Co Located Independent Domestic Violence Advocate (IDVA)
Funded by Local authority budget (Community Safety Housing & Childrens Services) and London Crime Prevention Fund
Impact Project – dedicated support to domestic abuse victims that are going through the criminal justice process, improving the criminal justice response to DA and strengthening integrated working between partner agencies.
Housing IDVA – specialist IDVAs supporting survivors of domestic abuse who approach LBHF for housing or are living in the borough.
Childrens IDVA – specialist IDVA working with non-abusive parent who is experiencing domestic abuse who are working with children’s social care to improve outcome for them and their children.
Co Located Independent Domestic Violence Advocate (IDVA) – within an A&E department
Funded by Local Authority, Imperial College Health Charity
The aim of the project is to deliver a co-located IDVA with health expertise to improve outcomes for survivors of domestic abuse in the borough, by providing targeted independent domestic abuse advocacy and support for women who approach Charing Cross Emergency department for help, as a result of domestic abuse or where domestic abuse is a contributory factor. The IDVA will explain housing, welfare, civil and criminal legal options to clients, and develop individual safety plans to meet needs and address individual risks clients face.
Angelou Partnership
Funded by London Crime Prevention Fund and Local Authority budget – Community Safety and Public Health
The Angelou Partnership brings together the specialisms of ten organisations to deliver a streamlined and holistic approach to tackling issues of violence that disproportionally affect women and girls. This includes domestic abuse, sexual violence, harmful practises and honour based abuse.
- Advance: Lead organisation for the partnership. Specialists working with women who have experienced domestic abuse
- Al Hasaniya: Specialists in domestic abuse within Arabic communities
- Women and Girls Network: Engaging and educating younger women
- Galop: supporting LGBT+ people who are victims of domestic abuse, sexual violence, hate crime, so called conversion therapies, honour based abuse, forced marriage, and other forms of abuse
- Hestia: For women who have experienced domestic abuse. Specialist in family work, refuges and group work
- IKWRO: Provides advice and support to Middle Eastern women and girls living in the UK facing ‘honour’ based violence, domestic abuse, forced marriage or female genital mutilation
- DVIP: For perpetrators with services across London, DVIP work to stop domestic violence and to reduce the harm it causes to women, children and families
- Standing Together Against Domestic Violence: An umbrella organisation which supports access to services and awareness raising
- Solace Women’s Aid: Holistic and empowering, working alongside survivors to achieve independent lives free from abuse
- Woman’s Trust: Therapeutic support for women ready to explore and recover from their experiences
- Sexual Violence Helpline | Women and Girls Network: support for women and girls 14+ who have experienced sexual violence
Refuge (Women)
Funded by Local Authority, Community Safety
14 bed spaces refuge for women and their children affected by domestic abuse
Safer Together
Funded by Local Authority Childrens Services and MOPAC grant
This joint project with several London boroughs is designed to improve the way children’s services and partner agencies respond to domestic abuse and engage with perpetrators, and to provide better support and protection for adult and child survivors.
The model is based on three key principles:
1. Keeping children Safe & Together with their non-abusive parent, ensuring safety, healing from trauma, stability, and nurturance.
2. Partnering with the non-abusive parent as a default position ensuring efficient, effective, and child-centred practice.
3. Intervening with the perpetrator to reduce the risk and harm to the child through engagement, accountability, and criminal justice.
Harmful practices coordination and operational group management
Funded by Local Authority Community Safety Budget
Harmful practices coordination and operational group management lead our response to harmful practises and lead the harmful practise group, risk and review group and special services group.
MARAC and Special Domestic Violence Courts coordination
Funded by Local Authority – children’s services, adults social care, community safety
Coordination of best practice monthly MARAC (multi agency risk assessment conference). The MARAC is a meeting where information is shared on the highest risk domestic abuse cases between representatives of local police, probation, health, child protection, housing practitioners, Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) and other specialists from the statutory and voluntary sectors. The panel discuss options for increasing safety for the victim and turn these options into a co-ordinated action plan. The primary focus of the MARAC is to safeguard the adult victim.
Weekly Special Domestic Violence Courts – provides dedicated times for court slots to hear local domestic violence and abuse cases. The Magistrates sitting in the SDVC have been trained in domestic abuse as have the Legal Advisors, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Probation Service and the Witness Service.
Children and health Coordination
Funded by Local Authority public health and Childrens Services
The children & health coordinator provides extensive training to health and children’s social care colleagues working in our borough to improve responses to victims and survivors and their children and increase referrals to MARAC for high risk cases. In the year 22-23 they have trained 1,043 practitioners across the 3 boroughs. Sessions delivered have included domestic abuse, domestic abuse and coercive control, DA & Child Safeguarding training.
Sanctuary scheme coordination
Funded by Local Authority Housing budget
Coordinated by Standing Together the provision of interventions to improve the security of victims/survivors properties to still safe in their home.
Midaye
Funded by Public Health
Work in hospitals across H&F, WCC and RBKC. Victims and survivors of FGM, accessing hospitals in local area and raise awareness within communities around harmful practises including work with men and boys.
Drive Programme
Funded by Home Office funding for perpetrator interventions
Drive works with high-harm perpetrators to reduce abuse and increase victim/survivor safety. Drive employs a whole-system approach using an intensive case management system alongside a coordinated multi-agency response. The intervention is individually tailored and can be composed of support work, behaviour change, and disruption actions. Working closely with local police and agencies, case managers provide support for overcoming barriers, like alcohol/drug misuse, housing, mental health, while also working to change behaviour. Drive also uses disruption techniques like civil protection orders and the criminal justice system.
Culturally Integrated Family Approach (CIFA)
Funded by Home Office funding for perpetrator interventions
This project provides a focused & coordinated family & community approach for marginalised groups to identify issues and need through a specialised suitability assessment and interventions. The project will be delivered as part of an intersectional approach, reflecting the various parts of the victim and perpetrators’ identities (rather than focusing on just one identity marker e.g., gender or race) when working with the family.
The programmes includes –
- CIFA 1-2-1 - 1:1 culturally informed programme for medium-high risk men and tailored to their intersectional identity and needs
- Female Awareness of Domestic Abuse (FADA) – delivery for female perpetrators within either a same sex or heterosexual relationship
- Familial Domestic Abuse Intervention – working with adults abusing their parents, including elder abuse
- Respectful Partnerships – Working with LGBT+ clients to address cultural or historical influences behind specific abusive behaviours and how it is perceived in the community
- Safety Support Service – Angelou and co-located IDVA’s will support the victim/survivor
- Outreach sessions –DA awareness work and reach out to groups, e.g., multi-faith forums, increasing engagement of racialised and marginalised groups and raising awareness on VAWG.
Bambu
Funded by Home Office funding for perpetrator interventions
Bambu is a service that aims to provide tailored, specialist support to meet the holistic needs of children and young people impacted by domestic abuse in the home, while working in a multi-agency approach.
Individuals aged 11-15 will have access to the following services
- Play Therapy sessions
- Resilience sessions
- Child and Adolescent Parent Violence (CAPV) Programme
Individuals aged 16-24 will have access to the following services
- Child and Adolescent Parent Violence (CAPV) Programme
- Individual trauma focused cognitive behavioural therapy sessions
- Trauma focused group-work and restorative family sessions