The National ‘Safer in the Home’ program offers a range of strengths-based interventions to support women who have experienced family or domestic violence to remain safely in their homes and connected to their communities.
Safer in the Home will undertake comprehensive family violence risk assessment and safety planning with women affected at intake point (where a specialist family violence service is not engaged).
Safer in the Home also provides targeted case management coordination and support for women who are not linked into or have access to specialist family violence services or generalist case management support for the period of involvement in the program (on average 6-8 weeks). Case management focuses on women’s self-identified goals and exploring avenues to increase safety and decrease isolation.
Safer in the Home can provide referral and advocacy support to all women engaged with the program.
In partnership with Protective Group, the National Safer in the Home program provides victim-survivors with a comprehensive personal and property safety assessment. This will involve a Protective Group representative attending the property to undertake the assessment or doing a “remote assessment” video call.
Protective Group will prepare a report and make recommendations to the National Safer in the Home program about the security upgrades required at the property. These may include:
- Installation or replacement of locks to entry doors and windows
- Installation of security guards to security screen door handles
- Installation of security screen doors where required
- Installation of external sensor lights
- Improving property visibility by undertaking minor trimming of trees and bushes
- Improving the visibility of house number for emergency services
- Reprogramming of remote controls to garage doors or shared parking arrangements
- Providing security locks to essential gas, electricity and water supplies to prevent tampering
The National Safer in the Home program also provides a response to reports of technology abuse. When requested, a “remote tech assessment” for any “surveillance” technologies being used by the perpetrator can be undertaken. Technology abuse responses may include:
- Scanning for spyware on mobiles, iPads, computers and social media
- Detection of tracking devices on vehicles
- Detection of monitoring devices within the home such as cameras and/or recording devices