In May 2023, we told you that we were starting to work towards becoming accredited by DAHA to ensure we deliver safe and effective responses to domestic abuse.

DAHA accreditation is the UK benchmark for how housing providers should respond to domestic abuse. It is the only project in the UK offering domestic abuse accreditation for the housing sector.

Over the past 15 months, we have been focussing on eight priority areas:

• Policies and procedures (both internal and external)
• Safety-led case management
• Survivor-led support
• Intersectional and anti-racist practice
• Perpetrator accountability
• Partnerships and collaboration
• Staff development and support
• Publicity and raising awareness

The process involved 12 members across Havebury from a variety of different teams, including Supported, Neighbourhood and Estates, Communications, People, Repairs and Health Safety, and Facilities, who created a working group to ensure that we were meeting the requirements in the above priority areas and, if we weren’t, what we needed to do to ensure we not only met the standard but went above it.

Amy St Ledger, assistant director of customer and housing services explains:

“Achieving DAHA accreditation was more than just getting certificated. We wanted to make sure that our services and responses to survivors of domestic abuse were the best they could be. We wanted to make a difference and to work with sector-leading experts to ensure our teams had all the tools to help and respond in the best way possible.

We went through this process at a tricky time. DAHA changed its accreditation process when we started out, so we had to change our approach and provide different levels of evidence. This revised framework and process, combined with a restructure here, caused us to take longer to evidence the standards than we initially anticipated but we are confident, but this hard work paid off in us achieving a robust domestic abuse response that we can be proud of.

This is not the end for us. We are dedicated to continuously improving our support and services to survivors. We are committed to ensuring our staff feel confident and have all the necessary tools to respond to any disclosures made to us.”

Gillian Spriggs, tenancy sustainment and hoarding officer explains:

“I wanted to get involved with the DAHA accreditation, as our residents should be confident that we understand the impact domestic abuse can have. This accreditation will also reassure them that we will do everything possible to help resolve matters proactively. Having recently been involved in a very serious case of domestic abuse, I have seen first-hand how our teams work together to get the best possible outcome. The resident has now moved to a new home and is safe.”

Lauren Eden, external communications advisor says:

“Being a part of this working group was important to me. I wanted to understand how I can create content so that our residents feel supported, ensuring we are using best practices. I am really pleased that all the hard work from teams across Havebury have been recognised with our accreditation and I look forward to being able to further support residents in whatever channel they choose to connect with us.”

Charlotte Arbuthnot, people business partner says:

“I am delighted that we have achieved DAHA accreditation. This involved collaboration across a number of teams at Havebury, with the result that we can now deliver safe and effective responses to domestic abuse, both for our residents and members of staff”.

Talking about our accreditation, Sharon Crosby, DAHA Senior Regional Lead says:

“Havebury has demonstrated that they meet all eight standards of the DAHA accreditation framework by providing not only a response to domestic abuse that is trauma-informed and survivor-led but also by investing in training and systems that help staff identify the early signs of domestic abuse to know how to have conversations about this with both residents and staff and to share information per the co-ordinated community response to improve outcomes for those experiencing domestic abuse and their families.

Some of the commitments to support this include designing a bespoke case management system for domestic abuse cases separate from ASB, clearly flagging DA and giving prompts at each stage so that staff know what next steps to take. The system can be adapted in-house and specifically by the DA lead when necessary to ensure that it is working effectively for all, that information is shared promptly, and that action is taken to safeguard survivors whilst holding those who cause harm accountable but simultaneously signposting and providing support to them where appropriate and safe to do so. Staff spoke of a huge shift in their confidence in supporting survivors of domestic abuse since they started their progression towards achieving DAHA accreditation, and this was also recognised by partner agencies who spoke of a marked improvement in the support given and survivor satisfaction. Actions taken were swift regarding making properties safer so families could stay with their support networks or assisting them to move on when desired, including management moves.

The network of DA champions was strong, and the staff survey that they conducted identified even more people willing to volunteer as champions, which speaks of the level of engagement in the desire to improve situations for staff and residents experiencing domestic abuse at Havebury.

We were also pleased to see that Havebury has signed up to Unison’s Anti-Racism Charter and are excited to see how an Anti-Racist and Intersectional approach continues to build throughout our ongoing work with Havebury to strengthen the response even further.”

What does this mean for you?
Put simply, if you need to reach out to us because you, or someone you know, is a victim of domestic abuse, our team will be fully trained to support you.

Where can you get support?
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, you can reach out and speak to one of our domestic abuse champions.
You can also message us on social media or come to our office.

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