For this Case Study, we spoke to:
*Hana, a mother of two young children, *Lu and *Nina, faced significant barriers in engaging with support services after disclosing family violence to a maternal child health worker. This case study explores how a multidisciplinary practice (MDP) response addressed these barriers and supported Hana and her family.
Hana, the mother of Lu and Nina, first disclosed experiencing family violence to a maternal child health worker. Due to the nature of the violence and safety concerns, it was challenging to establish a safe time for contact and support
Hana’s situation involved the disclosure of family violence and significant barriers to engaging with services because of safety concerns. A major challenge was identifying a safe time for contact.
To address these concerns, a secure and consistent point of contact was established. Specialists were brought in to coordinate efforts and create a tailored safety plan for Hana, including a specialist family violence worker, child protection and Victoria Police. In addition, resources and support were provided to ensure Hana could engage with services in a safer manner.
The team implemented strategies to maintain safe and consistent communication with Hana. This involved close coordination with relevant agencies to ensure comprehensive support was provided. In collaboration with Hana, the team facilitated the development of a safety plan tailored to her specific needs.
As a result of these efforts, Hana and her children received the support they needed to address their immediate safety concerns. The person using violence was apprehended by police because of breaches to their bail conditions. Communication with child protection services took place in a gentle and supportive way that did not cause friction in the relationship with the family violence workers. The specialist family violence lead practitioner clearly communicated the boundaries of their role and collaborated with the other specialist practitioners to create a case plan. Hana and her children were referred for further family violence case management for ongoing support.
The coordinated response led to improved safety for Hana and her children, successful engagement with support services and the creation of a reliable and effective safety plan.
Key features critical to the success of the MDP and outcomes achieved in this case study include:
Centring the voices, interests and choices of victim survivors across every aspect of service provision.
In this case example, Hana’s voice and choices were centred in the service provision, and the team ensured her specific needs were met, leading to a safety plan that addressed her concerns.
Valuing specialist knowledge enhances family safety and wellbeing, while respecting role boundaries improves practitioner satisfaction and retention.
In this case example, specialists coordinated to create a tailored safety plan, which enhanced Hana’s safety and wellbeing, while maintaining clear role boundaries that improved practitioner satisfaction and retention.
There is power in knowledge and skills sharing. There is so much opportunity for practitioners to learn, we have leadership of all different specialities and there is some pretty amazing knowledge and wisdom within the hub and people to learn from that is pretty great.
Engaging respectfully with fellow practitioners, valuing diverse professional backgrounds and being open to learning from different perspectives.
In this case example, practitioners engaged respectfully and valued diverse professional backgrounds. They communicated risk assessments clearly, which resulted in effective collaboration that provided comprehensive support to Hana.
Timely and effective exchange of relevant data, insights and knowledge across different professionals involved in supporting the client.
In this case example, the exchange of relevant information between professionals enabled better coordination, resulting in improved safety and engagement for Hana and her children.
The case of Hana and her children highlights the effectiveness of an MDP approach in overcoming engagement barriers and ensuring safety. The coordinated response reduced the family violence risk and helped provide a stable environment for Hana and her children.
