Specialist Support Worker - Exeter, United Kingdom - Devon Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Services

Description

Specialist Support Worker

Job Description and Person Specification

Please note:
Female Applicants only.

Applications that do not have a covering letter evidencing how you meet the Person Specification below will not be considered.

About Devon Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Services.

DRCSAS exists to relieve the trauma and distress and help rebuild the lives of survivors living in Devon and Torbay who have experienced any form of sexual violence, at any point in their lives.

DRCSAS also campaigns and raises awareness about rape and sexual violence to change the narrative around sexual violence and to enable survivors' voices to be heard.

DRCSAS works to feminist principles, which underpin our service, and we maintain a woman only workforce and women only support spaces four days a week.

Our work is guided by a trauma-informed approach which understands how traumatic experiences can impact on survivors and keeps an awareness of the effects of trauma at the forefront of our approach.

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Are you an experienced Support Worker who has supported survivors of Sexual Violence in the community, through both 1:1 and group work?_
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Do you a passion for working in an organisation, offering high quality support to victims of Sexual Violence?_
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Are you organised and creative? Can you work well in a team but also work on your own initiative?_

This is an exciting opportunity to join as at a time where we are developing the way we work with survivors and you will be able to influence this.

This post is restricted to female applicants only under Schedule 9, part 1, Equalities Act 2010.

We will make reasonable adjustments to the working environment as required.

Applicants will undergo an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check before

appointment and a mandatory right to work check.
The post includes participation in an evening on-call rota and occasional weekend work.


Salary:
£25,389 FTE (Spinal point 1 on a 5-year annual incremental scale. Details of which will be provided on appointment)


Hours: 37.5 hours per week to include Wednesday afternoons and the flexibility to do 1 evening a week to meet service needs.


Responsible to:
Specialist Support Team Leader


Office Base:
Main Office Base is Exeter, and you will also work in our other offices, out in the community and occasionally home

Contract:
Permanent


Pension: 6% contribution by employer

Annual Leave: 25 days plus bank holidays (pro rata)


Role Overview

The specialist support worker role delivers specialist support work that is trauma-informed and focused on the delivery of activities identified through the implementation of individual survivor support plans.

These activities could include advocacy, trauma stabilisation, workshops, programmes or other creative community development activities.

The specialist support worker has a key role in advocacy, community engagement (outreach) and works collaboratively with each survivor and partners to develop a bespoke support offer.

Key Responsibilities

To deliver a needs-led, recovery focused service to people affected by sexual violence to include trauma interventions, trauma stabilisation, advocacy and practical support.

Service Delivery

• To deliver specialist trauma support to people who have experienced sexual violence
• To be part of an on-call system for out of hours work by volunteers and to undertake telephone helpline work as required by the service.
• To ensure the smooth coordination of the specialist support team service
• To ensure the service provided is focused on the ability of people to cope with and recover from the effects of sexual violence
• Undertake safeguarding training at level three to support the on-call system for out of hours work by volunteers and to use agreed processes to make safeguarding decisions during those times
• Complete safeguarding tasks where safeguarding issues are identified working in line with DRCSAS policies on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. This will include sharing information with relevant agencies, recording decision making and where safe to do so, keeping service users updated on our safeguarding decisions.
• Co-produce support plans with individual survivors that include initial assessments of need and identified risks. Identify with survivors what access requirements they have and what adjustments are needed to enable full participation and access.
• Work with partners to collaborative in order to meet survivor's needs
• Enable equality and inclusion, promoting approaches which prevent discrimination and encourage accessibility
• Demonstrate anti-racist and anti-oppressive practice in all elements of the role
• Work with communities who experience social exclusion, adapting approaches to reach survivors from different communities
• Deliver support work for all ages 13+

Service Development

• To attend