Annual Report 22/23 Accessible Version

1.3 Independent Domestic Violence Adviser (IDVA) and Independent Sexual Violence Adviser (ISVA) Baseline Funding (£821,750) and ISVA / IDVA Additional Funding (£186,123)

The Baseline Funding was a continuation of the grant award received in 2021/22; in addition, a further opportunity was made available to PCCs in 2022/23 to secure 100 additional IDVAs and ISVAs nationally. This funding was in recognition of the increased demand for SA and DA support and issues with the CJS resulting in victims requiring greater and longer-term support.

Organisations supported through Baseline Funding were:

Dads Unlimited (£73,698) - 1 x IDVA and 1 x IDVA Manager to deliver the only dedicated male IDVA service in Kent known as DA Victim Empowerment (DAVE) Service.

EKRCC (£125,880) - 1 x Hybrid IDVA / ISVA, 1 x C&YP Mental Health ISVA and 1 x Student ISVA working with schools, colleges, and universities.

Family Matters (£103,322) - 1 x ISVA Manager supporting victims of SA aged 5 and over and a Gangs ISVA working with those impacted by SA in Gangs and County lines.

Kent & Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust (KMPT) (£34,107) - 1 x Health IDVA (HIDVA) / Sexual IDVA (SIDVA) to support those accessing secondary mental health services.

KIDAS (£160,000) - 4 x IDVAs to increase countywide DA service capacity, particularly tailored support (e.g. diverse communities, older and male victims, honour-based violence, the traveller community, complex DA cases including APVC and Eastern European communities).

New Leaf Support (£34,560) - 1.5 x IDVAs to deliver outreach and family support to those impacted by DA within Swale.

Oasis (£42,525) - 1 x IDVA to increase capacity within the Medway Integrated DA Service (MIDAS).

Rising Sun (£114,846) - 1 x IDVA Manager and 2 x IDVAs to support those experiencing DA and SA, who were at risk of homelessness or homeless and had multiple needs.

SATEDA (£63,738) - 1 x IDVA Co-ordinator, providing dedicated family provision, including specialist outreach for families impacted by DA. 1 x C&YP IDVA providing dedicated support to those accessing family DA support provision, including outreach. 1 x IDVA providing dedicated support to adults accessing family DA support provision including outreach in Swale.

Sign Health (£69,073) - 1 x IDVA to support Deaf victims of DA through BSL or other communication methods and 1 x Young Persons Violence Advocate (YPVA) to provide support for Deaf victims of DA aged 8 to 18 years.

Organisations supported through ISVA / IDVA Additional Funding were:

Dads Unlimited (£30,639) - 1 x IDVA to increase capacity in the DAVE Service.

EKRCC (£24,715) - 1 x specialist Adolescent ISVA to respond to increased referrals involving peer-on-peer SA. Also provided support to the LGBTQ+ Community.

Family Matters (£38,578) - 1 x Child ISVA (CISVA) to support victims of SA aged under 18.

Hourglass (£32,298) - 1 x IDVA to provide support to older victims of DA and SA.

KIDAS (£28,000) - 1 x IDVA in East Kent to provide additional capacity to manage increase in young people impacted by DA.

Oasis (£31,893) - 1 x IDVA to increase capacity in MIDAS.

 

Outcomes

1. A total of 3,063 referrals were received across all IDVA and ISVA services, resulting in 2,272 individuals receiving needs-led support.
2. Of those cases supported and closed 1,731 reported they were better able to cope and build resilience moving forwards with daily life.
3. On average ISVA clients were supported for 424 days, with ISVAs having an average caseload of 42 clients.
4. IDVA clients engaged with support for 119 days on average, with IDVAs having an average caseload of 33 clients.

1.4  MoJ Core Uplift Funding

In June 2022, the MoJ confirmed an additional £6m for PCCs nationally to uplift their ‘core’ funding to commission local victim support services. This funding was allocated across the 42 PCC areas using a population-based formula, resulting in Kent receiving an additional £187,696 (also provisionally confirmed for 2023/24 and 2024/25).

