Liberation From Violence Conference Masterton, Wairarapa 1-3 May 2005

1. 1 Family Safety Teams (FSTs) Update from the Police FST Project Team Rex Birdsall For Jodine Lee Project ManagerFamily Safety Team PilotsOoC Wellington May 2005 Liberation From Violence ConferenceMasterton, Wairarapa 1-3 May 2005

2. 2 Contents Mandate, funding & governance of the FST Pilots Domestic / Family Violence is a key Crime Reduction Strategy Area for the NZ Government Origins of the Family Safety Teams (FSTs) What is an FST & what does it do? Police FST implementation � pushing on & progressing despite the challenges Selection of NGO providers to supply adult & victim advocates for the 1st 4 FST pilot sites Information sharing (& improved systemic co-ordination) is key to the intervention logic of the FST pilots Information sharing � ideal state vs day one realities Questions / FST Pilot Project Newsletters

3. 3 Mandate, Funding and Governance of the FST pilots Funding for the Family Safety Team (FST) pilots was announced in Government�s 2004 budget. This new initiative funding was in two tranches: one to build capacity for family safety in MSD / CYFs and another to Justice for Family Safety pilots with Police, CYFs & Non Govt Organisations (NGOs). This commentary is relative to the latter tranche � for Police & NGO pilots. Four FST pilot sites, (Auckland/Hamilton & Hutt/Wairarapa) are to be operational for the year from 1 July 2005. Another pilot (Christchurch) is to be commenced in August 2005 and the last pilot site in Counties Manakau is to be operative in July 2006. Ministerial vote accountability for these FST pilots vests with Justice Minister Phil Goff. The Police sponsor is Assistant Commissioner Peter Marshall. A National Steering Committee comprised of 5 representatives from the NGO sector, 2 from MSD/CYFs, 1 each from Justice and Police, sponsors and oversees these pilots. A Police Steering Committee comprised of Assistant Commissioners Marshall & Broad plus Superintendents Trappitt, McLeod & Christian provide Police governance. The Project Manager is Jodine Lee, Senior Policy Analyst, Office of the Commissioner, with assistance from Rex Birdsall.

4. 4 Domestic/Family Violence is a key target CRS area in New Zealand Family Violence (& Child Abuse) is one of seven priorities listed in the NZ Government�s Crime Reduction Strategy Areas. In Police�s Statement of Intent, �Focus on Priorities� the first listed target outcome for 2004/05 is to Reduce Violence (including family violence). Governments Community & Sexual Violence Strategy 2004 & Te Rito Family Violence Strategy 2002 provide significant opportunities for Police & other government agencies, in collaboration with the non government sector, to achieve real gains in reducing violence. These pilots provide a 3 year funding stream to make a difference at the coal face in the Family Violence (FV) sector They include specific (tagged or ring fenced) funding for: Extra NGO resources for FSTs Extra Police resources for FSTs Extra CYF resources for FSTs Training for FSTs A national co-ordinator for FSTs Evaluation (formative, baseline, process, outcome) There is also Govt funding for: Family Violence Co-ordinators at Police Districts/areas where there will not be an FST pilot MSD/CYF & WINZ re FV

5. 5 Origins of these Family Safety Teams (FSTs) A budget bid was made by Police in October 2003 This was prompted by and based on overseas models, particularly Crisis Response Teams � Combined Police/Adult & Child Victim advocacy MOJ (Justice) saw the opportunity to expand this bid with increased collaboration between Police, CYF & Community NGOs The collaborative model incorporated care & protection and systemic family violence responses While the end objective was to reduce the incidence & severity of domestic violence, key process targets for the FST pilots include: Early interventions Integrated inter-agency responses & information sharing Getting the �voices� of children heard The Aplin Report added impetus to the budget bid The budget bid was successful but then the hard yards started: NGO�s were upset funding was captured by Govt agencies rather than at the coal face Agencies debated the focus of the teams � �doing� or systemic advice & improvement The design/composition role/focus/location of Family Safety Teams was unclear Formation of a National Steering Committee did not immediately resolve these issues This was not surprising as the NSC reflected the formative, fragmented & under resourced Family Violence sector Design of the FST pilots started with a framework moulded by the collaborative input of the government and non government agencies, supplemented by the voices of the initial pilot Family Violence communities in Auckland / Hamilton & Hutt / Wairarapa

6. 6 So what does an FST look like & what does it do? A Family Safety Team is comprised of: A police supervisor & police investigators (sworn officers who have powers of arrest) Child Victim advocates � in two pilot sites these include a CYF social worker Adult Victim advocates The Child & Victim advocates are employed & supported by NGOs FST members share common offices, where they will operate as a team These offices may be as an adjunct to a Police station, in a CYF office, co-located with an NGO or in 3rd party secure premises The respective FST members will have access to their organisations� communications, computer, clinical supervision & support systems & national networks

