Resident Domestic Abuse Policy roles and responsibilities for employees
We will also be required to be alert to the symptoms and signs of domestic abuse and to report them to Housing 21. It is all employees’ responsibility to understand this resident domestic abuse policy as safeguarding is everyone’s business.
Care Team Members / Volunteers/ Domestic Employees:
• Read and understand this policy and procedure
• Volunteers must be provided access to the policy and procedure by the manager of the court they are visiting whilst they are on court
• Understand and recognise indicators or signs of domestic abuse
• Know where to go for support and assistance in their court and organisations
• Support residents to keep safe
• Be vigilant for signs or indicators domestic abuse
• Report any concerns to their line manager at the earliest opportunity whilst on shift and on a domestic abuse incident form
• Work in line with the six safeguarding principles
• Understand the making safeguarding personal framework
• Ensure that their training up to date in line with their development pathway
• Record safeguarding allegations, incidents, or concerns to ERICA: Housing 21’s secure, internal database
• Volunteers to services are to report their concerns to the manager immediately and follow this up with an email of concerns to the manager and the OM / RECM
Responsibilities for Housing and Care Managers / Court Managers / Assistant Care Managers / Assistant Court Managers / Assistant Housing Managers / Care Managers and Interim Managers:
• Ensure that employees read and understand this policy and procedure
• To provide volunteers to courts with access of the Domestic Abuse Policy during the time they are on court
• Receive regular supervision and ensure care practices are regularly reviewed
• Are aware of their roles and responsibilities for domestic abuse
• Receive domestic abuse training in line with their role
• Are aware of how to report and record safeguarding concerns internally and to external bodies such as the Local Authority and CQC (Care Quality Commission) if they manage a care service.
• Complete domestic abuse preventative forms, risks assessments and safety plans
• Report domestic abuse concerns internally and externally in line with this policy to the Local Authority guidelines and CQC requirements within 24 hours unless there are extenuating circumstances
• The manager for each service must remain the case Responsible Line Manager
• To understand information sharing law and how it applies to domestic abuse and issues of consent
• Ensure that cases are reviewed with an evaluation form and that lessons learned are shared to improve services and reduce the risk of reoccurrence after a monthly lessons learnt forum has taken place unless there is high/significant risk in which the learning must be completed at the earliest opportunity
• To be able to carry out or participate in enquiries
• Attend safeguarding case conferences/serious case reviews when requested by the Local Authority or MARAC (Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference) or other high risk safeguarding meeting
• Support residents where required with safety planning
• Partnership work with local domestic abuse agencies, police, and local authorities?.
Housing and Care Managers (HCM) / Extra Care Managers (ECM) / Court Managers (CM) / Operational Mangers (OM) / Regional Operational Managers (ROM) to regularly screen all domestic abuse cases for their services within the reporting system ensuring that all reports remain in the holding area within the reporting system for no longer than 21 days (unless there are ongoing actions from statutory agencies or through the legal system). Housing 21 acknowledges that some cases will take longer to conclude because of their complexity. In these instances, the HCM/ CM must ensure that their line manager is updated on the cases progress via email and through additional notes on the ERICA case.
Managers of registered care services are to be aware of the notifiable incidents / allegations of abuse in line with their CQC registration (Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities)
Regulations 2014 – Regulation 4 – 20). If it is found notifiable incidents including serious injury has not been reported for more than five working days, disciplinary action may take place.
Managers must only report the incident to CQC if the incident/allegation of abuse is in relation to a resident who receives a registered care service only, or if the alleged perpetrator has a care and support need where care is provided. Failure to notify the regulator of relevant cases could lead to disciplinary action.
When completing safety planning with the resident all information should be kept securely and information should not be shared without the residents’ explicit consent to do so or when there is a legal request to share the information. Key contacts for the resident should be kept on file, with what information can be shared as part of the safety planning plan for resident victim/survivor.
