Supporting male survivors of domestic abuse if one of the services PARAGON offers. We also run Dragonfly workshops that can help signpost men...
Somerset Domestic Abuse Support
Get in touch with our Somerset team
Phone: 0800 694 9999 option 2
Email: SIDAS@somerset.gov.uk
Read about our Somerset team
We have been commissioned by Somerset Council to deliver the Somerset Domestic Abuse Service. Julian House will be providing the refuge and safe accommodation and we will be joined by a counselling team in 2024.
Our team offer targeted support for victims, children, and people causing harm in their intimate relationships.
We are also been funded and commissioned by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and National Government.
Download a referral form for children and young people
Our teams work across Somerset and offer practical and emotional support, below is a brief overview on what we can offer, including:
Access to safe refuge and safe houses
- Specialist refuge for women and children
- Safe houses for single men or fathers who have children, or mums whose male children are too old to safely house in the refuge
- Safe houses for transwomen and transmen escaping domestic abuse
Support for high-risk victims
- Specialist support in your community in Somerset
- We can meet you in your home, out for a coffee, wherever feels safest for you
- Solutions to help you stay safely in your own home, window locks, door chains etc
- Access to and support for criminal justice processes
Children
- For children aged 0-18
- Support for non-abusive parents and children through play therapy
- Group sessions for parents
- Practical and emotional support
- Specialist support for young people instigating harmful behaviours at home or within their own intimate relationship
Recovery groups and drop-ins
- Community, virtual or face to face
- Helping to understand trauma and how we respond
- Sharing information and knowledge to better understand and deal with previous experiences
- Scheduled drop in sessions across the county
Advocacy
- Attending meetings with you
- Speaking with you and on your behalf
- Explaining the impact of violence and abuse to others so they can better understand your response
- Sharing our knowledge about domestic abuse and the impact of trauma
- We can help look at the best ways of keeping you safe and support you with civil or criminal proceedings
Family safeguarding team
- Working together with children's social care to minimise the impact and reduce domestic abuse in families.
- Developing parenting strategies where domestic abuse has had a negative impact
- Specialist support for children and parents
Marginalised and isolated communities
- We know that many people living in marginalised and isolated communities are often more reluctant to speak about their experiences due to cultural pressures or fears of reprisal
- Our diverse team have lived and work experiences in many different communities
- This will include BAME, LGBQT+, elder abuse, forces and other service personnel
Counselling
- We have a team of specialist counsellors who work with victims and survivors of domestic abuse
Behaviour Change Programme (perpetrators/people causing harm):
Engage behaviour change programme (for perpetrators/people causing harm)
- One to one assessment and support with a specialist team
- Structured group work
- Ongoing support
Partner support
- Ongoing support for the partners of people engaged with the behaviour change programme
- Safety planning
Animal Fostering: (coming October 2023)
- • Securing safe and suitable animal foster placements for victims leaving an abusive environment and not wanting to leave a beloved animal behind
Volunteering
- • Exciting and practical opportunities for volunteers to help support victims, their children, and help shape the service for the community they live in
Find our Somerset team
Our other teams
Somerset Integrated Domestic Abuse Service training
Somerset Integrated Domestic Abuse Service, or SIDAS for short, received 3 new contracts from Public Health in April 2023. As part of these...
Conversations: James Dore on SIDAS and new contracts
Conversations is a series of blog profiles where we chat with managers about the excellent work they do. This year, our PARAGON Somerset...