Safe Newcastle Domestic Violence Strategy - Newcastle City Council

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6. Current Activity continued 6.4 Asylum seekers The Asylum Seekers Unit (ASU) is part of YHN and is a dedicated Charter Mark awarded team who work with a range of partners to provide accommodation and support to people who have claimed asylum and are dispersed to them by the Home Office. They are subject to a contract with the National Asylum Support Service (NASS) which is a section of the Home Office. Since 2002 they have also operated the Refugee Move-on Service that aims to support those people in transition when they have had a Home Office decision on their asylum claim. The majority of ASU clients have no recourse to public funds in the generally accepted sense. Exceptions to this are clients of the Move-on Team as they have received a positive decision on their asylum application. There are also some clients who are supported via Social Services because they have needs above and beyond destitution. These people have been refused asylum but are unable to return to their country of origin at the present time. NASS have a policy on domestic violence that the ASU must adhere to as part of their contract. The NASS state that they receive only a small number of domestic violence reports involving people seeking asylum. However, it is recognised that, for a number of reasons, domestic violence is under reported in the asylum community. There are many accepted general reasons for this as well as those specifically associated with people seeking asylum. They are: – the fear they will be removed from the UK – the uncertainty about the availability of services and their legal rights – the uncertainty about their rights in relation to any children and that their children may be taken away by Social Services or their partner – the misguided belief that involving the authorities in a report of domestic violence may somehow count against them with regard to their asylum claim As part of their contract they must have a statement on domestic violence policy and procedure that conforms to the requirements of the NASS policy as agreed by the Home Office. NASS clients are dispersed on a ‘no choice’ basis. Unless they reside in the accommodation they are sent to their support is stopped. In the past this meant that the ASU were unable to move a victim without prior consent of NASS. This could take up to 10 days and sometimes even longer to achieve. The policy has now been amended and where it is necessary victims are re-housed and NASS informed after the event. NASS investigations then work with ASU staff on how things proceed and this may result in the perpetrator losing support and/or accommodation. The new way of working has resulted in the ASU achieving better outcomes for their clients. In addition to their specific policies around domestic violence, the Unit works closely with their clients and other agencies to foster good community relations, raise awareness and promote community based support groups. They hold many events throughout the year involving their clients and their activities on International Women’s Day are a good example of the work they do to raise confidence and empower their women clients. 8 Newcastle Domestic Violence And Abuse Strategy
6.5 Areas requiring further development Inter Agency Work in the field of Domestic Violence and Child Protection. Given the high proportion of children either accommodated by Social Services or registered on the Child Protection register where domestic violence is a known factor, inter-agency work needs to be improved as a matter of urgency. In order to meet the needs of children the Newcastle Domestic Violence and Abuse Partnership will work closely with the Safeguarding Board and the emerging Children and Young Peoples Plan to ensure: – All services commissioned locally are consistent with the National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services and the principles set out in the statutory guidance on making arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children under section 11 of the Children Act 2004 – Commissioning of services will take into account and build on existing provision and in particular recognise the expertise of voluntary organisations and facilitate their involvement in both the planning and delivery of services – Domestic violence as an issue is mainstreamed and integrated throughout the children’s agenda Women with no Recourse to Public Funds Due to current immigration and benefit rules, women resident in the UK under sponsorship arrangements can experience severe difficulties if they are in an abusive relationship. Women in such situations are prevented from claiming benefits, accessing social housing, and therefore often find themselves and their children completely destitute. Whilst the local refuges; Newcastle Women’s Aid, Praxis and Panah, refuge to women at risk of domestic violence that have no recourse to public funds, this support is limited due to the intensive resource demands. The Newcastle Domestic Violence and Abuse Partnership commits to: – Collate data locally to monitor the scale extent of this problem in Newcastle – Ensure that this issue is included in the emerging Training Plan – Disseminate Southhall Black Sisters guidance aimed at assisting BME victims to navigate the system – Campaign to demand that the Government develops longer term funding solutions for those victims with no recourse to public funds Enshrined in this approach is the rationale that the most effective intervention for ensuring safe and positive outcomes for children experiencing domestic violence, is to provide a package of support for the non-abusing parent and their child that incorporates a robust risk assessment and holds the perpetrator accountable for their actions. Newcastle Domestic Violence And Abuse Strategy
Page 1 and 2: Better Lives, Stronger Communities.
Page 3 and 4: Foreword Who experiences domestic a
Page 5 and 6: Victims Voices Peter, Father of thr
Page 7 and 8: “From first meeting to present da
Page 9 and 10: 1 British Crime Survey: England and
Page 11 and 12: 4) ensure that victims of domestic
Page 13 and 14: 1 Incidents are recorded at the fir
Page 15 and 16: Newcastle Domestic Violence And Abu
Page 17 and 18: Number Objectives - To provide a vi
Page 19: The main themes covered by the staf
Page 23 and 24: Emerging Work with Perpetrators The
Page 25 and 26: “Thank you for helping me at such
Page 27 and 28: 9. Performance Management and imple
Page 29 and 30: L Local Area Agreement (LAA) A gove
Page 31 and 32: 5. The forum should have a mix of s
Page 33 and 34: Newcastle Domestic Violence And Abu
Page 35 and 36: Understanding Domestic Violence And

Safe Newcastle Domestic Violence Strategy - Newcastle City Council

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