Employer: Ruhama (Host Organisation) 

Address: 4 Castle Street, Dublin 2 Post 

Title: SEEKING SAFETY IRELAND MANAGER 

Accountable to: The Head of Services of the Host organisation and the Governance Group 

Purpose of post: To work with and support the partner agencies to develop and carry out the aims, objectives and actions of the Seeking Safety Ireland Strategic Plan. 

Background 

Seeking Safety Ireland is a peer-informed project that has been supported by the Department of Health through its Women’s Health Fund in 2022. The commitment is to develop and implement a cross sectoral, interagency Irish adaptation of the Seeking Safety model to support hard-to-reach women who experience both mental health and substance use issues, paying particular attention to those experiencing domestic and sexual gender based violence. Research has shown both internationally and here in Ireland that co-production, co-delivery and a fully integrated approach is the most beneficial way to support individuals in our services. 

The focus of the Seeking Safety programme is to work with women with dual diagnosis to teach them, through psycho-educational classes, how to successfully seek safety in their world. 

Specifically, this programme seeks to support recovery which will include stabilising substance and or alcohol use, reduce suicidality, self-harm, and development of dangerous relationships. Using an integration of cognitive, behavioural, interpersonal and case management approaches, it has a core goal of creating safety in order to prepare women for the next stages of ‘healing. 

Seeking Safety works from the premise that people who have the dual diagnosis of PTSD and Substance Use are more likely to engage in less safe drug and alcohol using activities and veer towards poly drug use. They generally experience a variety of life problems and will have an enduring relationship with both diagnoses. Also, they are unlikely to have the life skills to create the safety they need for the impacts of PTSD to reduce and the need for the painkilling task of substance use to decline. 

Manager Seeking Safety Ireland 

The Manager for Seeking Safety Ireland (SSI) will have the responsibility to support SSI on a national basis. It will be their responsibility to implement the SSI strategic plan with the support of the Programme Manager for Dual Diagnosis and each of the SSI Governance Group members. They will encourage consistency across each of the partner organisations in areas such as strategic development, staff support, training and supervision as well as supporting the partner organisations with the implementation of the actions identified in the strategic plan. 

The successful candidate will also be involved in communication and promotion of Seeking Safety Ireland The successful candidate will be required to regularly visit and connect with individual organisations onsite and work with the Programme Manager for Dual Diagnosis (PMDD) on a weekly basis. These weekly meetings are designed to ensure the national agenda is supported, and will be in place for a defined period, as per the Strategic Plan. 

The successful candidate will be responsible for driving the implementation of the strategic goals of the programme. The successful candidate will have an administrative base in the host organisation.

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