Halton Domestic Abuse Support Services October 2014 Jacki Murphy, Women’s Services Manager, Merseyside

Who We Are Our aim is to support people to change their lives together 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.

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 pre- employment 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 1 st 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 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). Recent legislative and policy developments have moved domestic abuse up the public agenda:

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 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, 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 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 lives.org.uk Mobile: Halton Domestic Abuse Service Office: On Call: