Thomas and Nadja: a holistic family response to address family violence and child wellbeing needs
The Orange Door works in an integrated way with families, collaborating with external agencies to ensure that risk-relevant information is shared and safety is prioritised for everyone involved.
When Thomas rang The Orange Door asking for support, he said he was very stressed due to overcrowding in his home. The Orange Door practitioner engaged with Thomas and learnt that he lived with his partner Nadja, their two primary school aged children Michael and Junior. Thomas was seeking financial support as he was unable to work due to ongoing physical and mental health issues. Thomas stated that he and Nadja felt unsafe as their neighbours were threatening them.
During the call, The Orange Door practitioner spoke with Nadja and her responses to questions indicated that she was unable to speak freely. The practitioner completed safety planning with Thomas and Nadja including confirming that they would both call police if they felt unsafe. The Orange Door practitioner arranged for Thomas and Nadja to attend The Orange Door in person to collect a mobile phone as part of the safety plan so that they would both have a phone to call police.
The Orange Door also undertook a review of service history which indicated a history of family violence from Thomas towards Nadja. A decision was made for another Orange Door practitioner to proactively engage Nadja and her children whilst working closely with the practitioner who would continue to engage with Thomas.
Later that day, Nadja attended The Orange Door in person whilst Michael and Junior were at school. Nadja disclosed that Thomas was very controlling of her, verbally abusive and rarely let her leave the house. Nadja was worried about the effect of Thomas’ abusive behaviour on her children, which had escalated during the COVID-19 lockdown.
The Orange Door completed assessments and safety planning for Nadja, Michael and Junior and provided financial support. Information sharing with the children’s school raised concerns about the lack of engagement, particularly with online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Orange Door practitioner completed a risk consultation with Child Protection. Child Protection shared that they had an open case for the family and would be undertaking a home visit with Thomas and Nadja and would encourage them to continue to engage with The Orange Door. The Orange Door spoke with Thomas the next day and completed safety planning with him – he said he had been yelling at his family and that he had missed an appointment for his mental health. With Thomas’ consent, The Orange Door practitioner contacted the mental health professional and arranged for a telephone appointment that afternoon.
Thomas contacted The Orange Door during the Child Protection home visit and said that Child Protection wanted him to leave the family home. The Orange Door practitioner arranged crisis accommodation for Thomas and arranged mental health support for him whilst in the accommodation. With Thomas’ consent, The Orange Door practitioner also referred Thomas to a housing service and a family violence behaviour change program.
Knowing that Thomas had the supports in place he required, Nadja applied for an Intervention Order to ensure that Thomas knew he could not return to the home. Child Protection worked with Michael and Junior’s school to ensure they were supported to return to school and received support from the school counsellor. Nadja, Michael and Junior were referred to a program to assist them to establish safety, rebuild relationships and move forward with their lives after violence.
*Not their real names
What is The Orange Door network and how does it work?
The Orange Door network is for adults, children and young people who are at risk of experiencing or have experienced family violence, and for families who need support with the development and wellbeing needs of their children and young people. It assesses and responds to a person’s needs and risk, and connects people to family violence services, Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs), family services and services for perpetrators (collectively referred to as ‘core services’).
The Orange Door network also connects people to a broader range of services such as mental health or housing support. Practitioners support people to navigate the service system and address the spectrum of needs that might be identified. The Orange Door network is designed to avoid the person having to ‘re-tell their story’ by providing an integrated service response.
How The Orange Door network is set up to support people
The Orange Door network provides a visible entry point in each Orange Door area for adults, children and young people who are at risk of experiencing or have experienced family violence, and for families who need support with the development and wellbeing needs of their children and young people. Practitioners work in interdisciplinary teams to ensure the required specialisations can respond to the person/family, while working together to provide an integrated assessment of risk and needs. The Orange Door network facilitates strong connections into local community services to support clients getting the help they need from other services.
The Orange Door network includes a range of options to support people seeking assistance in their local community. This is made possible via the inclusion of access points, outpost sites and providing outreach, in addition to the primary site. The Orange Door network can also be accessed via phone, email or in-person. These access networks are vital in providing accessible services for clients and communities across Victoria.
The Orange Door network’s primary premises are located in Ballarat, Bendigo, Frankston, Geelong, Heidelberg, Morwell, Mildura and Shepparton. Access Points provide physical access to The Orange Door network from alternative locations, enhancing accessibility across a geographic area or for specific communities. In 2020-21, Access Points were operational in Bacchus Marsh, Colac, Prahran and Swan Hill. Access planning is underway in all DFFH areas with access networks expanding across the state in 2021-22.
Aboriginal Access Points are also being established as a complementary service model to work alongside The Orange Door network, providing a culturally safe referral pathway for Aboriginal people impacted by family violence. The Aboriginal Access Points service model was endorsed for implementation by the Dhelk Dja members at the Dhelk Dja Partnership Forum in May 2021. A targeted Expression of Interest process will commence in 2021-22 to establish the three Aboriginal partner agencies in Mallee, Bayside Peninsula and Barwon providing additional options for Aboriginal people to access services and support.
Who works at The Orange Door network?
The Orange Door network workforce is comprised of staff from Community Services, Health Services and ACCOs with specialisations in family violence and/or child and family services. In addition, the Community Based Child Protection team is part of The Orange Door workforce in conjunction with a team of staff employed by FSV. The workforce includes:
- Specialist Practitioners: The expertise of different practitioners is drawn on to provide an interdisciplinary approach with specialists in family violence, child and family services, ACCOs and perpetrator services working together in The Orange Door network.
- Practice leadership: practice leadership is provided to the practitioners to support high quality and culturally safe service delivery through practice leadership roles such as: Team Leader, Aboriginal Practice Leader, Advanced Family Violence Practice Leader, Integrated Practice Leader, Children and Young People’s Practice Leader, Advanced Family Violence (Men’s) Practice Leader and Community Based Senior Child Protection Practitioners.
- Operational support: The Orange Door network teams are supported by a team from FSV that includes a Manager, Service System Navigator, Strategic Planning and Reporting Officer, Operational Support Officers, Client Support Officers and administrative support staff.
The total workforce headcount for the eight Orange Door areas that were operational at June 2021 was 650 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) positions. This was up from 290 FTE positions in 2019-20, an increase of 124%. This growth in headcount was due to the expansion of the Orange Door network into three new operational areas and expansion of capacity at existing sites to meet demand. As at December 2021, 82% of the 650 FTE positions were filled and this comprised a wide range of different roles (Figure 1 below), noting that this is based on data from outside the reporting period of this report.
Figure 1. Composition of The Orange Door network workforce as at 31 December 2021
FSV continues to work collaboratively with peak and service partners to strengthen workforce capability in culturally responsive, skilled and integrated practice, including work to progress delivery of Aboriginal cultural safety training to all staff, and a new induction and learning program. The Orange Door Aboriginal Inclusion Action Plan plays an important role in this. This aims to build workforce capability with a view to providing services that are culturally safe and accessible for Aboriginal people.
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