Groupwork Specialist - Children and Young People

*This post is open to female applicants only as being female is deemed to be a genuine occupational requirement under Schedule 9, Paragraph 1 of the Equality Act 2010.

Stop Domestic Abuse is a trauma informed organisation, the work we do to support those effected by domestic abuse may be triggering for those with past trauma. Please only apply if you are living free from abuse. If you’d like to talk to us about this, please get in touch.

Salary:  £24,969.60 - £25,614.24

Location: Portsmouth

Hours: 37.5 hours per week - Monday to Friday 9.00am to Friday 5.00pm

Contract: Permanent

Vacancy Reference: 710

Main purpose and scope of the job:

The postholder will work with young people so they learn about domestic abuse, inappropriate behaviours, peer pressure, consent and the impact of social media. Supporting to explore, question and challenge their current thoughts, values and beliefs towards relationships, gender, their behaviour and how they communicate with others. It will also focus on increasing their safety and emotional wellbeing.  Its purpose is to break the cycle of abuse for potential victims, perpetrators or general offenders through tailored packages of tiered support.

• To represent the needs of young people the wider community.
• Provide young people with on-going advice and support. This includes, group work and workshops in schools.
• To establish and maintain links with statutory and voluntary agencies; in order to promote and support the welfare of children and young people who have experienced domestic abuse.  
• To develop effective relationships with relevant local organisations to raise the profile of domestic abuse and its impact on families and to publicise the support networks.
• To advocate for children and young people who have experienced or are experiencing domestic abuse. This includes advocating with a number of agencies or individuals such as education, families, siblings, Social Care, community groups and Police etc.
• To work with other local organisations and groups, through partnership, to establish a safe and accessible place for young people to meet in the community and to provide and facilitate support to prevent domestic abuse.
• Support colleagues and partner agencies, through awareness raising and institutional advocacy, in order to provide the best possible service for victims of domestic abuse.
• Providing holiday activities, Supporting young people to access and maintain education.
• Identifying behaviours that may put the young person at increased risk of victimisation or offending and delivering interventions to target these. Working with young people to identify the impact of witnessing domestic abuse and strategies for coping.
• Working in partnership with Social Services, Education, Health, Police, Community Safety and voluntary organisations etc to ensure that children and young people using our services have the best possible support and opportunities.
• Signposting young people to services available to support them and Supporting other agencies to provide improved responses to domestic abuse and sexual abuse.
• The Portsmouth Service is staffed 9am-9pm Monday to Friday and 10am-6pm Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays. Staff will work evenings and weekends on a rota basis and provide on call services to deal with emergencies and refuge referrals.

How to Apply

Please click on links below to download an application pack.

Please note there is no closing date for this post, we will keep the vacancy open until we have successfully appointed to the role. Once your application has been reviewed we will contact you to let you know if you have been shortlisted for an interview.

We particularly welcome applicants from BAMER communities that are currently under-represented in our organisation.

Appointment will be on merit alone.

We will recruit the first suitable applicants, so apply early as we may close applications earlier.

An enhanced DBS (Disclosure Barring Service) disclosure will be required for this role.