Wirral Domestic Abuse Hub
Call 0151 666 4914
The Domestic Abuse Hub is Wirral Borough Council’s domestic abuse support service.
IDVA Service
The Independent Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA) service is a team of specialist professionals who will work with victims of domestic abuse and build a trusting relationship. IDVAs can help a victim with everything they need to become safe and rebuild their life after experiencing abuse.
You will be allocated one IDVA to work with you throughout your journey. Your IDVA will represent your voice, including your wishes and needs, at the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC). This meeting is where information is shared on the high risk domestic abuse cases within Wirral between representatives of local police, health, child protection, housing, IDVAs, probation, and other specialists from the statutory and voluntary services. After sharing all relevant information, attendees discuss options for increasing the safety of the victim and children and turn these into a co-ordinated action plan. The purpose of MARAC is to take actions as professionals to enhance the safety of a victim of domestic abuse and their children, including managing the behaviour of the perpetrator.
IDVAs will also support you navigate through the criminal justice process and work with different statutory agencies to ensure everyone they work with receives the right support at the right time.
Early Intervention Team
The Early Intervention Team is a multi-disciplinary team consisting of domestic abuse workers, police community support officers, a counsellor, and a reducing parental conflict worker. The team can provide advice and support to families experiencing domestic abuse on a one-to-one basis and through group work support such as The Gateway Programme and The Domestic Abuse Recovery Toolkit. The team can support families to navigate through the criminal justice and family courts process.
Legal Support
We offer 30 minutes free legal advice with solicitors Morecrofts. These appointments are available on Thursday afternoons and can be utilised to seek legal advice around seeking a non mol, child contact issues, financial concerns, separation and divorce proceedings…..
These can either be held face to face or over the telephone and are booked in advance.
Counselling
We have a qualified counsellor who can offer one to one face to face counselling for anyone effected by Domestic abuse.
Behaviour Change
Caring Dads is our behaviour change programme for male perpetrators of domestic abuse who have contact with children (dads and step-dads). Men must be having some form of contact, or working towards contact, with children in order for the programme to be appropriate for them.
Our behaviour change workers can also provide work and intervention on a one-to-one basis with perpetrators of domestic abuse.
Caring Dad’s
Caring Dads is a 17 week programme for men, aimed at reducing abusive and harmful behaviours towards children and women. The men must be spending time with their children to complete the course.
Caring dads develops trust with the men, increasing their awareness of their abusive behaviours and the consequences whilst helping them to take responsibility for their actions. Men are encouraged to think about their childhood experiences, consider how they want their children to feel and what they need to do to make their children feel safe and happy. The group looks at how the men behave towards their partners and ex-partners, the impact of their abusive behaviours on children and their mothers. Models and strategies used include child centred parenting, cognitive behavioural therapy, goal-centred and solution focused approaches.
Program principals emphasize the need to enhance men’s motivation, promote child-centred fathering, address men’s ability to engage in respectful, non-abusive co parenting with children’s mothers. The group component of Caring Dad’s combines elements of domestic abuse, fathering, and safeguarding children to enhance the safety of well-being of children and their families.