百春链

Welcome to our newsletter update on the Integrated Safety Response (ISR) pilot. In this update you will find the following:

• $680,000 boost for Christchurch
• Message from Minister for 惭腻辞谤颈 Development and Minister for Wh膩nau Ora Te Ururoa Flavell
• New cross sector update
• Update from Christchurch
• Update from Waikato
• Latest statistics
• Your feedback

An extra $680,000 to support the Christchurch ISR pilot was on 8 February.

The additional funding will help support more family violence services such as independent victim specialists and advocates to work with families (with a focus on kaupapa 惭腻辞谤颈), as well as create extra places in programmes to help perpetrators change their behaviour.

The funding comes from the Justice Sector Fund, a cross-agency funding pool which allows money saved in one justice sector agency to be invested in another.

Additional services are also being investigated for the Waikato ISR pilot. An announcement on this is likely in Mach.

Recently I got the opportunity to visit Christchurch to observe first hand, the Integrated Safety Response pilot programme in action. The programme has a pilot team made up of multiple government agencies such as Wh膩nau Ora who will implement a wh膩nau centred approach to the programme. It also has non-government providers and community groups with all the groups ensuring that families suffering from domestic violence receive the support needed to be safe, to prevent domestic violence and have a resilient and healthy wh膩nau.

I鈥檝e tried to keep a real close watch on what鈥檚 been happening in the domestic violence space.

Having seen domestic violence in my own life time, it gives me no pleasure what-so-ever to see our people involved in this sort of thing.

Also for me as Minister for 惭腻辞谤颈 Development, I have a huge interest in this kaupapa because actually 惭腻辞谤颈 development is about pulling us away from issues of domestic violence in our communities.

The programme you have been running in Christchurch is hugely important and I support this project because we now have all these services pulling together to have an integrated approach to how we deal with and prevent some of these issues

Over the summer months Christchurch has been busy with an increase in family harm to around 200 episodes each week. Despite this, agencies remain committed to supporting the pilot and looking for innovative ways to adapt services and supports to gain better outcomes for clients.

Changes in Christchurch team

Leanne McSkimming Branch Support Manager, ACC, Christchurch (pictured) took up the role of Executive Manager Integrated Safety Response (ISR) pilot on 12 December. This was one of the roles undertaken by Superintendent Tusha Penny until her appointment as District Commander Waitemata.

Leanne says the ISR Pilot in Christchurch is a significant opportunity to make a difference for our families, wh膩nau and community who are affected by, or experiencing violence or harm.

鈥淏y coming together as government and non-government agencies we can utilise our strengths to hear the voice and needs of our community and then work collectively on reducing barriers to improve access and support.鈥�

Christchurch has recently said farewell to ISR Director Jane Morgan as she moves on to a new opportunity. Jane has made a significant contribution to setting up the first ISR pilot site and we wish her well for the future.

Early engagement with perpetrators on remand has positive outcomes

The Department of Corrections Safety Assessment Meeting (SAM) table representative Shane Kilgour was nominated by ISR for a White Ribbon Award for the innovative client engagement approach he brings to the ISR pilot.

Shane has engaged directly with perpetrators when they are first admitted to prison on remand and has connected them with the Perpetrator Outreach Service while awaiting court dates, rather than waiting for release when their motivation to seek support may have declined.

This early engagement with perpetrators on remand has led to very positive outcomes, especially when paired with multi-agency supports around the whole wh膩nau as the following case study demonstrates.

Case study

A male was being released from prison following a sentence for significant violence against his ex-partner.

Prior to his release, an Independent Victim Specialist (IVS) engaged with the female and installed a safety alarm in her home. The IVS also met with the children鈥檚 school to develop a safety plan. Child, Youth and Family referred the children to the Children鈥檚 Team and connected them with Pillars.

With support from Corrections, the Perpetrator Outreach Service met with the male prior to release and established a strong rapport with him. He attended six non-violence sessions while in prison and has continued to attend following release.

The male says that for the first time he understands his issues and is motivated to change to ensure he can have a healthy relationship with his sons.

He understands that 鈥榳alking the talk鈥� is his greatest challenge and he is seeking ongoing support from He Waka Tapu to ensure he follows through on his commitment to change his behaviour.

The ISR Case Management System (CMS) is proving to be rich with information that we have not had easy access to in the past. This information is expected to provide reporting that will enable better short and long-term planning and resource management.

The following graphics show snapshots of the data we now have.

The following table provides some high level statistics from both pilot sites as at 8 February 2016.

We really value the feedback we receive on the newsletter and its content. If you have any suggestions or comments or would just like more information on some of the things you are reading, please email the ISR inbox: ISR@police.govt.nz