How is The Orange Door network working with people to identify risk and prioritise their needs?
Practitioners at The Orange Door network are supported to do their work by:
- changes to information sharing legislation
- an improved family violence risk assessment and management framework
- the Central Information Point (CIP)
- assessments aligned to the Best Interest Case Practice Model
- working within interdisciplinary teams.
The Orange Door network takes a person-centred approach to working with clients by identifying service responses based on risk and need including family violence, and safety and support of children and young people. Children and young people are treated as individual clients in their own right, where their wellbeing and/or experience of family violence are assessed and responses and provided.
Once a referral is received, priority and urgency is determined through the screening, identification and triage process. An initial assessment is undertaken based on information in the referral, the referral history at The Orange Door, and any past engagement with partner agencies.
The referral will then move on to the assessment and planning stage, where practitioners engage with the individual/family to assess:
- key risks and wellbeing
- needs of each individual
- their goals and preferences in the context of their family and community
- safety planning (as required)
- connection to services.
The Orange Door network works with Risk Assessment and Management Panels (RAMPs) to ensure that high risk situations are managed in the best possible way.[1]
RAMPs are responsible for developing and implementing multi-agency action plans for individual high-risk cases. This lessens or prevents serious threats to children, young people and victim survivors and increases accountability of the person using family violence.
RAMPs receive referrals from services working with victim survivors or families, where there are concerns that there is a high risk of harm that is not adequately mitigated by the current range of interventions. 18 RAMPs currently operate across Victoria.
Assessing risk where family violence is present
Practitioners within The Orange Door network assess the family violence risk that adults using family violence pose for victim survivors. Practitioners work across specialisations to ensure there is an interdisciplinary response to addressing identified risk and needs and to develop appropriate risk management strategies, including safety planning. The process of assessing family violence risk is ongoing throughout the time that The Orange Door network works with a client.
The Family Violence Multi-Agency Risk Assessment and Management (MARAM) Framework supports professionals to effectively identify, assess and manage family violence risk. The MARAM Framework together with the Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS) strengthens system-wide family violence risk assessment and management and facilitates better sharing of risk-relevant information between services. This helps keep people safe and persons using family violence in view.
In addition, the Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS), supports professionals in sharing information to promote the safety and wellbeing of children and young people (child safety and wellbeing assessment is explored in a separate section below).
In 2022-23, practitioners undertook over 32,000 family violence risk assessments.[2] Of these, almost 23,000 assessments were undertaken for adult victim survivors and over 9,000 were undertaken for children and young people experiencing family violence (Figure 9).
Figure 9. Family violence risk assessments, children and young people versus adults 2022-23
The number of assessments undertaken by practitioners increased by 37.5% compared to 2021-22. While the increase in risk assessments is mostly due to the commencement of the three new The Orange Door areas in 2022-23, confidence in undertaking risk assessments and information sharing under MARAM continues to grow.
The number of risk assessments undertaken in 2022-23 was lower than the number of people who were provided with a response. This reflects the fact that The Orange Door network is sometimes unable to contact the person referred (21.3% in 2022-23), or when they do the person chooses not to take up the offer of a service or support (23% in 2022-23). These proportions include referrals for adults using family violence, noting that risk assessment for this group of clients was not yet available during this reporting period as the Adults Using Family Violence-focused comprehensive risk assessment tool was released in July 2023.
The practice of recording family violence risk assessments is improving across The Orange Door network. Nonetheless, it continues to be an area for further improvement and development.
Safety planning
For people experiencing family violence, safety planning is a key part of risk management that is undertaken by The Orange Door network as an immediate support intervention. It typically involves a plan developed by a practitioner with the victim survivor to help manage their own safety in the short to medium term.
In 2022-23, practitioners in The Orange Door network recorded over 21,000 safety plans in the CRM to help keep victims of family violence safe, a 33.4% increase from 2021-22.
Central Information Point
The CIP commenced in 2018 and is a unique initiative that helps to keep persons using family violence in view. The CIP consolidates critical information relevant to family violence risk from Victoria Police, Corrections Victoria, the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria, and the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing.
Information from these sources about a person using family violence or alleged person using family violence is consolidated into a single report for The Orange Door network practitioners to assist with family violence risk assessment and management. In 2022-23, over 4,800 CIP reports were provided to practitioners in The Orange Door network.
In addition to The Orange Door network, the CIP is available to RAMPs, who facilitate meetings to support the safety of victim survivors experiencing serious risk of family violence. The CIP also commenced service delivery to Men’s Referral Service and Safe Steps in November 2022, in line with the Royal Commission’s recommendations.
Jonathan and Suzie's story – assessing risk and safety based on the CIP report[3]
Jonathan is a 25 year old man referred to The Orange Door after police attended a family violence incident involving him and his girlfriend Suzie. Neighbours contacted the police when Jonathan physically threatened Suzie with a knife. Police removed Jonathan and remanded him in custody.
When The Orange Door received the police referral, Jonathan and Suzie were assigned different practitioners who worked together in the same integrated team. Throughout The Orange Door involvement, the two practitioners provided an integrated response by sharing risk information they had gathered with each other. The practitioners also consulted with Practice Leadership to support their assessments and decision making.
When The Orange Door received the L17 police referral, the practitioner reviewed Jonathan’s history and found an extensive history of family violence. Based on this history, the practitioner requested a CIP report on Jonathan’s use of violence towards Suzie. The CIP report includes information that Jonathan has been assessed as having an intellectual disability and suffering depression. The CIP report included a summary of Jonathan’s family violence offences towards Suzie including the use of force, carrying weapons, arson related offences, self-injury and sexual offences. The CIP report also highlighted that Jonathan is engaged with a corrections worker for the next year.
