This project explored the relationship between statutory child protection and specialist domestic and family violence services in order to discern the elements that facilitate differential pathways and appropriate integrated service system support for the safety and well-being of women and children living with and separating.  Children’s service pathways were examined using NSW, Western Australian and Victorian administrative datasets. The findings, together with an international scoping review, case studies of good practice in five states, and a case reading process (developed by the Safe & Together Institute) of 25 child protection files (five per state) was undertaken. Findings were synthesised and a collaborative framework developed to strengthen the co-design of service systems.

Researchers:

Principle Investigator: Cathy Humphreys

Project manager: Lucy Healey

NSW: Lesley Laing; Susan Heward-Belle, Cherie Toivonen (USydney); Ilan Katz

Qld: Menka Tsantefski, Patrick O’Leary; Amy Young, Tracy Wilde (Griffith);

SA: Sarah Wendt (Flinders); Fiona Buchanan (USA);

Vic: Marie Connolly, Aron Shlonsky, Jennifer Ma, Christine Eastman, Colleen Jeffreys, Anna Bornemisza (UoM); Deb Kirkwood (DVRCV); Michelle Macvean, Robyn Mildon (Parenting Research Centre)

WA: Donna Chung, Damian Green, Sarah Anderson (Curtin).

Funders: Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS)

Partners:

Department of Health and Human Services Child Protection
Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria
DV Vic.
No To Violence
Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency
Women’s Legal Service Victoria
Department of Family and Community Services
University of Sydney
Women’s Legal Service NSW
Department for Child Protection and Family Support
Women’s Council for Domestic and Family Violence Services (WA)
Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services
The Gold Coast Domestic Violence Integrated Response
Domestic Violence Prevention Centre Gold Coast
Family Safety Meeting group, Limestone Coast, SA
Berry Street Victoria
Family Safety Teams, Kimberley

Project Dates: 2015 – 2016

Contact: Lucy Healey

Publications:

The PATRICIA Project: PAThways and Research In Collaborative Inter-Agency working: State of knowledge paper.

The Collaborative Practice Framework for Child Protection and Specialist Domestic and Family Violence Services – the PATRICIA Project: Key findings and future directions.

PAThways and Research Into Collaborative Inter-Agency practice: Collaborative work across the child protection and specialist domestic and family violence interface – The PATRICIA Program, Research Report.

A Collaborative Practice Framework for Child Protection and Specialist Domestic and Family Violence Services: Bridging the research and practice divide.

Intervening with children living with domestic violence: Is the system safe?

Case reading as a practice and training intervention in domestic violence and child protection.

Facilitating the collaborative interface between child protection and specialist domestic violence services: a scoping review.