Information and Instructions

• IFS team roles
• Training requirements
• Intake and case allocation
• Recording Multidisciplinary Case Consultations
• Safety planning
• Services
• Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) (child wellbeing)
• Tools and culturally secure practice
• Case closure

IFS team roles

​The IFS teams include the following roles:

Team leader

The team leader has overall management and responsibility of the IFS team members and oversight of all IFS cases in that team. The team leader:

• liaises and meets regularly with other team leaders to discuss referrals
• manages/allocates the workload for individual staff members and the team as a whole
• provides supervision, support and direction to team members in the development of case plans
• monitors the progress of case goals and, case management where there may be multiple workers engaging a family in the provision of intensive support
• provides oversight of MCCs in the IFS team, and
• provides learning and development opportunities for the team.

 

Child protection worker / field worker

Cases in the IFS team are managed by a child protection worker who uses the specialist roles, services and tools available to support families to develop and implement their safety plan. The safety plan is tailored to achieve safety goals and address the danger statement. Child protection workers:

• maintain statutory child protection responsibilities
• undertake ongoing assessment of children's safety and develops intervention plans
• link and refer families to support services in line with the case plan
• helps parents understand safety concerns for their children and how they can be addressed
• work with families to build a support network by identifying and engaging safe family and community members
• maintains connections and shares information with other government, non-government and contracted services that have a role in supporting the family
• monitor and coordinate relevant services and community resources in line with the case plan
• provide culturally secure, practical and flexible in-home support in line with the case plan, and
• maintain electronic client records and case management data.

Child protection workers can work with families under intensive family support activity and/or provide the Parent Support service.

The Parent Support service has specific eligibility criteria involving parents with school-aged children up to the age of 18 years who are involved in antisocial and/or criminal behaviours together with truancy to help them gain control of their children using a Responsible Parenting Agreement. Refer to the Parent Support entry for a full description of the Parent Support service.

 

Senior child protection worker / senior field worker – Aboriginal Intensive Family Support Worker

The senior Aboriginal Intensive Family Support Worker provides intensive in-home support with at risk Aboriginal families to improve family capacity to safely care for their children and to prevent children from entering out-of-home care. The senior Aboriginal Intensive Family Support Worker:

• provides cultural advice to other IFS team members to support their engagement with Aboriginal families
• provides culturally secure, practical and flexible in-home support in line with the IFS case plan
• links and refers families to support services in line with the case plan
• helps families build a support network by identifying and engaging safe family and community members
• helps parents understand safety concerns for their children and how they can be addressed
• makes referrals, maintains connections and shares information with other government, non-government and contracted services that have a role in supporting the family, and
• maintains electronic client records and case management data.
  
   

Best Beginnings Plus Worker

The Best Beginnings Plus Worker delivers the Best Beginnings Plus program for expectant parents or parents of infants under two years of age. Best Beginnings Plus Workers provide intensive in-home visits and focus on the needs of infants through building family's knowledge and skills in parenting, child development, child safety, attachment and family functioning. The Best Beginnings Plus Worker:

• works alongside a child protection worker managing the family case
• participates in MCCs
• begins engagement with families at pre-birth, or when children are under 12 months of age
• respect's cultural identity and Aboriginal parenting practices
• provides practical support and culturally sensitive information to families
• uses a trauma-informed approach, and
• maintains specialist knowledge in antenatal and early years child development

The Best Beginnings Plus Worker may deliver the program and work with families who are case managed by child protection workers in the Child Safety and Care teams. They will however remain line managed by the IFS team leader. 

Refer to the Best Beginnings Plus entry for a full description of the Best Beginnings Plus service.

 

Parent Visitor

The Parent Visitor is supervised by the team leader and may work alongside multiple child protection workers. The Parent Visitor provides additional practical support in IFS teams through in-home and community visits to families and is responsible for helping parents and children/young people with a range of activities including:

• implementing the actions in a family case plan (including establishing an individualised parenting plan in collaboration with a family and child protection worker), and
• achieving the goals in their parenting plans or Responsible Parenting Agreements (i.e., developing household management skills and routines).