Based on the CIP report the practitioner worked with Jonathan and proactively contacted his corrections worker to discuss the L17 police referral. Jonathan’s corrections worker informed the practitioner that Jonathan is well-engaged and also has access to services including a psychologist and NDIS practitioner. The corrections worker stated that he would reach out to Jonathan in custody to coordinate his support while in remand.
The Orange Door practitioner, now knowing the extent of Jonathan’s intellectual disability, provided a secondary consultation on behaviour change interventions for Jonathan’s use of violence and discussed the option of a Men’s Behaviour Change (MBC) program specifically designed for men with an intellectual disability.
The Orange Door practitioner also collaborated with Victoria Police as Jonathan had been assigned to the Family Violence Investigation Unit due to his level of risk. The Orange Door practitioner shared the risk information from the CIP report with Victoria Police, including their assessment of the serious risk of violence towards Suzie.
The other practitioner in the same Orange Door contacted Suzie who is currently homeless and has made a police statement in relation to the sexual violence. Suzie agreed to develop a safety plan for when Jonathan is released from custody.
The two practitioners coordinated an integrated response, in consultation with Practice Leadership that prioritised the safety of Suzie, as well as addressing the risks and treatment needs of Jonathan.
Based on the information contained in the CIP report, the practitioner organised for Suzie to be provided refuge accommodation, with the immediate goals of coordinating supports in relation to the sexual assault she experienced.
Jonathan agreed to engage with The Orange Door via his corrections worker for a referral to the MBC program for people with an intellectual disability.
Identifying risk and need for children and young people
The Orange Door network practitioners undertake assessments for children and young people where there are concerns for their safety, wellbeing or development, including when they have been impacted by family violence. There is a strong focus on working with families to identify and develop a plan to address safety and wellbeing concerns for children and young people in accordance with the Best Interests Case Practice Model. Community-based Senior Child Protection Practitioners support this process by providing access to information about current or previous identified risk assessments and interventions from Child Protection.
The victim survivor-focused MARAM Practice Guides and tools provide additional guidance to support practitioners to identify, assess and manage family violence risk to children and young people as victim survivors in their own right.
Work is currently underway to update and strengthen the guidance provided under the Best Interests Case Practice Model and the MARAM Framework to support direct engagement with children and young people. This includes when responding to young people using family violence, in the home, in family relationships or within their early intimate relationships.
The Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare has been engaged to provide The Orange Door network practitioners with resources and skills to identify and prioritise what is in the child and young persons’ best interests, to work directly with children and young people in ways that promote their participation in the decision-making and processes that affect them, as well as making sure they are safe and able to thrive.
In 2022-23 practitioners undertook nearly 89,000 child safety, wellbeing and other assessments (Figure 10).[4] This is more than double the number of child safety, wellbeing and other assessments compared to 2021-22 which is likely due to the commencement of three new Orange Door areas in 2022-23 and two new areas late in 2021-22.
Figure 10. Child safety, wellbeing and other assessments for children, young people and families (total assessments) 2022-23
Tyrone and Sam's story – support for the wellbeing and needs of children and young people[5]
Tyrone (15 years) and Sam (17 years) are two brothers who presented in person at The Orange Door. The brothers informed the practitioner that they had not slept or eaten properly for days. They stated they couldn’t sit still, and requested the door was kept open in the room.
They told the practitioner that they had been sleeping at a bus stop for the past week after their parent had relinquished care of them and made them leave the house. The brothers said their parent was not violent towards them but had substance dependencies that had worsened in recent months.
Tyrone and Sam’s ages present a difficulty to the broader service system as one falls under the obligations of Chid Protection and the other does not. They were suspicious of The Orange Door and Child Protection and expressed a fear of being separated due to their ages.
The practitioner consulted with their Child and Young Person Practice Leader and agreed to arrange for emergency accommodation and e-vouchers for material aid. This way The Orange Door could address their immediate wellbeing and safety needs.
The Orange Door practitioner also supported the brothers to connect with a youth outreach service that agreed to assist them with emergency accommodation and undertake further assessment and planning in terms of their longer-term accommodation and support needs. The youth service was located nearby and so the practitioner was able to arrange for a youth outreach worker to attend The Orange Door that day to meet with the boys. This enabled the practitioner to do a warm referral and ensure the brothers felt comfortable with the youth worker and clear about their role.
The following morning The Orange Door was informed that the boys were safe in accommodation and had engaged with the youth outreach service.
Taking an integrated and collaborative approach, the practitioner also consulted with the Community Based Child Protection located in The Orange Door in terms of Tyrone’s risks from his parent.
The Community based Child Protection practitioner provided some additional strategies to support Tyrone based on his age and appropriate to his development needs. These strategies were communicated to the youth outreach service to continue to work with the brothers to address their wellbeing needs and to support additional referral pathways.
Notes
[1] A Risk Assessment and Management Panel or RAMP is a formally convened meeting of nine key agencies and organisations. Held at a local level, they contribute to the safety of women and children and young people experiencing serious risk from family violence. Across Victoria each RAMP meets monthly to share information and take action to keep children, young people and women at the highest risk safe.
[2] The number of risk assessments reported in Budget Paper 3 reporting for 2022-23 was 32,143. This variation is due to point in time data extraction within a dynamic CRM system.
[3] Names and identifying features of the people involved in this case study have been changed.
[4] 90,086 child safety, wellbeing and needs assessments were reported for 2022-23 in Budget Paper 3 reporting. This variation is due to point in time data extraction within a dynamic CRM system.
[5] Names and identifying features of the people involved in this case study have been changed.
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