Independent Domestic Violence Advisor

Black Country Women's Aid

Let us introduce ourselves…

Black Country Women's Aid (BCWA) is an established charity working across the Black Country and wider West Midlands, providing accommodation and community support services to victims of domestic abuse, sexual abuse and human trafficking.

Services range from advocacy, civil remedies, support in court, individual and group support and access to a range of therapeutic interventions.

All services are client and needs-led.

Community Services Directorate

Within this directorate, the following vital services are delivered;

Black Country Women's Aid Community Services include;

, Community Domestic Abuse Support Services (Sandwell, Walsall and Dudley)
, Black Country IRIS (primary care) educator and advocacy service
, Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Services (Black Country)
, Black Country Sexual Abuse Forum
, Black Country Counselling Service
, Domestic and sexual abuse Children and Young person's service (Black Country)
, West Midlands Stalking Service
, Ask Marc (Male abuse referral centre)

The BCWA Community Domestic Violence and Abuse Support Service supports victims of domestic violence and abuse in Sandwell, Dudley, Wolverhampton and Walsall through a range of contracted/commissioning arrangements.

The service works in partnership with other BCWA services and key agencies to assess risk and provide tailored support plans for service users.

Our integrated approach provides effective holistic support for survivors of abuse using a trauma-informed approach.

The team: Our specialist Community Domestic Abuse Support Service supports male and female victims of domestic violence and abuse living in Sandwell, Dudley and Walsall through a range of contracted/ commissioning arrangements.

The service works in partnership with other BCWA services and key agencies to assess risk and provide tailored support plans for service users.

Our integrated approach provides effective holistic support for survivors of abuse using a trauma-informed approach.

We have a team of supportive, dedicated, self-driven individuals who empower clients to make informed choices, helping them to live a life free from abuse.

Job Role

Job Title: Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) Independent Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA)
Position available: 1 full-time position (37.5 hours), covering the Sandwell area
Salary: £26,430 - £30,596
Closing date: 15 April 2025

Is this you?

We are looking for a qualified IDVA to join the Community Domestic Abuse Team representing BCWA in the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH).

The IDVA will share their expertise and understanding of domestic abuse with partner agencies working as part of a multi-disciplinary team.

You will be a part of making safeguarding decisions, providing rationales and recommendations of support to victims of abuse.

The Role:

The Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) Independent Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA) works as part of a multi-disciplinary team alongside a range of professionals to address the safeguarding needs of victims of abuse and their children.

The MASH IDVA will help to identify and assess risk and support needs of victims of domestic abuse.

The main focus of this role is to be a gatekeeper to the referrals coming into the domestic abuse service.

The MASH IDVA will work together with the Single Point of Contact (SPOC) and domestic abuse teams to ensure that actions from the MASH domestic abuse screening are allocated to the domestic abuse team to complete.

If you are self-driven, compassionate and hardworking with lots of ambition we would love to hear from you.

Click "Apply" to be emailed information about how to complete your application.

CVs will not be accepted.

Important information for all positions

Black Country Women's Aid is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable adults, children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

All posts are subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975.

It will be necessary for an enhanced disclosure to be made to the Criminal Records Bureau for details of any previous criminal convictions.

Occupational Requirement under Schedule 9 (part 1) of the Equality Act 2010 applies.

The post holder must be female.

Employment checks

As a responsible employer, we adhere to safer recruitment practice, and all our employees are subject to the following recruitment checks:

Right to work in the UK

Under Section 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Act, we, as a responsible employer, need to ensure that we do not employ anyone illegally.

To avoid discrimination, we treat all job applicants equally.

We, therefore, ask all candidates selected for interview to bring original documentation to show their Right to Work in the UK.

A copy of these will be taken.

Once the successful candidate has been appointed, the unsuccessful candidate's documents will be destroyed confidentially.

You may be refused an interview if you do not bring the correct documents with you.

References

Following your interview, two employment references will be sought.

One of these should be your current or most recent employer.

If you have finished full-time education and you have no employer reference, we will accept a reference from:

, a professional from your centre of study, for instance, a teacher, lecturer or headteacher
, GP or health visitor
, a character reference from a person who knows you
, a civil servant from a government agency
, a bank manager

DBS

All positions are subject to DBS checks at the relevant level.