The Parent Visitor:

• works collaboratively with IFS team members to develop a parenting plan, identify parent's strengths, establish goals, review progress, and participate in team meetings
• develops and implement culturally appropriate strategies and approaches where necessary
• provide appropriate resources to children and parents including referral sources, resource materials and information
• build effective relationships between families, government/community agencies and other key stakeholders
• attends MCCs when required (Parent Visitor reports can be discussed at MCCs)
• provides regular written reports about their work with families to the child protection worker managing the case. Reports should be weekly or at intervals negotiated in line with family needs and case plans. Reporting can be via Form 895/word document or by email. The child protection worker is responsible for saving the reports on the family's Objective case file.

 

Youth and Family Support Worker
The Youth and Family Support Worker may work across the three district teams – IFS, Child Safety and Care teams – in accordance with district needs and staffing. This worker provides culturally responsive in-home support to Aboriginal families. They visit Aboriginal families and work intensively with them to address multiple issues (including family and domestic violence, school nonattendance, criminal activity, and other issues impacting on the wellbeing of children in the home.) The Youth and Family Support Worker:

• provides support and advice and acts as a role model and mentor to at-risk families
• links family members to relevant agencies and community resources to create a safe family environment and protect children from abuse and harm
• works alongside other IFS team members to provide support, advice and services
• is located within an IFS team but may also work across the other Child Safety and Care teams through consultative, co-working and mentoring activities
• provides regular written reports about their work with families to the child protection worker managing the case. Reports should be weekly or at intervals negotiated in line with family needs and case plans. Reporting can be via word document or by email. The child protection worker is responsible for saving the reports on the family's Objective case file.

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Training requirements

​As part of their orientation, new staff members who join an IFS team have 6 months to complete their mandatory training requirements.  

They must first complete:

• Orientation Program 1 – Child Protection using Signs of Safety, and
  
• Orientation Program 2 – Child Safety 
  
• Orientation Programs 1 and 2 must be done in order
  

Staff members must then complete:

• Orientation Program 3 – Intensive Family Support, and 
  
• Orientation Program 4 – Children in Out of Home Care
  
• Orientation Programs 3 and 4 can be done in any order after Orientation Programs 1 and 2 are completed.
  

Existing staff members working in an IFS team may choose to complete Orientation Program 3 - Intensive Family Support. However, they will need to have first completed Orientation Programs 1 and 2 first.





Staff can register for relevant training through the Departments Learning Management System accessible via the Learning and Development Portal.





After the completion of the mandatory Orientation Programs 1-4, workers should also complete the Foundations Plus Program which includes a choice of:

Core: 

• 1) Family and Domestic Violence 
• 2) Responding to High - Risk infants
• 3) Deadly Ways of Working 
• 4) Child Assessment Interviewing 
  

Signs of Safety: 

1) Safety Planning - Core Skills 

2) Words and Pictures 

3) Purposeful Conversations Using Three Houses


4) Questioning Approach  

5) Appreciative Inquiry 


6) Pre-Birth Planning and Facilitation


7) Safety Planning  - Advanced Skills


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Intake and case allocation

Most referrals to the IFS team come from Child Safety teams after completion of a child safety investigation (CSI) where harm and risks are identified, and the family need support to implement a safety plan to addresses issues of concern.  The IFS teams primarily work with families who have multiple complex problems and who are at risk of their children entering the CEO's care.

• Families with CSIs substantiated for Significant Harm or Likelihood of Significant Harm but without recommended intervention action.
  

• Families where the children are involved in antisocial behaviour, criminal activity, and/or truancy, and where parents find it hard to ask for help or have trouble working with other services.
  

• Expectant parents or those with a child under 12 months of age with significant risk of neglect and/or abuse, as well as poor attachment, developmental delay and poor life outcomes. In particular, Aboriginal families, children in the CEO's care who are expectant parents, and families involved in child protection pre-birth planning.
  

