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At West Sussex County Council, Early Help and Children’s Social Care are ambitious for our children and our workforce. We are committed to supporting children, families, and young people to achieve their full potential. You will join an experienced leadership team at a key time when we are making major transformations, including driving forward the ‘Children First’ Improvement Plan. We are focused on improved service delivery with measurable outcomes for children, families, and communities.

The Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence workers and managers are part of the Children, Young People and Learning Directorate. These roles identify, assess, and assist victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence in order to increase the safety of victims, families and their children and are an integral part of the Early Help and Children’s Social Care Service.

Salary: £32,020 to £34,723
Working Pattern: Full – Time (37 hours)
Contract Length: Fixed Term Contract (ending 31/03/2025)
Location: Horsham

Interviews: week commencing 22 May 2023

Secondment applications will be considered with line management agreement.

You will undertake direct work with clients and their families who have experienced domestic violence / sexual assault, to ensure they receive an appropriate service. You will work within a multi-agency setting and keep the clients’ safety central to all coordinated responses. You will support colleagues and partner agencies to provide the best possible service to victims.

Working with Children’s social care colleagues, you will be a part of a multi -agency team providing support to families within the Family Safeguarding model. This will include crisis management of victims at high risk, providing one to one or group work to promote safety and understanding of the impact of the abuse for victims and their families, and also advocating for the victim to ensure their voice is heard.

You will be expected to travel throughout the county to locations that will require you to have your own transport. There is a regular and intrinsic requirement to communicate in English with members of the public.

This role will be working closely with our partner agencies including police, mental health and substance misuse to support current partners and ex partners of alleged perpetrators engaged with the high harm programme .

Key Skills:

• Excellent crisis management skills with the ability to deal with stressful and difficult situations.
• Excellent interpersonal skills in order to work effectively with clients, and the ability to provide advice to victims in stressful situations with clarity and empathy whilst maintaining professional boundaries.
• Excellent advisory, guiding, negotiating and persuasive skills in order to encourage others to adopt a course of action they may not wish to take.
• Ability to interpret individual needs and to develop appropriate safety and action plans.
• Experienced at judging and analysing, using these skills to solve difficult problems and develop solutions or plans over the medium term in order to work effectively with a wide variety of people.
• Ability to deliver one-to-one or group work programmes to support the understanding of domestic abuse and its impact on children.

Qualifications and/or experience:

• Relevant qualification at degree level in a relevant subject, or demonstrable experience in a paid or unpaid capacity of providing support to people in stressful and difficult situations.
• IDVA qualification or willingness to work towards this.
• Demonstrable experience of working in a multi-agency environment with victims of domestic and/or sexual violence.
• Experience of working within legislative frameworks to support victims and using their application to develop, influence and promote safety for clients.
• Experience of working with vulnerable people and managing a complex caseload.
• Knowledge of safeguarding procedures and policies both adults and children.
• Valid and full driving licence

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do.

In addition to working within a great team and a brilliant opportunity you will receive:

• A competitive salary
• A generous pension scheme
• Training and development opportunities, including coaching and mentoring
• Flexible working
• A range of discounts giving our staff access to hundreds of offers with the opportunity to save over £1,000 (Including: Argos, Samsung, Asos, B&Q and many more)
• Free access to employee assistance programmes
• Discounted membership at selected local sports and fitness centres
• A range of commuting and business travel discounts and initiatives

For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee you can find them on our Rewards and Benefits page.

The reference number for this role is CAFHE04456 .

For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Anna Leith at [email protected] for issues or queries regarding your application please contact [email protected].

To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and cover letter. In your cover letter outline your motivations for applying and explain how you meet the key skills listed in full and the experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to an enhanced SWE Registration, DBS check, 5 years referencing and a health check.

West Sussex County Council is an equal opportunities employer committed to promoting an environment that is inclusive and free from all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination and values the diversity of its people. We actively welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and take every possible step to ensure that no individual will be disadvantaged.

For information regarding your eligibility to apply for this role under our Disability or Veteran’s Guaranteed Interview Scheme, this can be found on our application help page.