SAFE AT HOME An Integrated Response to Family Violence Engaging the Criminal Justice System

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SAFE AT HOMEAn Integrated Response to Family
ViolenceEngaging the Criminal Justice System

• Liz Little Principal Consultant
• Department of Justice
• August 2007

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The Context of Change

• Conflict between organisations is an inevitable
  growth of functional interdependence and the
  scarcity of resources. (Assael 1969)

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Seamless Service Delivery

• Best practice entails
• coordinated partnerships and collaborations
  between agencies and services
• availability of a broad range of treatment and
  intervention options
• follow up for clients on a system wide basis

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Continuum of Integration Debbie King,
SuccessWorks 2007
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Inter-agency conflict

• From an agencys viewpoint, collaborative
  activity raises two main difficulties. First, it
  loses some of its freedom to act independently
  Secondly, it must invest scarce resources and
  energy in developing and maintaining
  relationships with other organisations
  (Hudson, 1987)

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Using conflict as a source of change

• Constructive conflict occurs when there is
• A critical review of past actions
• Effective communication between disputants
• Established outlets for the expression of
  grievances
• Equitable resource distribution
• Standardised mechanisms for conflict resolution
• Balance of power within the system
• (Assael 1969)

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What Works in Service Integration

• Establish effective and functional leadership and
  decision making structures
• Establish processes where services work together
  respectfully and as equal partners to
  identify common goals
• Create practical linkages through such things as
  outstationing staff to enable hands-on
  knowledge of each others systems
• Develop common information and data sharing tools
  and agree on the outcomes that you are
  monitoring.
• Establish formal MOUs
• Use cross-training strategies across sectors and
  services.

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Matrix for Analysis of Inter-agency Conflict (Dr
Dorothy Scott, 2005)

• Inter-organisational
• Intra-organisational
• Inter-professional
• Inter-personal
• Intra-personal

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Inter-organisational sources of conflict

• Different service systems possess different
  bodies of knowledge, different cultures of
  practice and different underlying commitments as
  well as different policies, procedures and
  benchmarks
• People working in one field can be unaware of the
  impact of systemic cultures on their work yet
  such differences can form significant barriers to
  effective service linkages with other systems.

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Intra-organisational sources of conflict

• The historical narrative within an
  organisations culture can be built on distrust
  and a negative perception of other organisations
  past acts of omission or commission.
• Ineffective leadership can use this as a
  strategy to facilitate internal cohesion by
  creating a common external enemy.

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Inter-professional sources of conflict

• Different professional perspectives and modes of
  decision-making and communication can create
  barriers and frustrations. For example
• consensus seeking within human service
  organisations versus command-control with police
  
• narrative for counsellors versus substantive
  facts for courts.

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Inter-personal sources of conflict

• Conflict between individuals based on external
  factors, values, style etc

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Intra-personal sources of conflict

• Individual emotional reactions including defence
  mechanisms such as projection and displacement.
• Frustration and a sense of impotence can arouse
  deep emotions particularly when workers see
  themselves as protecting vulnerable people
  advocacy role.

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Inter-Agency Service Network Mapping

• Who does each organisation define as the primary
  client?
• What aspects of this client is each organisation
  focussed on?
• Which organisations are more dependant on others
  for information, resources etc?
• Which organisations have more power?
• Which organisations are competitors?
• Which organisations have overlapping mandates or
  roles?

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Safe at Home - Policy Principles

• Family violence is a crime and where evidence
  exists that it has been committed arrest and
  prosecution will occur.
• The victim should not placed in a position of
  determining the response of the justice system.
• The safety of victims is paramount.
• Wherever possible victims should have the choice
  about remaining in their own home.

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Safe at Home - Policy Principles (contd)

• The service response to family violence should
  be seamless and roles and responsibilities of
  each agency should be clear.
• The Police are responsible for providing
  immediate intervention to secure the safety of
  the victim(s) and manage the risk that the
  offender might repeat or escalate their violence.

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Safe at Home - the Foundations

• Safe at Home is built around
• Managing the risk that an offender might repeat
  or escalate their violence
• Identifying and implementing strategies that
  enhance the safety of the victim(s)