Worker safety during client contact is a priority for workers, managers, and Communities as a whole. Worker safety must be considered before contact with children and their families.  Worker safety is based on a  hazard identification and risk management approach to all contact with clients. This should be undertaken before contact with clients to ensure worker safety at all times.  Please see related resource Worker Safety during client contact and home visits for guidance around considerations to keep workers safe.




When a family is being managed within the IFS team and a new safety concern arises, the safety of a child or young person must be discussed immediately with the Team Leader. New concerns should be run through the interaction tool to determine if a new CSI is required. If a new CSI is determined to be required, then the IFS team must also complete the CSI for the new concerns. 


If you become aware at any time that the family has lived or spent a period of time interstate and there is no previous interstate history on file, consider undertaking a Connect for Safety search. For more information on how to conduct this search, refer to Chapter 2.2 Connect for safety.


If the Connect for Safety search indicates a family or individual has a child protection history held with another jurisdiction, continue with a request to exchange information. For information on how to request to share information with another jurisdiction, refer to Chapter 3.4 Interstate and New Zealand Liaison.


If the family is open for Parent Support services, this casework is suspended until the CSI has been completed


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Recording Multidisciplinary Case Consultations

• ​All attendees must receive a copy of the completed Form 895 Multidisciplinary Case Consultation.
  

• Discrepancies in the recording of perspectives and decisions in Form 895 Multidisciplinary Case Consultation should be addressed immediately.
  

• Attendees must electronically approve Form 895 Multidisciplinary Case Consultation or provide a confirmation email.
  

• Final versions of Form 895 Multidisciplinary Case Consultation must be stored on the child's Objective file using the naming convention 'MCC (child's name) Date'. 
  

After the first six months of an IFS service period, an MCC should be held to discuss various options:

• IFS service ceases with no further action from the Department.
  

• Refer to a community service organisation when there is no further role for the Department but the family needs other assistance.
  

• Extend IFS involvement for another six months if safety concerns remain.
  

Take intervention action to bring children into the CEO's care if risks warrant it (note that only a district director can make the decision to proceed with intervention action).  

Refer to the Multidisciplinary Case Consultation (MCC) Information Sheet Frequently Asked Questions for more information.


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Safety planning

​


You must develop safety plans with families in all cases.  The safety plans must be reviewed regularly with the family and safety network.

Signs of Safety mapping should be undertaken with the family and key stakeholders to determine what the level of safety is to inform safety planning. A safety plan is a written agreement based on the safety goals developed with the family, safety network and the Department that establishes how foreseeable danger and threats to a child's safety will be managed.

Refer to Chapter 2.2: Signs of Safety - child protection practice framework and Elements of a Safety Plan for further information.

In cases involving family and domestic violence also refer to Chapter 2.3 Safety planning - emotional abuse - family and domestic violence.


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Services

Internal services and supports available within IFS teams include:


• Best Beginnings Plus
• Parent Support
• Parent Visitor
• Youth and Family Support Worker.

Community service organisations are also funded to provide family support services.  The EIFSS Point of Referral table provides guidance for workers to refer families to both IFSS and AISS services throughout the course of the family's involvement with the Department.


Intensive Family Support Services

Intensive Family Support Services (IFSS) provide trauma informed culturally competent in-home practical support for the whole family to enhance safety and wellbeing. This includes families whose children are most at risk of entering the CEO's care if nothing changes and those whose children are in out-of-home care and require in-home support to assist the reunification process.

All IFSS services take the Department's referrals only. Generate the referral forms from a Service Referral in Assist by completing referral information as detailed in the relevant user guides. The generated referral will be published to Objective into the Case File and is linked to the Service Referral in Assist. You should edit and finalise the referral form in Objective.

The IFSS are located state-wide in all metropolitan and regional districts. A list of IFSS contact details in each metropolitan district is available in related resources in IFSS and FSN Contact Details - Metro.    