Operations Mangers (OM)/ Regional Operations Managers (ROM)/ Regional Extra Care Managers (RECM’s) and Commissioning and Performance Managers (CPM):
- To ensure all employees in their services are appropriately trained and understand how to
implement this policy - To monitor the effective application of this Policy and Procedure ?during visits to their
courts and to take appropriate actions where a court presents a significant concern around
safeguarding activity - To develop and track the completion of improvement plans where appropriate
- To monitor domestic abuse cases in the reporting system ensuring that these are resolved
within 21 days wherever possible - To use ERICA to track themes, trends, non-reporting concerns as part of any HQS or CQR
- RECM/CPM only to complete culture assessments for closed cultures as part of the CQR
process - To provide assurance to the HOS (Heads of Service) that domestic abuse and reporting
processes are embedded within their courts and to share any lessons learned from specific
cases with the HOS via email.
Heads of Service (HOS):
• HOS must regularly review data to monitor emerging regional themes/trends/recurrences and ensure that lessons learned are shared with the region and with the Safeguarding Lead
• To provide regular reports on domestic matters in their regions to operational Executive Directors
• To ensure that this resident domestic abuse policy is adhered to within their regions
• To have quarterly meetings regarding safeguarding with the Safeguarding Lead to discuss themes, trends, or areas of concern
• To alert the Safeguarding Lead if there are safeguarding concerns from MARAC, CQC, police or local authority notifications regarding domestic abuse concerns.
Safeguarding Lead:
• Provide strategic direction for domestic abuse practices ensuring policy, systems, procedures, and training content is fit-for-purpose
• Conduct practice audits and serious case reviews relating to domestic abuse including intergenerational abuse concerns
• Provide advice to managers on complex or serious domestic abuse cases
• To provide support for any management move cases where there are complexities or high risk is identified
• Generate domestic abuse data for senior management and Board providing assurances that cases are being managed in line with this policy and achieving outcomes set out in The Domestic Abuse Statutory Guidance.
• Bringing serious cases to the attention of senior management.
• Lead investigations where both senior managers and operational managers have concerns raised regarding domestic abuse where there is escalating risk or repeated concerns raised.
• Provide Continual Professional Development (CPD) opportunities for safeguarding and domestic abuse champions, quarterly meetings and production of domestic abuse champions lessons learnt.
Quality Forum and Committees:
• To scrutinise and appropriately challenge domestic abuse data, identifying opportunities to improve and providing operational, ‘on the ground’ insight into emerging domestic abuse issues within Housing 21
• To sense-check proposed domestic abuse procedures ensuring they are operationally fit-forpurpose
• Identifying opportunities to raise awareness of domestic abuse for residents and employees
• To provide challenge and ask questions surrounding quarterly domestic abuse data.
Safeguarding and Domestic Abuse Champions:
• To share information surrounding policy updates, training updates, lessons learnt, good practices from within Housing 21
• To link in directly to Safeguarding Adults Boards, updating teams on any serious cases within the local authority area from Safeguarding Adult Reviews (SAR) or Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHR)
• Promote domestic abuse awareness with employees, residents, families/representatives in a sensitive manner
• To feedback on the operational use of the domestic abuse policy and training to allow considerations for continuous improvements
• RL and corporate domestic abuse champions to deliver safeguarding awareness sessions at team meetings three times per year
• All champions must recognise safeguarding week every November holding sessions for employees, residents, families, or representatives, raise awareness of the 16 days of activism supporting the awareness for violence against girls and women (VAWG) and sexual violence awareness in February each year, in line with government policy and supporting statutory
agencies.
• Extra Care champions to deliver training to the whole team within their service
• All champions must be confident in completing DASH risk assessments and MARAC referrals when required.
Executive Directors:
• To bring serious cases to the attention of the Executive Team and the Board
Board:
• To have high-level oversight of domestic abuse and management within the organisation and to take appropriate action in line with their remit and responsibility if they have concerns.