7. 7 Police FST project implementation � pushing on despite the challenges The project was transferred to Police for implementation as from December 2004 Since then the implementation has proceeded on the basis of the FST pilots being �work in progress� ie it is accepted that there is no one ideal agreed model for all pilot sites and that flexibility will be retained through the formative phases of design and implementation Perceived & real challenges have included: Use of a competitive tendering model to select NGOs to supply advocates. This caused stress in the FV NGO sector - both due to a lack of resources & familiarity of tendering & because it inherently challenged the collaborative working models Differing interpretations of the Privacy Act challenging the information sharing needs of the FSTs and used for patch protectionism Logistics � locations, communications, IT access & security were a challenge Ensuring diverse community voices were encouraged & listened to.This required a delay in the proposed timing of the tender process for Christchurch pilot. Accommodating the various rules based practices & processes of the public sector which the NGO sector are not always familiar with. The tender RFP & evaluation process was a good example of this Working in a learning environment where changes and challenges are almost constant.This has required extra patience, time & effort on the part of the project team, but has, and still continues, to reassure stakeholders that their input will be valued & acted on and that we value & build on prior achievements HR & IR employment terms & conditions will need ongoing management where the FST is a virtual team with different employers terms & conditions Team dynamics, reflecting the differing cultural & operational styles of the agencies involved

8. 8 Selection of NGO providers for the 1st 4 FST pilot sites Tenders from NGOs have been processed for the 1st four pilot sites. A full RFP process was followed including use of an independent evaluation panel. The preferred lead suppliers were: Preventing Violence in The Home (Auckland FST pilot) HAIP � Hamilton Abuse Intervention Project (Hamilton FST pilot) Wairarapa Women�s Refuge (Wairarapa FST pilot) Joint Hutt City Women�s Refuge & Te K�kiri Marae Maori Women�s Refuge (Hutt FST pilot) The above chosen NGOs were all well established participants and contributors in their local FV communities. Contract negotiations have commenced with these NGOs with a view to them recruiting the advocates in time for a July commencement of pilots. If these contract negotiations are unsuccessful, Police will initiate negotiations with the next preferred bidder. Police note their appreciation of the many NGOs which bid to supply advocates and reassure those unsuccessful NGO bidders: Their prior and continuing contributions to their local FV communities is noted and valued They continue to be valued members of their local FV communities Protection of their interests, including referrals for provision of FV services will be included in FST operational processes A request for tender process is underway to select the preferred NGO provider for the six advocates for the Christchurch pilot. This process will be finalised in time for the chosen NGO(s) to recruit advocates for an August/September start.

9. 9 Information sharing is key to the intervention logic of the pilots Better information sharing within the family violence sector is key to the success of the FST pilots. Conjoint with this is the need for family violence service providers to better work together so as to make best use of scarce resources, improve processes and procedures, be more cost effective and achieve better family safety outcomes. The evaluative base of these pilots can assist the FV sector to build its business case.

10. 10 Information sharing in day to day operations within the FST TeamIdeal state versus day one realities Optimum All team members access & use one integrated database or repository of information on at risk clients. On line access to up to date personal information on all at risk families is readily available to all team members. A flexible standardised case management system is used across all providers. A unique identifier system ensures that positive identification is quickly made to provide protection to at risk clients. One central triage system ensures cases are risk rated and assigned accordingly. Automatic advices and tracking are provided where at risk clients move location from one FST location to another. Systemic requirements are serviced by an established regime of continuing education. Achievable � (current status) There is no one FV database repository or system. Police access NIA, CYFs access CYRAS and NGOs their individual systems. On line access differs by agency & NGO. Access to NIA is limited to Police staff, CYRAS to CYFs staff. NGOs have their own rules re access. A variety of case management system processes and systems exist (non standardised). There is no single unique identifier, other than given name & address. Health have an NHI but that is not available to other agencies. Where triage systems exist they differ in operation and effect by location. Police Pol 400 is the generic initiator. There is no universal facility for tracking or advising changes of address between FV locations.  There are no national standards as to service delivery or continuing education.

11. 11 Questions / FST Pilot Project Newsletters The FST project team are happy to field questions, either: Today at the Conference Or In the future If you would like to receive our Police FST Pilot Project newsletters (which are distributed by email) please send your name & organisational details to carol.inge@police.govt.nz Rex Birdsall Thomas.Birdsall@police.govt.nz DDI 04 470 7130 Cell 025 437 376