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Compliance with incoming regulatory requirements in relation to domestic abuse
The Social Housing White Paper, 2020 proposed changes to the consumer regulation of social housing to strengthen the accountability of landlords for providing safe homes, quality services and treating residents with respect. This included an expectation that regulation will compel housing providers to have a policy setting out how they will tackle issues surrounding domestic abuse, working with other agencies as appropriate.
ADA works with organisations to prepare for the upcoming regulation in relation to domestic abuse. This includes assessing current approaches, strengths and areas for development in order to reach the standard for compliance – and importantly, provide a good response to residents.
The Domestic Abuse Act (2021) sets out several measures in relation to domestic abuse – we provide support for organisations to understand what it means for them and how they can respond.
Bespoke domestic abuse training
ADA provides bespoke, interactive training to workforces, reflecting the legislative and regulatory framework so that employees are confident in recognising and responding to domestic abuse. Sessions can be specific to the housing sector and its supply chain, showing how domestic abuse can be identified via repairs, rent arrears, antisocial behaviour and routine housing or repair contacts.
Training can be tailored to specific job roles and includes the opportunity to learn from the impact of lived experience via our EVE Panel
Domestic abuse policy development, research and evaluation
A well-developed domestic abuse policy reflecting an organisation’s values, mission and vision is essential to set the framework for an effective response to domestic abuse. We support organisations with domestic abuse policy development and drafting of policies and procedures.
With a strong background in research and critical analysis, we support organisations to develop parameters for domestic abuse research and support them to map and illustrate the impact of domestic abuse to inform their organisational response. We offer evaluation of services, approaches and policies, using a range of methods and tools, and work collaboratively with a range of subject matter experts.
Developing organisational support for staff experiencing domestic abuse
As well as supporting approaches in developing employees’ ability to better recognise and respond to domestic abuse, a crucial element is to ensure that staff members can access support if they are experiencing domestic abuse themselves.
ADA is experienced in developing national and organisational toolkits to support employees and in providing support for developing and embedding approaches across organisations.