Aboriginal-in-Home Support Service(AISS)

The AISS is delivered by Wungening Moort, an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation, to provide a trauma-informed, culturally relevant intensive in-home practical support service. The AISS works with Aboriginal families to address significant issues impacting their parenting and their ability to keep their children safely at home. Families living in the Perth metropolitan area who are most at risk of their children entering the CEO's care if nothing changes, or children who are currently in out-of-home care from the IFS Teams and are prioritised. 


The service also works collaboratively as a formal Partner Agency of the Family Support Network and is provided across all metropolitan child protection corridors: Cannington-Armadale; Fremantle-Rockingham, Mirrabooka-Joondalup; and Perth-Midland.


The referral forms can be generated from a Service Referral in Assist by completing referral information as detailed in the relevant user guides. The generated referral is published to Objective into the Case File and linked to the Service Referral in Assist. You should edit and finalise the referral form in Objective.


Family Support Network

Family Support Networks (FSNs) are a partnership between the Department and the community services organisations. The FSNs provide targeted support to families with significant protection concerns and where the support of several services is needed. The networks are trauma informed, culturally competent and prioritise referrals for Aboriginal families.

The FSNs operate across the metropolitan area in four service corridors: Mirrabooka-Joondalup; Perth-Midland; Cannington-Armadale; Fremantle-Rockingham.

An FSN Lead Agency is located in each of the four service corridors. A Child Protection Leader (CPL) is co-located at each FSN Lead Agency to provide expert consultation, advice and practice support.

Two streams of service are provided by FSNs: 

1. Intensive Case Management (ICM) service, and 
2. Assessment and Coordination (AC) service.  

The referral forms can be generated from a Service Referral in Assist by completing referral information as detailed in the relevant user guides. The generated referral will be published to Objective into the Case File and linked to the Service Referral in Assist. The referral form will be required to be edited and finalised in Objective.

FSN Intensive Case Management service
The FSN Intensive Case Management (ICM) service provides intensive support to divert children and families from the children protection system. The ICM accepts referrals from the Department only, for families that are not open to child protection.

The ICM service supports parents to achieve the safety and referral goals developed by the child protection worker through an active and persistent case management approach. Most support is provided within the family's home, through a hands-on practical style of case management. The FSN case plan includes an intensive phase and step-down approach, including exit and transition planning, within a 12 month timeframe. The case management approach led by the FSN may also include a meeting with the family, the CPL, and relevant services to ensure an efficient and integrated multi-service response that addresses the services case plan goals.

FSN Assessment and Coordination service (A&C service)
The FSN Assessment and Coordination service (A&C) service can accept referrals from child protection workers, FSN Partner Agencies, non-partner agencies (such as schools and hospitals) in the community, and from families themselves. The target group for the A&C service includes children and families involved with, or known, to multiple agencies, with complex needs, and have had previous involvement with child protection.

The A&C service links the family with a Partner Agency who will coordinate the range of services required and/or provide ongoing support. This process includes an allocations meeting and may also include a meeting with the family, the CPL, and Partner Agencies to ensure an efficient and integrated multi-service response that addresses the case plan goals.

Detailed information regarding the FSN is available from the WA FSN website: http://www.wafsn.org.au/.


While it does not require a specific response, if you become aware that a parent or family is misusing Government funds, and this is negatively impacting the child, you should report this as fraud. For example, fraudulent use of disability funding, where a child is missing out on therapeutic services should be reported via the Report Suspicious Behaviour page on the NDIS Portal.




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Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) (child wellbeing)

The Australian Government's Child Care Safety Net is intended to give the most vulnerable children a strong start. It provides targeted assistance to vulnerable and at-risk children and their families, and supports child care services in disadvantaged communities to address barriers in accessing child care.

The CCS and ACCS (child wellbeing) are available for children who are at risk of abuse or neglect. Where a child is at risk of abuse or neglect, their situation can sometimes be improved by attending child care or by increasing attendance at child care. In these cases, where the cost of child care to the parents is a barrier, this barrier can be removed by using the CCS and ACCS (child wellbeing).

Your role is to assist the parent to apply for the CCS through their  myGov account before the child is enrolled with an approved child care provider. You need to confirm that the parent has:

1. applied for the CCS
   
2. agreed to the Complying Written Arrangement (CWA), and
   
3. confirmed the enrolment.
   

