goodmoves

Job Purpose

To provide a safe, professional and supportive service for women and any accompanying children who have experienced or are at risk of domestic abuse, who have additional support needs and who are living in refuge accommodation provided by Edinburgh Women’s Aid.

Main Duties

• Assessing, with a woman, her support and safety requirements and developing with her a support and safety package which is appropriately recorded and tailored to her risks and needs.
• Providing practical and emotional support in an empowering way as part of a planned input to support women to recover from domestic abuse.
• Creating a safe environment for women and any accompanying children who use EWA services
• Responding appropriately and empathically to women who are emotional or in a distressed state.
• To ensure the refuge accommodation is available, prepared, and ready for occupation.
• To ensure that all necessary paperwork relating to EWA accommodation is completed
• To familiarise women and any accompanying children with the appropriate EWA accommodation environment, regulations, expectations and safety procedures.
• To ensure current residents are aware of new placements and to introduce them to each other.
• To ensure the refuge flats are maintained to a high standard and remain in good repair and decoration.
• Accurately and appropriately advising women of their welfare rights, legal rights, immigration rights, housing options, benefits and child support options.
• Assisting women with necessary paperwork for application for housing benefits and

other services to enable women to make informed choices and decisions.

• Ensuring that EWA (including any related funder or registration required) records,

administration and documentation are completed correctly

• Providing advocacy support in respect of the above options if required or requested.
• Adopting an inter-agency approach to working with women
• Acting within organisational policies and procedures

Job Purpose

The overarching aims of this post are:

1. Women have increased financial independence (access to economic resources, education, paid labour market, routes out of poverty).

2. Services supporting women experiencing domestic abuse have increased knowledge, resources and confidence to respond to their employment and educational support needs.

3. Services are better connected to local and national employability supports.

4. Strategic local and national employability systems better reflect the economic needs of women who have experienced domestic abuse.

The post holder(s) will work with Edinburgh Women’s Aid and Shakti Women’s Aid service users to:

1. Consult with women about their access to paid employment and the range of additional barriers that they face as a result of domestic abuse.

2. Facilitate groups of women to develop a model/models of employability support that seek/s to address the barriers into fair and sustainable employment that they have identified.

3. Support women to engage through joint events with partners and allies to share information and to discuss potential for change.

4. Problem solve and create draft local solutions to address the barriers identified by women.

5. Monitor review and evaluate the project.

To support children and young people affected by domestic abuse to express, reflect and process their emotions and to make meaning of their experiences through the use of Art Therapy; to enable change and growth through the use of art materials in a safe and facilitating environment.

To deliver the Edinburgh Domestic Abuse Court Support Service (EDDACS) service within Edinburgh Women’s Aid. EDDACS is a telephone support service also attending at Edinburgh Sheriff Court. To provide a high-quality frontline service to victims of domestic abuse who are going through the criminal court process. To work within a multi-agency framework consisting of the MARAC and local partnership responses to domestic abuse.

Adult PVG scheme membership will be required.

An Independent Domestic Abuse Advocacy training certificate, or a relevant degree, or demonstrable equivalent experience, or a vocational qualification, or willingness to undertake relevant study is required for this post.

Edinburgh Women’s Aid strives to be an Equal Opportunities Employer. Women only need apply under Schedule 9 (Part 1) of the Equality Act 2010.

To work with the CEDAR Mother co-ordinator to develop and manage a community group work programme (CEDAR Project) for children and young people and their mothers with experience of domestic abuse. The co-ordinator role is pivotal to the way in which Cedar Groups are organised and facilitated. You will work alongside the CEDAR Mother’s Groups Co-ordinator to develop, manage and deliver the CEDAR 12-week community group work programme.