Transcript GUIDELINE 1. RECEIVING REPORTS

MODULE 7
Best Practice Approaches
Building Common Ground:
Linking Protection and Safety
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Module 7 Learning Objectives
Participants will:
•Learn about and apply knowledge of Best Practice
Approaches 9 and 10
•Explore challenges and opportunities of working
with anti-violence sector to support safety of women
and their children
•Build cross-sectoral relationships by exploring
commonalities and differences
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Module 7 Learning Objectives
Participants will:
•Develop community linking strategies and
implementation plans
•Explore interagency information sharing protocol
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Best Practice Approaches
Child Protection and Anti-Violence Fields
 Goal of Best Practice Approaches – collaboration
to increase safety for women and children
 Significant obstacle to collaboration - tension
caused by the different historical developments
and missions
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Best Practice Approaches
Child Protection and Anti-Violence Fields
 Anti-violence movement began less than 30
years ago to provide safety to battered women
because public institutions were not doing so
 Some women and their advocates viewed child
protection services as yet another of these public
institutions – overlooking needs, blaming
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Best Practice Approaches
Child Protection and Anti-Violence Fields
 Child protection’s focus on the safety of the child
- identification of woman abuse not considered
important to accomplishing child protection
goals.
 When woman abuse identified, dynamics often
misunderstood and mothers held responsible.
 Anti-violence movement focused primarily on
needs of women in abusive relationships, slower
to address the needs of these women’s children.
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Best Practice Approaches
Child Protection and Anti-Violence Fields
 Concerns about differences in mandates continue to
exist
 Many child protection workers participate in
coordination committees :
 ensure an integrated approach to women’s and
children’s safety
 identify differences in practices and perspectives
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Best Practice Approaches
Child Protection and Anti-Violence Fields
Child protection workers may be concerned that antiviolence services:
 are blindly loyal to women
 ignore or minimize abuse perpetrated by women
 underestimate harm of repeated exposure to violence
 use language that often leaves out children
 provide more services to women then they do to children
(however programs for children are increasing)
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Best Practice Approaches
Child Protection and Anti-Violence Fields
Some anti-violence advocates may be concerned that child
protection services:
 blame women for violence that men perpetrate
 are judgmental and punitive to women
 hold men and women to different standards of care for
children
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Best Practice Approaches
Child Protection and Anti-Violence Fields
 Potential challenges are faced by child protection
and anti-violence agencies.
 These challenges, whether perceived or real, can
stand in the way of
 collaboration
 creating a community climate that links and
supports women’s and children’s safety
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Best Practice Approaches
Child Protection and Anti-Violence Fields
Challenges of MCFD Social Workers
Feelings of frustration, fear and helplessness
Not enough training about dynamics of abuse
Focus on family preservation
No direction about how to support women’s safety
Workers overwhelmed and overworked
Judgments about safety must often be made quickly
Job is to protect children and youth, not adults
Perpetrators and victims equally problematic parents
Family-centred approach – engage perpetrators
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Best Practice Approaches
Child Protection and Anti-Violence Fields
Challenges of Anti-Violence Workers
 Don’t feel respected for knowledge and contribution
 Feel that work for women and their children overlooked
 Education and training - child and family development
 Confidential services vs. Information to child protection
 Case planning and management
 Child protection and FOIPP legislation
 Pessimistic about change.
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Best Practice Approaches
Building Common Ground
Despite differences in perspective and mandates, both
approaches hold common views:
 Woman abuse and child or youth witnessing of abuse
frequently occur in the same family - supports from
both sectors needed to address the impacts.
 Children and youth who witness violence by their
fathers may be at risk for a variety of problems.
 Men who perpetrate dangerous abuse against
children or youth are also assaulting women.
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Best Practice Approaches
Building Common Ground
 Women do have concerns for their children’s safety
and take active steps to protect their children.
 Many women leave for their children’s safety.
 Women often stay with abusers out of safety and
practical considerations for their children.