When the CCS is approved, discuss the ACCS (child wellbeing) with the parent.  Complete the Support Letter for ACCS (child wellbeing – child not in care and provide it to the childcare provider. They will administer the process with Centrelink for assistance with payment of child care fees.  


The CCS and ACCS should cover the costs of child care.  As the child is not in the CEO's care, the Department is not responsible for the payment of child care fees which are not covered by the CCS and ACCS subsidies, unless the district director has agreed to this.

Protection order (special guardianship) (SGO)


Children who are the subject of a SGO are eligible for the ACCS (child wellbeing) under Division 3 of the Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Jobs for Families Child Care Package) Act 2017 (Family Assistance Act). A child who is the subject of an SGO is considered to be 'at risk' for the purpose of accessing ACCS (child wellbeing) without the need for any additional evidence of risk.


The district is responsible for completing and providing the Support letter for ACCS (child wellbeing) – child on SGO to the childcare service.  The Guardian is responsible for paying any gap fees. Refer to Chapter 3.4 Child care attendance for further information.

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Tools and culturally secure practice

There are a range of tools and strategies available to the IFS team for working with families. Given the collaborative IFS team approach, it is important to consider who will administer tools as part of the development of the case plan.  


Multidisciplinary Case Consultations – planning and consultation 


A MCC is an internal consultation held between specialist staff that focusses on the best interests of the child and considers different professional perspectives needed to engage families  experiencing multiple complex issues.


The MCC:

• considers different professional perspectives and the child's trajectory based on the safety concerns
  
• uses completed danger statements and safety goals to develop a response to families
  
• identifies who in the IFS team should help the family 
  
• identifies whether external services should be engaged
  
• identifies how they can create safety for the children, and 
  
• asks specialist staff for their professional perspective and rationale for their response to the scaling question.
  

Some circumstances where an MCC may be considered include:

• the case is 'stuck' and case drift becomes a risk
• where intervention action is being considered (note only a district director can make the decision to proceed with intervention action)
• to assist in developing a case trajectory
• determining possible external supports and services
• when engagement with the family is difficult to establish or maintain
• when considering case closure and/or next steps

An initial MCC may take an hour or more and includes completing Part A for each child and Part B for the sibling group, refer to Form 895 Multidisciplinary Case Consultation.  Subsequent MCCs involve part B only and should take around 30 minutes. 

Part A is completed once for EACH child (allow extra time for multiple siblings) and includes:

• formulation exercise (profiling each child)
  
• identifying safety concerns
  
• completing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) score. Refer to the ACEs Primer educational video for further information about ACEs scores.
  
• considering the five-year trajectory for the child
  
• listing and rating significant persons in the child's life, and 
• scoring the child on a Connection Scale.


Part B is completed for the sibling group or family (not an individual child) and includes:


• case update information (for any subsequent MCCs)
  
• scaling progress toward safety goals and providing a rationale by each specialist. Refer to the Multidisciplinary Case Consultation Prompt Resource for a scoring guide, and  
  
• identifying missing information, next steps and rationale.
  

Multidisciplinary Case Consultations are attended by:


• internal staff such as team leaders, child protection workers, Aboriginal practice leaders, psychologists, senior practice development officers, senior child protection workers family and domestic violence, Best Beginnings Plus workers, senior child protection workers placement services, education and legal support officers, and
  
• external professionals from other agencies and services working with the family who can provide relevant information about the child.
  

Specialist staff who attend MCCs are not the delegated case decision makers and the MCCs do not need to reach a unanimous position.




The role of MCC chairperson can be rotated amongst the specialist and/or senior staff to share the workload. The MCC chairperson can use the Multidisciplinary Case Consultation Prompt Resource to help generate discussion and to challenge attendee's thinking. There may be occasions where it is helpful to provide any key documents to specialist staff (for example, a CSI Outcome Report, genogram or chronology) for them to read prior to the consultation.


