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CARDIFF WOMEN’S AIDCYMORTH I FERCHED CAERDYDD Working to end violence against women and children |
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Support & Advocacy Services
Support & advocacy services
All our services can be accessed by self referral (you just ring us or call in) or via another agency/organisation with the women’s permission (you need to agree)
24 hour crisis intervention service….
Staff can go out to the woman’s home (once a risk assessment has been carried out to make sure its safe to do so) at the point of crisis – where the perpetrator has been violent and Police have become involved - or meet her at a safe location (i.e. Police station, our office, or out of hours offices) and immediately begin to provide support, advice and advocacy.
Our primary aim is the safety and security of the women (and her children) and effective risk reduction both immediately and over time to ensure her ability to take advantage of the options open to her and make informed decisions about her future.
More and more we are working to keep women in their own homes, or facilitate their return after a short stay away after appropriate security and safety measures have been put in place. We believe that the disruption to family life, particularly for children, must be kept to a minimum and it is the perpetrator that must be held to account and the full measure of the legal system, family and community pressure must be brought to bear in order that women and children can be safe in their own home.
This service delivered through our Crisis Intervention Centre across Monday to Friday 9am till 8pm and then out of hours via our 24 hour on call service.
From October 09 we will be delivering a 24 hour staffed intake and assessment refuge which is designed to be used for very short stays of up to two weeks in order that women (and their children) have time to recover from immediate crisis, have space to assess their options and the support to make informed choices.
Once with us we work intensely with women (and deliver support to their children through our children’s team) and assess with them the best way forward – this could be moving into one of our refuge houses (where we aim women will only spend as much time as they need to sorting out practical and emotional issues – not usually more than 3 months), into temporary accommodation (usually a 12 month tenancy with a social housing provider) or back to their own homes. When necessary we can also refer women to other supported housing providers if their needs are better met elsewhere.
Our primary aim to ensure the safety of women and children and to reduce the risk that they are experiencing, alongside improving their safety so that they can return to their own homes if practicable. Improving security at their home addresses, marking the property with the Police (for a quick response), putting in CCTV cameras etc., can all contribute to a return to home and less disruption for women and in particular their children.
The 24 hour refuge will also be able to support women with high or complex needs alongside our intake and assessment functions.
This is located at our Moira Terrace office base and delivers an open drop in, appointments with CWA staff for ongoing support and advocacy, appointments with multi agency partners (e.g. Police, Probation, Social Services) and access to all our other services (including counselling).
We provide a level of intervention and support that reflects where a woman is at the time, from information and advice to refuge or support/advocacy around criminal justice (Police, Courts) matters.
Range of safe, emergency accommodation….
Alongside our 24 hour staffed refuge we also run four other houses which provide different levels of support and meet the different needs of women (and their children) once accommodated within our refuge provision. We have two refuges that deliver high intensity and two others that offer a lower, light touch level of support.
We feel it’s important that services are matched with women’s need and as their circumstances improve and they are able to take control back over their lives they don’t need as much support. It’s also true that some women are more than capable of dealing with things and only need the safety and security that a refuge can offer whilst they make the changes they need to.
MARAC (multi agency risk assessment conference)….
This is where the range of organisations and agencies across Cardiff who work with women and children experiencing domestic violence come together to try to share their knowledge and put together joined up packages of support or actions to deal with situation in a more holistic way.
In order to be referred to MARAC the situation needs to be high or very high risk and so it is usual that the criminal justice system is already involved.
Cardiff Women’s Aid believes that the MARAC process can be used to good effect to reduce risk and protect women and children who are at high risk of violence.
We must remember though that the vast majority of cases, incidents or situations don’t even get reported to the Police nor get referred to MARAC and it vitally important that we work to reduce risk and harm at as early a stage as possible.
SDVC (specialist domestic violence courts)….
These are criminal courts that are run specifically to hear cases involving domestic violence. Usually held on the same day every week it means that specially trained staff, magistrates and judges are available and a more sensitive approach is taken to victims and witnesses.
CWA supports and advocates for women through the process and when possible also accompanies women to court.
We recognise the value and impact of effective multi agency working as such promote and actively engage in cohesive inter-agency responses to domestic violence both at operational and strategic level.
CWA is engaged at developing and strengthening partnership working and is an active member of many local partnerships, including the domestic violence forum, multi agency homelessness forum, children and young people’s partnership, and many others.
Children & young peoples services….
We believe absolutely that domestic violence and abuse either experienced or witnessed by children and young people is a violation of their human rights (and contrary to the rights of the child as set out in the UN charter).
As such CWA holds its work with children and young people as an equal priority alongside its work with women.
For full details of our services see the children and young peoples services page