The funding was proportionately allocated across existing service providers as follows:

AAFDA (£1,221) - To continue supporting families bereaved by DA, suicide or unexplained death.

Brake (£825) - To continue supporting family members of those killed and seriously injured in road traffic collisions in Kent.

Choices Support (£1,891) - To continue providing intensive support to victims with learning disabilities, poor mental health and autism.

Dads Unlimited (£11,286) - To increase the DA team capacity x 2 and a small contribution towards rent costs until March 2023.

Daisy Chain (£2,475) - To continue providing pro-bono legal advice to DA victims.

Dandelion Time (£3,676) - To extend the Therapeutic Support Programme for children & families impacted by DA by providing 3 additional intensive placements (in addition to 32 part-funded placements).

DAVSS (£2,745) - To cover deficit in MARAC / High Needs Co-ordinator’s salary; role responsible for co-ordinating high risk cases, including preparation of paperwork, advocating for clients and ensuring actions completed.

EKRCC (£8,584) - To increase counselling capacity at their main office in Canterbury.

Family Matters (£31,998) - To increase service capacity including provision of counselling.

Health Action (£1,500) - To continue support for African male victims of DA through the Hidden Truth Support Group.

Hourglass (£1,776) - To provide awareness materials, community engagement events and support operational costs for older victims of DA.

Innovating Minds (£2,200) - To train 2 x Healing Together Facilitators and a third facilitator for frontline services.

KMPT (£1,875) - To fund overtime for the HIDVA to increase training and to support access to the Phoenix Programme.

KIDAS (£8,800) - To increase capacity within the countywide DA service.

Mary Dolly (£1,750) - To increase online tailored counselling capacity for DA and SA victims.

New Leaf (£1,900) - To continue providing support to DA victims in Swale.

Oasis (£2,338) - To increase capacity within the MIDAS service.

Restorative Solutions (£16,335) - To support APVC staff overtime / travel costs and upgrade technology to meet cyber essential requirements.

Rising Sun (£10,781) – To help fund a full-time qualified C&YP counsellor.to increase capacity.

Rubicon Cares (£3,987) - To support core costs impacted by cost-of-living increase (e.g. staffing, ad hoc room hire and travel fares).

Salus (£1,883) - To provide support for a further 2 x C&YP Support Officers.

SATEDA (£6,574) - To support overtime to increase capacity and cover an uplift in salaries and core costs.

Sign Health (£3,405) - To support increased staff (YPVA and IDVA) salaries.

The Bloomers Trust (£484) - To provide additional care packages to victims of DA and SA and fund general awareness raising of service.

Victim Support (£49,446) - To support salary uplift and purchase of security items.

Overview

This funding was used predominately to enhance and increase capacity within existing commissioned services.

All services reported increased pressures during 2022/23, with the cost-of-living increase significantly impacting on operating costs and retention of staff. The impact was also felt by those accessing services, particularly for DA, and being able to secure funds to flee or end abusive relationships. Services also reported a significant increase in complex cases that required crisis intervention and immediate tailored safety plans.

Services reported improvements in monitoring client needs resulting in adaptions to the hours of counselling services to better meet demand, alongside reviewing external meeting venues to minimise the carbon footprint and maximise outreach appointments. Some victim support services expanded their provision of family work due to an increase in demand, recruited additional therapeutic counsellors and opened additional family centres.

I and my team promote collaborative working across commissioned services. This enables greater wrap around support for individuals so they do not have to repeat information multiple times. It also increases interagency signposting to improve the journey for clients, for example: joint home visits with a HIDVA, mental health and social care services; the development of hate crime awareness sessions to unpaid carers of learning-disabled clients; delivery of deaf community DA awareness raising sessions; and raising awareness of DA with older people.