Recording Multidisciplinary Case Consultations

• All attendees must receive a copy of the completed Form 895 Multidisciplinary Case Consultation.
  
• Discrepancies in the recording of perspectives and decisions in Form 895 Multidisciplinary Case Consultation should be addressed immediately.
  
• Attendees must electronically approve Form 895 Multidisciplinary Case Consultation or provide a confirmation email.
  
• Final versions of Form 895 Multidisciplinary Case Consultation must be stored on the child's Objective file using the naming convention 'MCC (child's name) Date'. 
  

Refer to the Multidisciplinary Case Consultation (MCC) Information Sheet Frequently Asked Questions for more information.


Family Finding

Use the Family Finding Model to locate and engage family members and develop a child's natural support networks and lifetime connections (not just until a child turns 18). The Family Finding Model recognises that individuals can have extensive family networks and every child has the right to either be brought up within their own family and community, and where this is not possible, to maintain meaningful connections with their family. Keeping children connected to their family protects them from the risks arising from loneliness and isolation.


The model compliments the Signs of Safety Framework (family meetings, mappings, networks). Both Family Finding and Signs of Safety prioritise early engagement with a child's family and recommend the use of family meetings to involve families in collaborative risk assessment and to develop support networks in planning for the safety and long-term wellbeing of children.  The development of safety networks can be greatly enhanced by using Family Finding search and engagement strategies and tools. Part A of MCCs use the Family Finding Formulation Exercise.

Other Family Finding tools include the Connectedgram and Culturagram.  

Refer to the Family Finding Manual in related resources for more information about the Family Finding Model and tools.

Child Environment Matrix
The Child Environment Matrix is a tool which assists to develop goals with the parents, and measure progress and effectiveness. An Aboriginal version of the tool is available.

You may find it useful to complete a new Child Environment Matrix at entry, six months and exit from the IFS service, however it may be completed at other times. The Child Environment Matrix assesses families against a series of observable indictors across a continuum (from high risk to ideal scenario). The Child Environment Matrix should be saved on the family's file. 


Complete the matrix with families and use the results to talk to parents about observations that confirm or challenge the parents' view of family safety and wellbeing. Action plans may be developed based on the Child Environment Matrix results.

The bottom two stages of the continuum on the Child Environment Matrix may indicate the possibility of child abuse or neglect. If using the Aboriginal version, the indicator for potential abuse is visually represented by the colour red. If a parent scores in any of these the IFS team leader must be informed and appropriate action taken.

You must complete the Child Environment Matrix when delivering the Best Beginnings Plus service. Where a family is receiving the Best Beginnings Plus service, liaise with the Best Beginnings Worker about application of the tool.

Other tools available include:


• Safety plans
• Signs of Safety tools such as Three Houses and Words and Pictures
• Family and Domestic Violence Toolkit
• Child Protection Income Management
• Liquor Restricted Premises applications
• Disruptive Behaviour Management Strategy.

Refer to relevant CPM entries and related resources for further details on application of these tools.

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Case closure

You must develop an exit plan must be developed when the family is coming to the end of their involvement with the IFS team. Consider reducing the intensity of family support in a staged manner, and help the family to review and acknowledge their progress and plan how to sustain positive changes into the future.   Ongoing support options should be considered. You may link the family to appropriate community supports, services and/or safety network before case closure.

Parents may feel anxious about the impending loss of support provided by the IFS team.  Acknowledge and discuss these feelings with parents.  Exit planning reminds parents that casework will not continue indefinitely and helps them to consolidate positive changes made and make long-term goals.

When concluding contact (irrespective of whether parents have made gains on the identified issues), tell the family that the case is going to be closed and contact any other agencies that have been involved with the case to notify them of the case closure.

Case closure can occur at any time where the safety goals have been achieved with the family. Discuss the appropriateness of closing a case, or whether other action needs to be taken during an MCC. 


When closing a case, enter data from all completed forms, matrices, and questionnaires on Assist and scan all up to date documents to the case file. Close the file. See the Assist User Guide for instructions.


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