Family Violence Support

8. Providing ongoing support

Family violence risk assessment and management is an ongoing process. Reporting and referral does not mean the risk has ceased. School staff should provide ongoing support and monitor if risk changes or escalates, requiring further support. School staff can use the Family violence identification tool (DOCX) and Family violence screening tool (DOCX) to record new or updated information about family violence risk.

Schools contribute to coordinated risk management by:

• participating in or establishing a multidisciplinary support team to coordinate ongoing support for children and their families where necessary. This team could be internal, comprised of staff working with the child and family, or have external services participate such as Maternal Child Health, The Orange Door or Victoria Police
• notifying other services if you identify any changes in risk or if a planned risk management strategy is not implemented or fails
• maintaining visibility of the perpetrator by sharing relevant information about the perpetrator with specialist family violence services for risk assessment and management purposes
• being open with the child, young person or victim survivor that you are working with other services to support them whenever it is safe, reasonable and appropriate to do so. This will support a person-centred approach so that they feel supported to share their views.

For more information, refer to: Action 4 – Providing ongoing support.