FAMILY AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE WORK PROGRAMME UPDATE

Nau mai, haere mai. Welcome to the April update from the Multi-Agency Team on Family and Sexual Violence. The Multi-Agency Team is leading government efforts to create a coordinated, cross-government approach to preventing and responding to family and sexual violence.

Through this newsletter you will receive updates on current work, including the implementation of the Family and Whānau Violence Legislation Bill. We welcome your feedback so please email us at familyandsexualviolence@justice.govt.nz

In the stories below, we invite your insights and feedback on the Integrated Safety Response and your experience of using the Workforce Capability Framework. We look forward to hearing from you.

In this e-News:

• Addressing family and sexual violence essential to wellbeing – Under-Secretary Logie
• Ministry of Justice awarded SHINE DV Free Tick
• New Safe to talk helpline
• Integrated Safety Response (ISR) to Family Violence
• New Police approach to family harm
• Workforce Capability and Risk Assessment and Management Frameworks
• Integrated Safety Response (ISR) training  
• Implementation of new law
• E Tū Whānau: Touch NZ creates whānau-first kaupapa
• Joint procurement of programmes

Addressing family and sexual violence essential to wellbeing – Under-Secretary Logie

On International Women’s Day, Jan Logie MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister of Justice (Domestic and Sexual Violence) addressed a group of stakeholders in Auckland where she set out her vision and described the prevention of domestic and sexual violence as “one of our greatest opportunities for improving wellbeing and building a cohesive society.”

Jan Logie MP says her first few months as Under Secretary have been full of intense discussions about how to transform the family and sexual violence systems. “Whether I am meeting with Ministerial colleagues, government officials, advocates from the community sector, or victims of violence, every conversation is about the critical shifts we need for an integrated and effective system.

“As we finalise the priorities for the work programme for this term of Parliament, I am drawing on the knowledge of many and I’m pleased to hear some consistent messages coming through. People are talking with me about the importance of good law, enabling behaviour change so that people know what we need them to do, ensuring government agencies work together, investing in prevention, hearing victims’ voices, kaupapa Māori responses and adequate funding,” says the Under-Secretary.

If you wish to contact the Under-Secretary’s office, please email: jan.logie@parliament.govt.nz 

Ministry of Justice awarded SHINE DV Free Tick

The Ministry of Justice has been awarded the Shine DVFree Tick in recognition of its efforts to create a workplace that is safe and supportive for staff experiencing family violence.

Specialist Domestic Violence Agency Shine awards the Tick to employers. The Ministry is the first public sector organisation to receive the award and only the second to ever receive it in New Zealand, following Westpac in 2017.

A Ministry Workplace Family Violence Policy was launched in November 2017 and a group of Family Violence Contact People within the Ministry was trained as first responders.  Anyone affected by family violence, whether they are a victim or perpetrator, can contact them for help and be connected to a specialist service as well as access policy provisions such as special leave and safety plans.

Pathways to help at the Ministry are clearly articulated and include managers who receive training on how to support their staff.  The two-hour training session is mandatory and will have been completed by all of the Ministry’s 470 managers by the end of May this year.

All other staff attend an introductory face-to-face session where specialist support is available.

An e-learning module and awareness raising activities support the programme.

The Ministry is an early adopter of changes in practice and behaviour recommended in the Family Violence Workforce Capability Framework. Receiving the award Chief Executive Andrew Bridgman called on other public sector organisations to follow its lead.

New Safe to talk helpline 

A new national helpline called Safe to talk He pai ki te kōrero is now available 24/7 to provide free and confidential support to people affected by sexual harm. People can get advice and support from trained specialists and be connected to support services in their community.

It is the first time people affected by sexual harm have been able to seek help anonymously at any time from one central place. The helpline is available to anyone affected in any way by sexual harm – this includes those who have harmed someone else or have thoughts about causing harm.

Concerned friends, family and whānau can also seek information and advice.

Safe to talk is available for free 24 hours a day, seven days a week by:

• Calling: 0800 044 334
• Texting: 4334
• Emailing: support@safetotalk.nz
• Live webchat on www.safetotalk.nz which also has a range of resources and information about sexual harm.

Safe to talk has been set up as part of the Government's commitment to better support people affected by sexual harm and to prevent sexual harm by ensuring more people get the help they need at the right time.

It is being run by Homecare Medical who run a number of other helplines including Healthline and Quitline.

Integrated Safety Response (ISR) to Family Violence  

The Multi-Agency Team (MAT), in partnership with the National Integrated Safety Response (ISR) team, is beginning the evaluation of phase two of the ISR pilots. This follows the first evaluation report released in August 2017. Findings of this report, after year one of the pilot, were promising – adult victims and children are better protected, perpetrators are better supported to stop their violent behaviour, and families and whānau are supported to live in non-violent homes.

