Abstract:

The STACY for Children project (2019–20) involved two
studies that investigated whether there was emerging evidence
that the Safe & Together™ Model, where it is implemented
holistically, is leading to better outcomes for children and
families living with domestic and family violence (DFV)
and parental issues of alcohol and other drugs (AOD) use
and/or mental health (MH) problems.

Study 1 focused on listening to the voices of those working and
living at the intersection of DFV, AOD and MH. Researchers
gathered perspectives from practitioners and from clients from
participating organisations about the implementation of an
all-of-family approach to practice (i.e. each family member
receiving attention or a service at intake).

Study 2 explored the implementation of the Safe & Together
(S&T) approach in a particular trial site where a specialist
worker is placed to support and inform the child protection
process from a DFV-informed perspective. It used child
case-level, de-identified administrative records to investigate
whether the availability of the S&T Model as an approach to
practice was associated with positive outcomes for children and
families in an area where it had been proactively implemented.

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Researchers: Humphreys, C., Parolini, A., Healey, L., Kertesz, M., Tsantefski, M., Heward-Belle, S., O’Leary, P., Isobe, J., Tan, W. W., Jeffreys, C., Bornemisza, A., Young, A., Fogden, L.

Year: 2020