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<p>The Department has a range of measures designed to support people who flee abusive
households. This includes easements to benefit conditionality to give claimants the
space and time needed to stabilise their lives, special provisions in both Housing
Benefit and Universal Credit housing support when a claimant is temporarily absent
from their home through fear of violence, and exemptions from Child Maintenance application
fees.</p><p> </p><p>When a victim of domestic abuse comes into a Jobcentre fleeing
abuse, we can support them by helping them to open a new claim, and can put in place
a rapid advance where needed, which provides access to funds in 2-3 hours.</p><p>
</p><p>As a department, we focus on helping frontline colleagues to recognise signs
of domestic abuse and to support victims by signposting to expert organisations who
can help. All work coaches undergo mandatory training on how to support vulnerable
claimants, including recognising the signs of domestic abuse. Furthermore, any individual
can be accompanied by a third party organisation to provide expert support when disclosing
domestic abuse to a Work Coach, and a private area can be provided to disclose any
information if requested.</p><p> </p><p>The Department published information on DWP
support to victims of domestic abuse on gov.uk in January 2018. This can be found
at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/domestic-violence-and-abuse-help-from-dwp"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/domestic-violence-and-abuse-help-from-dwp</a></p>
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