Analysis of Police reports of family harm episodes found that two-thirds of ‘predominant aggressors’ had no further reported family harm episodes, or that subsequent episodes were less frequent and/or less serious than those in the six months before contact with ISR. Recommendations for improvement to the pilots were also made. 

Despite these promising early results, more information is needed to inform decisions about next steps, hence the extension of the pilot for another two years.

The phase two evaluation will be the final evaluation of the ISR pilots in Christchurch and Waikato, and will help to inform ongoing advice to Ministers on the future of integrated and crisis response practice in New Zealand.

The objectives of this evaluation are to:

• Understand the effectiveness of ISR compared to previous or existing crisis responses
• Determine whether ISR represents a good return on investment (costs/benefit analysis)
• Understand the distinct features of ISR and the context required for ISR to work optimally
• Examine the efficiency of the model (process evaluation)

The evaluation will also look at the responsiveness of the ISR to whānau Māori and at the end of April we are commencing the design of the kaupapa Māori evaluation with a group of experts in whānau-centred evaluation.

The final evaluation report will be delivered in June 2019 and insights and learnings will be shared publicly.

The MAT has also convened a research and evaluation reference group to review and inform the scope, approach, and implementation of the evaluation. The group includes representatives from government research departments and the academic sector.

The evaluation team will be getting out and about in both the Waikato and Christchurch over the coming months. We hope to speak to as many people as possible who have been involved either directly or indirectly with the ISR pilots. If you’d like to be involved, please contact Adrienne Everest at the multi-agency team adrienne.everest@justice.govt.nz

New Police approach to family harm 

Police is gearing up to launch its new approach to family harm toward the end of May this year.

Acting Superintendent Bronwyn Marshall, Safer Whānau Business Change Manager, says the new approach is the biggest transformation of Police service delivery around family harm in more than a generation.

“Simply put, it’s all about new ways of thinking and working for many Police staff,” says Bronwyn.

“It involves new language, new mobile and desktop technology, new risk measures, and safety tools, all of which contribute to carrying out a quality family harm investigation at the scene - now known as a 5F.”

A training programme is underway for Police staff in the new approach and partner agencies and NGOs are being briefed ahead of go-live.

“This change presents a fantastic opportunity to prevent and reduce family harm,” says Bronwyn.

“Our training and the use of the new tools and resources on a day-to-day basis will really make a difference for the families we’re called to help, and provide better quality information for our partner agencies and NGOs to support families experiencing harm.”

The new approach is part of the wider Police Safer Whānau work programme which aims to reduce the harm families in New Zealand are experiencing, through transforming the Police response and partnering with iwi, community and other agencies to assist the most vulnerable and disadvantaged communities exposed to family harm.

To find out more about the Police Safer Whānau work programme, please email:  safer.whanau@police.govt.nz

Workforce Capability and Risk Assessment and Management Frameworks

The Multi-Agency Team (MAT) is leading the implementation of the Family Violence, Sexual Violence and Violence within Whānau Workforce Capability Framework and the Family Violence Risk Assessment and Management Framework, released last year. These set out the skills, knowledge and actions needed to provide safe, effective, integrated responses to people affected by violence.

We’ve heard from a few ‘early adopters’ who are making use of the Frameworks to improve responses to whānau and families. We are gathering stories about how people are putting the Frameworks into practice so if you would like to tell us about what’s happening in your area, please get in touch.

In March, the Multi-Agency Team hosted a co-design workshop with some family violence network coordinators, community educators and good practice leaders, to get ideas on easy ways to get started with Workforce Capability Framework. Workshop participants came up with some great ideas for resources that would help promote the workforce capabilities and principles. Look out for some of those new resources coming soon!

Careerforce, the Industry Training Organisation (ITO) for the social service and wellbeing sectors, is currently working with the MAT and a small group of family violence service providers to develop and test products to align the Framework to a workplace learning programme. The programme will contribute to the New Zealand Diploma in Health and Wellbeing (Applied) Level 5.

To create an engaging and dynamic approach, Careerforce is developing an interactive graphic of Kia Puawai, with Shayne Walker outlining the kaupapa and principles of the Framework and its domains. This will support people to get familiar with the Framework and how to apply it in their practice. Careerforce is aiming to have the programme available for the sector by the middle of 2018.

MAT is continuing conversations with local and national groups on using and improving the Frameworks. If you have feedback on these, please contact Sheryl Hann, Sheryl.Hann@justice.govt.nz

Integrated Safety Response (ISR) training 

ISR is a multi-agency pilot to ensure the immediate safety of victims and children, and to work with perpetrators to prevent further violence. The pilot is led by Police and is part of the Government’s broader Family Violence and Sexual Violence Work Programme.  ISR is operating in two sites – Christchurch area (Christchurch metro, North Canterbury and Selwyn) and the Waikato District and has funding to operate through to June 2019.

The new ISR training programme is due to be rolled out from early June 2018. The primary audience for the training are those working in government agencies, Non-Government Organisations, and ISR site staff (300 in the Waikato and Chch pilot areas).