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Best Practice Approaches
Building Common Ground
Similar goals and desired outcomes:
 Preserve the mother-child unit in aftermath of
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violence
End violence against women and child maltreatment
Children and youth safe
Adult victims protected – for their own safety and so
their children are not harmed by the violence
Parent’s strengths supported
Children and youth not involved in child protection if
avoidable
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Best Practice Approach 9
Ongoing Protective Family Service
The service plan will vary depending upon whether
the mother and her children:
remain with the abusing partner
separate from the abusing partner
separate and return to the abusing partner
On-going communication with service providers to
determine and clarify roles and responsibilities
Communication with service providers if a service
stops and/or is discontinued for a period of time.
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Best Practice Approach 10
Building Relationships and Information Sharing
Provides legal and principled framework:
women involved and consent to sharing
information wherever possible to ensure principles
of respect and safety upheld.
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Best Practice Approach 10
Building Relationships and Information Sharing
 Wherever possible, obtain consent of mother and
children who are over twelve years
 Disclosing information without consent - CFCSA
section 79 (a), (a)1
 Right to information that is in the custody or control
of a public body - CFCSA section 96
 Confidentiality policies of service provider and/or
agency that is not a public body
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Best Practice Approach 10
Building Relationships and Information Sharing
Public Body - B.C. government ministry, an agency,
board, commission, office, corporation or other body
designated by regulation under FOIPPA and a local
public body.
Anti violence programs do not constitute a ‘public
body’ and section 96 of CFCSA does not apply (apply
for court orders under CFCSA Section 65).
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Best Practice Approach 10
Building Relationships and Information Sharing
Participation and support by child protection workers
in local coordination committees:
increase on-going cooperation and communication
between service providers and MCFD
increase safety to women and their children
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Best Practice Approaches
Coordination and Referral
Research shows:
 Coordinating the work of the various response
systems is crucial to keeping women safe.
 A woman’s safety will be jeopardized if institutions/
community resources responding are
 inaccessible
 unresponsive
 uncoordinated
Gamache, Edleson, Schock, 1988
Coordinated police, judicial and social service response to woman battering
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Best Practice Approaches
Coordination and Referral
Benefits of Community Coordination include:
 Identifies players in community network.
 Brings relevant players together, breaking isolation
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and ensuring duplication of effort does not occur.
Provides opportunity for meaningful partnerships.
Identifies gaps, ensures women do not fall through.
Teaches to analyze response for women’s safety
Substantive changes in practice or policy.
Connects the work province-wide.
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Best Practice Approaches
Coordination and Referral
Community Coordination for Women’s Safety (CCWS)
 Provides assistance to BC communities to develop new
models or improve existing models of cross-sector
coordination on violence against women.
 For more information about this resource, visit
www.endingviolence.org/ccws
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Best Practice Approaches
Coordination and Referral
IIn communities where there are communitybased victim service workers, these workers can
be strong allies in supporting women’s and
children’s safety.
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Best Practice Approaches
Coordination and Referral
Victims Of Power-Based Crimes - BC Attorney General
Referral Policy
Victim service workers play a significant role in helping
victims/survivors:
identify risks
develop and implement a personal safety plan
provide information about criminal justice system,
court orientation and accompaniment, crime victim
assistance
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Best Practice Approaches
Coordination and Referral
Victims/ survivors often
require timely access to a
range of social services:
emotional support
income assistance
emergency
child protection services
accommodation
24 hour crisis support
medical care
counselling
forensic evidence collection childcare
civil court remedies
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Best Practice Approaches
Coordination and Referral
Victims/survivor’s safety is central to the work of police
and victim service workers.
Consistent good practice: maintenance of effective
policies, protocols and procedures for both systems, both
individually and together.
A coordinated multi-disciplinary response empowers
victims/survivors of power-based crimes and is most
effective in keeping them safe.
www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/victim_services/publications/policy/ReferralPolicy.pdf
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