Domestic Abuse Specialist Practitioner

Join Tyre Hill House, an aspirational residential family centre providing assessment and support for parents and children who need intensive, round-the-clock support while questions about parenting capacity, child safety and sustainable care are understood. Many of the families who come to Tyre Hill will have experienced adversity, trauma, care experience, domestic abuse, mental health difficulty, substance misuse, learning needs or social isolation. Our aim is to provide assessments that are safe, fair, structured and child-centred, while also giving parents clear support, teaching and feedback. We are strengthening our multidisciplinary model around families, which includes residential family support, social work assessment, psychology, parenting and early years expertise, domestic abuse, substance misuse, and dedicated support for care-experienced parents.

Role Purpose

The Domestic Abuse Specialist Practitioner will provide specialist domestic abuse expertise within Tyre Hill House's evidence-led residential family assessment and change model. The postholder will help the multidisciplinary team understand the impact of domestic abuse, coercive control, unsafe relationships, trauma, fear, power, control and protective capacity on parenting, child safety and the child's lived experience. The role combines direct work with parents, specialist assessment, safety planning, consultation, staff support, contribution to formulation, recording and specialist input into final analysis and recommendations.

Key Responsibilities

• Domestic abuse assessment and intervention
• Contribution to parenting assessment and capacity to change
• Direct work with parents
• Contribution to the Tyre Hill model
• Safeguarding and regulatory responsibilities
• MDT and formulation responsibilities
• Recording, assessment and evidence responsibilities
• Consultation, staff support and workforce development

Person Specification

Essential experience, knowledge and skills required:

• Experience of working as a domestic abuse practitioner, IDVA, domestic abuse specialist, family safeguarding domestic abuse practitioner or equivalent
• Strong knowledge of domestic abuse, coercive control, power and control, trauma, risk and safety planning
• Experience of working with victim-survivors of domestic abuse
• Understanding of the impact of domestic abuse on children, parenting, attachment, emotional availability and family functioning
• Ability to assess risk and contribute to safety planning
• Experience of working within multi-agency or multidisciplinary settings
• Ability to provide consultation and advice to non-specialist colleagues
• Ability to communicate complex and sensitive information clearly
• Strong written skills, including assessment, risk analysis and report contributions
• Understanding of safeguarding children and adults at risk
• Ability to work with parents who may feel scrutinised, ashamed, fearful, defensive, ambivalent or mistrustful
• Ability to adapt communication and intervention for parents with learning needs, neurodivergence or trauma histories
• Commitment to anti-discriminatory, inclusive and culturally sensitive practice
• Ability to maintain professional boundaries in an emotionally demanding residential environment
• Ability to use supervision and reflective practice appropriately
• Commitment to evidence-informed practice and continuous learning
• IDVA qualification or willingness to undertake relevant accredited domestic abuse training
• Experience of working with children's social care, child protection, pre-proceedings or care proceedings
• Experience of Family Safeguarding, FDAC, residential family assessment, family assessment centres or edge-of-care work
• Experience of working with parents affected by substance misuse, mental health difficulty, care experience, learning disability, neurodivergence or previous child removal
• Experience of working with parents who use harm, where this is within the practitioner's competence and service model

Qualifications

Essential:

• Relevant professional qualification or demonstrable specialist training and experience in domestic abuse, safeguarding, social care, criminal justice, health, housing, children and families, or a related field
• Domestic abuse specialist training, IDVA qualification, or willingness to complete agreed accredited domestic abuse training
• Safeguarding children training at an appropriate level
• Evidence of continuing professional development relevant to domestic abuse, coercive control, trauma, risk and safety planning

Working Arrangements

We welcome applications from candidates seeking a range of working patterns and contracted hours. Applicants should indicate their preferred number of working days within their application. We are open to considering a variety of arrangements and are keen to build a team with complementary skills, experience and availability. The final mix of appointments and contracted hours will be determined following recruitment and agreed in line with service requirements and the approved staffing budget.

Next Steps

For further information, please contact Julie Elias for a full job description. To apply, please send your CV and accompanying letter outlining how you meet the requirements for the role. The role will require a full disclosure barring service (DBS). Closing date for applications is Thursday 2 July 2026. We reserve the right to close applications earlier.