The programme is a blended learning solution, which includes:

• a series of five e-learning modules introducing the key concepts and knowledge on ISR eg. Introduction to ISR and Risk Assessment modules
• a series of 7 one-hour workshops led by ISR site Specialist Practice Leads eg. ISR and our community and Leading Family Safety Plans
• a Performance Support tool based around the ISR process, for learners to access key information ‘in moment of need’
• coaching and support from experts and people leaders.

Once finalised, some of the training material will be available on the ISR website and may be of interest and use to other family violence practitioners.

To find out more about the ISR pilot and training click here.

Implementation of new law

The Ministry of Justice is the lead agency for the implementation of the Family and Whānau Violence Legislation Bill. While the timing for the passage of the Bill and its entry into force are subject to Parliamentary decisions, work is underway to enable new court processes and ways of working in anticipation of new law.

Simplifying and aligning Protection Order and Care of Children applications

In support of the changes in the Bill, the Ministry is working to simplify and align protection order application forms and Care of Children Act (COCA) forms. The need to simplify the forms was identified in public consultations on the family violence reforms.

The complexity of the current forms means it can be difficult for people to complete them and provide the information Judges need when considering an application.

Aligning the protection order and COCA forms recognises that people applying for protection orders may also have to complete forms seeking Family Court decisions about the care of their children. Ensuring some consistency in the look and feel of the forms will make it easier for customers. 

The design process is enabling input from victims of family violence, specialist service providers, Police, and the judiciary. Once new prototype forms are created, these will be tested with relevant audiences to ensure the best possible products.

For more information about the implementation of the new law, please email familyviolencelaw@justice.govt.nz

E Tū Whānau: Touch NZ creates whānau-first kaupapa

A commonsense way of managing conflict during Touch Rugby games has drawn high praise from players, supporters and officials who experienced kōrero AWHI in practice at the 2018 E Tū Whānau National Touch championships held in Auckland’s Pulman Park in March.

Inspired by values fundamental to the E Tū Whānau movement, Touch NZ Community Project Manager Moni Collins, developed the AWHI Side-line Behaviour Promise, a code of positive behaviour that Touch NZ expected everyone to adhere to throughout the tournament.

The result was a peaceful, fun-filled tournament and lots of kōrero about living with aroha and practicing tikanga – that which is tika, that which is right – in all aspects of life.

The power of kōrero awhi

One example of the AWHI Side-line Behaviour strategy in action involved a side-line marshall called Roger who had to confront a parent yelling aggressively at opposition players and the referee. He explained how consciously taking a kōrero awhi approach to the incident had a great outcome.

“I saw my job as trying to assist him in any way possible to stay and enjoy the game. If he’d continued to threaten players and the referees I’d have taken action, even called the police, but that would have been a last resort.

“Anyways, when I talked to him, he said that he didn’t even realise he was doing that. He was so sorry, and didn’t want to leave because he wanted to support his son, so we just thanked him for his kōrero. I invited him to enjoy the tournament and continue to uphold the mana of his team and their whānau, and that was it.”

“Everyone always gives us marshalls the evils, but now there’s this whānau word being used and that’s how we roll. Saying something like ‘Come on whānau, get behind the line’ sounds comfortable and makes things easier to deal with.”

Lucy Buchanan, a member of the Counties Manukau Open Women’s Touch Team and mother of a nine-year-old player, has also noticed the positive influence E Tū Whānau has had on the code. “

“There’s more enthusiasm, a change of attitude, and people aren’t afraid to stand up against violence anymore. Our etiquette has changed so much, especially in the words we say, and the words we choose, and that’s good for our kids. It’s the example we’re giving them.”

Riki Enosa from Counties Manukau and selector for the NZ Touch Trans-Tasman Squad 2018 rates the programme as a great success.

“E Tū Whānau and the AWHI promise have made excellent steps in the right direction by making all players accountable, and responsible, for their own actions.

“The AWHI campaign is showing us a way to be and how to act when we are representing both our code and our whānau. And there’s so much more compassion for referees and players as well.”

Rob Matthews, North Harbour board member sees great potential in the AWHI programme.

“It’s a document for all cultures and all creeds and has received the buy-in from all provincial teams. It’s a unifying document, it could be tweaked, but more importantly, it’s got the ball rolling.”

More information on the E Tū Whānau movement can be found on www.etuwhanau.org.nz

Joint procurement of programmes

The Ministry of Justice and the Department of Corrections have been working closely to align its contracts for family violence perpetrator non-violence programmes from 1 July 2018. A separate but aligned process is underway to procure MOJ safety programmes for adult and child victims of domestic violence. One of the main aims of this work is to offer providers more flexibility around programme delivery, so they can offer more responsive services in their communities. Both agencies require specialist framework programmes for Māori, and specific population groups including Pasifika, Asian/Indian/African/Middle Eastern and Chinese.