide independent domestic violence advocacy and support for women, children and young people and women’s community services for women who are involved in the criminal justice system, in anti-social behaviour or are at risk of breaking the law.

About You:

You will have an excellent understanding of domestic violence and its effects on women and children and of best practice within the domestic abuse in various areas of need, with particular knowledge on children safeguarding/legislation. As an experienced domestic violence advocate who has worked with complex and multiple needs, the post holder will be skilled in risk management and safety planning, remaining calm in a crisis and in handling sensitive information on a daily basis. Experience of direct work with female survivors of domestic violence, of supporting women with child safeguarding, needs, and of working within safeguarding procedures is essential for this post, as is the need to adopt and promote a strong partnership approach to service provision.

To be successful as the Health and Social Care IDVA you will need the below experience and skills:

1. Establish positive, proactive, and innovative working relationships with housing services and partner agencies.
2. Provide high-quality crisis intervention, information, advocacy, and proactive support to women referred to the service, in respect to risk management and safety planning, criminal and civil remedies, housing, health, welfare rights, and children’s legislation.
3. Assess the needs and risks of survivors, carry out short and longer-term risk management, safety planning and support and identify and refer to services appropriate to their needs.
4. Advise women of their rights and options for seeking help and support from other agencies and proactively advocate to ensure barriers to accessing support and protection are reduced.
5. Work as an advocate and educator to raise awareness and upskill professionals within Children Social Care plus work with colleagues to successfully develop and deliver training.

How to apply:

Please submit your up-to-date CV with a supporting statement. Please note that only applications made via the job advert on the Advance careers page, and those that include a cover letter will be considered.

Closing Date for Applications: Sunday 9 March 2025 @23:59

Interviews are taking place on: rolling basis

*Advance reserves the right to close the advert early, or on the appointment of a candidate

What we can offer you - Employee Benefits:

• A 35-hour working week
• An exceptional 30 days of paid holiday per year (pro rata for part time), PLUS public holidays on top (that's nearly 40 days paid holiday per year!)
• Additional days off to celebrate International Women’s Day, and for religious observance and moving home
• Perkbox - an employee discount platform where you can receive free rewards as well as take advantage of savings on clothes, groceries, travel, leisure and more
• Pension scheme
• Enhanced maternity/adoption provision
• Access to our Employee Assistance Programme
• Employee eye-care scheme
• Clinical supervision for front line staff and first line management roles
• Refer a Friend Scheme - £250 for each referral who passes probation
• Organisation wide away days
• Thorough induction and training
• Career development pathways

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Under the Equality Act 2010, we are required to make any reasonable adjustments. If you have a disability as defined under this act and/or have special needs, please email the Talent Acquisition Team via the Advance website and will aim to make the necessary arrangements to accommodate your needs.

Diversity, Inclusion and Equal Opportunities:

We are committed to providing equality of opportunity and actively seek to recruit people from groups underrepresented in our current team. We have policies and processes in place to ensure that all employees are offered an equal opportunity in recruitment and selection, promotion, training, pay and benefits.

Safeguarding:

Advance is committed to safeguarding and creating a culture of zero-tolerance of harm and expects all staff, including volunteers to share this commitment. We believe all individuals have the right to live their life free from violence and abuse and the right to feel and be safe. We have a suite of safeguarding policies, procedures and practice guidance, accessible to all staff, which promotes safeguarding and safer working practices across all our services and activities. When we recruit staff, we follow rigorous safer recruitment practices, this involves carrying out pre-employment checks including references, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks, and identity checks. We ensure all staff undertake mandatory safeguarding training relevant to their role and responsibilities, to empower them to be competent and feel confident in recognising and responding appropriately to safeguarding issues and promote wellbeing.