A day in the life of a Women’s Worker – Monklands Women’s Aid

8.50am - I arrive at work, switch on my work mobile and check my diary for my meetings for that day. As its Wednesday we have our staff meeting to plan for the duty tasks required, do handovers and update on any new allocated cases.

9.10am - I receive a call from a woman – Ailsa* - on the office line requiring advice and guidance and so I spend some time going through our administrative protocols. During the call, the information that Ailsa shares indicates that she is high risk so I think it is in her best interest to offer her a face-to-face emergency appointment so we can complete a formal risk assessment and subsequent individual support and safety plan. Due to a prior booked appointment cancelling via text, I am able to offer Ailsa an appointment for 10.30am

In the meantime, I make calls to two women who are living in refuge to undertake general welfare checks and catch-ups. Then I head to a pre-arranged in-house appointment with a woman. Following her individual support and safety plan, and using tools from the Own My Life Course, which is a therapeutic approach we use at Monklands Women’s Aid, we spend some time unpicking the dynamics of domestic abuse before I head back to the office.

10.30am - Ailsa arrives at the office, understandably, extremely anxious and so I offer her a refreshment and make her feel welcome. I explain who Monklands Women’s Aid are and what we can offer to support her. We discuss levels of confidentiality and the legal duties we have, as well as safeguarding mechanisms.

I begin to gather more detailed information to add to the basic details gathered during our telephone conversation. Ailsa explains that she has a seven-year-old son – James* - who she is trying to protect but is finding that he is increasingly upset at what he is witnessing at home. I go on to complete a risk assessment with her and it becomes clear that it is unsafe for her to return to her home.

I check our refuge availability and find that we are full so I talk Ailsa through other short-term, safe accommodation options, in the hopes that within the next week a space will then come up in our refuge. In the immediate term she feels safe to live with her mother and she is keen to find accommodation solutions that don’t involve too far a move so that James’s schooling is not impacted, with a view to coming into refuge as soon as a space becomes available.

During the appointment I offer emotional support and reassurance. We also explore her understanding of domestic abuse, coercion, power and control. I emphasise our belief in the trauma she has endured and that our trauma responsive services are here to support her and her son, both with our resources and by advocating for access via our partnership activities. Together we speak about what she feels she needs to increase her safety and reduce the risk posed to herself and James. We discuss the options available to her and her chosen services, which I record in her individual support and safety plan. These include:

• Outreach in the short term with a view to accessing refuge when space becomes available
• Monklands Women’s Aid & Citizens Advice Bureau legal surgeries
• Emotional support
• Practical support
• One to one support
• Group work (Own My Life structured therapeutic programme)
• Monklands Women’s Aid Children’s Services for James
• Advocacy with social work and education.
This support and safety plan will be reviewed in six weeks - sooner if required. We will revisit her situation, as well as her risk, and respond accordingly, changing supports if necessary.

Due to Ailsa’s level of concern regarding the impact the domestic abuse is having on James, she is eager for him to access our children’s services as soon as possible. She says that she has discussed supports with him in the past and he wanted to engage. I begin the internal referral protocols and I take the opportunity to ask one of my children’s service colleagues if she can come in and have a quick chat about what we can offer.

The children’s worker completes the required documents and gains appropriate consents there and then. We agree that we will contact James’s school, who we have an established relationship with, and set up the support in school the following week. If he chooses, he will also have access to our youth group and outings.

I arrange a follow-up appointment with Ailsa for next week and in the meantime, we will make the discussed external referrals to housing, legal surgery and school.

After Ailsa leaves, I make sure that our computer case records are fully up to date, and appropriate electronic versions of risk assessments and safety plans are saved. It’s now 2pm and time for a brief break.

2.30pm - When I return I progress with the associated external referrals for legal surgeries and multi-agency risk assessment conference (MARAC). MARAC is a meeting where information is shared on the highest risk domestic abuse cases between representatives of local police, probation, health, child protection, housing practitioners, ourselves and other specialists. I make a point of debriefing with my children’s services colleague to ensure we align the support packages of Ailsa and James.

I contact the local authority housing department to advocate for emergency accommodation for Ailsa this will ensure we are able to optimise shared resources to meet both Ailsa and James’s specific needs for alternative accommodation. , with a view to her moving into refuge when space becomes available. I then contact Ailsa again to advise that housing will contact her to complete a homeless application a

4pm - I contact some other women on my caseload to confirm appointments for tomorrow and send a group text to the Own My Life Group confirming their attendance tomorrow. I catch up on my emails, replying to partner agencies and sharing information for upcoming meetings. I also email a foodbank referral for collection on their next available slot. I make sure my paperwork and our computer system is up to date before I finish for the day.