Parenting Support Officer in Blaenau Gwent

Hours: 35 hours per week

Working pattern: This is an office-based role, working within Phoenix’s core office hours of 9am–5pm, with some evening work required where necessary to meet the needs of service users. A TOIL (Time Off in Lieu) system is in place to ensure that additional hours worked can be reclaimed.

Location: Phoenix DAS office (NP13 3AY), with travel as required across the service area. Please note that this is not a hybrid position. 

Service Overview:

This role sits within our specialist domestic abuse service supporting adults, children and families affected by domestic abuse.

Phoenix Domestic Abuse Services provides an ‘’All Family Approach’, providing holistic, strengths-based and trauma-informed support to victims, children and, where appropriate and safe, individuals who have used harmful behaviours.

The Parenting Support Officer will contribute to this approach by providing specialist parenting support to families affected by domestic abuse.

Job Purpose:

The Parenting Support Officer will provide structured, trauma-informed, and strengths-based support to parents and carers who have experienced domestic abuse, including those experiencing CAPVA.

The postholder will support parents and carers to understand the impact of domestic abuse and other harmful behaviours on parenting, relationships and children's wellbeing. They will help families develop safer and more positive parenting strategies, strengthen protective factors and support recovery and resilience.

The role will include the development and delivery of parenting interventions- this may include group programmes alongside individual support to parents and carers.

Where appropriate, and following robust risk assessment and safeguarding decision-making, the postholder may also contribute to work with individuals who have used harmful or abusive behaviours. This work will focus on accountability, increasing understanding of the impact of behaviour on children and family members, and supporting positive behaviour change. The post holder will work alongside our experienced Intervention Team in the delivery of this work. 

The postholder may also contribute to carefully planned work to strengthen or rebuild parent-child relationships where this is assessed as safe and in the best interests of the child.

Safety and the wellbeing of children and adult victims will remain central to all aspects of the role.

Key Responsibilities and Duties

Parenting Support and Intervention

• Provide individual, strengths-based and trauma-informed support to parents and carers affected by domestic abuse and CAPVA. Work with Phoenix colleagues to ensure management of risk and support plans. 
• Complete appropriate assessments to identify parenting strengths, needs, risks and desired outcomes.
• Deliver structured interventions to support parents to understand the impact of domestic abuse on themselves, their children and family relationships.
• Support parents to develop practical strategies for managing conflict, distress and challenging behaviours within the family.
• Promote positive parenting, healthy boundaries, emotional regulation and safe communication.
• Support parents to build confidence, resilience and protective factors.
• Empower parents to develop their own solutions and increase their ability to maintain safe and healthy family relationships.
• Provide support on a voluntary basis, while recognising and responding appropriately to safeguarding and risk concerns.
• Ensure that children's experiences, wishes, feelings, and wellbeing remain central to intervention planning.

CAPVA Support

• Provide direct support to parents and carers experiencing Child/Adolescent to Parent Violence and Abuse. Work with Phoenix colleagues to ensure management of risk and support plans.
• Support parents to understand CAPVA, including the dynamics and impact of abuse within the family.
• Help parents identify patterns of behaviour, triggers and risk factors and develop appropriate safety and risk management strategies.
• Support parents to establish safe and consistent boundaries within the family.
• Work collaboratively with parents to identify strengths, protective factors and practical strategies that promote safer family relationships.
• Liaise with relevant professionals and agencies where additional support or safeguarding intervention is required.
• Ensure that interventions are appropriately risk assessed and reviewed in response to changing circumstances.

Parenting Programme of Work

• Working