Multi-agency family violence pilot goes live in Waikato

A new pilot programme that aims to make a real difference to families and whānau experiencing family violence goes live today.

“This is all about the people” says Police District Commander Superintendent Bruce Bird.

“It’s about vulnerable families receiving faster and more integrated support and services following a family violence incident and victims feeling safer and more supported.

“Waikato led the way with the Waikato Family Safe Network (FSN).

This new approach – the Integrated Safety Response (ISR) – will see Police, CYF, Corrections and refuges being joined by Health, specialist family violence NGOs and kaupapa Māori services to work as a team.

“To have the best chance of making a difference, agencies and organisations must work together to address the whole family’s needs.

“For me, ISR is about having the right information at the table about an individual family’s needs and providing customised safety plans and responses to that family.

This is about understanding the underlying issues and using that information to make the most informed decisions possible to help families.

He said Police in Waikato have on average 10,000 calls for help involving families a year – that works out at around 200 a week who come to the attention of the daily safety assessment meeting.

“We’re likely to see that number rise – that’s because there’s a real passion in our community to deal with family violence and because victims and those who know about the violence will have more confidence in the system supporting them.”

ISR Implementation Lead and Waikato Operations Manager, Child, Youth and Family, Cath Green says she’s really excited that ISR approach is being implemented in Waikato.

“While FSN already operated daily safety meetings, ISR provides some significant enhancements to our approach.

“The introduction of the Intensive Case Management process which identifies high risk / complex needs victims, the use of Independent Victim Specialists to support these victims to reduce the risk of further violence and the Perpetrator Outreach Services to provide interventions for perpetrators to break the cycle of violence will all contribute to better support for families in need.

“I believe the difference is that we will be able to respond to family violence incidents in an even more timely, purposeful and appropriate way to make a meaningful difference to family harm in Waikato.”

The pilot is part of a larger Government programme to reduce family violence and provides an opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of victims, offenders and families by introducing an integrated response to addressing individual needs.

For more information visit www.police.govt.nz/integratedsafetyresponse

ENDS

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