Broadacres has become the first housing association in Yorkshire, and only the 10th in the country, to achieve a nationally recognised accreditation.
The Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA) accreditation forms part of the Government’s “Ending Violence against Women and Girls Strategy” and sets out how housing providers should respond to domestic abuse in the UK.
The award was achieved after 18 months of staff volunteering to be workplace champions and housing officers receiving legal training to enhance their response and service to customers suffering domestic abuse.
The Association was assessed against 8 key standards, namely policies and procedures, case management, risk management, equality and diversity, perpetrator management, partnership working, staff training and publicity & awareness.
Gail Teasdale, Broadacres’ Chief Executive, said: “Broadacres has always taken domestic abuse very seriously and this includes running our own women’s refuge which helps women and their children who have been affected by abuse.
“We wanted, however, to go a step further and become even more proactive in this area and as the DAHA accreditation is the UK benchmark for how housing providers should respond to domestic abuse, this was the logical next step for us.
“It’s taken 18 months of hard work by everybody involved in the project at Broadacres, and we’re delighted to become the first housing association in Yorkshire and only a handful in the entire UK to achieve the accreditation.
“All Broadacres staff are now more aware, confident and proactive when dealing with domestic abuse and this has led to some front-line staff helping customers who needed support and advice on how to break the cycle of domestic abuse.”
Kelly Henderson, Co-Founder of DAHA added: “We are delighted that Broadacres have achieved the DAHA accreditation. We worked with them to develop an improvement plan and from day one their drive and commitment was inspiring.”
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