Victoria’s child protection workforce – Christie

Everybody's family situation is different,

so it's really important to keep an open mind

and gather as much information that you can about a family,

try to work with the family to make a difference

and help them be the best that they can be.

I'm Christie and I'm an Advanced Child Protection

Practitioner with the Department of Families,

Fairness and Housing.

My first role in Child Protection was

in the investigations team,

I was responsible for doing thorough risk assessments of

children and families, so interviewing children,

interviewing parents and working out whether

we needed legal intervention with the family or not.

Following my time in the investigation team,

I moved into intake where I've now been for 11 years.

So in intake, we receive calls from members

of the community who have concerns about children

and families.

Once we receive the call,

we do a thorough risk assessment by contacting

professionals involved with children to get a bit more

of an understanding of the family situation

and whether we can close the reports

with referrals to services to address parenting concerns

or whether there is evidence of sufficient risk

that we need to proceed to investigation

and do a more thorough risk assessment.

The investigation work included going to court,

interviewing children and families and speaking with

professionals who are involved with families

and gathering more information and ensuring that there's

enough safety to close out reports.

Every day is different in intake,

it's fast paced, it's dynamic,

you're speaking with different people every day

and every time you pick up that call, you have no idea

who's going to be on the other line.

Leaning on your team managers and colleagues for the support

to get through the difficult challenges

in the job is really important.

I've made lifelong friendships in Child Protection

and we often have moments during the day to get together

and have lunch and catch up outside of work

so that we can form those strong bonds and relationships.

Being a mom of two young children

and working in Child Protection can be difficult,

we hear and see a lot about children who

are not in the best living conditions

and when I go home to my children

it can be quite emotional because you want

other children to experience the love and support that

your own children receive.